#EMOTIONAL DAMAGE is the official title of this episode

[lenteur]

random thoughts about castaway diva, episode one

(read more because i always get carried away lol and this post might contain spoilers)

/!\ warning: this episode contains several scenes of physical ab*se so please proceed with precaution /!\

i like that they went for animation instead of showing the actors for the opening credits

looks like they’re explaining right off the bat how the main role has ended up in an island. I like that. No guessing or explaining it further down the line.

The nostalgia hit when i saw the folding phone. I was about to call it clip clap phone so be happy that i actually found an okay-ish adjective lol

This is so nice to start the drama with a throwback and get to know the characters and where they're from, instead of the other way around. It's just a matter of preference, i know.

Wow. I didn't expect the two leads to have an ab*sive father in common. Both of their lives shattered because of the violence. Both too scared to do anything about it. They're trying to hide it from the world.

It's interesting how both choose to hide that aspect of their lives in two completely different ways. Ki ho is acting cold and indifferent, while Mok ha is always smiling and confident. I'm curious if they'll ever admit that to the other, and how they will get out of this situation. Hopefully they'll get the support they both deserve.

Mok ha finally had the courage to call the police on her dad. Good for her!!!

The most disturbing part of this though is that one of the police officers is none other than ki ho's dad. An ab*sive father himself.

I see that ki ho's father is extremely manipulative and is calling mok ha calling the police on her dad the "eighth grader" syndrome, saying it'll pass soon and trying to make everyone watching from the window think there was a "happy ending" (for lack of a better word). Just like everyone thinks he and his son (ki ho) are a great pair. This is absolutely vile and making my blood boil.

We're only in episode one and we already have so much content regarding mok ha and ki ho's relationship.

The roles suddenly got reversed. Ki ho was fighting for mok ha's dream while mok ha just abandoned all hope "thanks" to the police visiting her after her call. It's heartbreaking to see how children's hopes and dreams can be broken just like that.

Ki ho is twice as disappointed because he witnessed his father breaking another child's life. He didn't dare do anything when he saw his father with mok ha. And now he's seeing the consequences right in front of him. The burden of it all. It must be heavy on his heart.

I'm sorry but i have to pause every five minutes because this episode has given me too many emotions and I can't handle all of them at once.

Correction: I have to pause every five seconds is more like it.

The scene where she's breaking down because her classmates aren't listening to her is impactful. It's all the stress, fear and hurt talking. Reminds her how the police didn't believe her and pretended this was "just a little accident" and let it go. And now, her classmates are doing their own thing and ignoring her. That is until she literally shouts at them. Mok ha has been silenced too many times, with no one to talk to. She needs help but every time she tries to make the first time, she's shut down almost immediately.

"Do I sound like a joke to you?" - Mok Ha. The trauma of the police intervention that didn't solve the problem. She feels like she's a joke and no one will ever take her seriously, no matter how hard she tries to tell her own story.

And on top of that, she just abandoned her life long dream of becoming a singer. The only way she could show her real voice.

Poor Mok ha and poor Ki ho

It's crazy how they seemed like polar opposites at first, but then you see them being so deeply connected. Ki ho literally cries with her.

At last, ki ho is finally making the first step to help mok ha. He'll help her leave the place where they leave. It's crazy to think that the only person willing to help mok ha is a child. No adult has ever helped her, even the adults that are supposedly competent. The only person taking her seriously is ki ho, because he's also a victim of ab*se.

This episode should be called EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!!!

the way ki ho is sacrificing himself for mok ha. If both can't escape from their ab*sive fathers, he's willing to stay in cheonsam for mok ha. He wants her to pursue her dream career. If she succeeds, he'll vicariously live through her. He'd be proud of himself for helping her escape.

I was rooting for mok ha to finally be free from her father, only for him to follow her on the boat.

Seeing ki ho being completely devastated because he couldn't help mok ha no matter how hard he tried has made me cry as well.

Tin cans? In a deserted island? Really?

I was skeptical about the whole surviving alone in a deserted island because how can a literal child survive in such an isolate land with basically no knowledge? I'm a bit thrown off. I would have understood better if she met people in the island. They better show how she survived because this is making absolutely no sense.

I really hope they show us more of mok ha's "surviving alone in a deserted island" life because i'd be disappointed otherwise. I don't expect a whole episode dedicated to it but a bit more explanation would be appreciated.

The actors that played mok ha and ki ho as children deserve an oscar. Give it to them. RIGHT NOW

I'm giving this a solid 9.5/10

[rainbowwyrm]

Meet Amy Wyrm! The Newest Face in Home!

All assets belong to Clown / partycoffin, except for the audio recording and text which were all done in Ibis Paint X.

“Like a rainbow after a stormy day, Amy Wyrm is here to chase your sorrows away! Hailing from the underwater city of Cambria, she seeks to bring joy to anyone down on their luck, whether by giving helpful advice or assisting them with various tasks around the neighborhood. As her friend Eddie Dear always says, ‘No problem is too big for Miss Wyrm!’ ”

According to recovered scripts and concept art, Amy Wyrm is a descendant of an ancient celestial dragon, although she looks more like a bristle worm than a renowned mythical creature. Of course, that isn’t to say she can’t act fearsome! Before moving in, Amy grew up in Cambria City, an underwater metropolis where many sea folks coexist in one area. However, despite having so many neighbors, she struggled to make friends due to being too “different”, so she would either play with her toys or make shapes out of clouds. She even created imaginary creatures who lived in her dreamscape and talked to her as if they were her real friends. Other than that, Amy spent many years alone until one day, a mysterious red envelope arrived at her doorstep. Inside was a colorful flyer for a newly vacant house, located in a small, quaint neighborhood on the surface. Believing this was a calling to finally cure her loneliness, she packed all of her belongings and headed toward her brand-new life.

Amy Wyrm supposedly made her debut in the episode titled “Amy’s First Day in Home”, estimated to be released in the middle of Welcome Home’s runtime. In the script, the first scene describes Amy arriving at the entrance to Home and being greeted by Wally Darling, who is more than eager to see a new face. As Wally was giving a tour around the neighborhood, Amy asked about the red house in the center, to which Wally responded with “Oh, that’s Home!”. Confused, Amy replied “Oh, you mean… your home?” Wally, shaking his head, responded “No, Home is my house.” Unfortunately, it’s unknown what happened after as the rest had been heavily damaged beyond recovery.

Amy continues to make several appearances throughout the show, mainly acting as the neighborhood’s “cheerer-upper” as Julie Joyful likes to put it. Aside from Frank Frankly, she is the most level-headed out of all the neighbors, always comforting them when they’re feeling down and providing a proper solution to their problems. Her vivid imagination allows her to manifest elaborate ideas in the form of clouds, varying in different shapes and sizes. Additionally, she wears her heart on her sleeve– or rather on her chest– that changes colors based on her emotions. But perhaps what makes Amy truly stand out from her neighbors is that she has two distinct puppets: the main hand-and-rod puppet and a large worm hand puppet, which we believe to be her true form. Unfortunately, much like with Wally Darling, we have yet to find official design sheets.

~Separate art below~

[thoughtfullyrainynightmare]

Penny for your thoughts about Nozel?

Oh boy, this'll probably be a long one ^^'

Let's start with this one: I didn't like Nozel when I first saw him. But then again I don't think that's... uncommon in the fandom, granted that I only got into the show some 30+ episodes into the anime, because my fiance was watching it and I saw bits and pieces from here and there while passing by in the living room. But anyways. I did not like him.

However, as the show went on and I kept seeing more and more little things about him, and what he said and when, I thought that there's a lot more to his character than what first meets the eye. Or I was expecting there to be a lot more, which ended up being true, and I think that he has formed into being, do I dare say one of the most, complex and layered characters in the show aside of the main cast. And though it's because Noelle is a part of that main cast, and the story of the Silvas is thus greatly tied to the main plot, I think that Nozel has a place in in-depth character analysis.

Nozel is a very ...stiff character, which probably has a lot to do with him being the first born son of a royal House and an heir to the title as the Head of House Silva, which he inherited far too early on (though canon doesn't really explain who was the stand-in captain between Acier and Nozel, since Rill is said to be the youngest captain at the age of 19, and thus, the 15 year old Nozel would have had at least 5 years of being a part of the squad before becoming the Captain, without beating the title). But in any case, too much was placed onto his shoulders from far too early on. And though he assumed a lot of it on his own, since he has a great sense of pride in being the oldest of the Silva siblings, it wasn't only because of it. The collateral damage of Megicula's spell that kept him from being able to say anything, also restricted him to a great extent. But there are elements of not evoking panic among the knights, as well as probably pressure from Papa Silva, and with the final arc revealing what it did, perhaps even influence from Lucius(/Julius).

In any case, he was, for a good part of his life, unable to, or at least not-encourage to open up about his personal thoughts and feelings, which is why he is the kind of a person he is today. Along with all other aspects of his story. He is not a man who is good with words. Though he can function well in an official setting, where there are "rules" as to what to say, and guidelines to abide, but when it comes to more interpersonal "saying the right thing", he is at a loss. So, I think that he is, when he actually does say something about his feelings/emotions, the kind of a person who 110% means what he says.

In any case, I don't think anyone thinks that what he did to Noelle was right. I certainly don't. But I do think that Nozel is a victim of the generations and events that came before as well. He is misguided, and he chose very very poorly, but at the age of 15, in the state of being that he was in, with a father who guided (most likely) him into the direction that we've seen, he was really short of options. Actually, the most hurtful thing we've seen being said to Noelle (aside of maybe Solid throwing a temper tantrum), is Papa Silva calling Noelle as a "shame on the Silva family". So, I think that it was Papa Silva, not Nozel, who directed the family into the form in which we see it in canon. The Silva siblings are just acting out the roles and learned behaviours that were set by their father.

And Nozel, along with Nebra and Solid, are trying to own up to it. There is still a lot to be done on that front, but they are trying. I think that they are trying as a family.

Nozel does give validation to Noelle, and sees that she can grow to be strong, most likely even stronger than their mother, and he is afraid for her, like any caring sibling would be. But he doesn't try to stop her, after he sees what she can do in the right environment (which is with the Bulls.) He recognizes that he's been doing harm onto her, even if it was out of the wish and will to keep her safe, because Noelle is the baby sister of the family. And Nozel has grown to think, again because of their father spewing things like "she's weak", "she's a spot of shame" etc etc, that she really can't fend for herself. Plus, because she struggled with mana control for a long time, it kinda reinforced that thought process that he had learned. So, it was a matter of a fact of him seeing, for himself, that their father was wrong.

I think that Nozel is a complex character. And I think that he is an awkward person, aside of what he knows to do as a captain and royal. But I do think that his heart is in the right place.

I think that he has issues with letting people close, as well as a great deal of fear of abandonment, which he does not want to show, but it's there regardless. Because he's afraid of caring so, so much, only to lose said person. And I think that once someone manages to break down those barriers and get close to him, he will be more than devoted, more than loyal. He will be 120% committed. That's how I feel.

That being said, I think that him opening up to Dorothy, is more about the need to get some things off of his chest. And, if my memory serves me correctly, Dorothy said something along the lines of "he was afraid of talking about Megicula spreading the curse", which wasn't true. Now, this could be about Nozel still not being, somehow, fully able to explain things to Dorothy, or him not fully confiding in her, despite going as far as he did. So, he had reservations about it, but he just needed to get some of it off if his chest. This, to me, speaks about the feeling of guilt and shame that Nozel must be feeling due to what happened to Noelle in the House of Silva. But I do see these two, Nozel and Dorothy, more as friends than anything else.

I also don't think that Nozel will ever forgive himself for the wrongs he has done. Not fully.

Nozel is just a very tragic man.

Thank you for the ask ^^

[kutfinger]

Best Boom Bap Drum Loop Beat Sample - Beat Making Ep. 2 | VortexStudios.com.au #shorts

Best Boom Bap Drum Loop Beat Sample - Beat Making Ep. 2 | VortexStudios.com.au #shorts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhfNHMt70HU Secrets of creating the best Boom Bap beats using a Drum Loop & samples in Episode 2 of our beat-making series. 👉Visit Vortex Music Studios - Where Music and Magic Collide https://www.vortexstudios.com.au/ Video Title: Best Boom Bap Drum Loop Beat Sample - Beat Making Ep. 2 | VortexStudios.com.au #shorts This video is about Best Boom Bap Drum Loop Beat Sample - Beat Making Ep. 2. But It also covers the following topics: Boom Bap Beatmaking Drum Loop Usage Best Sample Beats 🔔Click subscribe to 'Kutfinger' for endless DJ tracks, creative remixes, and unique cat ringtones. Let's make every day enjoyable: https://t.ly/9s9- ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Audio Music is currently on your favorite platforms: 👉Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/37jL9qAGOBJD7uGLRzuEAQ 👉Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/kutfinger 👉M-Xcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/Kutfinger/ 👉Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/au/artist/kutfinger/1638740376 👉Amazon music: https://t.ly/_-vs 👉Youtube music: https://t.ly/Cw4F ✅ Stay Connected With Me. 👉Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DJKutfinger/ 👉Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kutfinger/ 👉Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/kutfinger ✅ For Business Inquiries: Kutfinger@protonmail.com ============================= ✅ Recommended Playlists 👉1 Drum Loop and 3 Samples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86M-z5f7JBk&list=PLwjCBCUP04FOZiyFJMtpp7eqNp6WrOBGG&pp=iAQB 👉Cat Songs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ5DGbh4KRE&list=PLwjCBCUP04FOvzHUWqU0_SIvre90BKUUk&pp=iAQB ✅ Other Videos You Might Be Interested In Watching: 👉Electrify Your Afternoon with Hip Hop and Rap || Kutfinger - Shelton the Electrician https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7XoLiSEX9w 👉Kutfinger - Hard As F*** || Chris Lake inspired (Official Music Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMwh97AmCPg 👉Kutfinger - Her Name Was Sarah: An Award-Winning Emotional Song 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMdz_3Hrikc 👉Kutfinger - Let's Be Friends! (The Official Music Track) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT_F_jbK74M 👉Boom Bap Beats || hip hop instrumental beat 2023 (Kutfinger) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afgHMQ_nrHc ============================= ✅ About Kutfinger. A Warm Welcome To My Channel ‘’ Kutfinger ’’ Hello There! I'm DJ Kutfinger. I make Music, Cat Ringtones, and DJ remix. Here, you're going to find Dj Music-related Videos Regularly. I love making Dj Music in many different styles. I assure you that you will get nice enjoyment by watching the Music on my channel. Your ultimate destination for electrifying beats, pulsating rhythms, and non-stop party vibes. Join us as we unleash the hottest tracks around the globe, featuring the latest hits, remixes, and exclusive mixes from top DJs. Get ready to dance, groove, and elevate your music experience to a whole new level. For Collaboration and Business inquiries, please use the contact information below: 📩 Email: Kutfinger@protonmail.com 🔔Subscribe to 'Kutfinger' for the best DJ music, unique cat ringtones, and exciting remixes. Don't miss out - join in on the fun and enjoyment https://t.ly/9s9- ================================= #boombap #beatmaking #drumloops #musicproduction #samplebeats #shorts Disclaimer: We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of watching any of my publications. You acknowledge that you use the information I provide at your own risk. Do your research. Copyright Notice: This video and my YouTube channel contain dialog, music, and images that are the property of Kutfinger. You are authorized to share the video link and channel and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to my Youtube Channel is provided. © Kutfinger via Kutfinger https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwOSv6hk_1p5V9-NEzL3R2A July 06, 2023 at 04:00AM

[pintsizeddeepthoughts]

From Start to Finish: Television Reviews – Battlestar Galactica

Executive Producer: Ronald D. Moore and David Eick

Starring: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackoff, Jamie Bamber, Tricia Helfer, Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas

Number of Episodes: 76

Years: 2003-2009

Country: United States

“It’s not enough to survive, one has to be worthy of survival.” – Commander William Adama

Where does one start a review of a show as messy and sprawling as this one? The original Battlestar Galactica was a cash grab meant to ride the wave of sci-fi mania after the success of Star Wars in the late 1970s. Lasting only a season, the cheesiness of that show hid a very dark idea – after a nuclear holocaust, there are only 50,000 humans left and they are being pursued by a race a killer robots (called Cylons) bent on their extinction. Fast forward twenty-five years, veteran sci-fi show runner Ronald D. Moore was intrigued by similar ideas: what if, instead of weekly episodes not linked to each other so they could be run in syndication, there was a show where things that broke or were depleted in the previous episode didn’t get fixed?

Starting out as a miniseries that became a backdoor pilot, the reimagined Battlestar Galactica released in 2003 was dark and gritty, filmed in a mockumentary style aboard a ship one could confuse with a submarine or aircraft carrier. The ship had obvious limitations and people who took those limitations seriously. It understood that few of the people, outside of the commander and his second command, had ever been in actual combat before. The characters were fully realized and fully human, prone both resiliency and rash emotion. It understood people told lies to protect themselves from internal and external forces. It knew that mistakes would be made and did not shy from showing us the consequences of the characters’ actions.

And what characters. Although the cast would expand and change over the course of the show’s four official seasons, the core would remain. At the center of the show is Commander William Adama and President of the Colonies, Laura Roslin. Adama (via a towering performance by Edward James Olmos) is flexible, a bluffer, practical, sentimental, and unusually humanitarian for a career military man. His calm demeanor hides explosive rage and as more is asked of him he has to dig deeper to find the will and cleverness to survive. By the end of the series, these asks break him and he begins to come apart. The same goes for Roslin, portrayed with commanding warmth and steeliness by Mary McDonnell. The secretary of education before the holocaust, she grows into her role as president. By the second and third seasons, she’s been tempered by the fires she’s had to put out and the decisions she’s been forced to make. But, like Adama, it comes at a cost that begins to accumulate beyond what she can tolerate.

The show was at its best when it focused on the basics of what it would take to make the fleet survive. The first season featured episodes focused on finding water, finding fuel, and trying to figure out where to go (they settle on a mythical plant, Earth). The second season featured the discovery of another battlestar and how things could’ve gone differently – and very wrong. The third season began with the occupation of their new home by those same Cylons and featured humans using suicide bombers against their occupiers. The fourth season showed all the accumulated battle damage finally taking its toll on the ship to the point of no return. These were real problems that forced characters to react and stretch beyond their comfort zones. For some characters, these storylines cost them everything (I am forever haunted by Michael Hogan’s performance as Saul Tigh in season three). For others, it stripped them of the lies they’d lived by for years. It left them bare, raw, exposed to grief that grips the soul.

This brings us to the controversial series finale, which is tellingly titled “Daybreak”. The series could’ve ended at the fourth season midway point (titled “Revelations”), a brutal, cold, and cruel episode that would’ve cemented the series theme of grim grief. But that’s not how grief works. Eventually it recedes and, one day at a time, day does eventually break the horizon. A lot of what happens in the series finale ties to the sloppy mythology that Moore and his team of writers made up as they went along. While this mythology did provide the show with some of its greatest emotional highs and its best mysteries, it’s not the show’s center. To the end, the show focused on the characters and the series finale nails the correct tone. Grief ends. Dawn does return.

Along with Lost, Battlestar Galactica was a pioneer in showing that serialized storytelling could work on television. As such, the show runners made pioneer’s mistakes. Moore famously admitted they made up the story as they went along, which left them scrambling to wrap up loose ends in the second half the final season (not always successfully). Still, the show is important because it did not flinch from the reality of a such a bleak story. It did not flinch from being cruel to its characters at times or from giving them moments of heartbreaking grace. Edward James Olmos, from the very start of the series, recognized the show’s strength and power and frequently told his fellow castmates that this would be the best job they would ever have. It’s hard to disagree.

[lunarspiral1127]

I finally stayed up to watch the finale of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. I'll be honest, this episode conflicted me. There was some good and some not so good, and I don’t know how to feel about this episode.

*SPOILERS*

Good:

Sam's Captain America suit and the return of Redwing. Looks like how I'd pictured it to be.

Fight scenes were good.

Sam showing Isaiah and Elijah his own exhibit in the museum. It was such an emotional scene. Even though he said, he wanted to be forgotten, Isaiah was so grateful that people will know what he did and been through.

Sam being Sam. Kind, understanding, a good heart, all around good guy.

The cookout scene. It was cute.

Not so good:

John Walker's redemption(?). Like I'd be okay with it if it's done right, but it just felt forced. Okay, he's officially US Agent, but is he working for the government like before or just with Val?

John being US Agent, instead of getting help with his mental issues. I mean, he clearly has PTSD and some other issues that may also be affected due to the serum. Why isn't he getting help for that? But, they let him go back to work?!

Karli. As I said before, I stopped liking and caring about her for a while now, and in this episode, she spiraled down even worse than she did. I didn't care that she died, just knew it was gonna happen. But, no redemption for her I guess. I didn't like that the show tried to sympathize with her, because I couldn't. Not with all the deaths and damage she caused, even with her reasoning for it.

Stop calling Sam Black Falcon! Just because he's black, doesn't mean he should have "black" in the title.

John now working together with Sam and Bucky when they haven't resolved their conflicts in the past, especially with how they were all treated. I mean Bucky still rags on him, so there's still some tension, but it's put aside for now I guess???

John should've saved those people in the truck when it was slowly falling down. It would've made him do something good, instead of attempting it. But, NOPE! Let Sam do it. A regular guy with no super strength lift this armoured truck up with a jetpack and two drones. REALLY?! I get that they wanted Captain America Sam look good, but give something to John at least! And make it make sense!

Conflicting:

Sharon being the Power Broker. I mean it was obvious, but I had my doubts. Guess I was wrong. I don't know how I feel about her being an antagonist now. She wasn't like that in the comics, and I don’t know if this is something that the Sharon Carter fans would like. Personally, I thought the character deserved better than what she got in the MCU. But....I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.

Killing all the super soldiers. I had a feeling it was gonna happen, but they didn't seem like they were as bad as Karli. Still, no redemption for them, cause the show has to kill them all off.

Sam's speech. Like, it wasn't bad, it's just that I don't know how I feel about it. He was basically justifying Thanos' actions with causing the Snap, and justifying Karli's actions. The government guy brought up good points, but it got disregarded for this speech.

Anyway, that's all I got so far.

[remnantoforario]

Unmerry Men AKA The Problem With Robyn Hill

I’ve been sitting on this rant for a while. I’m sure there are people who have talked this topic to death since Volume 7 ended, and did a much better job than I am about to, but I still feel the need to throw my hat in the ring (or shoot my arrow at the target given the subject matter) and say definitively and without question: that Robyn Hill is a terrible character. 

Get some snacks. This is going to be a long one. 

Let me preface this rant by saying I don’t hate Robyn HIll...in CONCEPT. That last word is very important. 

The idea behind her character is a sound one: Atlas is characterized as a country with a VERY clear disparity between the rich (Atlas)

and the poor (Mantle)

So it makes perfect sense that there would be a Robin Hood (see what I did there) type character that would bridge this gap between the two and seek to make things equal, or at least a little less lopsided. As an idea this is great, but the problem (as with most everything in RWBY) is in the execution. 

Outside of Forrest extolling her praises in the back of a cop car in Chapter 2, the first time we see Robyn is when she stops Clover, Ruby, Qrow, and Penny from reaching the Amity tower site. 

During this introduction, she tries to coerce Clover into disclosing classified government information via her Semblance, and Penny has to expose her ambush tactics. Not the best first impression.

Now in a vacuum, this scene isn’t really that bad. Thanks to (clunky) exposition, we are already aware that there is friction between the military and the Happy Huntresses. As such it makes sense that we the audience first meet Robyn as an antagonistic force against RWBY and their allies.

The thing with this though is that all four of the writers of this volume forgot to lift the perception of Robyn being an antagonist until around the final third of the volume. Objectively, there is no reason anyone outside of her own group to want to trust or follow her. 

The M,K,K, & E are trying to position Ironwood and Robyn in the roles of the Sherriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood respectively. The main problem with this is that they fail to establish Ironwood as a tyrannical threat on par with the Sherriff. 

Does he make questionable decisions? Certainly. Are his choices morally wrong? In some cases, yes. But they are more often than not written in a way where the choices he makes are OBJECTIVELY best for everyone (even if they try to frame it otherwise). 

Closing the borders, hiding the Amity plan, diverting resources to FINISH said plan, and his other tactics (while at times misguided) were done in order to protect as many people as he could from Salem and her forces. They were all calculated risks that clearly took a mental and emotional toll on him. He’s a severely broken man trying to keep whatever he has left from falling apart, but everyone is working against him (including his own allies but that’s another story). 

This brings me back to Robyn. She is hailed as the “Hometown Hero of Mantle”, but all we ever do is see her take shots at Ironwood and Jacques and talk about how much the former ISN’T helping Mantle. My question to her, her hardcore cans, and CRWBY is “What has Robyn done to help Mantle?”. RWBYJNR and various talking heads mention how Robyn is helping the people of Mantle, but because the volume (seemed) so rushed to get to Salem’s arrival, we never see her doing anything that’s not directly tied to the plot. 

She’s not working on Mantle’s wall, she’s not in the streets talking to people, handing out medical supplies, giving away food, or anything that actively helps Mantle. We don’t even see her fight Grimm in the streets until the FINAL episodes of the volume. All she and her group do is actively antagonize the military and steal (which we never see them give to the poor). For someone hailed as the town’s hero, she doesn’t seem to really be doing anything to earn that title.   

After the election night massacre, she openly declares war on Ironwood essentially and begins stealing resources needed for the Amity project, until she is ultimately stopped by Blake and Yang. 

Now in theory I have no problem with Yang and Blake telling her about the Amity plan; my main hang up about it is that Robyn has done nothing to earn this trust. 

Until this point Robyn has been getting in their way as they try to reestablish global communications, but now they suddenly feel comfortable telling this sensitive information to a complete stranger and risking a leak even when they KNOW Tyrian is in the city? Instead of telling her that, why not tell her about Tyrian instead? I’m sure she would want justice for the people he killed. 

Then she is later invited to the Council meeting (despite not being a member) and made aware of classified information that she shouldn’t know of, as well as make a complete ass of herself and show why she probably shouldn’t have won in the first place. 

This leads to her finally believing Ironwood, but eventually that gets tossed out the window at the end of the volume where her actions almost directly lead to Clover’s death.  

As she, Qrow, and Clover are transporting Tyrian back to Atlas, Ironwood’s order to arrest RWBYJNRQO is issued. Now there are three things that are very important to keep in mind here after this order is issued: 

1. Clover is clearly conflicted about following this order. 

2. Qrow is calmly trying to talk things out. 

3. Robyn is NOT under arrest. 

Let me repeat that. ROBYN IS NOT UNDER ARREST.

So as Qrow is level headedly suggesting they all talk it out, Robyn (who again is NOT under arrest) starts a fight that results in Tyrian escaping his restraints, the plane going down (after Tyrian kills the pilot and co-pilot), Robyn herself being unconscious, and Clover being ultimately being murdered. 

Now tell me after all the information is presented, why we are supposed to care for this character? What have the writers done to position her as someone we should invest in? 

A lot of her accomplishments are told to us rather than shown, and whenever we do see her onscreen she’s mostly a nuisance that makes pretty much any situation she’s in worse. Yes, I know this is just one volume and she will obviously be a central character in V8 and possibly 9, but the damage has been done. Any attempt to salvage her will just be cleaning up the fall out from V7. 

Now since I’m not one of those people that likes to complain for the sake of it, I’ll voice my opinion on how Robyn could have been written better. 

The first thing we do is distance her from the Happy Huntresses. She will still be the leader, but that information won’t be revealed until AFTER the election. It’s not really a good look for a vigilante to try and run for a public office if they are still breaking the law. That’s like Bruce Wayne running for mayor of Gotham AS Batman (though the people would likely still vote for him). 

So as far as the public (including Ironwood and RWBYJNRQO) are concerned, Robyn is a normal Mantle city official and Joanna Greenleaf is the leader of the Huntresses. For those of you who don’t remember who she is (and I don’t blame you), this is Joanna Greenleaf: 

The second thing I’m going to do is give her a more established connection to Ironwood. My idea? Former military. Robyn was once a part of the Atlas military’s intelligence and recon division because of her lie detecting semblance. When she discovers corruption within the system (lets say something having to do with Faunus, the mines, Mantle, or the SDC) she exposes it but quickly becomes disillusioned with military life and is discharged. She then begins living in Mantle and becomes their representative. We can say this happened maybe five to ten years before the series itself starts. 

She served under Ironwood and has a deep respect for him, but does not agree with his decisions as defacto head of the Council. This is what leads to the friction between them. 

Next, we change up how she and the Huntresses are introduced in V7. When RWBYJNRQO arrive in Mantle the election race has only barely begun (we’re pushing it back). We see posters for Robyn and maybe hear snippets of an interview she is giving to a news station on one of the TVs. 

When the Grimm attack, instead of RWBYJNRQO running out to help immediately, they are cut off by the Happy Huntresses who quickly get rid of the monsters. Ruby and the others wonder who they are before the Huntresses scatter when Penny and the Ace-Ops arrive. The heroes are still arrested for stealing an airship and violating Atlas airspace (as they should have), but now there is some intrigue about who that group of women were. 

Forrest still gives his exposition, but leaves out Robyn because no one knows she’s their leader. 

When the gang arrive at the school they meet with Ironwood and Winter, but hear Ironwood complaining about “that woman” after having just finished a call on his scroll. 

Fast forward to the mine mission. Instead of Jacques showing up, this is where we gets their first full appearance from Robyn. She is brought via airship to the mine (along with an exasperated Winter and Penny) and begins to badger Ironwood about ducking their meeting, stating that Mantle still hasn’t received the supplies he promised days ago. You could also have her briefly greet the kids and Qrow before going back to argue with Ironwood. 

Things proceed as normal, but inbetween some of the bigger story events we see news reports of Robyn helping people around Mantle. Feeding the poor, cheering up the miners, handing out supplies, giving speeches, and other things to show that she really is the hero of the people. Not everything has to be directly tied to the plot, you can use extra devices like tv news and the like to expand on characters. They tried this in V7 but they didn’t go far enough with in my opinion. This would inform us more on Robyn’s character without her being the direct focus as well as give the audience an actual reason to get behind the things she says. 

The main aspect of Robyn’s character that I would focus on would be her relationship with Ironwood. Nothing romantic, just how their ideologies align (or don’t) and how they view each other. They respect one another. Robyn knows Ironwood is a good man, but she doesn’t fully understand why he’s doing the things that he is doing. She doesn’t know why he’s being so secretive. She wants to give him a chance, but he keeps denying her. 

On Ironwood’s part he knows that morally Robyn is in the right and genuinely wants to help everyone in both cities, but his paranoia will not allow him to simply tell her what is really going on. Salem’s reach is far and if she was able to turn Lionheart (one of Ozpin’s closest confidants) then she can get to anyone and that is frightening. 

This is why Robyn utilizes the Happy Huntresses. They are able to move outside the law and do the things she can’t (similar to Jim Gordon and Batman). She doesn’t want to condemn Ironwood because of all the good he’s done, but people are suffering and something needs to change.

Neither are wrong, but they can’t find common ground.  

I’d position Robyn more as a fringe type of character. She doesn’t directly intervene in the plot, but you know she’s always there bidding her time until she can be more prominent.

I have more ideas for her, but this post is long enough as it is so let’s just end it here. 

TLDR; Robyn Hill is a good character concept with horrible execution. Hopefully she will be somewhat better utilized in future volumes, or kill her off at the start of V8. At this point I’m good with either. 

[927roses-and-stuff]

Miracles in Gotham: Chapter 3: Unwelcome Discoveries (Part 1)

Hey, guys! This fic is inspired by @ozmav mav’s Maribat AU. Shoutout to @mystery-5-5  for brainstorming ideas with me for this fic. 

Midterms have got me acting up. Despite the quarantine, I literally wasn’t motivated to write until the moment I could use writing to procrastinate. Absolutely brilliant logic. Truly. Thank you guys so much for the wait and I hope you enjoy this chapter.  

If you want to see more, follow: #miraclesingotham or ask to be added to the tag list.

P.S. For the sake of continuity, I’m going to ignore the Heroes United thing because that episode was basically a fanfic of the fanfic and as much as I loved the animation and the new characters...I’ve seen better plots and explanations for a lot of the similar problems in the Maribat fandom. Also Sparrow is probably a reference to Batman, anyways. Also, canon has just gone out the window...I guess...whoops. 

P.P.S. Swearing tw, death tw. 

Please remember this is rated M for a reason. Also, it is my headcanon that not everyone who dies during the akuma attacks come back. Of course, it’s not mentioned in a children’s show, but I’ve always seen the Miraculous Cure as a cure for physical, non-living objects as they’re easier to fix, and lives take a lot more effort and energy from the user to revive. And since Marinette is a child, there’s not going to be a lot of energy to spare.

Tag list: @northernbluetongue @spicybelladonna @my-name-is-michell @legendaryneckjudgestudent @lokiifriggasonn @zerotosiki

First Previous Next Fanfic

To the members of the Justice League…

I am writing to you as Chat Noir, superhero of Paris and holder of the Black Cat Miraculous of Destruction, and partner to Ladybug, the official Guardian and the holder of the Ladybug Miraculous of Creation. I come to you with a plea similar to ones that we have sent you a year ago. The magical terrorist, Hawkmoth, is still at large here in Paris, France. If you are not aware of who he is, Hawkmoth is a domestic terrorist in Paris who relies on the power of the Butterfly Miraculous to create a physical and amplified manifestation of a person’s negative emotions, using the victim as a host, using magical butterflies as his form of transmission. These are called akumas. The akuma allows Hakwmoth to essentially get inside the mind of  his victims and manipulate and amplify their emotions.  We have been fortunate enough to have a failsafe in Ladybug, who can repair any physical damages, and even bring back lives, from these attacks. However, both Ladybug and I have reached our wits’ ends with no lead to Hawkmoth’s true identity. The people of Paris are suffering both from emotional trauma and the physical trauma of being subjugated, manipulated, experiencing bouts of amnesia, and even resurrecting multiple times. Hawkmoth has even taken to exclusively targeting a middle-school class at College Francois-Dupont.

Ladybug and I are aware of the risks superhero presence may bring since we will not survive a fight if any more experienced superheroes such as yourselves are akumatized. However, I feel that we have no other choice. Our Master has recently been put out of commission and the rest of our comrades have had their identities compromised. Ladybug is now the Guardian of the rest of the Miraculous. And although she will not approve of my plea, even your  advice or insight will be of use to us.

Please consider our plight and contact us as soon as you can.

Chat Noir 

Bruce Wayne was not a perfect man, he will admit. However, he did pride himself on his sense of logic and adaptability to most situations, as long as they stayed within the mortal realms of believability that is. Magic, however, or anything pertaining to the supernatural was out of his forte; in fact, he often liked to pretend it did not exist despite having acquaintances and enemies whose entire lives revolved around it. There was a reason he did not tolerate the  prolonged presence of meta-humans in Gotham, after all. 

He re-read through the email once, twice, again and again, desperately wishing that it had not been his shift to look through the messages that the Justice League received on a daily basis. Why couldn’t it have been Superman or Wonder Woman? Or better yet, Dr. Fate or Zatanna, never mind the fact that the latter was technically retired. Any of them would’ve made sense of this gibberish that was laid out in front of him. 

Initially, he thought it had been a coded message. It made perfect sense, in his opinion. The only concrete fact he could dissect out of this nonsense was the presence of a domestic terrorist and how they were targeting some middle school students for whatever reason. His mind recalled  the recent conversation he had with André Bourgeois yesterday. Even he had mentioned a domestic terrorist going after his daughter’s class, which was why he reached out to Bruce, since Bruce would be the most fitted to protect them with his resources, despite Gotham being the crime capital of the world. He nodded to himself; the facts were consistent then. There was a terrorist and middle school students were the targets. 

On one of the other screen monitors, he had pulled up records of College Francois Dupont School for a background check using a VPN to connect to French service networks. Both the email from this Chat Noir (Selina would get a kick out of that) and André failed to mention the terrorist’s intentions with these kids. However, looking through the different classes, there had been a special note besides Mme. Bustier’s class that stated:

“High vulnerability to akumas.”

This was where Bruce was once again stumped. Of course, he really couldn’t deny the existence of magic, but accepting that meant accepting that the terrorist used magical butterflies as his form of attack. Bruce wasn’t a qualified psychologist or any sort of specialist, but surely magical butterflies could not give you emotional trauma, mind-control, or even as Chat Noir had implied, a means to murder. 

Bruce scanned through Mme. Bustier’s class to look for anything that might be different from other classes. If he recalled correctly, this was the same class that André’s kid was in. He took note of the name, Chloé Bourgeois, and other notable names such as Adrien Agreste (who’s father was a fashion mogul and a model in his own right), Lila Rossi (a diplomat’s daughter), Max Kanté (a genius, and he noted to himself to see if that held true when the class was under his supervision), Marinette Dupain-Cheng (the class president and the designer of a recent rock album according to Jason who had obsessed over the cover for a few weeks before Alfred confiscated it), and Alya Césaire (an aspiring journalist who ran a blog called the Ladyblog). 

Okay, he rationalized. While not all of these kids were significant, some, like the Mayor’s own daughter, would be prime targets for a terrorist, so that made some sort of sense in Bruce’s mind. 

He sighed again, wishing that he had a cup of coffee or an energy drink with him at the moment. Unfortunately, Tim’s recent addiction meant no one could have it. Bruce scoffed underneath his breath. Alfred had really weird rules when it came to show “family support.” Tim was a grown man who should suffer his own consequences. Alas, no one argues with Alfred lest they risked his wrath. 

Bruce hovered over the link under Mlle. Césaire’s file, the Ladyblog. Perhaps it would give him some answers. 

As a bright ladybug designed website popped up, Bruce realized he might have been so wrong. 

He scrolled through the website thoroughly from the latest posts to the earliest. He noticed a concerning trend where the later blog posts centered more around one of Césaire’s classmates, Lila Rossi, and shaky videos of a red and black spotted figurem and a black cat figure fleeing the scene, or fighting some sort of abomination that Bruce did not even attempt to understand. In one video it was the two heroes against a flock of pigeons, or a gigantic baby, or whatever else. Bruce had half a mind to dismiss the entire blog as based on falsities, however one of the videos caught his eye. 

It was a video titled: “Syren: Paris Going Underwater!!” 

That was concerning, considering a flooded Paris would’ve featured on international news, not just on an amateur blog by a middle schooler. Fortunately for him, the video quality was clearer, allowing him to watch as the camera recorded the scene of that day. 

Bruce jolted awake and snapped to attention when he realized it was being filmed on a rooftop, and that the water levels were still rising as the video progressed. From what the camera captured, there were only a handful of people on each rooftop; not even making up a fifth of the Parisian population in total. 

What the fuck?

Then, as the video concluded, gigantic swarms of red and white bugs (ladybugs?) filled the camera’s frame and when it disappeared, everything was back to what he presumed was normal. The video then faded to black, posting statistics that chilled Bruce to the fucking bone. 

“Death count: 1.528 million Parisians

Resurrection count: 1.51 million Parisians

Injured count: 10 000 Parisians

Permanent death count: 18 000 Parisians

In honour of the Parisians who were not revived and were injured during the attack, the Ladyblog, offers our condolences, and will help in any way we can online and offline.  The akuma victim, as always, will remain anonymous for safety purposes.  Links to help organizations and donation funds to the peoples and families affected will be posted below. Additional links will be posted for available online mental health services.”

And, if Chat Noir was to be believed, some people had died multiple times. 

After making sure the video was not doctored in any way (though that would be cruel to assume about a kid’s blog), Bruce sent Chat Noir’s email (along with the earlier videos from both heroes and an email from Marinette Dupain-Cheng that he had found) and all of the links he had amassed to his own computer in the Bat Cave before closing all the tabs on the monitors. Swerving around, he stormed to the Batmobile, eyebrows furrowed in solemnity. 

Magic or not, whatever terrorist was plaguing Paris had a pretty damn high casualty count, and the only people that were stopping him were this Ladybug and Chat Noir people, who did not seem to be properly equipped (the Ladybug heroine was using a yoyo, for fuck’s sake) to deal with someone of this power. Not to mention, Bruce winced, their mentor  was “out of commission” whatever that meant, with their peers being compromised, so they probably had no outside help.

And it seems, Bruce’s features darkened into a scowl, his dear friend André Bourgeois had a lot of explaining to do. Police department has it handled, his ass. 

In the meantime, he was going to make damn sure the class under his care would have a relaxing reprieve even if he had to lock up every villain in Arkham Asylum himself. 

________________________________________________________________

Dear Diary, 

The talk with Chat was a bust. I know he thinks I don’t trust him, but I wish he knew how much I’m trying to, but it’s not as simple as he makes it out to be...right?  And of course I trust him with my life, but as the Guardian, I can’t just make impulsive decisions like going to other superheroes, especially when there’s no guarantee they would help us, or can even be trusted in the first place! And I can’t just reveal our identities to each other either. It would put Chat and the rest of the Miraculous at risk. And I really don’t want a repeat of Chat Blanc…

That future will never happen on my watch. I forbid it. 

Speaking of other superheroes, I think there might be someone though, who could help us, even a little bit. 

Marianne. 

She wasn’t a Guardian, but she was a Ladybug user for a while and was really close to Master Fu. She must know something. She’s in London so she might not be available but...

I’ll check up on her today after class! If she has any helpful advice, I’ll be sure to share it with Chat too. 

Gotta go!

Bisoux, 

Marinette

Scrambling to get ready, Marinette fumbled with her pigtails and shoulder bag simultaneously, trying to make sure that her pigtails were just right. Tikki zoomed around, helping her get ready by shoving stray pens and pencils into her pockets. When they were done, Marinette rushed downstairs, swiping one of the freshly-made quiche along the way. Just before she exited the store, she turned back to give her Maman and Papa a smooch. Hastily, she then left the bakery, the bakery’s bell ringing behind her as she sprinted to school. 

It was a mystery for most people, but despite living less than five minutes away from the school, Marinette was always late. Marinette liked to blame her Ladybug duties when Tikki asked, but she knew better. She had the habit of being late since before she knew the Miraculous existed. 

To be fair though, Marinette usually slept in because she was exhausted from schoolwork, designing,

and Ladybug duties. Was it her fault that Hawkmoth liked making 3 AM akumas? Was it her fault that coffee- for all the espresso and sugar she dumped into it, and despite all those hipster blogs saying otherwise- did nothing to help her stay awake? Of course not. If anything she was a victim here; a victim of late night akumas and faulty biology. 

Fortunately for her (and her quiche), she was actually earlier today than usual. She could see students milling around the courtyard behind the school. Some sat with their friend groups while others huddled to catch up on the homework from the night before. 

Unfortunately, one of those groups was Lila and her friends. Lila sat on one of the picnic tables, talking about whatever grand adventure she supposedly went on or whichever famous celebrity she supposedly saved from a rare type of cancer or something while her friends sat around her, captivated with every word. Marinette rolled her eyes. It was too early for this. 

She steered away from them towards the other side of the yard, where she could see Alya and Nino cuddling while finishing their homework. She glanced back at Lila, who waved at the couple before going back to whatever story she was regaling to her loving audience. It was probably because Alya and Nino hadn’t seen Lila greet them in the first place, but Marinette couldn’t help feeling a bit happy that they didn’t return her greeting. 

“Morning, guys!” She greeted as she approached their table, sitting on the other side. 

Alya looked up first. “Hey! You woke up early today,” she teased, giving her shoulder a friendly nudge.

“Heh, guess it’s my lucky day today,” she said. As she sat down, she began eating the quiche she had swiped earlier. “Well, almost, anyway.”

Alya rolled her eyes and smirked. “You live in front of the school. It’s your own damn fault at this point.” 

Nino, who had been pouring over a worksheet that was due today, finally looked up. Upon seeing Marinette, he smiled. “Hey, dude. You’re actually early!” 

At Marinette’s exasperated groan, both Alya and Nino fell into giggles, Marinette shortly following along. 

“Keep that up, and I’m not gonna let you guys eat at my place for lunch,” she teased, wagging a finger at them. 

Alya wagged her own finger, engaging in a finger sword fight. “As if your mom would ever let us starve!” 

Marinette laughed, as she wrapped her finger around Alya’s and lightly slammed it onto the table, declaring her victory. 

“Okay, okay, you got me.” Marinette went back to eating her quiche, devouring it before it got too cold. For once, she was in a pretty good mood. 

“Hey, Alya, Nino,”

And of course, she just had  to jinx it. 

Marinette didn’t even try to join in the conversation to acknowledge Lila’s presence. If Lila wanted to talk to her, she needed to stop lying about everything; and with her supposed “lying disease,” that wasn’t happening anytime soon. She only wished Adrien was here so someone could sympathize with her. 

“Oh, hey Lila,” Alya greeted, having gained her hand back and waved. “Ignore Nino here. He forgot about Mendeleiv’s worksheet due today.” 

“Oh, I see.” Lila said. “Well, you know, Nino. If you ever need help with science, one of my cousins actually won a Noble Peace Prize for his contributions in molecular chemistry.” 

Nino, to his credit, only muttered an “uh huh” before turning the worksheet over and frantically scribbling all over it. Marinette briefly wondered if Nino understood what he was writing down- or if he cared. 

Alya perked up. “Wow, that’s amazing Lila! What did your cousin do?”

Lila smiled bashfully, and looked away, waving her hand. “Oh, you know, it was the discovery of some man-made element.” Marinette had to give Lila credit- she knew how to fake her blushes really well. “I’m nowhere near as smart as my cousin, you know? All the scientific words get me so confused!” 

Marinette buried her head in her arms. Did she need to be here for this? She could just slip away? Glancing at Lila, who caught her eyes, she decided against it. Like hell she was letting Lila take away her time with her  friends. 

Alya laughed good-naturedly. “Oh, I understand completely. English is so much more of my forté, you know?” 

“Yeah I totally get what you mean.” Lila stopped laughing as her gaze landed on Marinette. Only she seemed to notice the glare she gave her.  “Oh, hi, Marinette. Glad to see you’re early today.” 

“Yeah,” she deadpanned. “Hi.” With a fake smile, she robotically waved at her. 

“Well, anyways I got to go. See you later Alya.”  Lila said, waving her fingers before finally walking away. Marinette exhaled. Thank kwami. She may have been less obnoxious today but that was probably because of Alya’s presence. 

Speaking of, the said girl turned towards her. “You could be nicer towards her.” 

“She almost got me expelled.” Marinette had had this conversation with Alya many times before. At this point, her responses came like clockwork. She contemplated telling Alya’s threat back in Lila’s first day, but she really wasn’t ready for the backlash if Alya accused her  of lying. 

“Well,” Alya stuttered. “It was because she has an illness that makes her lie uncontrollably.” 

Marinette was pretty sure there was no such illness but at this point, Lila had somehow convinced everyone it was an actual illness. That, or no one wanted to point out the obvious lie, including administration. Which would be pretty negligent of the school admin so she hoped not. 

“Alya, if it was just an illness that makes her tell lies, pray tell, who put the test answers in my bag and the necklace in my locker?” she asked. 

“Maybe, well,” Alya tried coming up with an answer but failed, thereby changing the subjects. “Look, both of you are my friends, and I don’t want to get in between the two of you.” 

Marinette sighed. “Yeah, yeah.” She picked up the discarded quiche container and her bag. “I gotta go to class and see if Mme. Bustier needs help.” 

Alya frowned. “Marinette, wait.” 

“It’s okay, really.” Marinette assured her, before walking away. When she was climbing up the steps to the entrance, she sighed heavily. She didn’t really understand Alya’s logic sometimes. If she knew about Lila’s supposed lying disease, why did she put Lila’s trash on the Ladyblog? If Alya knew Lila’s lies had led to Marinette’s initial expulsion, why still defend her? Marinette shook the thoughts away, not wanting to get into that impeding headache. Lila Rossi was never worth her time. 

When she reached the entrance, Lila was leaning against the doors, her arms crossed. Her olive green eyes were glaring right at her. 

“Dupain-Cheng.” 

“Rossi.” 

Lila strutted up to her, getting uncomfortably close to her face. “I told you what would happen if you didn’t play along.” 

Marinette stared back, unimpressed. She really had more pressing issues than this weird power play Lila wanted to play. Leaning back and stepping to the side, she said, “I already told you I’m not scared of you, Lila.” 

Marinette didn’t spare her another glance. In some ways, she pitied Lila. What kind of life did you have that you were so desperate for attention you lied about everything, and tried to get rid of anyone else who called you out? 

She really hoped Alya would soon see sense. Adrien had once told her to take the high road, and honestly? Sometimes, it felt good to not let Lila’s lies get under her skin. 

Then again, when did Lila ever go down so simply? 

[ariyadaivaris]

i am putting this one under the cut. it’s a little too much to have out in the open, haha

i've been kind of expecting to have to write something like this for awhile. i mean, Nothing Lasts Forever, obviously, and this being primarily about 205, we've always been on the edge of it ending just because it's 205. so, i've always had the idea of what the end of this thing that holds a disproportionate amount of meaning to me would look like in the back of my mind. and it's been fizzling out for a bit. there's been some time to prepare. not that i HAVE prepared, but there's been some time to.

i don't really need to say 205 is important to me. it is! it's important to me in a way that is incredibly pathetic and strange. even after withdrawing somewhat, after losing enthusiasm and becoming a bit too paranoid to settle into enjoyment, after deciding to not say every thought that crosses my mind about the cruiserweights (which is still like, 90% of my brain activity, unfortunately), 205 has a hold on me like very few things have had. 205 is where i kind of sharpened my eye for characters and storytelling (and where i learned to see those things where they do not exist, lol), 205 is where i've met a lot of people who i consider sincerely very important to me, it is like... okay. listen. it's hard to say! because i feel like, this blog itself is kind of evidence of all i could say. i don't need to tell you that i like 205. you can see it, every week, in chunky paragraphs, whether you want to or not. it is something i hold dear. it is something that gave me friends when i was coming out of a nightmarish part of my life that damaged my ability to have friends at all. (a damage that persists.) it has given me something to hold on to when things are rough! it has given me a way to experience the range of human emotion in ways that are both painfully awfully real and shows in the theatre of fiction. it's...it's hard to state this. i'm very embarrassed to be sincere on the internet, and to express the full extent of my feelings on something, but 205 is like. a sort of bedrock in my life. it's. LISTEN it's important to me is what i'm saying here

i've spent the last five years thinking about 205 a LOT. specifically i've spent the last five years mostly trying to get back the feeling of the first two. which is sad, but that's wrestling, babey! it's a story like nothing i've ever experienced before, in good and shit ways. it's given me more of an appreciation for stories that drag things out to degrees you can't imagine, for stories that fuck up and disappear and falter. it has given me a lot of appreciation for wrestling as a whole, for what it can be when it's at its best, and for what it means to put your entire being into something when you know you're gonna lose, or fail, or go unseen entirely. for...for the work. the effort of things. it's really shaped my taste in things, i guess. always, always, always chasing that feeling i got seeing titus worldwide's story play out. or that feeling of tony preparing for that tournament match with drew and realizing that that story was never laid to rest. that feeling of cedric winning the title at mania and burying his face in mustafa's shoulder as soon as the bell rung. there's been a lot of disappointment, but it is hard for me to believe that it wasn't worth it, because there is nothing else like 205 when it's good. wrestling, generally, sure. but...205 is where i was first planted. it's where i've stayed. and i'm okay with that.

this isn't really anything, is it. i don't...think in coherent ways as much as i used to. my ability to hold a thread of thought has deteriorated. but. um. 205 is kind of over. it isn't LITERALLY over (though, without tony and ariya, i think maybe it's not that long until it will be), but the hope i've had of chasing the feeling of 2017 205 is officially dead. and it's a really weird place to be in. this has been, more or less, my life for the last five years. and it'll never be the same again. i've known for awhile that it was probably never going to be what i wanted again, and i've been trying to wrap my head around it for a bit. i think i'm kind of stubborn in this way! where, if you keep going and going and going, if you just hang on a little bit longer, then it'll be worth it. hope or sunk cost fallacy. who knows. but this is the door closing on all of that.

i can't say i'm upset that tony and ariya are leaving dubya! i think it's objectively a bad company and no amount of 205, good or not, is worth its continued existence. it sucks to lose a job, yeah, and with an employer that communicates as poorly as dubya, there's no way to get through the process unscathed. that sucks for the real people behind it, and regardless of my feelings about these two human dudes i know relatively little about besides playing some of my favorite characters that exist, i do hope they land on their feet. i am kind of relieved they're out of dubya, though. you know how it is. we've been through this before.

um. i'm probably not gonna watch 205 anymore. i've played with the idea before! but this is it. i have no reason to keep watching. i'll keep an eye on jiro, but i'm indifferent towards everything else it's doing, and i don't watch nxt on principle, so this is...kind of it for my engagement with the cruiserweight division as it exists canonically. christ that feels weird. if tony and ariya go somewhere else, i'll keep an eye out. my options for keeping up with wrestling are unfortunately pretty limited. i don't have the money to do it, usually, i don't know where the streams are, and i've mostly withdrawn from the Community so i don't know where i'd ask about other promotions, or if i'd be welcome. not anyone's fault! just how it is. i've met a lot of people i care about here, and i consider you all part of my life, but i mostly keep to myself. it's very lonely, but it's no one's fault but mine. i'm very bad at reaching out or keeping in touch. i want to. but i try to...maintain as little connection to the world around me as possible. just in case. there are a lot of friends i've made here that have stopped using this site, or that i've just lost touch with, or that i could have become closer with if i ever tried but i never had the guts for it. i have a lot of regrets about this. i'd like to talk to more of you one day. it's not like the door is closed entirely. i will hold out hope for this as well, though. it's what i do.

[later attempt to capture the feeling better: i hold 205 very dear to me. my biggest reason, i think, is that for a time before rabbit went down and i got in my own head, i was part of something. we were a community for a bit. a lot of 205's appeal, to me, was the camaraderie between people, this sense of everyone being connected and caring for each other even while feuding or struggling. and that was what existed as a fan of it. i was alone for a long time right before getting into 205, going through a very weird and bad relationship where nothing else existed outside of it and nothing of myself existed within it. and then, once i was back in the world, stranded and alone, i met a lot of people i consider my dearest friends through 205, people i still carry with me every day even if we don't talk for months, even if i avoid the possibility of getting too close now. suddenly, i was a part of the world again, and it was everything! it was...it was very special, to me. 205 has always been associated with that feeling in my head, that feeling of...i don't know exactly how to say it. the feeling of knowing you can come home now. it's something that dissolved a bit as everyone went their separate ways and as i kind of withdrew from the world again, it's CERTAINLY something that dissolved in 205, and i guess i've spent a lot of time chasing The Glory Days Of 205 Live Etc Etc because i miss it. no one's fault. just mine. maybe it won't be this way forever, though. i would like to think it won't. i want to be able to change.]

this is weird i don't really know how to say all of this, it feels both larger and smaller than it should, or than i thought it would. i'll still be here, this blog will still be up, i will still talk about wrestling and i will definitely be treating a lot of cruiserweights like my ocs, i was not joking about that. i have a very developed internal universe for 205 lol. quite embarrassing really! but. this is the end of something as well. the continued canon of 205, and my continued interest and hope in it. so. maybe i will rewatch it finally! having a set beginning and endpoint for it. 237 episodes, i think. which is a lot, but also doesn't account for all the matches there are to skip over or pretend don't exist lol. or maybe i will just sit with what there is and build from there. or maybe i will just keep it all to myself. i don't really know. i wasn't as ready to say goodbye as i thought i'd been.

um. man. i'll probably keep talking about it eventually, because i love the sound of my own voice, so this isn't really an end so much as a very long, clumsy, unnecessary rumination. but...well. i will miss 205, and i will miss experiencing it with everyone. i missed those things already. but i will miss them in a different way now. and we will all see what becomes of former 205 members, of wrestling, and of the people we are when we watch it together. i'll look forward to it. and i will see all of you around. thank you for staying this long, i hope some of my derangement has been fun to read about, or something you enjoyed or laughed at or thought about afterwards. i hope i've been a fun addition to the text, if nothing else! or a funny cringe compilation (the first funny cringe compilation to ever exist). either way. it's truly been an honor. thank you, thank you, thank you all. i love you very much. i’m not going anywhere and i will see you again, i promise you this. take care until then <3

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 (4 of 6)

Time for another round of episode reviews from season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Episode 16: Ethics

Plot (as given by me):

During an inspection in the cargo bay, Lt. Worf is hit from above by a falling cargo container, and he awakens later in sick bay to learn he has been paralysed by the accident.  With no cure for the condition immediately to hand, Worf asks Commander Riker to assist him in a ritual suicide known as the Hegh’bat something all Klingons do when faced with such injuries.  Riker is appalled by the idea, and Dr Crusher likewise refuses to give up on the idea of Worf recovering, bringing aboard neurologist Dr Toby Russell to consult on the matter.

 Riker seeks advice from Captain Picard, who asks him to consider the matter from Worf’s perspective; as a Klingon, Worf is part of a warrior culture that, by its very nature, would disdain physical infirmity and cannot abide life with a disability as humans can.  Eventually, Riker finds a way out of assisting Worf by noting that the ritual should be performed by a family member, namely Alexander, and when Worf tries to use Alexander’s age and part-human heritage as excuses, Riker calls him on it, accusing him of being afraid to fight for his life as many of their fallen comrades have done.

 Meanwhile, Dr Russell notes that Klingon anatomy is heavily over-designed, possessing a redundancy for every vital physical function to ensure that if a primary organ is damaged, a secondary one can always compensate.  She suggests using a genetics-based replication therapy that could create a new spinal column for Worf, but it is still experimental and Russell has only a 37% success rate in holographic simulations. Dr Crusher suggests they’ll stick to conventional methods, but when these prove insufficient for Worf, Russell offers him her experimental treatment.  Later, the Enterprise assists survivors from the transport ship USS Denver, which has been damaged by a Cardassian mine.  When Crusher learns Russell tried an experimental treatment on a patient who subsequently died without considering the use of conventional medicine, she has Russell relieved of duty.

 Worf ultimately opts to undergo Russell’s procedure against Dr Crusher’s advice, and Picard has to convince Crusher that while normally her normal medical philosophy would be the more valid option, in Worf’s case a high-risk operation is better than either a life being disabled or ritual suicide.  The operation initially appears successful, but Worf goes into cardiac arrest moments after his vital functions are taken off life support, and he apparently dies.  A heart-broken Dr Crusher has to break the news to Alexander and to Counsellor Troi, who Worf named as Alexander’s guardian if he should die during the operation. Alexander insists on seeing his father, but when he does, Worf shows signs of life.  It turns out Worf’s brain has a back-up for his synaptic functions in the same way that his body has multiple back-up organs.

 While Dr Crusher is thrilled that Worf will recover, she condemns Dr Russell for putting her research efforts ahead of the lives her patients, pointing out that proper medical research takes time and intensive study, and that Russell is ‘taking short-cuts, right through living tissue’.  Meanwhile, Worf begins his recovery and allows Alexander to help him, having previously tried to keep the boy away during his paralysis.

Review:

This episode is one with a very apt title, as there’s actually not one but two issues of ethics being tackled.  The first is around the idea of euthanasia of the permanently disabled or terminally ill.  For me, this is the least well-handled of the two because it’s being tackled via a character from a warrior society, and those tend to be the most barbaric around the differently abled.  Consider the film 300, and what that showed us of how the ancient Spartans would kill at birth any child who was not physically ‘perfect’.  For all that it makes sense from a strictly tactical and militaristic perspective, assuming you’re only looking for physical prowess on the battlefield, the idea of trying to get anyone to kill themselves over a bum leg or deformed arm or anything like that is discrimination and murder, pure and simple.  To put someone out of their misery when facing a painful degenerative illness with no chance of a cure before the end whatsoever, that is one thing, but to euthanise the disabled just for being disabled?  That is simply barbaric and inhuman, and frankly an attitude no one on the Enterprise should have been trying to endorse.  Frankly, I lost some respect for Picard and gained a lot for Riker looking at how they acted; Picard is all but giving an all-clear to his tactical officer topping himself, and Riker is the only one trying to make Worf fight for his life like a real warrior.

 The other ethical debate revolves around the question of medical ethics, and whether the end justifies the means when it comes to short-cuts and other unsound research methods.  In this, it’s clear Crusher is the one in the right, because the validity of Russell’s argument is founded on the idea that Worf is from a culture where the high-risk experimental operation beats the immediate alternatives.  If, like me, you see Worf’s attitude as typical of the regularly abled acting like spoiled, whining babies because they’ve been made part of the differently abled community, then Russell’s arguments cease to carry weight.  Research should take time where it needs to, especially in case you’re proceeding from a false supposition that the research actually disproves.  The biased results of improper research into vaccines and autism resulting in autistics being vilified as a result of vaccine science when they’re actually nothing of the sort is by itself reason enough that improper research should not only be banned, but treated as a criminal offence.

 Perhaps the biggest undermining element of this episode, however, is that it centres on something happening to a main character of the show and not a guest character.  Anytime issue exploration on an issue like this involves a main character, especially on a show like Next Generation which doesn’t really do overall story arcs even by this stage, you know the character will somehow recover and all will return to status quo.  Had the show done this with a guest character, they could have gone a different way and perhaps avoided potential advocacy of some very, very morally questionable stances on these issues.  It’s great drama and good issue exploration, but I think the show should have been more opposed the idea of killing off the disabled just for being disabled than it appeared to me.  For me, the episode only gets 6 out of 10, and it’s lucky I don’t mark it down more than that.

Episode 17: The Outcast

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is contacted by a humanoid race called the J'naii, who as a species have no gender. They ask the crew for help in finding a shuttle which has gone missing. It is theorized that the shuttle disappeared into a pocket of null space, a type of space which drains energy rapidly. In short order, a rescue mission is planned, for which Riker volunteers to pilot a shuttle to retrieve the shuttle crew. A member of the J'naii named Soren insists on accompanying Riker, acting as a co-pilot. Soren proves to be a good pilot. Riker and Soren share a meal and become more comfortable with each other. They are interrupted by another J'naii, and Soren leaves quickly.

 While the pair is charting the null space, the shuttle is damaged, and Soren is injured. While being treated by Dr Crusher, Soren asks her several questions about female gender identification. While Soren and Riker work on the shuttle, Soren confesses that she is attracted to Riker and states that she has a female gender identity. Soren explains that the J'naii are an androgynous species that view the expression of any sort of male or female gender, and especially sexual liaisons, as a psychological perversion. According to their official doctrine, the J'naii had “evolved” beyond gender and thus view the idea of male/female sexuality as primitive. Those among the J'naii who view themselves as possessing gender are ridiculed, outcast, and forced to undergo "psychotectic therapy". This is a form of conversion therapy meant to remove any desire for gender-specificity and allow acceptance back into J'naii society.

 The affair between Riker and Soren grows and eventually is discovered. Soren is put on trial, but before she answers to the charges, Riker bursts in and attempts to take the blame for the situation. Soren foils his attempt and proceeds to passionately defend herself and express her outrage at what their society does to those who express male or female identities. J'naii diplomats force Soren to undergo psychotectic therapy, citing reformed citizens' newfound happiness and desire to be normal. Riker's emotions and love for Soren grow and he decides that he cannot leave Soren to this fate. He tries to explain the situation to Picard, who is sympathetic to Riker but says that he cannot sanction a rescue mission as it violates the Prime Directive, not to mention Riker throwing away his career. Worf visits Riker in his quarters and offers to go with him on an "unannounced visit" to rescue Soren, since he is unwilling to let Riker face the task alone. When Riker and Worf beam down to the planet to rescue Soren, he realizes that the therapy has already been performed. Soren refuses to go with him, claiming that she is now happy and was “sick” during her affair with Riker. Soren apologizes to Riker, who returns dejectedly to the Enterprise with Worf.

Review:

‘The Outcast’ is one of those episodes where Trek aims to represent one thing, misses by miles and hits something else issue-wise instead.  The idea of the episode was to finally remedy the fact that homophobia and same-sex relations had never been dealt with by the franchise.  Apparently, this is something Roddenberry had very much been in favour of, as he was a big believer that 24th century humanity wouldn’t have the same kind of prejudices we have now around non-heterosexual relationships.  As such, the intended premise of this episode was to tackle the issue through the metaphor of an alien race.

 However, the race in question is one that abstains gender, and for whom picking a gender such as male or female is seen as a kind of deviancy by the wider society.  As a result of this, and the alien Riker falls in love with choosing a female identity, the homosexuality metaphor is very much weakened.  Instead, the episode becomes of an allegory about transsexuality and transphobia, which is even less well-tackled by the entertainment industry than concepts of homosexuality.  As such, Trek inadvertently went a bit ahead of its time.

 It’s great seeing Riker honestly try to get his head around the language issues that can be brought up dealing with someone who doesn’t apparently identify with a binary model of gender, but at the same time apparently lacks easily understandable substitutes.  In many ways, that’s probably one of the key reasons why it’s so hard for film and television to effectively deal with gender identity concepts.  How do you right about the many genders that apparently exist beyond male and female when they’re often not fully defined and perpetually being redefined? Physical sex and the societal construct that is gender get over-simplified and baked into the mainstream of our society at a very young age, and we’re leaving the wider scope of both out of the picture until too late in the lives of many people.  If we are to make society more inclusive to people from the LGTBQ+ community, I think that over-simplification needs to be reversed and the simplification process adapted so that all gender constructs can easily be taught at an early age and then built upon.  Unlike some, I don’t believe that gender itself is a problem, but how we let it be defined and taught is.

 This episode apparently got a lot of LGBT criticism back when it initially aired, mostly around the belief that the show was somehow condoning the conversion “therapy” Soren was being subjected to.  Looking at it from the objective perspective of an LGBTQ+ ally who knows his TNG, that’s not what the show was doing at all; otherwise, Riker would never have tried to rescue Soren from that fate.  The fact is that in any exploration of how the LGBT community was treated back then, and still is now in many parts of the world, you can’t always paint a rosy picture of how things should be and be done. Sometimes you also have to show the reality, and the reality is that conversion therapy was still something that was forced on people back in the 1990’s.  The fact that this practice is now going to be banned in the UK makes this episode now a cautionary tale of what we could revert to if we’re not careful.  For me, this episode is a good episode, worth about 8 out of 10.  It would have got higher had it actually tackled the issue it aimed for, or dealt more directly with transgenderism.

Episode 18: Cause and Effect

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The viewer is shown through the episode that Enterprise is caught in a time loop (referred to in-universe as a "temporal causality loop"). The loop begins with the senior members of the crew playing poker and continues for about a day when they discover a spatial anomaly. While studying the anomaly, a ship suddenly emerges from it. Commander Riker suggests decompressing the main shuttlebay to move the Enterprise out of danger, while Lt. Commander Data advocates using a tractor beam to push the other ship out of the way. Captain Picard chooses Data's option, although the tactic does not succeed and the other ship strikes one of the Enterprise warp nacelles, causing a critical warp core containment failure and the destruction of the Enterprise moments later, at which point the loop restarts.

 Initially, crew members are unaware of the loop. However, Dr Crusher begins to hear noises before she goes to bed following the poker game. Having a sense of déjà vu during the poker game and able to predict the cards Data will deal during a subsequent loop, Crusher takes a tricorder with her to her room, records the voices, and later Data analyses them to discover they are the panicked commands and broadcasts of the crew. The senior staff work out that they are stuck in the loop; the voices they are hearing are those of themselves from the previous loop just prior to the destruction of the ship. They evaluate the voices to determine that the loop is restarted due to the collision of the two ships but do not know how to avoid that collision in the first place. Data suggests that his positronic brain can be used to send a short message to himself in the next loop which may help them to avoid the collision. When they arrive at the anomaly, and after the collision, Data sends the message.

 On the following loop, Crusher again has a feeling of déjà vu during the poker game, but when Data deals the next hand, all the cards are threes, followed by a hand where all players have three of a kind. The number 3 begins appearing throughout other parts of the ship's operations while, again, they determine they are stuck in a time loop. When they reach the anomaly and the ship appears from it, Data suddenly realizes that the 3 stands for the number of command pips on Riker's uniform, and realizes that Riker's original tactic (decompressing the main shuttlebay) will work. This allows Enterprise to safely clear the oncoming ship. The anomaly disappears and the time loop ends, and the crew realizes they have been trapped in the loop for over 17 days, while the other ship, the USS Bozeman, has been missing for over 90 years. Picard welcomes the Bozeman's crew to the 24th century.

Review:

While the concept of the loop in time would be made famous more generally through the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, this episode of TNG was written, produced and aired well before that, and if the TNG staff are right in believing such an approach to time travel hadn’t been done before, then this episode is quite ground-breaking.  It’s certainly not one that would have been easy to make, as Riker actor Jonathan Frakes directed the episode and was under orders to direct each pass through the time loop differently.  In essence, the episode uses a combination of alternate camera angles and changes in the events of each loop to try and avoid any appearance that you’re watching the same act multiple times.  Now I say try because apparently when the episode first aired in the US, a lot of viewers phoned in to report a possible broadcast problem.

 Watching with the benefit of advance knowledge of what the episode is about, it’s much easier to appreciate that you’re not just watching the opening act multiple times, and it gets more interesting on the later loops due to the crew’s growing awareness of what is happening.  However, I think we could have done with just three loops, as by the fourth one, we’ve worked out what’s happened and I think an extra loop at that stage is almost redundant.  It’s also a shame that Ensign Ro has so little to do in her recurring guest role this time round, as does Kelsey Grammer right at the end.  It would have been a much better idea if they could have saved a guest appearance by Grammer for something with more substance and less of a techno-babble problem episode.  Still, all in all it’s a good episode; I give it 8 out of 10.

Episode 19: The First Duty

Plot (as given by me):

As the Enterprise returns to Earth for Captain Picard to give the year’s commencement address at Star Fleet Academy, the Academy Superintendent Admiral Brand informs Picard that an accident involving Wesley Crusher has occurred.  Picard subsequently relates the news to Wesley’s mother Dr Beverley Crusher; apparently, Wesley has by now become a member of Nova Squadron, a much-revered part of the Academy flight team on campus lead by cadet Nicholas Locarno. The squad had been practicing a flight demonstration for the commencement event at the Saturn flight range when a collision occurred, resulting in the death of squad member Joshua Albert.

 Picard puts the Enterprise at Admiral Brand’s disposal if it should help the subsequent investigation, and while visiting the Academy Picard also looks up the groundskeeper Boothby, who once gave Picard some hard advice as a cadet that helped him out of a problem of his own. Picard tries to thank Boothby, but he notes that Picard having turned his life around well enough to become captain of the Enterprise is thanks enough.  At the investigation hearings, Locarno claims the crash resulted from Joshua panicking due to his being a nervous flyer, but satellite footage of Nova Squadron’s flyers reveals a discrepancy between the squad’s account and what actually occurred.  Picard later talks further with Boothby about the squad, who reveals what a high image they’ve established for themselves and the influence their leader Locarno has over them.

 An analysis carried out by Lt. Commanders Data and La Forge suggests the squadron were trying to ignite their plasma trails; combined with the squad formation depicted by the surveillance satellite, Picard deduces that Nova Squadron was attempting a different manoeuvre to the one they claimed; specifically, a Kolvoord Starburst, which involves the ships passing within metres of each other at a central point before igniting their plasma trails.  The manoeuvre has not been performed at the Academy in over a century because the last time it was, an accident occurred that killed the entire squad trying to perform it. Picard confronts Wesley with his deductions, and when Wesley refuses to answer, the captain tells him that a lie of omission is still a lie, and the ‘first duty’ of every Star Fleet officer is to the truth.

 Faced with an ultimatum by Picard to either admit the truth himself or be turned in by the captain, Wesley goes to Locarno, who refuses to even consider joining Wesley in abandoning their cover-up.  To him, the team comes above everything, and tells Wesley he should resign from the Academy if he can’t live with getting away with the accident via cover-up.  As Admiral Brand brings the investigation to a close, noting that she cannot prove any dishonesty on Nova Squadron’s part and preparing to give them a minor punishment, Wesley speaks up and admits the truth.  Initially, Locarno says nothing, but it is later revealed to Wesley by Picard that Locarno makes a plea to take full responsibility, noting that he abused his position as squad leader to not only make the squad attempt the prohibited stunt, but also to cover it up.  As a result, Locarno is expelled while the rest of the squad will have all of their academy credits for the past year suspended, preventing them from advancing with the rest of their class.

 Picard warns Wesley he will have a hard time ahead now the whole Academy knows the truth, and Wesley thanks Picard for his advice as the pair bid each other farewell.

Review:

While Data episodes tend to be my favourites among TNG episodes, I honestly believe this is probably one of the show’s most iconic episodes, if not the most iconic Trek episode ever.  It’s Wesley’s second guest appearance since actor Wil Wheaton left TNG, and to date it’s his best appearance, but it’s also the episode where we get to meet Boothby, who is a remarkably influential and iconic character for the series despite his relative lack of appearances.  Through in future Voyager cast member Robert Duncan McNeil playing Nick Locarno, and it’s well on its way to be being a very good episode before you factor in Patrick Stewart delivering some truly iconic acting as Captain Picard, especially the Ready Room scene with Wesley that makes the episode so iconic.

 Now apparently, executive producer Michael Piller had to do some pushing back against the original intentions of this episode’s writers to get us the episode in its final format.  Apparently, the original idea was that the incident was far more serious, and by not owning up the whole squad would have been kicked out of the Academy, with Wesley remaining silent to honour his word to his friends. However, Piller didn’t like the idea of Wesley doing something that severe, and as a parent he wanted to push for Wesley to be responsible and eventually admit the truth, to correct his mistake in the end by owning up even if it meant making things worse for himself and his friends.

 In both versions, the character conflict remains the same; to stand by one’s friends or by one’s duty to be truthful. Now granted, there will be other occasions where the circumstances require discretion and loyalty to one’s friends simply because most people would misunderstand the truth.  However, in most cases I think admitting the truth is the best thing to do, even if it does mean you and others close to you may get in a bit of trouble, and this is for two reasons.  First, true friendship means being willing to call your friends out if their behaviour is morally wrong, and making sure they do the right thing.

 Second, we’re all human and we all make mistakes; that is a simple, irrefutable fact of life, and most of the time if we do make mistakes, we can stop ourselves from repeating them by learning from them.  However, in some cases people can’t learn from their mistakes if they avoid taking responsibility for them, and some people may not take that responsibility alone.  Sometimes they need help, whether through being called on it like Picard did for Wesley, or owning up on behalf of those involved like Wesley did for his squad-mates. Moreover, a ‘friends before authority’ attitude backfires in other areas; it’s how bullying gets to be so prevalent in schools and work places, and it is why concepts of ‘playground’/’locker room’ honour codes should be systematically obliterated from our society.

 Friendship, true friendship, is not based on secret codes of silence that enable bullying, encourage lying and that are dishonourable and despicable to say the least.  It is based on honesty and trust, including the trust that your friends will hold you to account if you betray yourself and that you will do the same for them if they need it.  True friendship means sometimes being a bit harsh, a bit tough, and any friendship that can’t stand such tempering probably isn’t really friendship to start with. Overall, I give this episode 10 out of 10.

Episode 20: Cost of Living

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Lwaxana Troi arrives on the Enterprise, announcing that she will be holding her wedding there with a man that shares many interests with her, as judged by a computerized matchmaking system. Captain Picard, initially wary of Lwaxana's plans, is relieved that all she wants from him is to give her away as the bride. Privately, Counsellor Deanna Troi talks to Lwaxana about the marriage, and while she is happy that her mother is marrying again, she is surprised and concerned that she will not follow the Betazoid custom of being a naked bride at the wedding. Lwaxana informs her that such customs offend the groom and his people. Deanna notes her decision to abandon her own custom is strange given the pride she normally takes in her Betazoid heritage and the high rank that she holds in their society.

 Meanwhile, Lt. Worf is having difficulties in getting his son Alexander to complete his obligations such as homework and chores. Deanna offers the idea of creating a contract that would allow Alexander to have time to play after completing his tasks. While this initially seems to be acceptable to Alexander, Lwaxana arrives and downplays the idea. Lwaxana makes friends with Alexander, taking him to a holodeck simulation of the Parallax colony despite Worf's orders. Lwaxana encourages Alexander to be a free spirit, but Deanna believes that Lwaxana's message is confusing Alexander.

 Eventually, Campio, Lwaxana's husband-to-be, arrives at the Enterprise, and Lwaxana finds that he is not as perfect a fit for her as the computer match suggested, being stricter and more demanding than she was led to believe. She evades Campio by taking Alexander to the holodeck. There, Alexander reiterates some of the advice she had previously given him. Taking it to heart, Lwaxana arrives at the wedding naked as per Betazoid custom, and Campio, offended, leaves her at the altar. Lwaxana winks at Alexander, who smiles in turn.

 During these events, the Enterprise becomes infected with an undetectable parasite that feeds off nitrium, a component used in most of the starship's materials. Though initial system failures are attributed to normal wear, they become concerned when warp and life support systems begin to fail. The crew is able to identify the parasite, and as life systems fail and cause the crew to pass out due to lack of air, Lt. Commander Data, who is able to function without oxygen, navigates the starship to a nearby asteroid field rich in nitrium and coerces the parasite to move there. Ship systems are quickly restored to normal before the wedding.

 The episode ends on an amusing note with Lwaxana relaxing in the Holodeck simulated Parallax colony mud-baths with Deanna, Alexander, and Worf. Lwaxana admits she made a mistake with Campio and thanks Alexander for helping her out. Meanwhile, a confused and irritated Worf asks, "You're just supposed to sit here?"

Review:

As ever, throwing Lwaxana Troi into an episode proves to give us a rather poor showing, because the character is so over-the-top in her supposedly comedic antics that you end up feeling as annoyed by her as most of the Enterprise crew.  It’s only when she’s forced to drop that façade that you get anything of worth out of the episode’s main plot.  Basically, Lwaxana is trying to re-marry out of a desire to avoid loneliness, and ends up trying to live vicariously through Alexander because her intended husband is the total opposite to her.  It’s not the best approach to the situation, nor does the B-plot about parasites endangering the ship fit in well with that, or with Worf trying to teach Alexander about responsibility.  A better use of these elements would have been to have the intended couple each having trouble accepting the other’s perspective on life, and so they’d each take sides in the Worf-Alexander dispute to try and indirectly keep the argument going.  Worf might then be convinced to give his duties a rest for a bit to see things more from Alexander’s point of view, only for said dereliction of duty to endanger the Enterprise.  Getting through the danger, father and son would see the value of compromise and balance, and in so doing demonstrate the idea to Lwaxana and Campo, who would follow suit.  As it is, the episode is just another cringe-worthy instalment more worthy of the show’s earlier seasons, and I can only give it 4 out of 10.

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Sophomore Year Ep 15

Love Wins!

Welcome to an insanely chaotic episode of Fantasy High--even by the very high standards of this show.  How chaotic you may ask? Well, the first thing that happens is that Bill Seacaster point blank shoots Gilear to death for being in a relationship with Hilariel. Full dead. He is full dead. Strangely, his plan to bring him back as a janky devil does not do much to comfort Fig. Imagine that.

Bill’s pirates are looting the Bottomless Pit (Gorthalax’s domain in Hell) and Vraz orders Fig to make them stop. When she instead orders Vraz to eat her ass, Vraz nullifies all warlock deals Gorthalax made and brings none other than Johnny Spells (and his greaser pals) to join the fight!

Really, this fight is insane and it’s better served by a highlight real than a play by play so I’m just gonna give you some bullets:

All the PCs rolled super low initiative this fight which really kinda screwed them. Like Fabian was down to 16 HP one point and it was like, “Lol, this is the end of round 1.” YIKES.

A big part of this fight was just surviving long enough to get to the second level of hell and rescue Riz’s dad which I think was probably good for morale because the thought of this fight dragging on for more than a couple of rounds exhausts me. 

Fabian rolls off against Johnny right off the bat for the Hangman’s loyalty and Fabian wins with a 25 (and by coming out the gate with the word ENSLAVED which isn’t the word *I* would have used but a 25 is a 25 I guess).

He also has to contend with fighting Allistair who has a massive hole in his head filled with fire from Wicklaw eating his brain. It seems like Chungledown Bim is in hell too based on how Allistair keeps saying he’s gonna get him so he can shit in Fabian’s mouth. Of course, Fabian gets the better of him, but not before he deals out a fair bit of damage. 

Adaine uses an Arcane Hand plus her portent roll to just whole-ass throw Johnny off the ship. Like, he gets back up but it’s so funny to instead of fighting an enemy to just throw him off a set piece (see eg: Bloodkeep ep2).

Kristen Revivifies Gilear and Bill, the mercurial sunuvabitch is like, “We love the same woman! I just want her happy!” and gives him a gun. Kristen immediately is like, “Bro, you need to hide,” and Gorgug protects him while he does so (in a sarcophagus that has a 50/50 shot of being launched as ammo). 

Penelope shows up to the fight, eyes all black, wearing a shredded prom dress, and with shards of silver embedded in her forehead like a crown. Dayne and Daybreak also join the fight as messed up Harvestmen! It’s a veritable Smash Bros lineup of people the Bad Kids have killed!

Adaine and Fabian are christened the “Posh Squad” which is important to me, not to the fight. 

Adaine gets to counterspell a counterspell from Penelope, one of the sexiest things you can do in D&D.

Fabian declares toxic masculinity dead. Shortly afterward, he makes Brennan eat a die when Daybreak tries to Frighten Fabian, a condition he is immune to due to his eyepatch I gather based on the table reaction. 

Daybreak’s punishment in hell is a complete lack of self-awareness of why he’s there. He still thinks he should be sipping Mai-Tai’s in corn heaven with Helio while Kristen and Ragh are attacking him with gay spit (their words, not mine). Gay spit and, also, a ton of radiant and thunder damage.

Ragh gets some emotional catharsis by getting to body Dayne before Gorgug decapitates him. Very important step in the stages of grief. Decapitating the source of said grief. 

Penelope gets Sparta-kicked off the edge of the boat by Fabian after Ayda dispels her protective globe and Riz shoots Daybreak again for old times sake. Unfortunately, Penelope Misty Steps back up and Daybreak is hurt but not killed. Ayda does a cool Dr. Strange teleportation thing and does a bunch of damage to both of them. Fabian finishes off Penelope with a sheet/sword combo and between Booming Blade and a Psionic Blast (does she have this ability as a Bard or as a Warlock? Relatedly, when she felt something leave her was that her Warlock deal being nullified or was she feeling the deals leave her since she is sort of the temporary Gorthalax?) Fig destroys Daybreak. Johnny just falls off the ship with no PC intervention because he sucks. 

Bill also falls off the ship but Fig (with an assist from Gorgug) saves him and steals a scroll from Vraz on the way back up. By the by, earlier in the fight, she also had Baby Invisbly steal a random item from her. 

Anyway, as they reach the end of the end of the fight, Bill loads Riz into a canon (!) and shoots him into the city, hopefully towards his dad (to the distress of his party). He crashes through the window in a familiar looking building and, when he finds a hallway that he’s pretty sure leads to his dad, he goes towards it. 

He sees a familiar light coming out of a doorway (the interrogation room light) and a doorway next to it that is slightly open with steel thrones in it. There’s a two-way mirror between the two rooms and if he goes into the open one, he can see who is in with his dad. After checking for illusions and finding none, he stealthily walks in and sees, in the other room, his dad with a hulking pit fiend (30 ft tall, winged, almost dragon-y devil).

The pit fiend is questioning Pok about any regrets he had in life and Pok answers very uncharacteristically from the man we saw in the video saying he had nothing but high hopes for baby Riz. He says he had no regrets, his job was just a job, and that he only had a kid because Sklonda wanted one before going into a snarling goblin rage. The pit fiend smiles at that and says that Pok has promise so they won’t create a lemure out of him (a lemure is a weak, blobby devil). Two devils in the room with them whip him unconscious and then leave the room to go send more people to deal with Bill.

Riz Misty Steps into the room and does a self-imposed Wisdom check to steady himself after what he just heard--Nat 20 baby. Then, he opens his Briefcase of Holding, ready to scoop his dad into it when, the two lesser devils open the door and catch him in the act. But Riz persists in the scooping. They try to grapple him and he rolls a Nat 1 to avoid it. He *still* tries to get him dad. But then he notices, his gun is missing.

BLAM. The devils heads are blown clean off. He turns and he sees his dad has taken the gun--his gun originally--and shot the devils. Pok, who is amazed that Riz is there and no longer feigning apathy for the situation asks for an extraction into an earpiece, causing a halo to appear over his head and a beam of holy light to come down like a tractor beam.

“Wait,” says Riz. “You’re an undercover angel?”

“You got it, kid.”

Murph goes feral. The table goes feral. I go feral. What a way to end an episode!  

And now for an all-Dad round of superlatives:

Detention

Bill Seacaster for KILLING GILEAR 

I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain myself here. 

Honor Roll

Pok Gukgak for Officially Joining the Fantasy Fathers of the Year Club

Here either. 

I will, however, add a Hell Yeah!

Random Thoughts

If you haven’t seen it yet, the trailer for S5 of Dimension 20 just dropped and I won’t spoil it but, from the looks of it, it is gonna be a doozy.  

“Do not metagame with my freaking Dad!” Oh to have the support of an NPC Emily Axford has decided to imprint upon.

Gorgug: It’s been one year. We’re sophomores. 

“We support you as a DM and as your friend but also you’re our enemy.”

I think it’s very interesting that with just a little space and time from his dad, Fabian is finally having the proper reactions to his dad doing what I will charitably call shenanigans.

The level of distress and outrage from Emily when Gilear got shot was just *chef’s kiss*. I aspire to create an NPC that provokes that level of reaction from one of my players. Similar energy in a different direction from Ally when Daybreak attacked Tracker.    

“Adaine, the jocks are being feisty! Get out of there!”

Vraz calls Fig “the Faithless” as her devil title and she insists on instead being called, “the InFaethable”. I wanna know how long Emily’s been sitting on that one or whether she came up with it on the spot. 

Fabian upon seeing Johnny: Fuck off dude. I have too much going on right now. 

Brennan being the eternal DM mood: How do I get out of this?

Very wild how little time has passed since Leviathan. Like, Fabian’s had this whole arc and grown so much but, like, OF COURSE Allistair still wants to murder him! It’s been like two days. 

“I want to crumple up Gilear like a wrapper.”

A seven is a Murph 10.

The very specific way Brennan does foley for sword fighting (“Clang! Cling! Clang!”) is so funny to me. 

Cannot overstate how much of a power move it was for Kristen to go, “I’ve been PRAYING FOR YOU,” at Daybreak and knock him on his ass. 

I feel like I bring this up all the time but I love when Brennan is counting dice for a ton of damage and all the PCs are BSing reasons that it’s not a big deal like, “He’s just getting D4s,” or “Well I should get advantage for the reason just made up,” with everyone else fully playing along. ”

Allistair Ash, man. He is fascinating to me. I am so curious about what Brennan had planned for him originally because I feel like we barely scratched the surface before things took a TURN. He had two little moments in this ep that made my heart break for him a little: (1) When he says to Fabian, “If I die, I just come back a little bit worse but, if you die, you’re stuck down here with me.” and (2) when Fabian kills him and Bill grabs his soul and is like, “You know it’s gonna cost you X gold to revive you,” and he sighs and says, “Put it on my tab I suppose.” Like, I know he spent all ep trying to kill Fabian but I can’t help but be like, poor guy. He just has this pathos in his haplessness. I’m surprised Fabian didn’t make more of an effort to connect with him instead of being like, kind of like, “I will throw hands if I must.” Talking is a free action my dude. Anyway, I would love to see Brennan’s DM notes for this guy.   

Lou was really doing some expert D&D with all the second winding and bonus actioning and burning spell slots for extra damage he was doing. He was like, “My initiative is trash so I have to do approximately a million damage per turn.”

Lol at Ayda asking if it’s weird to talk about sex stuff in front of friends in a group that involves both Kristen and Adaine. 

Fig wishing she could do something cool in front of Ayda as if Ayda didn’t try to flood Hell on her behalf last week. My girl. You’ve already locked that down.

Not really an issue that’s we’ll run across during the run of FH but tieflings live 20-40 years longer than humans according to the official D&D lore. So lets say Fig lives to be 120 years old. And let’s say she sticks with her high school girlfriend and marries her. It’s possible they die at around the same time and then Ayda has to Deal With That in her next life but that’s not what I’m interested in. What happens if you’re a full elderly woman and your partner phoenixes into a child? What are the ethics of that? How do you deal with that? Chronomancy?

The horrified, “Love wins!” from Daybreak.

 Is there a reason the viewing room Riz was in had thrones in it or is Hell just very about the ~aesthetic~

Every time a DM asks for a HP total, my entire being clenches in prep for a Power Word Kill. 

“I’m gonna need a Dexter--”/”Counterspell.”

“You guys murdered me too but we hashed it out.”

I totally forgot that the Bad Kids lied that Ragh had shat his pants until the moment Adaine was saying it this episode. Freshman Year was WILD.

Also, just wanna take a second to talk about the elevation of Ragh from this side-note bully to a fully fledged, likeable character with depth and and an arc and gay spit. D&D is crazy. 

Summoning Boggy via Bloody Mary is such a delightful image. 

So, Kalina is the one that led Riz down the path that led to him finding out Pok is an Undercover Angel (!!!), which means one of three things: (1) She knew but miscalculated hard, (2) she didn’t know and made a different but also big miscalculation, (3) she did know and she’s doing some kind of 4-D chess thing we don’t know about yet. 

Ayda hitting Fabian with a portent and then swooping in and saving Adaine. So clutch. What a good NPC to befriend.

Speaking of, I think we all kinda figured, but Brennan officially said on Twitter or the Discord (I don’t remember which) that Ayda is autistic. Like, I was pretty sure but I didn’t wanna assume.

Lol at the absolute lack of respect Kalvaxus got in this episode. 

Pok as an Undercover Angel is SO GOOD. Like, I didn’t think he was really bad for a second but I never could have guessed he was an UNDERCOVER ANGEL. That’s such a dope combination of words. Undercover Angel (which my computer keeps trying to correct to undercover agent which isn’t wrong to be fair). Man. I love this. I love this for me and I love this for Riz. Riz deserves this. After so much crap in his life and so many mind games from Kalina and all this turmoil, he deserves to know that not only is his dad a good person who loved/loves him, he’s SO good that he’s an ANGEL and he was such a good spy in life he still is a secret agent in death. God, what a reveal. I can’t believe Riz got Spy Kids-ed TWICE by the same parent. Can’t wait to hear what exactly is going on with him.

Wait, what’s goblin heaven like? Which god is sanctioning this? Who is he working for exactly?

This episode, Kristen and Gorgug rolled 1 Nat 20 each, while Riz, Fabian, and Brennan each got 2. On the flipside, Adaine got 2 Nat 1’s, Fig and Fabian each rolled 1 that was cancelled, and Riz rolled 1 (in addition, Murph rolled two more which were lair actions and one of which was cancelled by a luck point so they don’t really count but it was very funny so I wanted to note it).

[shapeshiftinterest]

mao mao fanfiction prompts: ol’ blue adopts mao mao AU

found this AU from @art-in-pure-heart-valley (original idea from an anonymous asker) 

LINK to the original post

anyways here are some prompts I made for it when I was violently bouncing ideas back and forth with @little-bird-swaggy-boy

________________________________________________________________

base idea from the original poster: mao mao gets abandoned by shin mao and picked up (basically adopted) by ol’ blue

mao forgets that shin mao’s his dad (young age + therapy) and sometimes acts like a dog

maybe (either earlier or later in their fam relationship) ol blue is like ‘mao mao i’m not your real father’, and tiny mao just hugs his leg like when he first got Geraldine (katana) and says ‘of course you are!’

at one point shin mao passes by pureheart valley on official legend business and mao gets confused because repressed daddy memory who is this man

blue figures it out and almost tries to get them back together but mao’s like ‘but YOU’RE my dad’ all wobbly smiled and teary eyed and squeezing his stomach in a ‘please don’t throw me away’ kind of way, or holding blue’s paw because ‘safety first, don’t get lost in the crowd ok?’

blue being the therapist/ psychiatrist that he is and knowing it would traumatize mao (sorry if this is bad wording) if he let him go, keeps mao with him

check below the read more for more prompts

________________________________________________________________

mao still fights of course, maybe goes on a legend journey with bao bao, but he also does damage control

like, legendary hero fighter but also helps with therapy stuff for the victims because his dad was ol’ blue (mental/ emotional heroics)

mao occassionally sends letters to ol’ blue but he can’t really answer back since unless the damage was really big and mao helps out with reconstruction (since being a hero means constantly being on the move)

blue has pics of mao mao beating other kids in various sports but only because, compared to the other pureheart residents and kids, mao’s a fuckin giant; like ‘ah yes, welcome back giant son who is approximately twice the height of all the adults’

little prince snugglemagne as one of mao’s childhood friends (similar to their canon relationship but maybe friendlier/ more familiar); he grows up to be half a head to a head taller than mao mao

tiny mao saying the king’s titles but instead of my liege, or your grace, it’s my wiege/ youw gwace

but then drama and jealousy because mao comes back home with a new best friend that he goes on adventures with (bao bao)

snugglemagne: but we thought WE were your best friend!!

bao bao’s a professional but also a bit of an airhead so the animosity/ jealousy is mostly from the king’s side (eg: He’s the Sheriff episode)

after bao bao’s ‘betrayal‘ mao comes back again with ANOTHER new best adventure friend (badgerclops) except this one’s also a love rival

again the antics are mostly from the king’s side but badgerclops gets more involved because he gets sick of snugglemagne being a jealous dick and cockblocking his friendship with mao

scenarios where mao tries to reach a compromise between jealous king bestie and his new boyfriend BC (because of ol’ blue’s upbringing)

cat and dog things like

ol blue picking mao up by the scruff of his neck when he’s shorter than him

cuddles, back pets, falling asleep on the couch curled up around mao mao

mao mao purring

mao mao making biscuits on ol blue (when cats knead you)

sad idea: in the episode Popularity Conquest mao states that nobody liked him, even when he was a kid, because of his overbearing justice and overall being a wet blanket

so would he be more or less liked if he still had the hero tendencies, but also the nosy psychiatrist tendencies (curious cat wants to help)?

________________________________________________________________

LINK to a video, king snugglemagne @ bao bao and later on badgerclops

LINK to a pic originally from Brooklyn 99, king snugglemagne @ bao bao (could also be towards badgerclops but the image is a dog)

[nightqueendany]

Original Final Season 7 - Episode 6: Summerhall

Last Episode was a bit of a cliffhanger so here’s the fallout from The Storm:

*Wish I had a better image for the episode, but this is the only artwork for Summerhall I could find! Hmm, this needs remedying. 

It’s finally snowing in King’s Landing in this episode, appropriate for us to finally see snow in the south right after the Night King has broken through the Wall

IN WINTERFELL

Picking up directly where the last episode left off, Bran tells Sansa they need to get word to all the Northern Houses, everyone has to get to White Harbor, there will be ships waiting for them there (no explanation), no time to wait for Targaryen armies to come, they can’t hold the North that long

Bran also mysteriously tells Sansa they need to send a raven to Summerhall - Sansa mentions its an abandoned ruin, a raven could never get there, Bran says he can warg the bird, Sansa just needs to write that the Wall has fallen and the dead come south

AT SUMMERHALL

Team Jon/Dany arrive on dragon-back (this was Jorah’s suggested location) and make camp in the ruined halls (it’s abandoned, no one - enemies - would find them there)

Sitting around the fire, Jorah tells them all what he knows of Rhaegar and how Rhaegar used to love coming there, the tragedy at Summerhall when Rhaegar was born, etc.

In their explorations of the ruins, they come across one part of the castle that isn’t entirely destroyed - the library - and Jorah mentions Rhaegar used to be quite scholarly until, according to rumor, he read something in his scrolls that made him believe he had to be a warrior (like Barristan’s story to Dany in ASOS)

Missandei begins picking through the books, some disintegrate when she picks them up due to age/damage from the elements, but some do not, she takes a few that are not damaged

While plotting their next move (where should they go, The Reach? Dorne? King’s Landing?) they receive a random, hastily written raven’s scroll from Sansa and Bran - The Wall has fallen, the dead march south.

They send the raven/Bran to Davos and Tyrion at Gendry’s shop in King’s Landing telling them about the attack on Dragonstone and that they will meet them there in the capital

After the raven leaves, Jon, panicked, insists he and Dany fly to Winterfell to rescue his family/make sure they make it to safety and Dany reluctantly agrees

IN OLDTOWN

They receive word from Winterfell, the Wall has fallen, encourage maesters to spread the word to the rest of the Kingdoms so they can prepare for the fight, the maesters are old shits about it, debating the validity of the scroll, etc.

Sam, in frustration, finally leaves the Citadel with Gilly and Little Sam

BACK IN THE NORTH

Everyone is rushing to pack and leave, Sansa is incredibly emotional about leaving Winterfell when they’ve just fought to get it back, Bran finally tells her the ships that are waiting for them at White Harbor are Greyjoy ships and Theon is anxious to see her, Sansa is then less reluctant to leave

Team Stark/the North arrive at White Harbor just as Yara and Theon do, Bran and Sansa quickly explain the circumstances - the Wall has fallen, not enough time to get Dany’s armies North, North must flee south on the Greyjoy ships (we see Howland and Meera in this group somewhere among other prominent Northerners like Lyanna Mormont, Lord Umber, etc.)

Yara begins to plot course for Dragonstone but Bran explains Euron has taken it, most of his fleet is destroyed but he and his men still occupy the castle, Yara then wants to make course for the Iron Islands to take her home back and it’s “Somewhere the dead can’t go” but again, Bran advises against it, he tells them to set a course for King’s Landing - it’s where EVERYONE is headed and will meet up

Theon and Sansa reunite (obviously), Sansa is stressed about going to King’s Landing where Cersei is and where she was held captive for years, Theon comforts her and sparks fly, they end up falling into bed together - AKA Theonsa boatsex

IN KING’S LANDING

Cersei gets word from Euron about the attack on Dragonstone, pissed that it was a relative failure, she wanted all of them dead and nearly everyone, save a few nameless soldiers, survived, she then tasks Jaime with finding Tyrion and killing him, “Bring me our brother’s head” (much like Aerys wanting Jaime to bring him Tywin’s head) and this is Jaime’s last straw, he can’t support her anymore and so he leaves her

In getting ready to flee King’s Landing, Jaime runs into Tyrion, Davos, and Gendry, Jaime explains that Dragonstone has been taken so they can’t go there, instead, they regroup at Gendry’s shop to figure out what they should do next, receive Bran/Jon’s raven about heading to King’s Landing, it’s decided, they stay in the city

After Jaime leaves her, Cersei wakes up in a “bed of blood,” she's miscarried her baby

The Riverlands, Northerners, and Vale forces arrive outside King’s Landing and join up with the forces from Dorne and the Reach/the Dothraki and Unsullied, Baelish and Varys are there to greet them

Baelish and Varys impress upon the troops the importance of the alliance between Jon and Dany, they are there for one purpose and one purpose only - to defeat the Lannisters who have had a hand in harming every single one of them in the last several years, it’s finally time to take the Lannisters down

Baelish and Varys are next seen sneaking into the city in order to meet with...Qyburn

Arya, knowing how to sneak in and out of King’s Landing secretly, gets into the city as well and goes where Bran told her to go - she winds up standing just outside...Gendry’s shop

BACK IN THE NORTH 

In an unidentifiable location, Jon and Dany take a flying break at a waterfall and discuss what to do, from what Dany can tell on their flight, the North is deserted, Jon agrees and concludes the Northerners must have fled south or to White Harbor

Seeing Jon in a better mood, Dany quips they could “stay a thousand years” and no one would find them, not even this “Night King”

She mentions that, because they’ve been flying a very long distance and it’s getting dark, they need to make camp somewhere for the night, give themselves and the dragons a rest

Jon reveals Winterfell isn’t far, it’s likely deserted but they can stay for the night before heading back south to King’s Landing

IN WINTERFELL 

Jon “cloaks” Dany as she has no suitable clothing (it was all left on Dragonstone when they abandoned the castle to Euron), it’s visually symbolic but nothing official

When Dany asks why Jon went back into the castle (Dragonstone) when they were attempting to flee Euron’s forces, he finally explains to her about R+L=J and gives her Rhaegar’s harp

There’s a tense moment between them until Jon finally suggests they marry to join the realm (King of the North, Queen of the South) and their claims, Dany asks if it would be a political marriage or because of something more (as she has started to fall for him), Jon says it would be both, he and Dany end up sleeping together, AKA Jonerys castlesex

Jon and Dany wake up to it still being night and both remark that it feels late and should be morning, though it’s not, upon going outside they see in the distance the AOTD approaching Winterfell, the Night King did, in fact, find them

It should be relatively easy for them to escape with the AOTD in the distance but the Night King raises the dead from the Winterfell crypts and Jon and Dany have to fight their way out of the keep

In the confusion of trying to escape, Viserion is killed

After Jon and Dany have fled south on Drogon and Rhaegal, the Night King finally raises Viserion as his mount

Title is obviously for Team Jon/Dany making camp in the ruined castle of Summerhall for the night.

Episode 6 Inside the Episode: Summerhall

1) First off, I know you guys are going to wonder, why Summerhall?

I know it’s an odd initial choice. It’s never (I don’t think) been mentioned on the show. But, for the purposes of this episode, it’s a great way to a) get out some much needed exposition and b) connect Rhaegar to the PTWP prophecy. And yes, for book nerds, I know Rhaegar would have been younger when he began training as a warrior, too young to have begun visiting Summerhall by himself, and therefore the book or scroll that led him to think he needed to be a warrior wouldn’t have been found at Summerhall. But 1) allow this one time suspension of disbelief or 2) headcanon that Rhaegar left the book/scroll containing this information at Summerhall for Missandei to eventually find. Whichever works for you.

2) The North escaping on the Greyjoy ships?

This one is too obvious. We had all thought this might need to happen. In 8x01 Yara even tells Theon they’ll need “somewhere the dead can’t go,” but NOTHING was ever done with this line. It was pointless. So this scene actually pays off Yara’s useless line from canon and also solves the issue from it - why wouldn’t Dany just retreat to her own island of Dragonstone? (Because she can’t, because Euron took it over, because that fucking makes sense that he and Cersei would do that).

3) Jon/Dany wake up and it is still night?

Yes, because the “Long Night” is actually not just one fucking night. I can’t even believe they had the audacity to call that idiotic episode “The Long Night” when it was, actually, just ONE night. *Sighs* *Rubs head*

Anyway...that’s it for Episode 6! As always, you guys are free to leave comments. I’d love to see people’s opinions, questions, speculations, predictions. Whatever you guys want to discuss!

Original Final Season 7: Preface Post

Season 7 Episode 1: Family, Duty, Honor

Season 7 Episode 2: Greywater Watch

Season 7 Episode 3: The Last of the Dragons

Season 7 Episode 4: Dragonglass

Season 7 Episode 5: The Storm 

Season 7 Episode 6: Summerhall (Current Episode)

Season 7 Episode 7: A City Fit For A King

Season 7 Episode 8: Protectors of the Realm

Season 7 Episode 9: The Battle For The Dawn

Season 7 Episode 10: ?

[casually-inlove]

I think he tian as the worst childhood too like maybe is father is the cause of is mother dead is bro already killed people in front of him when he was little he think is dog is dead bc of is bro now he sleep with light on and is very depressed and lonely and is family is in the mafia business he know in the future he gotta do pretty much what is bro doing but I think he gonna take another path has is bro but well see anyways that make me feel like cryy 😭😢

I think you may be onto something, dear anon. I wouldn’t personally go as far as to say that He Tian had the worst childhood, after all, MGS is also a contender for this one; it’s just that their childhoods represent different kinds of shitty-ness. Warning, there’s a ton of text below.

It’s possible that HT’s family business (whatever it is, mafia or not) was the reason why his mother is supposedly dead. There’s a panel depicting one of HT’s nightmares, where he sees himself on a burning yacht. I do believe that his mother might have died there.

It’s also possible that young HT blamed his parent for her death. Such trauma is not easily processed by young children, and various bitter feelings towards his father might stem from it. Now, I’m sure that He Tian’s father isn’t a psycho or a monster, but he probably is an authoritarian figure. The kind that is obsessed with the idea of dynasty. It’s possible that he’s been trying to mould his sons into his likeness, i.e. make them follow in his footsteps, become successors to his business (again, whatever it is). As far as I know, He Cheng has been shown to have mafia connections, but we don’t know yet about their father. With that said, it’s not implausible to suppose that He Tian might have been forced into doing things against his will. I think it was @barabounty who made a post that dealt with translating the captions for some official illustrations in OX artbook. There’s one picture of HT supposedly in his father’s house that is titled “Prisoner”.

And here’s the panel from the manhua, when HT agreed to see his father after He Cheng saved MGS from the angry mob. The interior looks similar, so I suppose it’s one of his father’s houses.

I think the title alone gives an accurate impression of what He Tian was forced to experience. On top of that, let’s look at He Tian’s fighting abilities. I’ve already touched upon that in another post, but his hand-to-hand fighting in so incredible, it almost screams “he was taught”. What kind of family makes their child into a fighting machine? That’s a rhetoric question.

That leads me to believe that since He Tian apparently experienced love through being forced to do something, it might be part of the reason why he used to be so forceful with Momo. He simply doesn’t know any different.

To this day, HT exhibits some signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Those are his repeating nightmares where he’s literally tossing and screaming in cold sweat (he also shows similar symptoms when dreaming about the incident with that dog, so it’s safe to assume it had been an incredible blow for him). It is literary him experiencing drowning in the open sea (hence why he’s kinda afraid of the darkness). 

However, the symbolism of this scene goes beyond just a life-threatening situation. OX drew it in a very clever way. The yacht is burning, bloodied He Cheng is probably the only surviving member of his family and He Tian is literally refusing to leave. He’s screaming that he wants to stay (with his brother, with his family), but He Cheng symbolically abandons his brother by tossing him into the dark water, literally throwing him at the deep end. In He Tian’s mind, his brother left him alone.

It’s worth noting, that it’s nighttime and young He Tian is apparently wearing pajamas or sleeping clothes. Cue present day and He Tian is still sleeping fully clothed when he’s home alone (as opposed to Momo, who sleeps half-naked). It’s subtly hinting that He Tian doesn’t feel safe – that he expects shit to break out any moment, hence why he’s clothed and ready for the fight-or-flight instinct to kick in. Or maybe I’m looking into it way too much, haha.

The puppy episode is also very telling. I don’t know whether TVtropes ever pointed that out, but the moment when He Cheng tells He Tian that he buried the puppy really fits into the Broken Pedestal trope: He Tian’s faith and trust in his caring older brother are shattered. He felt betrayed. His secret he entrusted to his closest person was betrayed. This is apparently when the crack in their relationship began. The painful thing here is that He Tian apparently started to believe that he couldn’t trust anyone, even those close.

Which brings me to another point. He Tian suffers from profound loneliness. It’s different from the kind of lonely that MGS experienced. True, MGS had been bullied and ostracized, and he has grown that delinquent persona in order to show others that he doesn’t fucking need them, yet he still managed to connect with others, like his gang. He also had a safe harbour at home, with his loving mother.

He Tian had none of it. People don’t see past his money or cool persona, and he’s nearly always surrounded by sycophants that applaud him whatever he does or says. He doesn’t have a safe harbour home: his relationship with his brother and father is broken, and he apparently suffered a lot of emotional neglect and deprivation in his childhood. Hell, his flat doesn’t even have a touch of anything personal, like personal possessions (excluding basketball stuff and a couple of magazines). It’s like he’s refusing to grow attachments (until MGS comes along, and maybe Jian Yi to an extent). It’s also clear why: he’s afraid that it’ll be taken away from him again. Bottom line, HT is deeply alone, and the sad thing is that this loneliness is very much ingrained in him. OX really underscores it by showing He Tian’s apartment: his figure is tiny against its vast space. And really, his smoking habit? A detrimental crutch.

Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future chapters OX will show that HT has self-esteem issues. He seems to be living with a burn of failure. He failed to protect something he loved (puppy, mother), hence why he’s trying so hard with Mo. He was ready to protect him to his last drop of blood, even when it was a pretty much suicidal move against the angry mob.

All in all, it’s a sad story, true. I won’t be saying his childhood is worse than the one MGS had; it’s really impossible to compare such things. Comparing them is like comparing apples and oranges: they are simply different. Both bullying/abuse and emotional neglect/abuse have detrimental consequences on psychological and physical levels. Each is horrible in its own way, and both lead to lasting trauma, damaging both sense of self and the ability to form relationships with others.

As for HT working in the family business, yes, it is a possibility. But as I said earlier, I don’t believe his father is as much of a monster as He Tian imagines. True, he may not be a good father, but I’m sure there are things and reasons that He Tian isn’t aware of yet. Or rather, I should put it as the road to hell is paved with good intentions. He Tian’s father undoubtedly wished the best for his son, but his methods clearly were questionable, as was the environment He Tian grew up in. I strongly believe that at some point he shall mend his relationship with He Cheng and his father. At least, there won’t be any animosity.

I’m also sure that He Tian will get better. Of course, it will take A LOT of time and patience, but I’m positive that HT and MGS can heal each other’s wounds and give one another what they had been deprived of.

[shadowed-dancer]

SVTFOE Season 4 Rewrite

Long, long ago I hinted that I’d make this and then I didn’t post it. It’s been sitting in my drafts for months so I figured “hey, maybe it’s time.” Some of you may recall this rewrite I did back in May which changed the events of Cleaved, but I wanted to go further. In an ideal scenario, we never get to the point where Cleaved is a necessary episode because the build up of the season was designed in a way that any resolution ends up being unsatisfying.

For this little writing exercise I’ve decided to undertake, I’d like to establish my ground rules. I will be working with the amount of episodes already allotted to season 4 (21 episodes) and I’ll be writing under the idea that they are aired the same way (two every Sunday, with the finale being aired alone. I’ll put a “-” in between episodes so you know which would have aired together). Some episodes will remain the same, some will be similar but will have changes, some will borrow ideas from real episodes, and others will be the same as episodes we actually got, just shifted to a different point in the season. Some of my episodes will be 10 minutes, others will take the whole 20.

As always, this is just for fun, I still have the greatest respect for the svtfoe team and what they created.

It’s a super long post, which is why it’s under the cut. I worked really hard on this, so any likes and reblogs are appreciated! Alright, without further ado, season 4!

Episode 1: Butterfly Follies

I found that this episode was a lovely reintroduction to the characters, so I wouldn’t change anything about it.

Episode 2: Escape From Pie Island

Honestly, it was fine. I think it tied together the “finding Moon” plot from Butterfly Follies pretty well. I’d include a little more about Festivia if anything.

-

Episode 3 A: Moon Remembers

A nice episode as is, I wouldn’t change anything

Episode 3 B: Swimsuit

Also an awesome episode! One of my favourites actually, so it stays (don’t worry, we’ll get to the juicy changes soon enough)

Episode 4 A: Ransomgram

Ransomgram was a cute episode. It helped us take a break from the plot driven drama of the past few episodes. HOWEVER, I would change 1 thing. At the end, when someone has to stay in the ab dimension to repair the damage, I’d have Star do it (like she tricks Marco into leaving, closes the portal behind him, then comes out a few seconds later in Mewni). This way her age evens out with Marco’s. The way it’s currently written actually makes the age gap worse! So yeah, have Star stay behind without Marco.

Episode 4 B: Lake House Fever

A good episode, I loved seeing more of Dave and Wrathmelior, but I would start really foreshadowing that Star and Tom are about to break up. Don’t have the cute “are you an angel” exchange at the end. Instead, let them have the awkwardness of a couple who’s fallen out of love. We want to break people off their desire for Tomstar early, not super late.

-

Episode 5 A: Yada Yada Berries

Who doesn’t love a good detective episode? Plus, the events of this will be important later. It stays the same

Episode 5 B: Down by the River

Similar to the original, but now have Moon actually excited to start a new Kingdom. It’s in her nature, she’s been trained to be queen her whole life, so show the establishments of the new kingdom, but with a queen who really wanted it (have her be excited when new people show up, have her eagerly establish living quarters and such).

Episode 6 A: The Ponyhead Show

Same title, different plot. Ponyhead’s new show is set to premiere with it’s first celebrity guest, Eclipsa, but someone cuts the connection. The show was supposed to be Eclipsa’s first official address to her people. This episode’s plot is the characters trying to get the connection back before their allotted time runs out. They end up succeeding and Eclipsa gets to sing her song. Also, cut all the Kelly and Marco interactions, or at least make it super obvious that they are just friends (why not give Kelly a boyfriend? One that isn’t Tad)

Episode 6 B: Surviving the Spiderbites

Perfect episode, wouldn’t change a thing. Absolutely amazing.

-

Episode 7: Curse of the Blood Moon

Yeah, I cut the entirety of the original episode 7 and shifted this one up a bit, but can you really blame me? Those episodes were pointless! This episode was good, I wouldn’t change to much, however, make it really obvious that, after the curse is broken, Marco still thinks everything about Star is adorable. She could also feel the same way about him. To make room for this, cut that weird couch segment.

Episode 8 A: Princess Quasar Catepillar and the Magic Bell

This was a fun episode, and since we’ll just be coming off of a plot driven episode, let’s do something cool with Ludo!

Episode 8 B: Ghost of Butterfly Castle

Same as the actual episode, but now we learn that Mina was not only behind the Yada Yada berries, but she was also behind cutting the connection at the Ponyhead Show.

-

Episode 9 A: Cornball!

Same as the actual episode we got, but without the whole “Break up buddies” thing between Marco and Kelly (remember how we cut that whole episode?) Now, we just have Marco and Kelly being friends, maybe with Marco hinting that he really likes Star and Kelly giving some relationship advice?

Episode 9 B: Meteora’s Lesson

Same title, but it’s been rewritten! So, the episode plays out the same up until they meet Toffee. In this new episode, they don’t meet Toffee at all! Instead, they travel to Skywynne directly after she destroyed the dimension. Turns out the lesson wasn’t for Meteora, it was for Skywynne. Glossaryck reassures Skywynne that everything will work out between her and her crush and, as proof, he brought her great granddaughter from the future. Skywynne is super confused and attributes the whole thing to being a hallucination caused by her dipping down for the first time (because remember, Skywynne thinks Glossaryck is dead at that point in her life). Glossaryck tries to explain that he’s real and, to prove he’s fake, Skywynne grabs her wand and is about to blast him. Meteora reacts to this and dips down to protect him (like the way it’s described in the book, out of the protection for another). Glossaryck and her go back to their own time, leaving Skywynne really confused. It ends the same way the real episode does.

Episode 10 A: The Knight Shift

I didn’t like this episode, but I like the relationship building between Marco and Star. It ends similarly with Marco saying that, no matter what, he’ll be there for Star and will visit her often. He then gets a call from his parents, leading us to...

Episode 10 B: Mariposa

A completely new episode! Marco and Star learn that his new baby brother is about to be born, so they return to Earth. Maybe there’s some trouble getting there or whatever. It would just be a cute episode, so I won’t go into huge details since they don’t matter, but it would obviously end with the baby being a girl and being called Mariposa! Star decides to stay on Earth for a few days, realizing that she feels more comfortable there than on Mewni at the moment.

-

Episode 11 A: Britta’s Tacos

Pretty much the same episode we actually got. I liked it.

Episode 11 B: Beach Day

Again, same episode as what we got in the actual season. However now there is the obviousness of them slowly wanting to be a couple.

Episode 12 A: Gone Baby Gone

Pretty much the same episode because I love getting to see the teen designs for Mariposa and Meteora. However, this time it’s not Heckapoo who leaves a portal open, instead someone (doesn’t matter who) accidentally cuts a rift to the abs dimension. Also, now we’d actually get to see adult Star from when I aged her up back in ransomgram!

Episode 12 B: Sad Teen Hotline

Tom comes to visit Star on Earth and breaks up with her. It’s basically the same as the original episode, but the portals are actually being affected by their emotions (not by Heckapoo closing the portals). It ends with him coming to terms with it and is able to make a proper portal to leave.

-

Episode 13 A: Pancake Day

Similar to the episode “A Spell With No Name” from the actual series in the sense that we get to hang out with the spells again. Star’s spells are in a bit of a panic because ownership has transferred from Star to Eclipsa and they fear they may never be used again! To help ease their minds, Narwhal and Spider go out to the other rooms and interview spells from past queens (specifically spells we actually read about in the book) and they get to realize that, even if another princess doesn’t use them, they still can lead good lives inside the wand! To celebrate, the invite their new spell friends back to their room for a pancake day.

Episode 13 B: Junkin Janna

Star needs to accompany Eclipsa to a meeting with the MHC, while Tom needs help keeping his mind off his breakup with Star. Janna tags along with Star to Mewni and offers to take Tom boot sledding. Eclipsa and Star learn that there are readings of magic being emitted from the destroyed Butterfly castle (not the monster temple). Eclipsa and Star say they don’t know who it is, since neither of them had gone back. Meanwhile, Tom and Janna get attacked by the bird and we learn that Mina is creating a giant suit of armour for... something.

Episode 14: General Loveberry

A flashback episode! Yay! This episode starts the same way “Pizza Party” starts, with an introduction to rag peddler Mina meeting Solaria and the promise that Mina will be the fiercest warrior Mewni ever knew. It cuts to a scene at the meeting table (the one from “Moon the Undaunted”) with Jushtin yelling at Solaria that the idea is insane. Mina says she’ll happily risk herself to defend the kingdom, and that perhaps Mewni is lucky Jushtin never became queen. Jushtin stands up and takes Eclipsa from Solaria, saying that it’s his sister’s choice on how to proceed, but that it’s no place for a baby.

We then go through a series of cuts to the different Queens at the table. At each cut, Mina becomes a little more unstable.

We start with Queen Eclipsa and Shastacan arguing about whether to deploy the Solarians. Mina reassures Eclipsa that her armies will destroy every last monster, making Eclipsa squirm. She says that she’s the queen and her decision is final, they will not use the Solarians.

Cut to Festivia and the MHC. True to Festivia’s chapter, Rhombulus is suggesting war, Omnitraxes says to wait, Glossaryck isn’t there, and Heckapoo is being super supportive of Festivia. She decides they will go to war and Mina says her army will fight just as hard, if not harder, than when Solaria had first made them.

Cut to Dirhhennia doodling balls on a piece of paper while Festivia introduces Mina and describes all the valiant things she did. Dirhhennia looks up and shrugs, making some comment or whatever. Festivia and Mina exchange a look and it cuts to the literal same scene, but now it’s Crescenta excitedly listening to the victories of Mina. She says that, with her plans for the kingdom, Mina and the Solarians won’t need to fight, and that they can take a break, but it’s good to know they fought so hard.

Cut to Rhina asking if it’s possible for the Solarians to protect her on a trip to the Underworld. Mina explains that not many Solarians are left, and besides, their job wasn’t escort missions, they were made for battle.

Cut to Celena comforting Mina, as we learn that she is the last Solarian left.

Cut to the MHC arguing again with Estrella drawing instead of paying attention, while Mina tries to explain the benefit of another war.

Finally, we cut to Queen Comet explaining her idea for a peace treaty. Mina tries desperately to change her mind, but Comet refuses and explains how the tension between monsters has been going on for too long. She tells Mina a detailed plan for her trip to make he deal, and is then called in by Moon, who needs help figuring out a pie recipe. Comet leaves and Mina is left to think.

Under the cover of night, Mina goes out to the Monster camp. The Monsters freak out as she walks in, but she explains that she means them no harm... yet. She demands she speaks to the general (Toffee) and she gives him all the details of Comet’s travel plan. She says that a peace treaty won’t benefit either side, and he says he agrees. She tells him to do whatever he wants with that information, before she runs back into the woods.

We then get a cut to the present, where Mina is standing in the garden at night, facing statues of the previous queens that we just saw. She apologizes to Comet, saying that it was the only way to end the war once and for all. She hears footsteps behind her, and Moon appears. She says “I’m ready to help” and Mina smiles.

-

Episode 15 A: A Boy and His DC‑700XE

Again, same episode. This was a really nice, fun episode. However, any and all jokes about Tomco are removed, and instead Tom says that if Marco wants to date Star, he can.

(I want to deal with this now, because I know someone will ask. The reason I don’t want any Tomco hints is because, in this fake season, Starco is already under way. I want to minimize the shipping drama and just build as healthy a relationship as possible for Star and Marco, one that the fandom would hopefully be ok with).

Episode 15 B: Return to St. Olga’s

Eclipsa comes to Star and says that Meteora won’t stop crying and she’s not sure why. She gives Star a drawing that Meteora did, which Star immediately recognizes (it’s just a bunch of scribbles, the audience isn’t meant to know what this is but somehow Star gets it). She tells Eclipsa she knows what Meteora wants, and goes to get Marco. They then go back to St. Olga’s and we get to check in with the girls over there (they’re doing well). The details don’t really matter, but in the end they find Meteora’s old car parked out front (the one she used to live in) and in the trunk they find the dolls of Eclipsa and Globgor. They return with the dolls and Meteora begins clapping before hugging them close. Eclipsa expresses her shock, stating that she hadn’t seen those dolls in 300 hundred years. It ends with Eclipsa looking at the Globgor doll and smiling.

Episode 16: The Monster and the Queen

Similar to the real episode, but longer. It ends with Star proclaiming that Eclipsa will receive a proper coronation, and then will become the proper queen of Mewni once again.

-

Episode 17 A: Doop Doop

Same title, altered plot. Moon goes to Star and tells her to go on vacation to Earth because the stress of planning a coronation is clearly starting to get to her. Star agrees, saying it would be nice to take a break from planning. Star and Marco go through Mewni and say good bye to all their friends, ending with Doop Doop, before actually leaving for Earth. Once they’re back on Earth, Star says she forgot something and tries to open the portal, but it doesn’t work. She questions if it’s because she’s emotional, like what happened with her break up with Tom. She attempts to call Tom with the intention of having him bring the thing she forgot, but it goes to static. Her and Marco realize something is wrong with the portals.

Episode 17 B: Jannanagins

Same episode, but now Tom isn’t here.

Episode 18 A: Mama Star

Same episode, but Tom isn't here.

Episode 18 B: Ready, Aim, Fire

Similar to the real episode, but Globgor is not free yet. Star, Marco, and Janna all wake up in different places on Mewni (Doop Doop, lint catcher, and Meteora’s nursery). Marco learns that the MHC plans on freeing Globgor, then having the Solarians attack while he’s still disoriented from being freed. Moon is shocked that Star has returned, and Star goes to help Eclipsa, whose castle is under attack. Janna is staying with Meteora while Eclipsa defends her castle and her people.

-

Episode 19 A: The Right Way

Star and Eclipsa defeat the one warrior (not with the total annihilation spells, just with something else). Moon shows up to help but slips up and reveals she sent Star to Earth knowing this attack would happen, and that she wanted Star away from the danger. She’s then forced to explain herself and reveals that she (Moon) made the new Solarians with the intent of getting rid of Globgor once and for all. Moon speaks of the horror stories she was told about Globgor, leading Eclipsa to speak up with the truth.

Episode 19 B: Queen of Darkness

A flashback episode, very similar to “Moon the Undaunted” from season 3. This would be the story of Meteora’s kidnapping, Globgor eating Shastacan, the attack on Spiderbite village, and Globgor’s crystallization. The whole episode would end with Eclipsa being crystallized.

Episode 20 A: Here to Help

Moon tries to reason with Mina, explaining that she was wrong about Globgor and that he was just a parent looking out for his family. She takes away the powers of the Solarians, leaving Mina as the only one left. Moon tells Mina that Eclipsa will leave with Meteora and Globgor will stay crystallized forever. Mina complains that they are all being let off too easy and tries to attack, but is held off. The group of heroes fall through a portal like they do in “Pizza Party”, and they meet Heckapoo.

Episode 20 B: The Tavern at the End of the Multiverse

Heckapoo reveals that Rhombulus and Mina are going to destroy Globgor and there’s nothing they can do, so they might as well stay safe until this whole thing blows over, then Moon and Star can return, while Eclipsa and Meteora stay in hiding. Moon is mad until she realizes this is exactly what she did to Star, and suddenly understands Star’s conviction to fight for her beliefs. Star is freaking out over the whole thing and sees Glossaryck, forcing herself into his eye. From there, she tells him she needs advice and he takes her to the grandma room. The ghosts appear similar to the actual grandma reunion scene, but this time Star asks them for help on what to do. A few of them motion to Moon’s tapestry, revealing Toffee can speak. He and Star have a civil conversation which leads to him revealing that Mina gave him the information on where to find Comet. Star turns to ask the ghosts if that’s true, but they’re gone. She sees her tapestry though, it’s her and Marco holding hands while standing on a stage. They are facing away from the audience. Facing towards the audience is Eclipsa, Globgor, and Meteora, being cheered on. Star realizes this is the coronation and that she needs to make this happen. She returns and explains that Eclipsa needs to be the true queen again. When Moon protests, Star reveals that Mina helped plot the murder of Comet. With that, Moon prepares for battle.

-

Episode 21: Cornonation

The episode begins with the group of friends all backstage while Eclipsa gets ready. It’s not as huge of an auditorium because they’re trying to keep things pretty quiet so they don’t attract any unwanted attention. (At some point here, Marco can point out the typo of “Cornonation”). Eclipsa learns a string on her guitar broke and runs to go fix it. Star goes after her and finds that Globgor has escaped. It was Mina who convinced Rhombulus to let Globgor out, but they didn’t anticipate he’d be so fast and he escaped. In a panic, he crashes into the coronation stage (rather than running to the swamp) and Mina goes for the attack. At some point, we show Moon returning to Butterfly castle to get her armour, and there can be another scene where she looks at her mother’s tapestry, smiling before going out to avenge her.

At this moment at the Coronation, Eclipsa is being crystallized but suddenly breaks out her butterfly form and dips down for the first time. She and Moon join forces to do the spell with no name but now it's effects are less deadly, it simply destroys Mina’s armour (rather than flying out and melting everything else). Moon can have a cool moment where she confronts Mina about Comet.

The MHC is still fighting Globgor and we get a similar cool fight scene. Tom suddenly flies up (he was back stage with Marco) and summons the dead queens (remember how he did that with Mackie Hand?) Mina is about to deliver the final blow on Globgor, who’s been reunited with Meteora, when Solaria intercepts the blow. Mina asks her why she’s doing this and she just holds Mina’s face in her hands. “You’ve served me valiantly, Mina. But it’s time to rest.” Mina returns to her normal form and looks around and sees how innocent Globgor looks with his family. She runs off into the forest.

The dead queens take a moment to look at their family. Solaria has a touching moment with Eclipsa and her family, showing she accepts it. Jushtin can swoop in and ruffle Eclipsa’s hair, causing them all to laugh. Maybe even Festivia and meet with Eclipsa (just a silent scene), perhaps with a hug from Eclipsa to Festivia. Meanwhile, Star and Moon reunite with Comet. Star finally gets to meet Celena and apologizes to Festivia for destroying her legacy. Star then makes amends with Skywynne, to whom she confesses that she was her favourite grandma. All the queens wave goodbye and are about to leave when Eclipsa stops them. “I know that some of you aren’t my real family, but we were all Queens of Mewni. And this kind of reunion doesn’t happen every day so... will you stay for my coronation?”

It ends the same way the real episode ends, but now we see all the character’s we’ve come to know sitting in the audience (including the queens and including some earth people like Marco’s family). The credits roll as Eclipsa and Globgor continue singing an extended version of their song. The last shot of the show is Star and Marco kissing backstage, with Marco’s cheeks glowing.

-

Some Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed! Since I have your attention, I thought I’d justify and explain some of my reasonings for making the changes that I did. If this doesn’t interest you, feel free to click away now

Ending With Globgor’s Freedom

Some of you may be wondering “Why would you free Globgor at the end?! Don’t you want to show how cute he and Eclipsa are?” I do, which is why I extended “The Monster and the Queen” and why I added another flashback episode about them. I want you to think really hard though for one second. After his freedom in the original series, what did he do? He was injured, sure, but that didn’t lead to anything. He was just sort of... there. Did you know that Globgor doesn’t say a SINGLE word in Cleaved? Yeah...

Ending With the Coronation

Think about it. Svtfoe has always been about Star being a magical princess. This is the physical proof that that point in her life is coming to an end, just as the show is coming to an end. When I first watched season 1, I kind of assumed the series would end with Star becoming Queen. After we learned that Eclipsa was still the true heir, it only felt right to end it this way.

Adding “General Loveberry”

This fan made episode was honestly just a way to give the queens voices, but it also helps flesh out Mina’s character and show her descent into madness. She has seen all her fellow solarians die, she has served every queen, give her this recognition!

Making Mina Responsible for Comet’s Death

I had seen this theory floating around, but unfortunately I don’t know who created it. However, I think it adds a valid reason for Moon to turn on Mina. In the original, Moon flips sides too much, and her only reason for betraying Mina is “I didn’t know she would go so far”. HOW DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT? In mine, Mina DOESN’T go that far. She’s ready to do her duty to get rid of Globgor, and that’s all. It’s her past actions that catch up to her.

ALSO it would show Moon that her monster bias wasn’t completely right. I didn’t elaborate too much in the above section, so I’ll do it here. I would make it very clear throughout the series that Moon kind of blames all monsters for Comet’s death, so learning it was actually a Mewman, her trusted general no less, that was truly behind it makes her rethink everything.

Swapping Toffee for Skywynne in “Meteora’s Lesson”

Reason #1 is because I want to hear her voice, and she wouldn’t be in the “General Loveberry” episode. Reason #2 is because I want to see moments of the book addressed in the show. The fact that a queen destroyed a dimension is oddly glossed over in the series. I also think that visiting a past queen is more relevant than visiting Toffee, especially in my rewrite. Originally, Toffee’s appearance felt like fan service, but it kind of reminded people that Toffee wanted magic destroyed. Well now we don’t want to destroy magic, so Toffee can have his appearances in “General Loveberry” and “The Tavern”.

Not Destroying Magic

In my opinion, destroying the magic was NOT a satisfying way to end. Magic had always been a part of this world, so to come to the decision to destroy it  ONE episode in advance, it felt awkward. Keep magic, keep the queens, but now it’s a new generation. A generation where a queen will rule hand in hand with a monster.

Changing “The Spell With No Name” to “Pancake Day”

Is it just me, or did the original episode “The Spell with No Name” feel super over hyped? Like, they foreshadow this horrible destructive spell, and then Eclipsa uses it a few episodes later but nothing happens! There’s no “Oh my corn we need to stop it!” It just flies off, doing who knows what, and it’s never addressed! With my shift to a lighter episode, we get to address something that I assume would be a very real concern for the spells (not being used) and we get to meet some other spells. This also helps ease the audience into the idea of meeting the past queens, so it doesn’t seem as weird when they pop up at the end.

Why not break up Tom and Star even earlier?

I considered breaking up Tom and Star right after the Bloodmoon curse thing, but it felt too rushed. I felt there needed to be time where they're in a relationship, but it’s clear they aren’t super pumped about it. The way I have it, we still get lots of time between their break-up and the finale, plus Star and Marco never actually confirm they are dating. It ends more on the promise of “Let’s see if this works”.

[racingtowardsaredlight]

So if you guys have seen my post about what would have happened if Grizz had executed Dewey instead of Allie (and basically my theories that she had the real gun) then you might know that I decided to write a fic on it! I finally got some of it written so I thought I’d share a snippet for everyone especially @thegrizzsociety who asked me to tag them in it!! 

*** TW THIS IS KINDA DARK AND DISCUSSES DEATH AND PANIC ATTACKS SO PLS READ AT YOUR OWN RISK AND BE SAFE ***

The shots rang out and everything went silent for a small moment. Grizz felt the guilt setting in as his eyes opened to a sight that turned his stomach. Dewey’s head was still moving and there was no blood to be seen. As his ears stopped ringing and the world stopped spinning he could hear the other’s panic as well. They had missed. They needed to go again. He could feel the bile making its way up once more, but he swallowed it down. He tried to put a brave face on.

Gordie assured Allie that another shot could be taken so the Guard lined up once more. Grizz’s hands kept shaking, much more violent than they were before and he kept repeating to himself that he couldn’t do it before it finally slipped out for real. Grizz set the gun on the ground and backed up, apologizing an upwards of three times before Luke caught him by the shoulders, effectively stopping his motions and shoving backwards by a few steps.

“Get your shit together Grizz!” Luke spat, anger and terror present on the quarterback’s face, “We don’t have all fucking day and this doesn’t take it off of your hands. It’s what has to be done.”

“Yeah dude this little freak murdered Cassandra. It’s what he deserves!” Jason added though his expression seemed to convey that he’d rather not be doing this either.

Grizz paused for a moment, looking around at the others who he was joined by. He knew that Gordie planned for three shooters and if it had been Grizz’s gun loaded with the real bullets then Dewey wouldn’t meet his demise unless there was another person to step up. Gordie had already stated earlier that day that he couldn’t do it and Helena, who had the most experience with guns, was only there to support Luke and deliver Dewey’s prayers. Will could step up and take Grizz’s place but Grizz knew that Allie would put herself before Will if she saw the emotional toll it had taken on Grizz. So with no other choice in his head, Grizz nodded and wiped the tear off his face before he picked his gun back up and resumed his stance in the lineup once again.

This time though, when the countdown finished and the shots rang out, no other sounds came back. The world went quiet as Grizz looked ahead of himself and saw Dewey’s head hanging as a small trickle of blood spilled down the chair in front of his lap and onto the leaf-covered dirt below. Everyone around Grizz had turned away, refusing to look at the damage they had done and instead found stories on the ground to distract themselves as the stared at the leaves and tried to forget. But Grizz couldn’t look away. He had to know.

Stepping forward by around ten feet then coming around to face Dewey’s front, Grizz saw the horror he knew he’d find. At the top of Dewey’s head on the very right side, slightly matted by orange hair but still incredibly obvious, sat small hole that was draining thick, red blood. Grizz had seen enough episodes of CSI with his mother to know that if the bullet exited through the front right side of Dewey’s head, then the bullet came from the back left side of his head. The gun in the hands of the shooter on the very far left had the real bullets and thus shot and killed Cassandra’s murderer. Grizz was the far left shooter and he now knew that he was the shooter. He stumbled back to his original position quickly enough that the other’s hadn’t noticed him leave and this time, when he felt the bile rise again, he let it come and threw up until he had nothing else in his stomach.

* * *

That’s all I have so far but hopefully I can get some more up this weekend in a more official post. I’m titling it “The Executioner” for now but let me know if you have a suggested title! Also if you’d like to be tagged just let me know in my asks (leave me something taglist: @ your username or something i guess?)