corrupteddarkness

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

Angel Dust: The reason I use substance abuse to self-destruct is so I can forget how much I hate myself…I hope if I let myself get hurt and high enough I’ll hit a breaking point, and my abuser will eventually just leave me alone.

Husk:

[aristocratic-otter]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

Thank you, @artsyunderstudy, @skee3000, and @roomwithanopenfire for the ask.

  Hmmm, Ok. I guess I’ll choose based on which of my own fics I actually reread the most. That means my favorites are: 

A Real Doll

My first explicit fic, written for the Monster Under the Bed fest, this was where I really started to feel like I could be up there writing with the fanfic gods I’d looked up to. @captain-aralias liked it, that was an achievement! This was actually very very loosely based on a CSI fanfic I read forever ago (really, the only similarity was a lifelike sex doll), but in it Baz decides to try to wank his feelings for Simon away in a much more involved fashion by basically fucking a sex doll he makes that looks like Simon. But then Simon walks in on this happening and, well...you’ll have to read it to find out. 

A Fucked-Up Cinderella Story

This was my first EGF fic, and, more importantly, my first collaboration. Working with @frjsti was eye-opening in so many ways. I found out how wonderful it can be when a writer and artist work together, and how much greater the result is than either could accomplish alone. 

Plus, I’m still amused by the titular joke. 

In this fic, Baz was kept home by Malcolm after the vampire attack, for fear both of what other mages might do to him, and out of worry that Baz himself wouldn’t be able to control his vampire urges. 

In a misguided attempt to convince Baz that he can like women, Malcolm offers to hire him a male escort, with the twisted idea that if Baz doesn’t like having sex with a male, he might swing back to females. 

Enter Simon, who’s offered a shit-ton of money by a very discreet agency to provide one night of unimaginable pleasure to a mysterious client...

Careful What You Wish For

Another collaboration with an artist, this time for my first COBB, I worked with the imitable @ivelovedhimthroughworse (Apricot). Apricot was a fun and generous partner, and this being a collaboration is one reason it’s a favorite. 

The other reasons have to do with me being a massive science nerd and getting to nerd out about multiple universe theories, and with this being my first fully original plotty work (previous ones either weren’t plotty, or were based on existing movies/stories/history).

In Careful, Simon, in a fit of rage, accidentally wishes that Baz had never been born. This catapults him into a universe that never had a Baz Pitch and Simon has to learn how much he actually cares about Baz (and don’t worry, Baz himself enters the story before too long).

Gates of Ivory and Horn

This was a gift fic for @prettylightsbigcity, and what I like so much about it is how it gave me a chance to play with mythology, with the boundary between life and death, and with the ripple effects of one choice on future timelines. Plus, some very hot scenes and plenty of angst, it’s exactly the type of fic I choose to read when others write it. 

When the Oneiroi, Greek gods of dreams in the form of ravens, attack Watford, Simon is one of the first to fall. He’s trapped in a dream where he’s offered the choice of two gates. The catch is, one gate shows only truth, one shows only falsehoods. If he chooses the wrong gate, he’ll be trapped in the dream forever. 

But how could a future where he ends up with Baz be the true one?

For the last, I’m torn between three or four other fics, but I think I’ll go with The Naked Next.  It was a gift fic for @raenestee, and one of several fics set in the same universe.  I’m choosing this because it gave me a chance to be fun and silly, but also nerd out on some of my favorite science topics. And it let me write SnowBaz into one of my favorite (silly) Star Trek episodes. And most off all, I got to work with a lovely bunch of people, including @facewithoutheart, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @cutestkilla, @mostlymaudlin, @thewholelemon, and @artsyunderstudy (and others who may yet be revealed. The expansiveness of the universe we’ve built together is endlessly thrilling for me, and I’m grateful to @facewithoutheart for inviting me to be involved. 

In this story, Simon is the Bajoran rebel turned Starfleet security chief on the Redemption. Baz is his half-Cardassian former roommate/ nemesis and constant obsession. When the Redemption answers a distress call to a vessel where people are acting like the whole world is a party, some of the away team unfortunately bring a contagion back to the Redemption with them. 

In the timeless words of Porky Pig, Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!

[girl4music]

I once heard the term “straightbaiting” in regards to ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. As in, what we queer people get in another show where there’s queerbaiting. But with Xena it’s just with the opposite sex instead. And that’s accurate because the central relationship in ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ is Xena and Gabrielle. The show revolves around both of them as main characters and their love relationship - be it platonic or romantic.

Every other episode in the earlier seasons they would bring in a male love interest for either one of them (later in the show they would also get female love interests as well as male love interests; Gabrielle - Najara, Thalassa, Brunhilda. Xena - M’Lila, Lao Ma and, ugh, Akemi) but none of these love interests lasted. They would either die, leave or otherwise just never show up in the show again. They were either always temporary fill ins/stand bys until the other main character returned or used as a relationship conflict between Xena and Gabrielle, basically stating and showing how unnatural it was for either of them to have any sort of love relationship going on when it’s not with each other. And whenever this happens, the show itself feels shaky and off-kilter: unbalanced.

In a sense,… not straight. It feels not straight for it to be straight. It feels fake. It feels abnormal. Wrong. Exactly the way a queer person is supposed to feel when it’s queerbaiting in a primarily straight show. Straightbaiting in Xena feels like that to a straight person because Xena is genuinely a queer show and, therefore, in that show,… Queer is right. Queer is normal. Queer is real. And even with the female love interests - it still feels that way because, again, the central and most important relationship is X and G!

So ‘straightbaiting’ is absolutely the most accurate term to describe what the experience of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ is rather than queerbaiting because it’s not Xena and Gabrielle that is the bait. It’s everyone else. And this is especially true with the male love interests. Except maybe Ares. But that’s a whole other topic altogether that takes understanding Rob Tapert’s mind, who is genuinely team X and G all the way but just has hang ups with X and A. I won’t go into it here.

But yes, it also boggles my mind something awful when anyone watching Xena today could call it queerbaiting. It’s honestly the entire opposite. You can’t watch episodes like ‘When Fates Collide’ and ‘Who’s Gurkhan’ and hell, even Season 2’s ‘The Quest’, without realizing that the creators are genuine with how they write Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship. It’s not a joke. It might have started out as one but pretty damn quickly they changed course and it became serious. So serious that almost every other relationship for Xena or Gabrielle feels like a joke. Feels like it is the bait that keeps straight people tuned into watching a queer show about queer characters the way straight characters acting queer are the bait for queer people to watch a straight show.

And I cannot put it anymore concisely than that. That IS ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’. It is a straightbaiting show. So much so that Lucy and Renee have laughs about it. These are two straight women taking the piss out of the show’s attempts to keep its straight audience. Laughing about how unnatural it all feels for Xena and Gabrielle to have “straight” love relationships, proving my point completely true without knowing it. And I’m emphatically saying this as a queer woman myself that headcanons Xena as bisexual. Still queer but not gay. It feels extremely wrong for Gabrielle to be doing this. But it doesn’t ever matter because it doesn’t ever last. What lasts is the central relationship. That of X & G.

So regardless whether the nature of Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship is platonic or romantic, the creators are purposefully telling and showing you all love interests or love relationships besides theirs fail in comparison. And that’s not a very “queerbait-y” thing to do, is it? That’s actually the opposite of queerbait.

[tedcicle]

Official Palcove Propaganda Post

[ID: Text with a fire effect that says "WATCH PALCOVE NOW" in red capital letters. /.End ID.] Now you may be asking... Who?

Palcove is both the name of the iconic duo of Ted Nivison (of Rainforest Cafe/Margaritaville/400mg edible fame) and Charlie Slimecicle (professional gay sex roleplayer, at least that's what he should be known for) and the area they lived in during their brief time on EpicSMP (a modded SMP created by, uh... *cough* Matt SuperMega *cough*. You can hazard a guess as to why this SMP didn’t really take off.)

Okay, why should I care?

I shan't lie and say EpicSMP is like, crazy good, or a hidden gem, or YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS — really, it's basically TekkitLive but there's way more people on it. It's a largely forgotten SMP, overshadowed by more popular and successful SMPs that happened before or around it. (OriginsSMP, for example.) There's a bunch of interesting duos trying to start their own businesses, and while nothing happened happened, at the end everybody died, which is interesting to think about. (Actually, wait... yeah, it’s just like TekkitLive.) But it was fun. There were some good bits, some light roleplay, and enough seedlings of a plotline to get an average viewer Andy like me invested in. There was some kind of season 2, but it never took off. I'm sure MCYT fans are accustomed to the disappointment of non-existent fandoms, unfinished stories, or lacking narratives by now (Shadow of Israphel was my first heartbreak, but maybe yours was something else). Another one wouldn’t hurt, right? Why Palcove specifically? Well, as a former SMPLiver— (I am escorted off the stage to a chorus of boos) I just really like Ted and Charlie's dynamic. They’re the perfect comedy duo. Charlie works best when he has someone to bounce bits off of, and Ted knows exactly how to pick up what Charlie is putting down and elevate it to the next level. (The adverb and adjective bit in the first VOD had me DYING.) Story-wise, Charlie had a satisfying character arc. He’s a pivotal character and I liked how he plays off of Schlatt and Swagger, too. Not to mention, this is the last time Ted has uploaded or streamed any Minecraft content... I miss him, chat. Also, it makes me happy. Isn't that enough?

Well, okay, you got me interested. How do I watch?

I'm glad you asked (even if you wouldn't fucking say that, I don't care). Firstly, a primer. Sometimes we start a new thing, but it ends up not being to our liking, and that's fine. Maybe you want to walk around and see how it fits before you commit. That's fine! All I ask for is 14 minutes of your time. That's like, 4 songs.

This video is the first day edited down into a nice, palatable, taste-tester, courtesy of unknown energy on YouTube. It's so nice and cozy and comfy, it's the equivalent of a mug of hot chocolate curled up in an armchair with a warm blanket wrapped around you. As for continuing, I highly recommend starting with Charlie's POV. It's probably who you're most familiar with, and he bothered to edit down his streams (even if the videos are like, an hour long). If you like listening to men argue and make the unfunniest jokes imaginable, then definitely try the full VODs. All of these have been archived by the channel EpicSMPVods.

Charlie's POV Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 VODS Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | End of S1* Ted's POV Episode 1 (Yes, he really only did one episode) VODS Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

*This VOD is Swagger's POV, as Charlie didn't upload the finale at all, and the VOD of it either doesn’t exist or wasn’t archived. The relevant Charlie section starts around 15 minutes in.

And if you want more of the story, well, Swagger has one of the most comprehensive EpicSMP POVs.

Final Thoughts

Like many other “stream only” SMPs, a lot of content regarding them simply gets lost and forgotten. There's plenty of reasons why EpicSMP wasn't very successful (in-depth analysis post pending). I’m just glad that not only did Palcove exist, but it's archived. It just so happened to survive against surmountable odds and even have what I consider a satisfying narrative ending (in-depth analysis post pending). And I’m insane about it. And everyone else should be, too.

[ID: Text with a fire effect "WATCH PALCOVE NOW" in red capital letters. /.End ID.]

[kendizzzzzzzzle]

a post about why I personally can’t stand kendall from later seasons and how nick ruined the best character

first of all, even tho kendall had an obvious character regression in the show, I still love him a lot. so if you think anything I’m about to say is wrong - don’t come at me.

in the first season we got to know one of the most amazing characters of all time. kendall, having this perfect harmony between fun and seriousness inside of him, had an incredible personality. he was a good friend, a good boyfriend and a lovely person in general. he was a calm, brave, protective, generous, smart leader and always found a way out. of course his calling card was to give a good inspirational pep-talk in tough situations and make a great plan, but throughout the show producers made it his one and only thing that became a cliche after some time.

kendall in s1&2 liked the taste of a danger sometimes. he was looking in the eyes of fear and protected anyone who was scared. he was not afraid to reach his goals and always found a way to make the things happen. perfect example - he always argued with gustavo when he felt like he was treated unfairly. also when jo arrived he didn’t give up after 1 day, he found a way and got it all done. kendall in s3&4 is scared. scared a lot. in “big time surprise” he literally runs away and hides from his problems, in “big time lies” he is too afraid to tell the truth or push lucy away and in “big time break out” he gives up when other three decide to leave the band. I remember his words from “big time rides” - “if you scratch it, gustavo is gonna kill me!” since when do you care, huh?

“but maybe he just grew up and became more mature?” well, not exactly. of course, kendall became more calm and his “anger issues” weren’t a big problem in later seasons. his behavior changed to some weird way of goofy and dumb and at some point it felt like when he got his hair cut, he got a piece of his brain chunked off too. all four of them have this problem too - writers turned the show into a mess and a whole s4 is basically a big filler episode.

along with everything I said before, kendall just wasn’t a leader anymore. yeah, he was making up plans and giving those pep-talks but it wasn’t inspirational or anything interesting at all. it was all a comedic move to make viewers think that “it’s still the same old kendall” but it’s not. if I’m being honest, kendall didn’t even have this power in his hands anymore. he was the glue of the band before, he was the one who made everyone calm down, he was everything. however in later seasons, if I didn’t watch the show and someone told me that kendall was originally a leader - I wouldn’t believe them. he became too soft, too scared of circumstances, too affected by life.

old kendall would’ve never ran away from his problems. old kendall would’ve never hid the truth from his loved ones. old kendall would’ve never let the band break out.

we can see his old-self appearing in “big time cameo” when he stands up for carlos or “big time double date” when he protects lucy but other than that - we completely lost his original character as seasons went on and it’s devastating.

also would like to say that it’s not just kendall, it’s all of them. james was never that arrogant, logan was never this ignorant and carlos was never this naive. writers ruined all of their characters and for what? for turning the show into a big joke with the weirdest and dumbest last episode ever.

I said what I said.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About The Owl House Pilot

Huh. Never thought I’d get to do this again, but oh well.

Salutations, random people on the internet! I’m an Ordinary Schmuck! I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

And, above all else, I LOVE talking about The Owl House. I have an entire masterpost dedicated to talking about every single episode of the show and I’m halfway through a six-part review discussing everything that I love about it (Part Four's coming when it’s done. Let’s say…late June. Early July at the latest). I figured that after I’d finished that whole deal, I wouldn’t have anything left to talk about when it came to this series. Then, out of nowhere, the show’s original pilot leaked online…Sort of. It’s just an animatic with the show’s original voice cast voicing MOST of the lines, but it’s very much the pilot episode. It’s just not a finished product and I won’t share a link because I don’t think it’s exactly…legal. BUT I will at least share my thoughts about it because, well…Look at my blog. The Owl House has become the BIG THING that I obsess over for a reason and I love that I got to see what’s basically an alternate version of the show that I love. What do I mean?

Well, a pilot is MUCH different from a first episode. Where the first episode is meant to sell the show to the audience, a pilot is meant to sell it to a STUDIO. It can happen at any point of the story or act as the show’s first episode. Just as long as it shows off the characters, concepts, and tone, a studio can look at it, greenlight it, and allow the show to continue, BUT with some extra notes. Sometimes, those notes can change the rest of the series where others can keep the pilot good enough to stay canon. Some best examples off the top of my head are the pilots for Regular Show and Rick and Morty. You can tell that not much changed from the pilots of those shows and what was initially pitched, but there are clear changes in tone, animation, and even personality. Skips sounds a little more illiterate and Benson being more informed of the consequences of something as simple as rock, paper, scissors in the Regular Show pilot and Rick is noticeably more reckless and unprepared for situations in the Rick and Morty pilot. Nothing is set in stone with a pilot episode, even the ones that are canon. For the case of The Owl House, it’s pilot is no exception. A lot of it is just the same as “A Lying Witch and A Warden” at least in terms of plot and themes, but there are so many changes that show off what the series COULD HAVE been instead of what it was. How different? Well, let’s go through it all.

But real quick, I’m not going to do the “Like/Dislike” format I’ve done for previous reviews. Instead, I’m going to look through this pilot, note the changes it has, and share my thoughts on them. There’s also going to be a few spoilers to what happens in this pilot, so if you haven’t checked it out then I suggest giving it a watch wherever you can find it. It really is interesting to get a peak into what’s basically an alternate version of my favorite show.

With that said, let’s get into it.

Some Things Stayed the Same: Like I said, it’s basically an altered version of “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” The plot is that Eda uses Luz to get King back his “crown of power,” with some bits and pieces carrying over. Certain jokes that must have been too funny to get rid of, specific lines of dialogue that hit just the right notes, and some aspects of the characters�� personalities being just the same, proving that they're already perfect the way they are. It’s the changes, however, that makes for something more interesting. For one…

There’s More of an Emphasis on Comedy: As much as I love The Owl House, I’ll always admit that humor isn't its strong suit. It CAN be funny, really funny. But the jokes don’t land as well as something as Gravity Falls or Amphibia. I can say that a part of that could be because Dana Terrace wanted a more serious show, and we definitely get a sense of how serious it could be later in the series. Here, in the pilot, it definitely seems like there was more of an attempt to make the show comedic. King’s crown isn’t in a warden’s cell held within a magical barrier that only a human can get through. It’s in a Principal’s high school, locked in a human locker that Eda and King treat as something devious. Amity’s friends aren’t preppy mean girls who seem like they could cause conflict to Luz and her friends. They’re characters used for jokes who are amazed by Luz standing up to Lilith. There’s less of an edge and more of a lean towards cutesy fun, waiting until the very end to reveal something heavy. To me, it makes the pilot feel MORE like a Gravity Falls clone than the final product. Because while Gravity Falls has its serious moments, it makes it clear that it was a comedy first, both in the pilot and final product. Any moment of heart or drama was overshadowed by one hilarious joke after the other. Now, “A Lying Witch and A Warden” had a lot of jokes too, but there were also these moments that hinted at something more. You have the oppressive looking prison, the grand beam of light hiding human collectibles, a crazy chase from a threatening looking warden. And yes, the reveal that Warden Wrath was trying to go out with Eda was hilarious, but a warden who tortures a prisoner for speaking her truth gives a hint of how dark this world can be. Meanwhile, a principal sending a student to demon detention feels more like a joke, exaggerating how strict some principals can be.

And keep in mind, I’m not complaining about the pilot leaning more towards comedy. I actually laughed a lot more with it than I did with “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” I’m just trying to explain how the tone is definitely going for something different than the full series. It might have that darker twist in the end, but even that is nothing more than a surprise. I'll get into why later, but while it has darker implications, it doesn't detract from the fun times to be had. Not by much. From what I can gather from the pilot, it’s definitely going for a series with goofy, fun adventures with a bit of heart to it. It’s just missing that personal touch that’s in The Owl House. One good example of how?

There’s Not Even a MENTION of Camila: Before you say anything, this has nothing to do with me being Camila’s number one fan, to the point where I almost made a side-blog dedicated to her (I really should get on that, though…)

I bring up this change because Camila grounds the story in “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” She draws Luz close to reality and is the first thing that comes to Luz’s mind when in real danger, saying, “If I die, my mom will kill me!” More than that, though, Camila is the one real connection Luz has to the human realm. She has no friends nor adventures, but Luz always has Camila, with even the first episode hinting that. So when Luz starts getting herself into trouble or choosing to lie and stay in the Boiling Isles, it lets the audience get ready for the inevitable drama that could unfold when Luz finally tells Camila everything. By removing Camila, though, the anticipation of Luz telling her mom goes away with her. At least, it tells ME that there’s less of a worry about Luz basically running away from home. Either this version of the show is holding off from that for a future episode or that Luz and Camila’s relationship isn’t close enough where it matters. This is speculation, of course, but I still stand by that a sense of something personal with Luz is lost for the sake of having fun and epic fantasy adventures with entertaining characters. It’s still good and entertaining, and the pilot does offer something else that’s personal, but it’s not the same as The Owl House we all fell in love with. Though, it’s notable that our main cast stayed the same.

Luz, Eda, and King: Overall, I’d say that these three, personality wise, didn’t change much. King’s probably the least altered, being the exact same character he was in Season One aside from MAYBE having a design change (It’s hard to tell through storyboards). As for Luz and Eda, they’re more or less the same. There’s a BIG change with Eda (That I’ll get to later), but her devil-may-care attitude is very much the same, as well as her snark and soft nature towards Luz and King. It’s her magic that gets the real boost, being able to do more like teleport across the Isles and turn into a…softer version of the Owl Beast at will. It’s pretty cool to see the power that this alternate Owl Lady has. And then there’s Luz, who’s still the lovable weirdo we all know. Though, this version seems a lot more dim and I’m not really a fan. How does she mistakenly give a book report in geometry class? How did it take seeing Amity’s witch ears to realize that she belonged in the demon realm? Luz had her dumb moments in the show too, but not to this extent. There was still a sense of maturity and cognitive understanding that made Luz feel like someone that seemed weird but intelligent enough to think herself out of a situation. This Luz seems more weird and focused on using brute force on a problem. In a way, it makes Pilot!Luz more of an…emotionally driven Star Butterfly. A fun and capable character, but not the same kind I had made several posts and reviews talking about how much I love/personally connected to her. But, comparatively, I guess it IS the most minor change that could be done to this character. Now let’s move onto BIGGER changes.

The Boiling Isles: The look and feel of the Isles remains the same, but the fact that it’s more connected to the Human Realm is intriguing. From what I can tell, the Demon Realm treats traveling to the Human Realm like it’s going to a new country. You visit, make some memories, and, for some, send your children over to be a foreign exchange student of sorts. Except that racism seems to be encouraged in this regard as the demons and witches don’t see humans worth breathing the same air as them. And some think it’s more than okay to hunt down and kill if one human trespasses into their realm. And the reason for THAT is implied to be Belos’ doing. Er, I mean–*Checks the leaked pitch bible*--Emperor Pupa? Uh…I’ll just stick with Belos. 

And that’s extra fascinating to me because Belos being a witch hunter was a major twist that spoke VOLUMES of the kind of people he represents. To find out that this version is more anti-human makes me curious of what kind of angle the show would have taken. Would Belos have been your bare-bones fantasy villain or would the writers find a different way to tackle his symbolism? And is the reason why the Demon Realm is more open up to the Human Realm because he hopes witches and demons can report about their enemies for a possible invasion? There’s no way to know for sure because that version of the story will never come to be, but it’s interesting to think of all the things we COULD have gotten. The same goes for other characters.

Amity: To think, Amity was considered important enough to be included in the original pitch pilot alongside our main trio. It makes sense. Dana Terrace has gone on record in saying that Luz and Amity’s relationship was something she wanted from the get go, so it’s smart to establish it as quickly as possible. Though the route they take is definitely different. Instead of being enemies to lovers, Lumity, in the original pitch, went for the friends to lovers trope…kind of.

Luz, in this version, is someone so desperate for positive attention and respect that she latches onto the first person in school that was nice to her. Except that Amity was looking for some quiet and just so happened to look like she was supporting Luz when telling everyone to leave her alone. It was an act of kindness, but not one done in generosity. It still meant the world to Luz, though, making her go ALL IN with friendship. Only to be a little too forward and creeped Amity out to the point where she was polite enough to say “Thank you,” but you could see the desperation in her eyes to be anywhere but next to Luz. Yet Luz doesn’t see that. She’s still too focused that someone was actually nice to her that she blindly follows Amity into a new world just to return a weird looking passport. Because Amity’s Luz’s friend now and friends do nice things to each other. Only for Amity to accidentally reveal that she couldn’t care less for Luz and shatter her hopes and dreams in one fell swoop.

In a weird way, I’d say Luz and Amity are off on a better first impression here than in the original series. There’s no attempted dissections or witch’s duels. Just…Amity trying to be polite in Luz’s presence only to act like your typical mean girl when she THINKS Luz isn’t around. Tossing away the drawing is harsh for sure, but here’s the interesting thing: Amity didn’t know she was talking to Luz at that moment. She didn’t even get rid of the drawing until someone drew (haha) attention to it. If anything, it’s worth noting that Amity still kept the drawing on her. Almost like, despite being weirded out by Luz, Amity felt as though the drawing WAS cute and only got rid of it when she thought someone would question her for having it. Can’t have that Little Miss Perfect status shatter over something some human gave her.

Am I reaching as a Lumity shipper? Oh, most certainly yes. But we all know the inevitable conclusion between these two. We know where they’re headed. Dana has been pretty adamant about wanting it from the start and this pilot sets the groundwork well. Knowing where these two will end up, it’s easy to make connections and hypothesize what means what. Plus, look at the face of shock and amazement on Amity’s face when she sees Luz standing up to Lilith. That looks like a girl who’s…feeling things for this human weirdo. They’re not off to a ROARING start, but I can see how things could improve between Luz and Amity. And who knows, maybe this version of these two might end up dating sooner with how quickly they seem interested in each other. Again, am I reaching? Most definitely, but I went without any new Lumity content for over a year so LET ME REACH!

The point I’m trying to make is that this version of Amity definitely seems a lot more chill and polite at the start, even though it’s likely she still has issues of even being FRIENDS with a human. But not everyone starts off polite.

Lilith: Crazy to think that Lilith started out as…basically a one-off villain like Warden Wrath. At least, that’s what I gathered from the pilot. The pitch bible hints that there COULD be more to her, but at the same time she gets sent to a fire dimension and loses a hand. That’s one-off villain energy if I’ve ever seen it. But if she is meant to be something more, I would love to see what differences could come of her being the headmaster of Hexside instead of Bump and how she could either develop into someone better through Luz’s influence as a student or regress into someone worse as she makes Luz’s school life a living hell. Whatever could come from her, it was kind of fun seeing Lilith act as more of a threat with her…out of nowhere ability to turn into a bat monster. It’s a pretty cool design and I love that it was brought out due to Eda’s constant pestering, proving that Lilith is still the same insecure nut that I love. And it is pretty great that this pilot confirmed that Lilith really did dye her hair to look more serious. You CAN’T tell me that’s not why the Lilith we know ditched the curly red hair.

But that’s about it when it comes to changes towards characters and locations. Let’s talk about the potential differences in the ongoing story.

Luz Stays Trapped Instead of Choosing to Stay: I mean, technically she chose to stay by breaking that key for no reason, but that’s more of a consequence of not thinking things through. She didn’t NEED to break the key, Luz could have just as easily pulled it out. Instead, she kicked the dang thing, leaving herself trapped in this new world. And it’s here that I would like to once again point out how this makes Pilot!Luz different and what’s lost by not including Camila. The Luz WE know would have been more careful. She always felt like someone who fought smarter, not harder, even in that first episode. Luz didn’t fight Wrath head on, she rallied a prison riot that distracted him long enough for her to hit a firework ball into his mouth. She’s intelligent and resourceful, where this one…kind of is? It was smart to send Lilith to the fire dimension, but again, not a great plan to break the key. Plus, without Camila, this doesn’t feel like as big of a deal as it could have been. Camila was the first person in Luz’s mind as she destroyed the portal door in the Season One finale. In the pilot, with no Camila, it feels like a non-sacrifice or even that big of a deal. She’s stuck, sure, but Luz doesn’t really seem to care that much. She feels happy being with Eda and King and doesn’t seem to be in that big of a rush to get home. Plus, it’s not exactly complicated to get back. There was a whole line of portal doors in the beginning that Luz could potentially sneak through and there’s not yet an established cannon that makes it seem like getting a new key would be difficult or even complicated. Once more, it gives the impression that this version of The Owl House would be focused less on personal stakes and more like giving Luz that fantasy adventure she’s always been craving for. It would make for a fun show, but not the SAME show. However, it is worth noting that there could be some potential drama. Especially for one twist that was a JOLT to my system.

EDA WORKS FOR THE EMPEROR?!: WHAT?!

I’ll admit, I feel like the reason why this is so shocking is because of the Eda I know and the Emperor I learned to fear. I mean, Eda, the woman who would sooner eat her own fist before even CONSIDERING helping Belos, even before the witch hunter business, was originally meant to HELP him. Of all the changes that the series could have made, this was by far the biggest. Everything that I thought to be constant turned out to be a lie and I was NOT prepared for it!

But again, the reason why I got that big of a reaction is because it goes against everything I knew about Eda. If this was my first introduction to her, it’d be less of a shocking twist and more of a…hook. Like how Invincible’s first episode (Don’t watch if you’re a baby) ends with a character you THOUGHT you could trust doing this intensely dark thing. The rest of the season is leading you to figure out WHY this was done and how the other characters would react, making you want to see more as the show inevitably leads up to this big conclusion that changes everything you once knew. The same applies here, with the reveal making me wonder why Eda would do this, how long she’s been doing it, how it will affect her relationship with Luz, and whether or not it’d be an easy fix. And much like the ending of Invincible’s first episode (Seriously, NOT meant for babies), this hook makes me interested in wanting to see what comes next. Except I never will know because that came from a version of The Owl House that will never exist.

The pilot is interesting because it shows me what The Owl House COULD have been. I wouldn’t say that it’s better than what we got or even that it’s a better first impression than “A Lying Witch and A Warden.” It’s definitely FUNNIER, I’ll give it that, but it doesn’t make the original pitch better, it makes it different. Everything looks the same and sounds the same, but the overall feel of this pilot makes it something that would have had a different story, tone, and ideas on how to develop these characters. Would I have liked it? Absolutely. It seems like a fun time. But that doesn’t mean I like the show we got any less. This was more like…getting a peek into an alternate universe where a show I already love would have been vastly different. And after over a year without any new Owl House content aside from stuff that fans have made, this was a very pleasant surprise that leaves me excited for the NEW fan content that springs from all this.

But that’s enough talking about a show that could have been made. Time to get back to a series that came into existence and I still love so much. See you all then as you all milk this gift that the internet has given you.

[sozzledjuja]

Let's talk about the "Iris killed Mephisto" situation

With season 3’s possible (and hopeful) arrival, I thought this post might be necessary.  I’ve been going through a lot of old lolirock posts, and the amount of people that seem thoroughly convinced that Iris was responsible for Mephisto’s death is absolutely astounding. Like, have we watched the same scene? You could attribute her a small fraction of the blame, sure. But all of it? It seems to me like some of yall (in a very Praxina fashion, may I add) just want someone convenient to blame. 

Like, I’m all in favor of the “Iris killed Mephisto” jokes, like, keep making them, I love them. But… it should stay that way… a joke. Because some people seem to have taken it quite literally. 

I think I’ve read something similar somewhere before but, Mephisto’s death was not only one person’s fault. That was the point. It was a combination of variables that all ended up going tremendously wrong for the twins, BUT, one in which NONE of the characters involved had any intention of contributing to. 

You wanna blame people? Sure, you could blame Iris. She was the one that allegedly couldn’t control her Shanilla form. She was the one who sent the blast that, when collided with Gramorr’s own energy force, hit and shattered the big, shiny, and mildly explosive rock, that was going to fall onto Praxina, before Mephisto yeeted her away like a ragdoll and took on the blast himself. Wow. Does that not sound far fetched and awfully convoluted? Yeah, because it is. If anything, you could say that Iris indirectly and totally unintentionally contributed to Mephisto’s death. 

And you know what? While we’re on the subject of blaming, why not blame Gramorr? He was the one who started this whole mess for everyone. He is the reason that battle was even happening in the first place. The energy Iris sent collided with HIS magic, causing the blast, so, logically speaking, he should also be blamed, right? Did he mean to “kill” Mephisto? No. Though if I’m being totally honest, he probably wouldn’t have cared either way, but still. I’m not sure he even noticed that was even happening. But it also wasn’t his intention. 

Oh, do you wanna blame someone else? Great! How ‘bout we blame Praxina herself? If she had just left with Mephisto, like he wanted, instead of “wanting to watch” (what the heck was that about anyways? babygirl, i love you but TF?!), they wouldn’t have been anywhere near the blast when it happened. And then, to save her from her own recklessness, Mephisto was the one who got screwed. 

Heck, we can even blame Mephisto himself. He was the one who decided to jump in front of his sister to save her, wasn’t he? No one made him do it. 

See? We can blame pretty much everyone. OR we could rip the page we took from Praxina’s blame book, crumple it into a ball, rip it to shreds, and throw it off of a bridge. No good comes from trying to find a non-existent scapegoat, and that’s something that some of you, AND Praxina alike, are going to have to learn at some point. Sometimes things aren’t just black and white. There are shades of gray (this is so cliché, but it’s true).

But let’s backpedal, shall we? Imagine Iris was actually the one who undoubtedly, yet accidentally killed Mephisto. I’m gonna ask the real question now. Why should she care? I love the twins more than anything else, obviously, they are my favorite characters in the show, and I feel awful about what happened to them. But they’re not exactly saints. I’m not even going to list all the awful things they did to the princesses, and Iris specifically, because we'd be here forever. But I’ll use Princess Brenda as an example. You know, the episode where Mephisto and Praxina basically “killed” all of Iris’s friends, AND the love of her life, just… because. And they did all that, 1) on purpose; and 2) did not feel bad about it in the slightest, and even gloated about it. Like, they were thrilled. So how exactly is this any different? If anything, it’s way worse. Iris indirectly and completely unintentionally killed Mephisto (as stated above), with lots of other people to be blamed for it as well, AND, she even apologized to Praxina, and said she felt sorry about her loss. She obviously didn’t feel good about it.

What I think screwed her over with certain members of the fandom was the “But you can’t blame me for it.” line. Because maybe I don’t know, YOU CAN’T. Also, what was she supposed to do? She knew it wasn’t fully her fault, as she fucking should. So should she just drop to the ground and cry her eyeballs out, and mourn the loss of her enemy who had consistently made her life a living hell for god knows how long? Like, are some of y’all mental? And it’s fucking hypocritical of Praxina to expect anything more than that from Iris as well, considering everything they've done to her (but, then again, Praxina IS a hypocrite, not a single surprise there).

At the end of the day, neither Iris, nor any of the other princesses owed Mephisto (or Praxina) anything. They didn’t owe him their grief, their mourning, they didn't owe him shit. Because, guess what? A lot of yall aren’t prepared to hear this but. Mephisto enjoyed screwing with the princesses' lives just as much as Praxina. No consideration whatsoever about anyone they had to trick, backstab or hurt. Yeah, Gramorr was making them do it. But they sure as hell were having a blast through it all. In fact, only near the end, when Gramorr was yapping about planetary enslavement or whatever, did Mephisto actually start to kinda realize the gravity of the situation (while Praxina was still on cloud fucking nine). Which- props to him, I guess. I think he was realizing that all of that wasn’t just some big elaborate joke. I think I’ve made a meme of this in the past like, “Wait. You guys are actually evil? I thought it was a joke.”, and this basically perfectly sums up what I think was going through his brain at that moment. That’s why he was so apprehensive till the very end. That, and also the fact that he was then starting to realize that him and Praxina were not any different from Lev, or Jodan, or any of the other minions Gramorr lied to and exploited, to do his dirty bidding for him. They, too, had been expendable, tricked into devoting their entire lives to someone who filled their heads to the brim with nonsense and empty promises of grandeur, when, in reality, he wasn’t actually planning on following through with anything. Why would he? After all, they were just cheap, stupid merchandise.

Still, none of that removes the fact that both Mephisto and Praxina were bad people. Yes, they were kids, so there was obviously room for growth if put in the correct environment, but nonetheless. And I agree with people when they say that Mephisto had more good in him than Praxina, but that still doesn’t make him a good person. The problem is that people like to babify him, and that kind of takes away all the complexity that makes his character so beautiful.

You can love a character and believe they deserved better, while also holding them accountable for their actions and acknowledging they weren’t perfect. 

This is going to sound insensitive as hell but the twins made their bed. Now they have to lay in it (well, Praxina has. Mephisto… well, he can't really lay on anything, can he?- because he is- ya know- dead, but… whatevs). 

Iris could’ve even not shown a single ounce of sadness for what happened to Mephisto and she still would’ve been well within her right to do so. Of course, she is objectively “good” so the expectations for her to do “good” are much higher than the bad guys. The villains are “objectively bad” so whenever they do something only slightly itty bitty nice they’re immediately reduced to “misunderstood” or “poor babies omg uwu” or “they didn’t do anything wrong ever”. Because for them the bar is on the floor, the expectations are low, they don’t need to do anything. For christ sake, let the protagonists make mistakes, allow them to not be perfect, to have dimension. Y’all can’t handle it, can you? Either Iris is a bitch for “killing” poor wittle baby Mephisto or she’s a, quote on quote, “Mary Sue”. Like, pick a lane and leave female characters alone. Let them be complex, let them lose their marbles, let them make mistakes and learn from them. This goes for Iris, but for Praxina too. 

She’s gonna fuck up a lot in season 3, we all know it. She’s gonna do unspeakable things, and I fully believe that, at some point, she might even get past the point of no return. Because she’s human too. Because, right now, she’s all alone without the one person that was always there for her, and that she always took for granted. This doesn’t have much to do with the original point of this post, maybe I’ll elaborate on this later, but I think that one of the main conflicts that Praxina is going to deal with this season is GUILT. The guilt of knowing you didn’t appreciate someone enough while they were there, that you took them for granted. She’s gonna think back to all the times she yelled at or hurt Mephisto (yes, most of that was your usual sibling stuff, but she did take it too far sometimes), and that’s gonna fucking break her. You just know she’s going to have those memories replaying over and over again in her head 24/7. And that’s gonna fuck her up badly. 

She’s still a bad person, but she has layers. She is a complex human being, always, but now more so than ever, and y’all better keep that in mind (also, please please please @teamlolirock, you have the opportunity to do something great with this, maybe even something a little darker to get different audiences for the show as well, and peak the interest of people that aren’t all that familiar with the show yet, please do not waste it, DO NOT squander this potential). 

Also, might I add, I loved how in character for her it was that she immediately blamed Iris for the whole Mephisto thing. Like, if there’s something Praxina has never done during this whole show, was take the blame for anything. That’s her Achilles’s heel, one of her biggest fatal flaws (that and her ongoing hypocrisy. pride too), and of course this situation would only exacerbate it. Well played, @teamlolirock, well played. Here, take my hat. 

Anyways, Banes is the true bitch, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he turned out to be the big bad boss, and I don’t see people discussing it enough (I might make a post on this too when I have the time). 

With that being said, if you’ve read this far, thank you, and I’d like to know your thoughts. If there’s anything this fandom is missing is some good old’ character and world building dissection. Have a good one.

XOXO

[yellowstarwater]

Okay so this is going to be my overall thoughts on Clone High season 2!

A lot of people have and will continue to complain about how it’s not as good or as funny as season one and that’s both fair and unfair. As a fanfic writer I know how hard it can be to continue writing a story after not working on it for a long time especially after working on new projects. And the same can be said for the show runners here, a lot has changed since they first produced season one. This was something that if it wasn’t for COVID it might have never been revived, so I can forgive them for it not feeling exactly the same as before after all it was twenty years ago. Jokes that worked then wouldn’t work now, I get and respect that. With that being said it could have been better.

For one besides Abe in the first episode no one seems to struggle with adjusting to 2023! That kinda of doesn’t make sense, I get not wanting to bring it up all the time but side jokes and cutaways could have worked. I also found it weird that we barely see any foster parents this season, you’re telling me that the Clones from 2003 parents weren’t freaking out when they suddenly came home after being gone for twenty years! I mean it’s not like the foster parents were important to the story but they could have shown some kind of reaction to them just showing up again?!

Like wouldn’t it have been funny if the foster parents were like super protective of their kids when they came back to the point of putting tracking devices on their phones or something?! I don’t know maybe not that but something! Also is John Stamos alive or dead after what happened? It’s also never addressed!

I do like the inclusion of all the new characters though, they do really add some new elements to the show and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But again I expected this going into this season. Another thing that has changed is that besides Harriet no one seems to be trying to live up to or are pressured by expectations of their Clone parents. This was a running theme in season one for all the characters and yet this theme is just given to one person now? Sometimes the other clones might mention something but it’s very rare.

Now to get into the relationship that took up most of the season Joanfk, as a huge fan of the ship I was both excited and dreading to see how this relationship would develop. And that’s mostly because of the new intro, I personally don’t think the creators were ever going to make them a couple in 2003, they clearly seem to favor Abe/Joan which makes sense because during that time period the Friends to Lovers trope ruled most shows. I feel like Joanfk was done because they knew that a lot of the new fans wanted to see it, after all Joanfk shippers are one of the main reasons this show was not only revived but people kept talking about it until season two came out. I’m not gonna say that it’s not possible that they could get back together because Clone High is satire a parody of all the teen drama shows and movies it’s very possible that they could get back together again at some point. And honestly I hate the reason they gave for breaking them up being that JFK wasn’t smart enough both intellectually and emotionally for Joan to stay with him when throughout this season alone we can see that this isn’t even really true. I appreciate that they did this and even gave them a semi respectable breakup but (and I could be wrong) BUT clearly they’re not that into Joanfk. And yet still the biggest obstacle to Joanfk starts and ends with Joan not being sure how she feels about Abe (or even JFK sometimes) and not doing anything to resolve it.

Abe and Joan if the show had continued it’s run in 2003 this couple would have probably been end game, it’s the classic Friends to Lovers trope that the 90’s and early 2000’s loved. After all the show Friends basically coasted on this one trope as well as Saved by the Bell etc…Personally I think the Friends to Lovers trope can work if it’s done well Kim Possible is an example that I can think of that does this well and though some might not like Kim and Ron being endgame I think its actually done well and believable. And then there’s the times when I don’t think it’s done well (again this is just my opinion!) like with Danny Phantom. Don’t get me wrong Danny and Sam started off as cute and I did root for them…in season one after that the writers basically just dragged this trope out till the very end. And it didn’t help that (in my opinion) Valerie and Danny’s relationship was a lot more interesting. I mentioned this because Abe and Joan’s possible relationship seems to be something the writers want to drag out and this is bad because you could very easily lose your audience because of that. I get that dragging it out is part of the humor and satire but in a time where a lot of shows can easily be canceled (especially with the writers strike still going on) it’s not the best way to go. I will never like Abe and Joan being together as much as Joanfk (I really do think it’s the better relationship between the two of them despite what was said in episode seven) but I can at least get used to it and be happy for them if it’s not dragged out. Or they can make the three of them polyamorous I’m fine with that too!

The other couples are fine for the most part Confucius and Harriet will have their issues I can already see it but I am willing to give it a chance. Again the last episode (spoilers if you haven’t seen it) it makes sense that Harriet acted the way she did because again of all of the clones right now she seems to be the only one who feels any pressure about living up to her clone mother. And Confucius well he has rich foster parents even if he doesn’t qualify to get into a college he’ll be admitted it makes sense that he’s not worried about it or thinking about it.

Frida and Cleo are perfect, I only wish there had been more hints of them throughout the season but in like two episodes the pace and execution of this relationship was done perfectly and believable. It’s one of the few couples that’s just cute and has nothing else messing with it. Was it fair that Frida let go of Joan to save Cleo, not really but it made sense that she would save her girlfriend, over her girl friend.

Okay now to talk about the characters one on one.

JFK continues to improve and grow despite this being a satire teen drama show, he makes male friends, is in a committed relationship with one person where he Doesn’t cheat or even thinks about anyone else all the time. (Only one episode sorta counts) It’s hard but he accepts Joan’s decision to break things off with him even though he really does love her to the point of wanting what is best for her even if it’s not him. He even becomes friends with Abe and encourages him to pursue someone he still very clearly loves. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find out he was faking it in episode seven just to give Joan an excuse to leave because he was afraid he wasn’t enough to make her happy.

Cleo didn’t get enough screen time for someone who is a main character, and besides her relationship with Frida and squashing her beef with Joan. And the fact that most of the beef was between them fighting over Abe is strangely never brought up. She’s not given much to do throughout this season besides being Homecoming Queen. An episode where she has to navigate the world of social media like Instagram would have been interesting to see. Maybe in season three?

Frida is one of the new main characters and I think she fits well with the show so far. Again love her relationship with Cleo, but besides that I think she’ll be like voice of reason character going forward. Not much to say besides that because well this is her first season on the show!

Harriet another new main character and again seems to be the one dealing with the pressures of being a clone the most. Wanting to be great because her Clone mother was Harriet Tubman makes a lot of sense and I think it touches on a lot of people’s fears of not doing anything important with their lives. I looked forward to seeing how she grows.

Confucius another new main character who is just trying to gain the attention of his foster parents. It’s very clear that attention is what he wants out of anything. You can see it whenever they show him on FlipFlop, and again the fact that he’s not worried about college makes sense whether he doesn’t want to go or knows that his parents will pay for him eventually. I look forward to seeing how he develops.

Topher the last new main character, there is a lot that someone can say about him, I’m pretty sure he’s now the favorite character whether it’s because you love or hate him. Honestly I like that they have a character that’s awful, do I think he’s closeted…maybe but I do believe that one of the reasons he was “white leveraging” Abe is to keep Abe’s attention to himself. I don’t think he had any friends before Abe was thawed out and he probably wouldn’t be able to hang around the group if it wasn’t for him. So it makes sense that he would “white leverage” him from telling Joan how he felt because then Topher would no longer have an audience because Abe would likely spend all his time with Joan.

Abe learns a bit throughout the season but I don’t think he grows much until nearly the end. He spends most of season pinning over Joan and…that’s it he doesn’t become friends with JFK until the last episode and as far a we know the reason why he even realized that he loved Joan was because Cleo had made her look hot in season one. It’s never addressed why he suddenly loves her, and yeah that’s it. Sure he’s “punished for his behavior” in the first episode and it almost makes it seem that Joan and Abe won’t be friends this season but that is quickly forgotten by the end of the episode. Again I do think the Joan/Abe relationship will happen or at least be addressed between them but it’s likely that it will be dragged for a while. I will admit that the moments where they’re together just being friends is nice though.

Joan changes the most throughout this season whether you liked the changes or not. It starts with her dating JFK which while I enjoyed seeing, it was never addressed on why she accepted his offer in the first place. Sure they slept together at prom but there wasn’t enough done to explain within the show why she agreed to date him. (Honestly it’s like the show runners were like, the Joanfk fanfic writers did that for us we don’t have to explain ourselves!) Then she becomes friends with Frida and Harriet which I thought was nicely done, then she and Cleo come to an understanding! But her feelings for Abe linger throughout the season and something that I noticed after episode ten is that Joan is codependent, if she believes that she doesn’t have a boyfriend or friends to support her then she turns into a monster. Season three will either address what she did in the first episode or throughout the season either way she’ll be punished for it. Even if she did realize at the last minute that what she was doing was wrong.

The rest of the cast was fine Mr. B’s backstory was compelling, I don’t know why the writers felt that Scudworth needed a love interest but…it happened? Candide is interesting enough we’ll see how it goes. Sorry not saying more but this is pretty long already.

[rocketrouquine]

And here we go Episode 3, second viewing :

The little squeaking wheels as Stede is following with the towels, fuck me.

Sergent Maaka, you don’t recognize Anton? Shame on you. (Also John bartholomew is a real pirate, right *goes to check* « Bartholomew Roberts, de son vrai nom John Roberts » okay, no)

Queen, this is how I aspire to talk to some of my male collegues. I have the passive agression irony nailed down but the gorgeous pettiness ? gurrrrl you got it locked ! And then they are eating in the palm of their hand

aaaww forget it… it’s sillyyy GIRL I’ve done it so many times, stop it.

So a …Talk it through or die situation ?

« The revenge ? » « our ship. » « ED » And this is the moment I lost all dignity on my first viewing.

I was actually jumping like Stede in the water like there was a fucking trampoline in my shoes.

Do you remember the pilot episode when he struggled going down on a rope held by his crew ? Now, he’s climbing all by himself from the fucking sea ! GROWTH.

I heard your sneaky little notes, Gnossienne, don’t triffle me !

Ahahahaha ! When the guy responsible for the zombie apocalypse shows up back from his vacation. These poor birds though… Buttons would be most displeased. (Imagine if it was Olivia… I would slaughter everyone)

The « oh shit. This ? is this Stede?! » is so precious to me as a film maker/technician because in almost everything I watch, these basic human and normal reactions when people get caught up with information are never shown and it takes me out of it because suddenly, I see actors playing their lines. Here, I believe it. (Even if it’s just played for laugh and to press the fact that Stede is in fact NOT what you would think about, if your pirate life had been ruined by him leaving fucking legend Blackbeard)

Why can I get a straight answer from any of you ? I see what you did there, David.

And here he is : bitch Bonnet right on cue every time Izzy is around. I love him.

Thank you Zheng Yi Sao to confirm what I suspected with leather and sea weather : BO.

Apart from the cold blue sky, this is the same beach where Steard bested Izzy and rolled around in the sea with smouldering Ed. I had theorized that this was a fever dream/coma, sooooo very happy about it.

Am I your hostage ? Wow. This rings a lot different when you know who « just Ben » (just Ed ) is.

On my first viewing, when auntie goes all Will Graham *this is my design* I was sure someone had snitched to her and she was playing them. Obviously nobody did so she really guessed everything. Sooooo is Buttons really a sea witch, anyone ?

« You’re kinda the best friend… » I screamed FRIENDZONED but now I don’t know… a polycule or throuple could work, it’s just not what they set last season and it kinda shows (feels forced if what I mean)

Aaaaaand HERE YOU ARE GNOSSIÈNE ! With the 50 knives and shit… (go to the auxiliary closet I want to see if all the fan fictions were right)

I don’t mind actually. I think the knives really help bring the place together Stede, your metaphor is showing.

I know you think you understand him…. *Stede proceeds to say exactly what happened.* Open your eyes, Izzy. You’re not the one understanding him.

Ahahah his crutch is a mop. Sorry, not funny. (Kind of funny)

Maybe I’m an horrible person but if I was Stede, I would be kind of be flattered/proud that my boyfriend (shipmate) would go that insane by me leaving.

When Izzy tells him that it’s both their fault, all that follows is such a different vibe. There is fucking respect and equality in the dialogue. You can almost sense a captain and his first mate talking, devising a plan. Who would have thought ? (It’s a joke, a lot of people)

Who’s the pig ? Who does the fucking pig represent ? I need to know.

Move on. Blow your brains out. Make some soup. Ok.

Girl, how are you ? you are insane, writers. I worship you.

Edward Teach | Jeff / Reader, AU, Inn, confort, angst, TW multiple killing

I loooooooove Taika in this scene. All playful playing with his little accessories and stuff. Keeping his cool and being like okay why are you being a dick, play the game correctly please. Don’t worry baby girl, Stede is excellent with people. No client will end up dead. (I think)

Holy shit, Stede was the only one he ever told about his father. Not even Izzy. Wow.

Come on Bonnet give me your worst. The silent devastation in both of them. The feeling of waste. Uh I can’t. And then he helps them escape and take back the revenge and being an excellent resourceful captain and they are following him like a real crew (now I know that it’s going to be Ed who can’t move, getting better and Stede being the captain…) AAARRRHH FUUUUCK and then he, he… oh shit, here we are, it’s coming, this fucking scene…

But before :

Intercourse. Orgasms. A lot of them. You thought of him. You gonna fuuuuuck.

Boatmance (the queen is not up for a polycule, if you were wondering)

The immediate joy of everyone around Stede making the escape. He’s the best. I’ll fight everyone to the death. (And look at him making his little knots like it was nothing. Honestly I don’t think Izzy has that much to learn to him.)

Am I the only one hearing « JULIEEEEEEETTAAAAA !? » with this music ? No, only me ? Okay. (Mind you, I was 12 when Romeo+Juliet was released, it’s kind of imprinted in me like the trigger words in the winter soldier)

I fucking knew Olu would move his feet like a little school girl/boy, I SAID IT ! You just have to scroll up. (I was so sure Jim would be the one surprising them but it’s a better show than that)

* Zheng Yi Sao sees Olu waving.* Girl, how are you ?

Stede crying his lost love after having fixed some mistakes with gusto and a smile. What is it in my eyes ? Is there some fucking dust in the air or what ? (They are already cleaning the ship in the background)

HornigoldEd is doing a fine impression of calico Jack if I dare say.

Ed doesn’t want to die, I repeat. He had made a choice to live. It’s just that some other part of himself thought he was too far gone. And that’s where Stede saved him. But he was gonna live for himself also… next week is going to be glorious.

*Kate Bush in the distance* oh no.

*Sobs uncontrollably*

I started to laugh through my tears because it’s fucking Rhys Darby swimming with a glittery goldfish attire and chest hair glowing in the sun. But then… The profile of the both of them. Their smile. Taika’s lean into Rhys’s space -> and yes I said Taika because you mothaf*ckas KNOW that it was an impro like the foot touch. (On third viewing, Rhys is leaning first very subtly and then Taika GOES FOR IT)

And then the hand. The gasp and laugh.

Time of death : 02:32 am, Paris, France.

Ps : the black cravat is back on (we didn’t see it before) when Ed goes into the storm, it’s off when he’s in the gravy basket, it’s on when Stede makes him come back to life.

[pansy-picnics]

HE'S BEEN GASLIGHTED, HE LOVES LANCE NOW. I WOULD NEVER FAIL HIM

LANCE IS A COMPLICATED CHARACTER JUST LIKE EUGENE AND I NEED PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT HIS DYNAMICS WITH OTHER CHARACTERS LIKE ANGRY AND CATALINA BECAUSE OMG I CANNOT THINK OF A CARTOON THAT WROTE ABOUT A PROBABLY QUEER BLACK MAN ADOPTING AN ASIAN DAUGHTER AND A DAUGHTER THAT'S. WHATEVER TEH FUCK CATALINA HAS GOING ON. BUT HE'S SO SPECIAL??? HE'S AMAZING??? ALSO THE FACT THAT TEENAGERS ARE VERY RARELY ADOPTED AND HE SAID FUCK THIS AND TOOK THEM IN ANYWAYS BECAUSE HE REMEMBERS BEING A TEENAGER ON HIS OWN TOO

LITERALLYYLYKYLYKY OH MY GOD???? NO BECAUSE. no bc kiera and catalina parallel lance and eugene as kids almost EXACTLY imo and its SO important in a sense that like. ok i don’t think the rise of flynnigan rider is canon necessarily bc that book was a mess but lance and eugene’s interactions in it are so GOOD it drives me crazy.

basically lance at that age (like 11-12) is portrayed as a kinda shy and anxious kid who tends to keep to himself but is really nerdy and smart and well aware of his surroundings. he’s still a kid and he can be dumb and impulsive but he’s emotional and clings to people who show him affection. eugene’s the opposite, he’s super charismatic and talks his way out of things easily but he never really thinks before he acts and it gets him into trouble really easily. but together they balance each other out, and eugene is super protective of lance bc he knows he’s the more shy and cautious one.

they’re such a good team bc they balance out each others strengths and weaknesses perfectly. but lance actually has a point where he felt betrayed by eugene and it hit so hard despite the plot being so messy. LIKE HE GENUINELY TOLD HIM OFF AND STOOD UP FOR HIMSELF AND IT WAS SO GOOD?? and then theres the whole alleged scrapped lance and eugene backstory episode which might not even be real but its CANON TO ME EVEN IF ITS NOT BC THATS HOW GOOD IT IS. yk the one where eugene almost got adopted and lance was afraid of being left behind so he broke a window and blamed it on eugene so the couple wouldn’t want him anymore? Yeah. Yeah i think about that a normal amount actually!

AND ITS BC. ITS THE SAME DYNAMIC KIERA AND CATALINA HAVE. WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT. AND I THINK ITS CLEAR THAT THE REASON LANCE CHANGED SO MUCH FROM THAT POINT TO WHEN WE SEE HIM IN THE SERIES IS BECAUSE…. EUGENE WASN’T THERE ANYMORE. THINK ABT IT. THEY BOTH BALANCED OUT EACH OTHERS FLAWS. LANCE WAS SHY AND CAUTIOUS BUT EUGENE WAS RECKLESS AND CHARISMATIC. WHEN THEY GOT SEPARATED LANCE HAD TO TAKE ON A SIMILAR PERSONA BECAUSE THE SHY KID HE USED TO BE WOULD BE KILLED IF HE GOT LEFT ON HIS OWN!!!

LANCE SAW HIM AND EUGENE IN KIERA AND CATALINA. THE QUIET AND CAUTIOUS BUT CALCULATED ONE WHO’S ALSO A LITTLE SHIT AND THE RECKLESS AND CHARISMATIC PROTECTIVE ONE. HE SAW THEM TOGETHER AND HE REMEMBERED WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM AND EUGENE. HOW THEY GOT TORN APART. AND HOW HE HAD TO CHANGE HIMSELF TO SURVIVE. HE TOOK THEM IN BECAUSE HE KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN TO THEM TOO.

Godddd I’M SO. there are so many traits and little details abt him that just got passed off as jokes or one liners in the series but they SHOULDN’T BE. GODDD HES A CHEF. HE LOVES FOOD AND COOKING HES A THEATER KID!! HE LOVES LITERATURE AND HE LOVES MUSIC!!! I THINK HE LOVES THEATER AND DOESN’T FEEL AS AFRAID IN THAT SENSE BECAUSE HE TRULY FEELS LIKE A DIFFERENT PERSON ON STAGE. ITS WHY HE DOESN’T LIKE SINGING AS HIMSELF BUT HE’D ABSOLUTELY KILL IT IN A PLAY.

and god it annoys me so much bc whenever anyone DOES talk about how lance got done dirty in the series nobody actually brings up WHY….. i love this series too but we cant just sweep the issue under the rug. theres a reason they only played him for comedic relief and made him look childish and stupid IT’S RIGHT THERE ITS BECAUSE HES BLACK. AND YES WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT. I LOVE THAT THEY HAD HIM ADOPT THE GIRLS IN THE END AND IT WAS SO SWEET BUT HE WAS STILL THE BLACK BEST FRIEND TROPE AND HE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER!!!

HE LITERALLY JUST HAS ADHD AND NOT TO MENTION THE FANDOM ALWAYS ACTS LIKE EUGENE IS THE STRAIGHT MAN OF THE DUO WHEN THEY’RE BOTH EQUALLY DUMB AND SILLY??? AND THEY BOTH SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BE SILLY. people always talk about lance getting into varian’s stuff even though EUGENE DOES THE SAME THING AND HE’S JUST AS BAD. AND YALL AREN’T CALLING HIM IMMATURE. ITS RACIALLY MOTIVATED!!! AND IT MAKES ME SO MAD!!!!

he’s not stupid in fact i genuinely think he’s the most emotionally mature out of the entire cast. i think he came to the orphanage as a young child rather than from birth and he had a mom who he loved very much and who taught him to manage his emotions well and bc of it he’s very in tune with himself!! and he’s very much the dad friend!!! he’s just a silly guy and he wants to make his friends laugh but sometimes he ends up sacrificing himself for others too much!!! and he needs to care about himself too!!!

God i just. I GET SO INSANE ABOUT HIM HE DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER. GTRRRRAAASGHHGHHHHH.

[the1975attheirverybest]

A Theatrical Performance of An Intimate Moment

A/N: okay, so, this isn’t exactly fanfiction, lol. It’s simply me rambling on about my thoughts on atpoaim. I’ve been seduced by the series and I can’t help myself. I also just wanted to use it as a thinking exercise to reflect on where the band is at, what they’re currently doing artistically, etc. So, I totally understand if you decide to skip reading it. But I would love for this to be an opportunity for those who are interested to share their thoughts as well. It’s basically a bunch of questions I’m wondering about! So come talk to me about it if you’d like cuz I’m a nerd for this kind of thing!

Warnings: hella pretentious. I’m a PhD student in English Literature. Pretentious is my middle name.

The Title: the series title presents us with our first paradox. How can something intimate become theatrical, let alone a performance? Intimacy usually implies authenticity, genuineness, connection. Whereas theatricality is often associated with artifice and drama. The 1975 attempt to bring the two together, but is that even possible? Also, how is labeling this series as a “theatrical performance of an intimate moment,” change our perception of it? Like, is it different from watching a vlog? If Matty had announced this as a “behind the scenes document-series” or a “day in my life” we wouldn’t have the same level of distance and suspicion of what we are seeing on screen as we do now. What’s the purpose of creating that kind of experience for the audience?

The cinematography: the way that it’s filmed does two primary things for me: first, it emphasizes artificiality, I.e. constantly reminds us that this is a curated piece of media, edited in such a way that presents us with only PART of the truth (which, again, creates tension with this idea of ‘intimacy’). Through the black-and-white aesthetic that it’s referencing and using, through the humor, through the way that it’s cut and edited. So, what’s it saying to us? That Matty has to perform a certain version of himself to the cameras? If so, why do it at all? What is this series trying to accomplish?

The Performance: while I think that Matty is, here, building on the themes of BFIAFL, he seems to also be interested in exploring larger questions about art/ identity. We could see this as an extension of the mission of ATVB. His onstage persona shares some similar characteristics with the atpoaim series. He’s exaggerating, performing, pretending to be a version of himself to critique certain aspects of culture, consumption, our relationship with art and entertainment. It’s one thing to do so onstage as part of the gig because it offers us a “frame” to view the music/ concert experience. It’s another thing entirely to extend this into his personal life. What’s he saying about identity? That when get so used to performing a version of yourself to the world, it gets so stuck with you that you can’t quite shake it off even when you are alone? That he is constantly trying to mediate between his “real” self and a version of himself that he strives to be? And, of course, the age-old question: if he’s performing all the damn time, doesn’t that performance, at some point, BECOME the real him?

The Time Line: just a quick note that, in typical post-modernist fashion, the series is non-linear in terms of time. It seemed like the first episode was pre-SNL. And it dropped right before SNL so it made sense. Created this illusion of immediacy. We’re seeing things “in real time” if you will. BUT episode two was kind of vague. We see him watching SNL at on screen, so clearly it’s supposed to be AFTER, right? Except that mirror scene might suggest otherwise. He’s practicing “thinkin’ this through” so it might be that he’s preparing to do SNL? Or it could be a clip from episode 1’s mirror scene that is inserted into episode 2. Meaning, it actually happened BEFORE we got to see it. Of course, he’s picking up on the fan jokes that he said “finkin this frue” on SNL, so he’s reacting to something that happened AFTER. Also, as this anon has pointed out, it’s in the context of wiping the mirror, and perhaps suggesting that he’s perfecting an exterior version of himself/ working out flaws.

The Episodes: the first one seems to be primarily about establishing expectations with the audience while the second one is about undermining/ ruining those expectations. Ep 1 gives us the sense that we are getting a glimpse of what Matty is ‘really like’ behind the scenes as he goes about doing mundane things that we all do in life. We might not all be stopped on the street for selfies, but we all have to perform a certain version of ourselves for the world. Ep. 2 on the other hand, highlights the difference between performance and reality when Matty gets caught up in the celebrity status and does ridiculous things such as hide in a suitcase, etc. the definition of “taking the piss” lmao. Also, I couldn’t help but note the ending of episode 2 where Matty meets with an artist who does the same thing but to a ridiculous extent. They have that debate about “what’s more important? Art or people?” Matty seems to come down firmly on the side of people. Is this his ethos, so to speak? Is this a reaction to the way he’s publicly perceived and criticized? Is this him saying that art has limits? If so, what do these limits mean to him as an artist? And how does the fact that this conversation is, in itself, happening INSIDE a piece of art affect its meaning. Like, is that also a performance? Is the conversation about art also art? What’s he trying to say?

That’s all for now….LET ME KNOW WHAT YALL THINK, IF YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON ANY OF THIS / HOW YOU INTERPRET THE SERIES!!!

[amporella]

hi, u don't know me but i've been waiting to hear your opinion on the new episode/the discussion going around about stan being out of character. personally, i don't believe he was but i can't wait to know what u think!

ANON YOU’RE GONNA MAKE ME BLUSH… thank you so much for the ask!! I’m 100% on your side with this one; I don’t think he was out of character, either! He was definitely a jackass, but that to me is exactly why he was in character; that specific brand of jackassery is quintessentially Stan Marsh. In the immortal words of @sn33z3s in this twitter thread; Stan is an egocentric jerk, nothing new.

Not only is Stan being an egocentric jerk nothing new, but neither is his treatment of Wendy; he has really always been dismissive of her and her interests, which is the stendy fatal flaw. Nothing in this episode is inherently new to Stan’s character; it’s just rehashing a lot of old things that we haven’t seen quite as often in recent years due to the Randy spam. By that metric, it really can’t be called out of character. Stan does this stuff all the time! It is completely believable to me that he would do everything that he does here.

I think the main concern I’ve heard about this episode is that it serves as a character regression for Stan, which I can understand in theory; there have been instances in the past that Stan has behaved better than this (and communicated better than this), for sure. But I don’t think that inherently means that he’s learned his lesson, or that he wouldn’t behave this way now that he’s communicated more effectively in the past; first, I implore people to remember that he is ten, and ten year olds do not communicate well. In general. Furthermore, ten year olds tend not to learn lessons after one or two successes, and they certainly would be more likely to take the quick solution of using a new technology to solve all their problems than talking it out with their equally ten year old girlfriend.

(That’s also basically the same reason that I think stendy staying together is realistic at this point; Stan as a ten year old is just behaving like an average douchey ten year old, and Wendy as a ten year old can’t be expected to have the self worth yet that her feminist beliefs might grant her in the future, and that might implore her to break up with a guy who doesn’t treat her right. Stendy at this point isn’t like Cartman’s intentional abuse towards Heidi (even just in the sense that I struggle to say any ten year old other than Cartman CAN be abusive); they’re both just being ten, and that’s fine. They’re not doing any irreversible damage by continuing to date despite not understanding each other.)

And furthermore, South Park is an episodic show. I would go so far as to say the controversial statement that most of the characters do not have legitimate character arcs, and even the ones who do are faint. Has Stan’s personality changed over the course of the show? Absolutely! Would I call it a legitimate character arc? I mean, probably not. The nature of South Park’s episodic structure is that none of the characters can permanently learn, or the whole concept of the show falls apart. The joke for a long time was that at the end of every episode, the show ‘resets’ and it’s like nothing happened. It’s only recently (comparatively) that the show began having longer arcs that follow the characters through an extended storyline.

The reason why Stan is still in character is the same reason why Kyle can say that he learned something in one episode and then do something along the exact same lines a season later. If the characters continue to progress personality-wise without aging, they’ll eventually come to a standstill. South Park will run out of plot options, because the character flaws episodes like Deep Learning rely on will be gone. I get that Stan has progressed recently in a lot of ways, but it is a necessity to the series’ continuation that those personality traits are eventually regressed. Take the fact that he even learned those things with a grain of salt; the chance of Matt and Trey leaving them in as permanent fixtures to his personality is insanely small, especially when these examples of Stan’s improved communication are sparse. They’re not drilled in to the viewer like someone might expect if they actually wanted that new trait to be relevant to Stan’s character.

If you’re watching South Park with the expectation of an extended, consistent character arc, Stan certainly can seem out of character! But if you’re watching South Park for that, you’re probably watching the wrong show. At the end of the day, nearly all of the characters have a group of set traits that come up consistently, and a few other ones that are give-or-take depending on whether they’re needed for an episode. In this case, Stan’s selfishness is constant, and his improved relationship with Wendy was temporary; it’s not surprising at all that when using him in an episode, Matt and Trey would return to the character traits they’ve long since established.

If the reasons people think he’s out of character is because of his personality in general, rather than the idea that he’s improved in the past seasons (which I have seen!), then I think that’s just a general misread of the character. Stan is certainly empathetic, but I do think it’s common to portray him as more emotionally intelligent than he actually is; the fact that he loves animals or is sensitive at times doesn’t mean he’s not a douchebag, or that he understands literally anything more about relationships than the average 10 year old. Totally fine if you want to imagine he grows up that way, of course, but when following the actual show itself, Matt and Trey are just portraying Stan in the same way they always have.

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK!!!!

[kob131]

I dunno why I’m doing this at 2 AM but fuck it. You guys get to deal with it on main.

To the people saying that RWBY handled suicide poorly, I better see you decrying Gurren Lagann’s depiction of depression/suicide yesterday.

So, from what I can gather, people’s issues with how the Ruby-Tree plotline is-

1. It ‘trivializes’ suicide by having Ruby come back from it.

2. Made the rest of RWBY look uncaring

and 3. Resolved Ruby’s depression too quickly.

However, I find that when holding these examples up as universial signs of a bad depression/suicide arc, people should be bashing Gurren Lagann., specifically episodes 9-11 (the aftermath of Kamina’s death).

1. While it is true that Simon doesn’t commit suicide in this arc...that is very much the undertone of what is happening. Simon is throwing himself into combat constantly, talking about living up to Kamina all while Lagann is shown to be losing power as Simon fights. The thing is- Spiral Power is basically the will to live and thrive. It’s the energy of evolution made manifest. If Simon is throwing himself into combat while losing the will to live and thrive-

You can basically see it as Simon attempting suicide out of guilt.

Yet Simon recovers from this just like Ruby does. In basically the same fashion with the same themes and the same arc. Yet no one complains.

2. This is were the arguments starts looking REALLY bad for Gurren Lagann.

Weiss and Blake both tried to cheer up Ruby when it was evident that she wasn’t feeling well, with Blake trying to cheer Ruby up after her outburst in the Paper Pleaser’s village. And Yang tries no less than twice to help her sister, once after Ruby regains consciousness and once after her outburst after meeting up with Jaune again.

This is three more attempts to help Ruby than Team Dai Gurren tried helping Simon after Kamina died.

I’m not joking. If you go through Episodes 9, 10 and 11- You will not find a single moment where a member of Team Dai Gurren tries to comfort or talk with Simon. The most you will get is Kiyoh scolding Kittan for saying Simon caused Kamina’s death and throwing that in Simon’s face. You will find them showing more concern for Nia, someone who they’ve all just met, than the brother of their beloved leader who watched as the closest thing he had to family die.

Oh, remember when people got onto Jaune’s case for throwing Ruby’s failures back at her? Yeah, Kittan did the exact same thing but worse...and unlike Jaune, never admits he was wrong for doing so. He even tries bossing Simon around to interrogate Nia, who has done more for him in like...a day than Kittan has done since Kamina died.

I mean, Rossiu tries to help. But both times he shows concern for Simon, someone from Team Dai Gurren stop him from helping. One is Yoko, who above everyone else should know Simon needs help but does nothing for him until arguable the end. And the other is Leeron, who outright says that Lagann is right for not helping Simon if he lost the will to survive (more suicide parallels...) with the implication that they’re also right in doing so.

And they both end the same way- with the parties showing gratitude and happiness at the hero’s return. ... Except in Gurren Lagann’s case, Yoko takes this moment to take a jab at Simon’s emotional speech. Which should be seen as massively insensitive and also very fucked up of Yoko given the circumstances of Simon’s recovery.

There is no way to escape this. If what WBY and Jaune did was some horrible crime that makes the show disgusting then Team Dai Gurren’s actions are beyond horrible and Gurren Lagann is beyond disgusting.

Yet no one complains.

3. The argument is that you can’t get over depression that quickly and resolve it therefore Ruby’s big return is a spit in the face.

... The framing, plot beats, execution, musical choices and even themes are all almost exactly the same in Gurren Lagann. It’s the same trope, using the same methods, following the same themes- It’s the same. Damn. Story.

Hell, even the argument that it makes no sense for Ruby to just get over inadequacies because of a story about Summer applies to Simon because it’s implied HE recovered from Yoko’s story about Kamina. It’s actually worse in Gurren Lagann because unlike with the Blacksmith in RWBY, Yoko knows what the problem is, is around for the whole arc and personally knows Simon. And yet she never brings this story up beforehand? Even as Simon gives his side of the same fucking story and just sits there looking sad?

By this logic, the ENTIRETY of Gurren Lagann should just be one massive failure because the anime is DEPENDANT on this scene working (as everything before it was just working up to this point and everything after is built on it).

And yet.

No one.

Complains.

And I know what some of you are thinking.

‘Well, it works in Gurren Lagann because that anime’s good and RWBY bad!’

Well, quality doesn’t work that way. Writing doesn’t become good because it’s in a show labeled ‘good’- a show is good because the writing is good. 

You also can’t apply different standards and arguments for different pieces of media. If X depicts suicide and depression badly then ALL depictions of suicide and depression like X’s is bad.

And as someone who loves Gurren Lagann more than RWBY- it should be considered worse than RWBY. The differences between them are either semantics (giving up on life is basically suicide) or make Gurren Lagann worse (Team Dai Gurren’s, especially Yoko and Kittan’s actions).

I know that this isn’t the case since I know what Gurren Lagann is going for: that Simon had to stand back up by himself to get that catharsis. That Team Dai Gurren were meant to be wrong but still human in their actions and that Simon’s instant recovery is meant to be glorious return by the true hero of the story as he asserts his development and his lessons.

But the same analytical skills tell me that RWBY’s depiction is also not offensive or even bad. So if I’m wrong on RWBY, I have to be wrong on Gurren Lagann.

So you better either start bashing Gurren Lagann and it’s depiction Simon. (Which is basically paint a giant target on your back) or shut it about RWBY.

[razorblade180]

Rwby Vol9 Ep1 Review

Probably my easiest review ever considering we’ve see. The first half of this episode awhile ago. Honestly the only thing I want to start out is here

So I wasn’t originally aware that this volume would be shorter but yeah I definitely it lol. Wasn’t expecting them to find each minutes between “where is everyone?” I also wasn’t expecting Weiss to talk about Penny before the episode ended. Guess we’re going full speed into Ruby Depression. I wonder if they’ll write Ruby actually getting angry or are going straight to shutting down. Honestly I want to talk more about the episode itself but nothing has happened yet we didn’t already know.

The intro is good.

I didn’t realize the red was Penny blood. Very intrigued about the duality here.

I’m guessing this is the equivalent to Alice. Until we get her name O.A. For “Oscar Again” I am half joking

Let her stay evil and perfect.

I’m so on board with her being a menace to the core. She literally started trying to kill Ruby as they were falling! Now the intro is showing her running things in Fairy Land. Let Neo flex her Torchwick charisma and Cinder deviousness. Backstory in the show proper would be cool too. There was also an interesting transition between her and O.A. So I wonder if she’ll pretend to be her.

That’s all I mainly thought this episode all things considering. I’m trying to keep expectations manageable. Between the shorter episodes and the company basically being on fire in many ways, I want to see exactly what they were able to create.

Oh yeah, and there was BB scene but I’m positive everyone reading this has seen it posted above and below this post.

[daysofourlivesrecaps]

Thursday, 1 June 2023

Yesterday left us with the promise of some truly stupid shit (the best kind) and today's episode delivers on that promise!

Paulina discovers that Abe — her husband of almost exactly one year, the mayor of Salem and recent amnesia victim — is missing. In true Paulina fashion, her reaction to this is to flail her limbs for awhile and yell at everyone around her.

What happened to you, Paulina? You used to be cool.

Kayla and Marlena have lunch together at the pub. Marlena asks about this alleged virus outbreak she heard about at the hospital and quickly realizes that, since this information came from Nicole, it must have been a lie. Kayla, ever the professional, does not tell her old friend what she knows about Nicole because of HIPAA and just... you know, basic ethics. Good job, Kayla!

Speaking of Nicole and her lies, Eric confronts the former about the latter and gets confirmation about her pregnancy. So now, including Marlena (who has almost certainly worked out what's happening based on the clues she has), that's like 8 people who know about this and are not EJ (one of the baby's potential fathers.) I'm sure he's going to feel great about all of this when it inevitably comes out.

Eric, for his part, reacts with kindness and compassion.

Back at the hospital, Sloan yells at Rafe for letting her brother get away. Then Rafe yells at her because somehow — still! — this is all Sloan's fault(?!)

The brother in question is escaping via the only exterior location in Salem that isn't the town square. This is either a pleasant park where you can take your kids or it's the seedy bad part of town where you can get stabbed to death. It really depends on what episode you're in!

There, Colin runs into Leo, who mistakes him for one of the Hot Cops (no, seriously) and makes about 30 dick jokes before realizing who Colin really is. Then he remembers he works for a newspaper and tries to get an exclusive story, or "scoop," but Colin the psychotic, girlfriend -abusing attempted murderer doesn't take kindly to this idea for some reason(?!?!)

Then Leo just says the word "penis," in case all of that other extremely subtle material got past you, and Colin leaves in disgust. Finally I have something in common with this guy!

Nurse Kim Coles drags Abe back to her home, where she continues the ruse that she's definitely his loving wife, Paulina. She introduces him to her stuffed cats, which is a sure sign that she's nuts since, as TLo pointed out, the show could not possibly afford to rent this many actual cats to make that point.

Honestly, I'm impressed they even did this much. I'll be very curious to see how they repurpose these props to get their money's worth in the coming months. And if you think I'm being unfair there, might I remind you that the Duke the Bear costume made a fresh appearance only weeks ago?

Abe, for his part, has some fucking amazing reactions to all of this.

Back at the hospital, Paulina does what she does best (yells at Rafe) and panic-attacks herself right into a hospital bed herself.

Nicole calls Kayla to say she has the DNA swab she needs and Kayla agrees to just cut her lunch short with Marlena so she can run to the hospital and get the test going. This is the chief of surgery at a hospital that, per this very episode, has at least ten floors. And this is not even factoring in that Kayla was recently dead. Surely there's someone else who can do this.

And then — and then! — Nicole has the audacity to ask how long it's going to take to get the results.

Sloan bumps into Leo, who informs her that her brother just went thataway and also would you mind standing here while I make some more dick jokes? 

Sloan would mind doing that, it turns out.

Then Nicole returns to the ancestral home of the DiMeras, where EJ says some extremely kind and compassionate things. And she entirely fails to tell him about the baby she's carrying that might be his. Again. Still.

[daphnebowen]

percy jackson and the olympians tv show episode 1 thoughts

finally have gotten around to writing all my thoughts down from the premiere episodes! in honor of the third episode streaming tonight, we’ll say.

beware. lots of screaming, fangirling, and nonsensical English recorded below. (Also spoilers, altho if you haven’t seen it already… who are you??)

(also I’m basically just copying these word for word. These are my real reaction. Continue at your own risk)

I already mentioned this in another post but the way I was fangirling throughout the entire introductory monologue as it was word for word accurate (I was shaking the whole couch lmao)

baby Percy is LITERALLY Walker

BLACKJACK AHHHH

grover is 💋 *chefs kiss*

WALKER IS SUCH A CUTIE he is going to be a heartbreaker in a couple of years

sally is perfect, I will protect her with my entire being 🫶🏼

I wanna hear snappy sassy Percy - oh there he is “no, I was thinking I want to shove Nancy in the nearest dumpster” THATS MY BOY (no joke that’s exactly what happened I thought “where is my sarcastic child” and then he said that and I died laughing)

THE PEN THE PEN RIPTIDE OMG OMG AHH

alecto is creepy as FREAK and exactly how I pictured her lol

HE STABBED HER YES PERCY YES although it looked kind of like an accident HAHAH

GROVER WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGG RATTING OUT PERCY LIKE THAT OMG that didn’t happen in the books did it?? I get why Grover did what he did, he’s getting Percy out of there to protect him, since that’s his job. But in all honesty, Nancy’s bullying went on a lot longer than Percy’s one time shove, so if he’s getting expelled for that Nancy should get punished for all her bullying!! don’t they have a no tolerance bullying policy or is that another school??

DUDE. DUUUUUDE. DUUUUUUUUUDDDEEEE!!!!! “logical” by the one and only freaking olivia rodrigo??? absolutely perfect for this moment! The whole song basically describes Gabe and Sally’s relationship!! I freaking love it

i hate gabe

percys mom is such a baddie I LOVE HER

i hate gabe

percy is SO CONFUSED right now but u love it because it’s basically canon that Percy is eternally confused about everything and he just rolls with it, like it’s a well known fact

THE CAPTIONS ARE FAILING ME WHO IS THE VOICE THATS NOT CREEPY AT ALL is it Kronos is it hades is it ares is it Zeus is if Luke PERCY HAS A LOT OF ENEMIES!!!

percy and sally racing inside is so cute

”you fell in love with god?” “Like- like Jesus?” KH MY GOSH I CANT HES TOO PRECIOUS

”Grover why is there half a goat in your pants?!” iconic. just, iconic. And his little voice crack too! 🫶🏼

Percy is so pissed at his mom lol she’s not telling him NOTHIN

The way Grover nonchalantly dropped the “I’m actually 24” bomb and Percy was just like “exCUSE me?!” and then moved on

bro that car accident was so scary and the way sally reached for Percy’s hand 🫣

THALIAS TREE ‼️‼️‼️

sally is the freaking best

the scene where everyone thinks she dies is absolute perfection AND THE WAY HE PULLS OUT THE SWIRD GO GET EM PERCY GO GET EM

“He must be the one” yes yes he is Annabeth yes he is

final thoughts: dude, that episode was the literal first episode of the first season and it’s already perfection. I’m in love with the characters, the action, actually seeing what I’ve imagined in my head for so long. and I’m falling in love with the storyline as if it’s for the first time all over again and it’s amazing and I absolutely love it.

there we go lol