#It's not a want it's a need... and Netflix obviously knows its audience needs more bard!

[thelostgirl21]

I've just gotta say...

The fact that Joey is the only actor we see near the entrance of the room just waving some people around and throwing kisses - more focused on greeting a "larger audience" than individually greeting his co-stars - is the most Jaskier thing ever!

Joey definitely picked Jaskier up on the side of the road on his way there, 'cause his inner bard is showing!

Seriously though, that video's focus is also like 95% on Joey/Jaskier...

So, here's Joey/Jaskier kissing and waving...

Here's Joey/Jaskier winking...

Here's Joey/Jaskier reading...

Here's Joey/Jaskier's singing and being a goof...

Hey! BTW we've got Laurence Fishburne this season, too! Yay! Big Hollywood name!

But enough of that! Here's yet more bard footage for you!

Do you see how precious that puppy of a bard is?

I mean look at him! Being all cute and bashful at being complimented/teased by his co-stars... Aww...

Oh! Right! We should probably do a Yenralt closing shot!

[knightofgoetia]

Netflix's DMC cartoon critique.

This critique in particular will (try) to focus on why this adaptation didn't even try to work as an adaptation. It's a negative critique, at least 95% of it is. Mind you, I'll be as respectful as I can be with it. I won't throw literal insults nor saying something is "shit" without giving an argument beforehand — but given the impact the Devil May Cry series had into my life, I'm afraid that I may slip one or two times regarding that. Maybe four or five. Or twenty or thirty.

So, if you're an avid defender of the show, you're actually very welcome to read it, and discuss my points if so. But do not take it as a personal attack towards you, nor people who have gotten into DMC with it. I'm trying to be as constructive here as possible — even if I know I won't, since I'll have lost my energy halfway through.

I am also calling it a cartoon, because that's what it is. 'Anime' is basically a cartoon, yes, but a specific type of cartoon from Japan. And I've never been that much into Japanese media regarding anime, but whenever western cartoons try to fit into that — it's just not it. But that's for another critique, not one for the DMC series in particular.

This will also be a very long post. If you don't feel like reading, then just scroll by, don't jump at me with the "i ain't reading all that" nonsense.

Once that has been cleared up, here are also some extras that are more of a personal thing of mine than elaborated critiques:

a) If you want a judgemental commentary on the series' showrunner and some examples of experiences the fanbase has had with him, go here.

b) If you want a personal point of view regarding Netflix, and how 'pieces of media' are consumed nowadays, go here.

— Other examples of criticisms that are not mine, but I believe were quite on point:

Example One. Example Two. Example three.

Now that I'm all set, I shall begin. Hopefully, I'll keep my tone down, but don't expect much from me in that regard. I tried.

— Part 1: USA centrism.

The "western audiences" are americans. USA americans, particularly, the rest of the continent isn't included either. And of course that I do get why, I'm not that naive, but the world is too big for "The West™" to be just the United States of America.

I think it's obvious by this point (and if you follow my classics blog, you know it), but I am from Europe. Particularly, Spain. I'm not saying in a "look at me, i'm important too" way, rather in a "just like me, the world is full of other countries that are not the USA". Western Europe is the "western audience" too, is it not? I cannot speak for all, obviously, but which part of these DMC series did not scream "made by americans for americans."

There's, and let me get this clear, absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. So why do I bring it up? Well, because it's not the first time a series that is originally set in either its own fictional world, or another part of the world that isn't USA — suddenly gets an adaptation where it IS set in USA. And maybe, just maybe, that makes it lose part of its charm.

Take, for example, when Hollywood announced (with no context whatsoever, and we still don't know anything else) and adaptation of 'La Casa de Bernarda Alba' that was going to be set in Miami, of all places. This work is set in the rural Spain of the early 20th century, and it's about the repression of women in 'the rural Spain' — so again, why would you set it in Miami, of all places? Is it just the place for recording for the sake of setting a place? Are you gonna make all of the scenarios artificial or something? If it's not rural Spain, the work has no meaning at all.

Same thing in DMC. I... I really don't need airplanes with "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" written on them to remind myself where we are. I don't need to see the USA flag all the time. I don't need them to be in "glory to America" mode during it. Okay, you've taken liberties from the source material — does anything in special come from the show being set in America? No. That's the issue.

The gothic aesthetic, gone. It was already gone by DMC 5, I know, I'm not blind. But even in DMC 5 they keep *some* crumbs of it. Mainly with the first Dante missions. It's not the ideal, and I did miss it back in the game — but it's nowhere near close to the show.

The show's closest gothic aesthetic is the museum scene. Which, isn't good. Why... Why would you keep the Force Edge, which is technically an important artifact with, you see, powers, in a *museum*? Does USA not have any places they can take some crumbs such as ruins, at least, like in DMC 5?

Or... You could have just used another country to set the series in. Or none at all. DMC has had its inspirations, it's obvious, but they do not have the name of the country they're set in written all over the place.

The Resident Evil reference doesn't make up for it, either. Is... Is Redgrave just a bit too much of an edgy game for this, or... Well.

— Part 2: Analogy to the War on Terror.

This... This is gonna be tough. It is hurting me to write it as much as it was hurtful to watch.

So, let me get this straight... The oppressed minorities in this show are the demons. Demons who were made to look, to put it simple, not white.

You made, you know, *demons*. Demons that, according to the dictionary, are vile creatures that carry no humanity in them. Because if they had humanity, they would be human.

Cambridge Dictionary:

"an evil spirit."

Second Cambridge definition:

"a person who behaves very badly."

Oxford Dictionary:

"an evil spirit or devil, especially one thought to possess a person or act as a tormentor in hell."

Second Oxford definition:

"a cruel, evil, or unmanageable person."

Demons being an allegory of the Middle East... Why? Why would you want to portray "the oppressed" as demons, of all things? Making demons 'good' in the show isn't gonna change anything. They're demons. Demons, by definition, are not good.

This is like putting a lion and using it as an allegory for a vegan. A lion, by definition, is a carnivore. It's the animal's nature. You could instead, for example, use a deer — deers are herbivores, yes, but they do chew on bones they do find around to obtain essential minerals that are lacking in their vegetarian diet. In other words, a similar way that humans who are vegan take proteins or similar things to compensate for them not eating food of animal origin.

In this case, you could have used another fantasy race for the allegory — like fairies, who are by definition kind spirits that do nothing but mind their own business.

But not demons.

"They just can't survive in the demon realm, that's why they come to the human world." Look at me. Look at me when you're saying that. The demons are refugees. Demons. de-mons.

"All we're trying to do is survive." Okay. No. Not really. What do demons even need to survive? Do they feed like humans? How is it that they die like humans? The show is trying really hard to make you sympathize with beings that are, by definition, bad ! Making it an allegory to the War On Terror it not making them look good !! For the love of god, they're DEMONS. Just— Just WHY would you choose *demons* to make such an alegory?!

Just... Imagine knowing (or being part of) those affected by the atrocities the show based the Hell invasion on... And then be represented as demons. Minorities that are ALREADY being categorized as demons in our real world by a bunch of fascists... And you portray them like that in a show based on a series that has absolutely nothing to do with that. What's not clicking?

You're not making this point any valid at all if the humans (or, well, americans) are fighting against... Well ! A threat !! Sure, make the 'oppressed' guys demons, make them a reason for humanity to fight against them. Who am I supposed to sympathize with in here... And why? Because "demons fleeing hell because they're treated horribly by their own home" is really not the best way to approach an allegory of AN EVENT OF THE REAL WORLD.

... Playing 'American Idiot' was certainly a choice. But we'll get to the music later. Let's just say that, my guy, isn't this scene supposed to have a dramatic impact on the characters and the viewer? We're watching the (technically) oppressed being in the show being BOMBED AND KILLED and you play "American Idiot". Isn't this like playing a Lady Gaga song during a massacre?

The 'good' demons in DMC are the exception to the norm. And those few 'good' demons don't want to live as demons AND they can't live as demons. The moment you act like a human, YOU ARE a human. That's why Sparda had a human form in the games !

I don't need a story about why the actual american fucking government is bad — sir, I'm very aware ! The showrunner literally should know if he goes around posting this stuff.

Sooo the victim of american imperialism is... Hell? As in. The thing. Were. Bad things occur. There was an attempt, I suppose. Oh. And this happened, too.

— Part 3: ... Lady. Or 'Mary Arkham'.

*sigh* DMC3 spoilers ahead, just in case.

First of all, it's Mary Ann Arkham. Why the 'Ann' is being removed is something I don't get. You're here praising that this new Lady is 'feminist' while the original 'wasn't', and you remove her mother's name, but keep her father's name? Sure, go ahead.

Lady went through half of DMC3 without saying her name. "I don't have a name" has a meaning, and it's that she hasn't been able to find an identity after seeing her mother being killed by her father in a search for power to become a demon. How do you process that in so little time? "Lady" comes from Dante. He said it once, "okay lady", and that was enough to have an impact on her. Because this is Dante. Half-demon, half-human, who has (who knew) family issues just like her. And just as bad.

If Arkham managed to manipulate her with his supposed death in the game, it was because he is still her father. No matter what evil he does, he is her father. And she's never moving on from killing him. Never. Ever. You can't move on from that. It's not a matter of 'moving on', in any case. Just like Dante was never able to fully move on from Vergil's drop into Hell, no matter how hard he had tried.

Meanwhile, Arkham dies when turning himself into a demon. He murders Kalina Ann for nothing. Lady's hatred towards demons stays in the show like that, but... But what is she even looking for after this? To eradicate all demons in the world since her parents died due to, technically, them?

"Maybe a devil may cry when he loses a loved one, don't you think?" That's one of the most iconic lines to come out of the whole franchise that is at least 24 years old by now. Because, no, devils never cry — if a devil does cry, that's not a devil anymore. Lady existed to show how strong humans are without the need to have super strength, hubris or anything else that demons do have. Netflix's Lady doesn't show anything, she's just here to yell at us "yeah humans bad, blah blah blah".

Without power, who can you protect? Yes, true — but what's the point of having power when there's no one to protect? Lady wanted to kill her own father because of what he did, what he was about to do... To humanity. Her mother was gone because of that, and anyone else could be the next.

Netflix's Lady, on the other hand... A cop. A cop who I don't know what ideology she even has at this point. She spends the whole show shitting on demons and cursing all the cursing existing words in the English dictionary... then sees demon refugees and, well, apparently that changes her point of view... aaand then she betrays Dante. That's some interesting character development, she's evolving — just backwards.

You didn't need to make her 10 times stronger than Dante, for her to capture him easily, and to BLOW HIS HEAD WITH A BOMB. You don't need to turn the 'protagonist' into a bloody mess to show me how powerful the ¿heorine? is in this show. If she's 10 times more powerful than demons then — then why are they considered a threat in the first place? Not to mention her swearing, because remember kids, this is for adults, in case you didn't notice. Gore and gore, swears and swears. She genuinely said 'fuck' in four sentences IN A ROW. Not even I with my anger issues swear this much.

She just commits police brutality all around because "america bad" and all that, I get it — but again, her character *doesn't evolve* and the flashbacks do not explain her hatred towards demons either...? Yes, your father turned himself into one, but WHY would he, if demons are incredibly weak in this thing?

Oh, and, I'm afraid I do not recall her age in the show. In DMC3 she's supposed to be 16-18. I don't think she should be the leader of a DEMON HUNTING GROUP THAT COMMIT POLICE BRUTALITY with that age. The Vice President substitute being a groomer for Lady was... Also a choice !

Because humans bad, guys. You get it? Humans only do bad things and act without thinking. Demons... Apparently don't do that, I suppose? Genuinely why would Lady side with people who insist that "we as a nation can do better" and then proceed to colonize Hell. Of all places.

"devil spawn motherfucker" are. are you being serious. right now.

She's a genocidal sociopath (she was already a sociopath in her childhood flashbacks ! what !), and what was the point of Arkham in the backstory, anyways? And Kalina Ann? The rocket launcher was a fucking cameo.

Lady pointing a gun at people who haven't done shit ?? Okay ma'am. Why are you a fascist. What does this have to do with trauma anyways.

Her speech about Sparda? You CAN'T be dramatic when saying "he one day went 'hey this is evil as fuck'", that's not a speech, that's a damn Twitter post.

— Part 4: "Wacky woohoo pizza man".

Jeez. The protagonist not being protagonic sure is a choice as well. And the worst part? Dante is the least badly done in here — that doesn't mean he's the Holy Grail, either. This interpretation of him is just mediocre and forgetable, but better than awful, I guess.

He really just exists. Does he, like, do anything else besides the jokes? The jokes that are, mind you, not funny ! "Your mom" joke from DANTE? Please. PLEASE someone hold me before I say very, very bad things regarding that.

I get it, Shankar, you like pop culture. I get it, really. No need to shove it in my face. But he doesn't do anything else ! The fights have no point if he's gonna lose them anyways for no reason at all ! Why ! Is he ! So ! Weak ! What has he been up to since the damn childhood even of 'my mom died in front of my eyes'? How has he been a mercenary if, like, mercenaries have no plot relevance in here? What do you mean —i breathe in and out— what do you mean. What do you mean he 'got bored' of his missions. What do you fucking mean.

Ok, I get it, it's an AU, they can take liberties — Dante still would not do that. Like. No matter how well or bad he is characterized in any interpretation, he never leaves a mission unfinished, even more if someone is in danger. BUT OF COURSE NO ONE IS IN DANGER HERE BECAUSE DEMONS ARE GOOD BUDDIES WHO ARE BEING KILLED BY HUMANS BECAUSE HUMANS ARE BAD AND THE TRUE MONSTERS AND WE SHOULD GOT EXTINCT DID YOU GUYS GET THE MESSAGE —i breathe in and out— that sure was a way to simplify a character into... Comedic relief ! It's your protagonist, for the love of god. How did he go TWO whole episodes without appearing AT ALL.

Also, Dante not knowing he is half-demon was, once again, another choice ! So the government knows but he doesn't? They can explain that nonsense as much as they want to, it won't make sense to me even once.

WHAT was that Devil Trigger awakening. WHAT was that. Generic action scene for such a crucial moment in original Dante's life? Sure, take creative liberties — but what's the point of those liberties if the changes are gonna be boring and not changing anything in THE SHOW'S OWN PLOT at all? It just looks like the normal, average power-up the hero gets for no reason other than, well, being the hero.

— Part 5: Sparda and Eva.

I think that I've lost any sort of professionalism by now. I apologize. I promise I didn't want to sound like this.

But... Sparda being morally gray? Almost depicting him like some sort of fascist? What does that add to the plot, exactly???

Sparda, who, fell in love with a human woman and realized that his own kind were nothing but monsters. Sparda who rebelled against his own kind and HOME for the sake of the ones who were being killed while they did nothing but have the capacity to love ! That Sparda. A... "morally gray" character according to the script in this.

(the way the show describes him isn't even the definition of "morally gray", but there was an attempt in that intention i guess)

The design really doesn't help — and saying it has to be 'simple' so animators have less trouble is... Ridiculous. I'm pretty sure many complex designs have been animated before? You just pay people for the job and... That's it.

Not like he even showed that much, why waste so little in a figure that is supposed to haunt the narrative?

People saying he's... Hot? Are you guys being serious? Can you please raise your standards a bit? Things are more deep than a figure who haunts-the-narrative to be hot, holy shit, we're not fourteen (... most).

That's not "more simple so it's easier to animate" it's straight up badly done. What are those horns. What is that quality of the million dollar company. Help me.

ALSO. OF COURSE HE'S A "DEADBEAT" DAD. OF. FUCKING. COURSE. RIGHT. WE'RE ALL WITHOUT FATHERS. ALL RIGHT. YOU CAN'T HAVE A DRAMATIC BACKSTORY WITHOUT YOUR FATHER ABANDONING YOU THE MOMENT YOU ARE BORN.

Just why? The twins did know their father in the original story, he didn't disappear the moment they were born. Again, what does it add to the plot? So Dante doesn't know that he's half-demon? BUT SOMEHOW THE GOVERNMENT DOES? So you're telling me you threw into the trash his whole self loath regarding his nature, which is, like, a base of the character? DANTE, YOU HEAL VERY FAST, HOW THE HELL DO YOU NOT KNOW YOU ARE NOT FULLY HUMAN.

Take liberties my guy, but there's a difference between "taking liberties" and straight up changing the plot to the point it has absolutely none of the essence from the original source material besides the NAMES. It just makes it look like you grabbed the IP's name to gain attraction, because if not, the show wouldn't have as much interest.

Again, you picked a story that isn't yours, and tried to make it yours. As GRRM said: "there always seems to be someone on hands who thinks he can do better, eager to take the story and 'improve' on it. Then they make the story their own. They never make it better, though."

About Eva — well, I don't have much to say. It's one of the few things that followed the original narrative... And maybe that's why it wasn't bad ! Who knew ! Right. Who knew respecting the source would do well. Sucks that she haunts the narrative as little as Sparda in here. Being a "single mom" is her biggest trait in the show, instead of her whole symbolism back in the games. Are we being serious here.

How did she even raise the twins alone? What's her job? Is she rich? If so, why? Did Sparda leave her anything? 8 episodes and you couldn't even throw in a line for context? A LINE AS TO WHY DEMONS KILLED HER IN THE FIRST PLACE?

— Part 6: Secondary characters.

Lady's squad and Enzo, absolutely the most irrelevant thing I've seen in centuries. Their deaths hold little to no meaning. You could have removed them from the show and nothing would have changed at all. What were we even trying to achieve here? Didn't we say that humans bad? Why are their deaths supposed to be awful now? Weren't demons in the right? Weren't the demons fighting their oppressors? Make up your mind !

... And that's all. I guess that they fall under the same category as Dante. They're mediocre, not awfully bad. So I suppose that's part of the 5% that's not dreadful from the show.

And of course the deaths needed to be the most grotesque gore an american cartoon has ever shown. Because adult shows, am I right. DMC5 is the closest to that with the intro cutscene, and it carries way more impact.

(Enzo's design also sucks. But. Who am I to judge. And why does the squad look like DeviantArt OC's for the love of god. Girl what's that makeup.)

— Part 7: The White Rabbit.

He was my hope for this show. My damn "at least the villain will be intriguing and has the good design from the manga!" sort of hope. BUT NOPE ! His whole tale of vengance has absolutely no meaning like any conflict in this narrative ! Yeah ! Peak writing !

So. Why was this guy even here. His purpose in the manga was to bring Dante and Vergil together so he could get both amulets. If Vergil gave him his amulet willingly (Jesus Christ when I get to Vergil), why the hell did he go through the whole "down this rabbit hole" thing. What did he achieve. Dante is a weakling in this, he didn't need to take that much of an effort.

Was he just having fun being a furry? Guess I'll respect that, because they adaptated their design really well. Shock. A good thing from this mess.

Not to mention he turned out to be an OC that really didn't add anything to the plot aGAIN. SHOCK. I KNOW. He's a human and that makes Lady sympathize with him suddenly, instead of calling him a hypocrite for torturing demons as he experiments on them while saying he wants to save them ! SO SUDDENLY BY BEING HUMAN HER MIND CHANGES AGAIN? Girl get a grip.

Just look at how much Dante's ass gets beaten up buddy, you didn't need to go through all of that to get him, and the damn dialogues with Dante aren't helping either. They feel... Empty. Why was Dante trying to pull a "i can fix him" in this? Sir, my guy, my buddy, Dante, my dear — Lady immediatly agreed with the White Rabbit when he was revealed as a human. You can't fix anyone in this place.

Who is even supposed to be the antagonist in this show to begin with? Aren't humans bad and demons good? And that's the basis of the White Rabbit? But then demons bad because look how they react to humans and humans are being killed and the White Rabbit is a hypocrite, sort of? So demons are the good guys because they're being oppressed and just want to survive, but then apparently they'll only be "genocidal" if they step into the human world?

It's just one point contradicting the other. And taking the current real life events of the world... It's so painful to watch.

What a waste of a good design. WHAT. A. WASTE. The White Rabbit was so well animated and shown ! The voice acting was really good, too. It was one of my few hopes for the show, really ! But I am not defending an imcomplete villain... Or antagonist... Or whatever the furry is. I'm tired boss.

— Part 8: Vergil.

Eh. Where do I begin. It's been two days and I haven't recovered from the shock. The shock of seeing a character that was so well and beautifully written regarding traumatic experiences in a fucking action game... Being turned into a bootlicker towards the main villain. Or. One of the villains. I suppose. As if the writing was able to explain correctly everyone's role in this shithole.

Look. I tried. I really tried, I did. I promise I did ! I tried watching this twice ! Everything else, no matter how bad it was, was his own thing. Not my DMC whatsoever. Okay, cool, I can live with that. Yes, sure. I can accept the butchered Lady and Dante. I can accept the poorly written politics in it. I can accept incomplete villains due to inconsistencies.

But Vergil? Vergil??? The character blinded by trauma? The protagonist's other half? The Mr. i-am-haunted-by-a-past-i-cannot-go-back-to? The damn Mr. haunts-the-narrative-without-even-doing-anything? Mr. i-rather-slice-my-brother's-hand-rather-than-letting-him-follow-me-to-the-pits-of-hell-which-he-doesn't-deserve? MR. WHISPERING DANTE'S NAME WHEN HE WAS LOOKING AT HIS OWN REFLECTION ON THE YAMATO???

He wasn't just turned into a "generic villain" no. No, no, no. I would have wished it was that. Boy, do I wish.

WOW. JUST FUCKING WOW.

You guys are such good writers ! I can't believe I'm shitting on the "it was my father's fucking enemy who freed me" ! You made such a brilliant narrative compared to the original character who brought to us THOUSANDS OF ESSAYS and ACTUAL PSYCHOLOGISTS ANALYZING HIM regarding his whole story !

Now, trying to speak in a more... Serious way. If I can. I'm trying.

Nelo Angelo. One of my favorite concepts regarding Vergil's character. Imagine being enslaved like a mindless puppet for fighting for over a decade — and in here, that is turned into "oh no, this is just my powerful form after Mr. Bad Guy saved me because Mr. Bad Guy is absolutely awesome and he made me cool". Like. Not even antagonist or generic villain. He's the fucking "sidekick".

Is Mundus even supposed to be 'Mr. Bad Guy' in this IF DEMONS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE OPPRESSED. I DON'T GET IT. MAKE UP YOUR MIND. ESTOY CANSADO JEFE. APRENDED A ESCRIBIR GUIONES. SANTA MIERDA.

Imagine being able to recognize your brother after a decade of imprisonment in Hell, but he's not able to recognize you due to how much Mundus has changed you. Identical twins. The same face. The same blood. Identical twins. A single thing separated into two back in the mother's womb. But he doesn't recognize you due to how much you've changed. And that's when you realize what you have been turned into. That there is no way back for you.

But add the 'funny haha' line at the end, and you're done ! He's the storm that is approaching guys ! Like the meme ! Like the only line we know from the song ! He's so cool ! Despite the fact that he has none of the reasons to act the way he does behind that damn line !

Vergil is... A very particular character. He's very unique in the entire world of videogames as a whole. Just like Dante. Just like Lady. Just like Sparda. But unlike those three, he wasn't just turned into your "average western characters", he was turned into a trope. A trope.

'But what if being raised by Mundus turns out interesting? What is he's brainwashed?' You really think he would side with the ones who killed his family in the show?

'But what if he's infiltrating?' ah, yes, and killing other guys in the process. They really took the whole AU thing to an extreme and made a villain a "what if Mundus was just misunderstood? 🥴" and then ya'll will be with the 'we want villains who are evil just because back!'

— Part 9: Symbolism.

I think it's obvious that I'm growing tired by now. I tried to keep calm, but the more I think of it, the more infuriating it gets.

The soundtrack PLAYS NO ROLE in the narrative. Something that amazes me from DMC and the fact that it's an action game is: how the soundtrack tells things from the narrative. "Devils Never Cry" is an iconic song for a reason — and they went and used it for the ending. That... That was A Choice™ ! Once more !

Do the lyrics of "Devil Trigger" not mean anything to you? For you to throw it into Dante's awakening of his DT for the sake of it being a DT? Did you forget the implications that it has with Nero? Since you're putting odd covers instead of the original versions too, but not enough for the lyrics to change their meaning TO THE SCENE THEY PLAY IN — I guess bringing Evanescence into your amalgamation was too much already. And, see, this is the only good part of the soundtrack that made sense. Because wHO KNEW THAT MAKING AN ORIGINAL SONG WAS BETTER THAN BUTCHERING ALREADY EXISTING ONES. WHO KNEW HUH.

WHY IS BURY THE LIGHT THERE. I don't care if it's popular, it has a MEANING and that meaning has been straight up butchered in the show. The show it's a different thing, I know, it's an AU, I know... But for the love of god that's like putting a Sabrina Carpenter song while a character is being killed or something.

What role did the Plasma even have in here? Why did it take Vergil's appearance if it didn't do anything to Dante at all? It lasted for three seconds. And was never brought up again. Sure, it was brought to show 'hey Vergil is actually alive because the Plasma can only mimic people who are alive!' Why... Why would he still do that with Dante. What's the point.

None of that symbolism is seen in the designs, so what gives? None of the symbolism is seen in the weapons, so what gives? None of the symbolism is seen on the demons, SO WHAT GIVES? Why putting there demons like Echidna or Agni & Rudra, if you spent the 8 episodes showing demons looking as human as possible? So are you telling me only the demons that look human are the good ones? No shit ! Hadn't thought of that ! You need to be human to show HUMANITY ! What a shock !

"Crimson Cloud" is also there. I'm sure I heard it. And again, WHY is it here? Why do the lyrics not mean anything to you? You heard 'fight for your life' and called it a day, didn't you? Because this was just a paintball match but with actual weapons with people and demons killing each other all the time for genuinely no reason other than YAY BLOOD !

Isn't it hilarious how out of the 4 character themes from DMC 5, they didn't include DANTE's theme in particular. And if your argument is "Subhuman sucks" i'm gonna block you directly. That's one of my favorite songs ever. They didn't use "Subhuman" simply because the lyrics make no sense with this Dante. A Dante who didn't know he was half-demon, who didn't spend half of his life depressed and with self loathing due to his own nature — but then again, neither do the lyrics of "Bury the Light", "Devil Trigger" or "Crimson Cloud" fit what is being told... So? So what is the fucking excuse for not including it???? That it's "a bad song"? That is doesn't fit you 'I'm a 2000 guy yaaay' vibe? I'm gonna chop off your tongue.

Actually, no, no... I'm thankful that one of my favorite songs ever was actually NOT included in this thing, so that when I listen to it I don't remember that butchered version of Dante.

"We're here to entertain ourselves, not to read a book", okay, that's fair. Why don't they just do Generic Action Series Number 34™ and call it a day, then? Oh wait, I know, because taking advantage of an IP's popularity is nothing new ! We've been doing this since the oldest works from mankind ! Just HOW many times have I seen a 'classic' being turned into whatever the hell the modern viewer 'enjoys' watching — and it strips off the entire original meaning and concept THAT MADE THAT WORK A *CLASSIC* IN THE FIRST PLACE?

— Part 10 (and finally, last): Cameos.

I gave it a chance because I was told that Lucia showed up. My hopes got up. I thought that they had genuinely put thought into this thing. I thought that, even if it wasn't canon, it would show care and appreciation for the series... That it was 'a love letter to the series' as it had been promoted — but of course, I was proven wrong. Yet again.

So, uhhhhh we have the city from Resident Evil. Megaman for some reason. Nell Goldestein is only mentioned for that??? WHERE THE HELL ARE EBONY & IBORY. LORD. Lady's rocket launcher is used once, for the "point and yell" I suppose. Cindy flirting with Dante was... A choice, as well. And she has no roller skates, when that was a very cool detail for a secondary character ! And all the pop culture references are just *not* it. Even without the DMC skin on, that's yells 'how do you do, fellow kids' so much.

... Lucia appears for three seconds, and she's almost as pale as me.

Say sike right now. My guy, don't you, the showrunner, have that similar skin tone. I genuinely never thought I would be complaining about a SKIN TONE of a fictional character. But here we are.

That's not a lighting thing, my guy, she's in the complete darkness. A bit more and they would have thrown her into the "dark-skinned characters whose skin is grey". I haven't used the term 'whitewash' even once in my life, given how little I interact with fandoms. But, lmao, this is literally that. There's so little poc characters in the series — and you do this?

I wouldn't be surprised if they butchered Morrison into this thing and used the 2007 anime's design instead of the one from DMC 5. Because, out of ALL the things they can take from the 2007 anime, they will take the ugliest design there could possibly be in it !

(Please don't touch Patty. Stay away from her.)

My brother in Christ, you won't have me yelling and pointing at the screen thanks to "references". For the love of god, think about the writing first !

*deep breath* because, after all, this all would have been avoided with good writing ! Genuinely. The music and cameos could have been so fun, and fit so well, if your script wasn't absolute ass (saying that with all due respect, which is none).

— Personal addition.

The constructive and objective critique ends here. This last part is a more personal addition, given how THE series that has had such a big impact in my life has been turned into a generic action show, that is treated as the Holy Grail because people lack critical thinking and will consume anything that shows the protagonist's abs. I can't believe that's a defense argument. How are you guys so basic.

Well... Devil May Cry came into my life just about a year ago, thanks to a mutual. I still hold said person very dear to me, due to many reasons, but this being one of them. I had no idea about DMC, nothing. I only knew the protagonist's name and that it was an action game.

The memes always kept me away, because I thought it was about that, after all. Generic action game about combos and funny hahas. And I need lore, I need a story. I need something else to be in it.

It was this comment that I myself made back then when said mutual spoke to me about the series, that made me give *all* of the games a try:

I knew nothing. I didn't even know about Vergil's existence, for example. I genuinely went to the first game thinking it was going to be just "pew pew die evil creatures" or "Resident Evil with memes" ... And then Nelo Angelo appeared.

That's why netflix's choice of changing everything about that concept pissed me off so much. It's the concept that made me CONTINUE, that made me play THE REST OF THE GAMES. That showed me DMC was a damn Greek tragedy and not just a 'funny haha' meme shitshow !

From there, it just kept on increasing. Some downs here and there, due to a company's awful decisions of not giving enough time to get a game done, but overall, it surprised me how much these series affected me. I told my therapist about them. My therapist.

Any side material, even the niche ones, I searched through them all. Heck. Games, novels, artbooks, interviews, mangas... The Tony Redgrave concept was so impactful. Beryl is the love of my life. DMC3 got me crying over a video game, after almost seven years of that not happening again. The 2007 anime showed how much you can do with little budget.

The protagonist was someone I wasn't used to. The antagonist was a perfectly crafted character regarding all the good kind of stories that I enjoy. The female characters are an insane detail, I can't believe there's so many of them, and I absolutely adore them all.

... So. Take all of that creative series, that has had such a big impact on my life as much as the Odyssey, the epic poem, had on me when I was just 10, and has been stucked with me for a decade. Those creative series that are making me feel the same thing that epic poem made me feel as a child — and turn them into a generic action series, with little to no symbolism, with some sort of political message delivered wrong because it keeps contradicting itself.

And with people calling me 'retard' or 'tourist' or 'hater' or 'whiny bitch' for voicing these current thoughts. For people saying I'm being 'mean' to new fans, when I simply told them I don't get the hype over such a messed up plot — I even offered myself recommendations as to where to start with the series !

I guess this being my hyperfixation to the point where I couldn't do basic tasks, to the point it made my chest physically hurt, to the point it made me cry just thinking about it, to the point of losing my breath when I was (supposed to be) talking about it to a friend casually — none of that matters to them. I'm being mean for trying to get them into the series that changed my life.

I'm not saying "anime only people you suck ass" no, I'm saying "for the love of god, don't shit on the original IP to praise the show".

I have to take what's given. Even if it's not even the bare minimum. Even if it's brought to us by an egocentric jackass. I have to enjoy it, because it's content. I'm being an 'ungrateful fan 'and a 'whiny bitch'.

I prefer not having any more content to play, read or watch, rather than to have bad content about said thing ! I don't need a retelling, nor a bootleg universe, nor an adaptation, to keep my interest going. I don't need it to be turned into a content farm to be satisfied. I liked what it had. What it had is what got me into the series.

I love Devil May Cry for what it meant, not for entertainment only.

And I tried to at least aceept the Netflix cartoon. I've watched it twice, to be able to write this precisely — or well, I tried, since at the second watch I stopped at episode 6. I couldn't. I can't. It feels disrespectful.

It makes me nauseous to see that someone is egocentric enough to claim that he is saving a series that... Didn't need any saving in the first place. "From the visionary mind of Adi Shankar" dude, dude that's not advertising. Get your head out of your own butt.

It's scary. Scary that this type of people have so much free time and money on their hands. There were a lot of things to 'adapt', as the word really means — and you picked not even one !

I'm not saying it has to be completely the same ! Not a 1:1 adaptation ! But it didn't need to strip the original meaning of WHY A DEVIL *MAY* CRY !

If you did enjoy it after reading this, I'm glad, I really am ! I'm very happy that you were able to see something marvelous in it that I didn't, that's beautiful and I'm very happy for you. (None of this last paragraph is sarcasm. Disclaimer.)

Albeit, maybe I was a bit too selfish, and dumb, to expect some extra content on the characters that have meant so much to me. That have both ruined and saved my life unironically. Maybe it's elitist to want that, maybe, I've never denied it.

Perhaps I'm overreacting. Perhaps it's just a silly cartoon. Perhaps.

But I wanted to cry like I did with DMC3 when I watched the series — and I didn't. I did cry... But of rage. Rage, frustration, and impotence.

Just consume. Pay. Praise the minimum effort. Wait for the next product. Repeat.

[julisartori]

Disney didn't go Woke. It went Empty: the War of Meaning in Modern Media (or why your little indie project should be weird as hell)

And unnecessary long, painfully personal, and slightly nonsensical rant about Mainstream Cartoons, Indie Animation, Making Art, (not) Following Rules, and obviously—being a filthy Queer.

There I was scrolling on the adorable cesspit Twitter has become, when I found this treasure. And I mean it, I love the headcanon.

(cut off the name cause I don't want any weirdos going after OP)

It’s kinda crazy how this would perfectly match the whole vibe of Owl House and even Luz’s arc. But, oh no, imagine the tragedy of showing a character getting a disability in a TV-7 show. (RIP Finn Mertens)

In the last years, we've seen the rise of "woke-rage". Thousand upon thousands of the same tired, repetitive complaints of “how wokeness dominated media,” “how we don’t have deep stories anymore,” and “oh, the preaching, so much preaching.” 

Blah, blah, blah. BO-RING. Nothing engages more than SPITE. But they are too hollow-minded to realize the truth, aren’t they? 

Do I think the antis are wrong—and are just a sad pack of miserable whiny boys hiding behind edgy thumbnails to spread lies, homophobia, and every other flavor of bigotry? YES. With every single atom of my humble body.

Do I think modern media (every kind of media) is getting less and less appealing? Also yes. But not in the way you think.

And no, I DO NOT blame the writers and artists. Let’s be real here—it’s pretty obvious they had good intentions. They were doing their best to flicker a tiny spark of light through the thick wall of restrictions and corporate rules stacked upon them. I know the creators craved for more (at least, I hope they did, or I’m just embarrassing myself here).

The issue here isn’t the “excessive wokeness.” It’s the lack of "true wokeness". 

The issue is the CENSORSHIP.

The “preaching” in modern animation is just the watered-down version the execs approve. Because anything with actual substance, depth, or—god forbid—meaning would be too much for the fragile little minds of the viewers.

Oh, but isn’t the system just adorable? (particularly now with the charming rise of the far-right). They couldn’t care less if their audience—especially kids—actually thinks. 

Nah, they want mindless little sausages. Obedient drones, following orders without a second thought. Clean it up, dumb it down, make it easy. Because, hey, it sells. And it gets the job done.

Sanitize the message until it’s stripped of any real meaning. Repeat it over and over until it’s background noise. Drag it in circles so people can’t stand it anymore. Then BOOM!— Our "beautiful queerness" is just "cringe-wokeness”. Works every time.

Need a irl example?

“Love is Love” started as a powerful queer statement, but of course, it got hijacked by the other side and now it’s just a punchline. Another “Live, Laugh, Love” quote, slapped on Ikea mugs with zero meaning.

Frida Kahlo became a print in every mediocre middle-aged cis-straight-white woman T-shirt with no real interest in feminism.

The system knows what they do and they nail it flawlessly. Every single time. And we are just dumb enough to lower our heads and play along—and buy their ridiculous merch, of course. (If you want a tacky mug it's okay, dear, I'm not here to judge your peculiar taste. But please buy it from an independent artist)

And unfortunately, it's not getting any better any sooner, baby. Netflix wants writers to numb-down their messages, and announce their actions out loud. Brace yourselves, ladies and friends, we're entering the new era of painfully hold-handing media. Hurray!

https://www.fastcompany.com/91264942/netflix-knows-youre-looking-at-your-phone-and-its-changing-how-shows-get-made

Are cartoons (and literally every other media) getting worse? Oh, absolutely. But no, it’s not because studios are “overrun with queers and wokeness.” If anything, queers and wokeness are the only decent thing left—but don’t get too comfortable; studios will swap them out for AI soon enough ☺️

Cartoons are getting worse because the people in charge WANT them to be worse. It’s not a happy little coincidence. It’s full-blown strategy. A PROJECT—if you allow my conspiratorial streak. And trust me, they’re putting in the work.

And then, oh finally, we have indie. 

Indie, wow! The "magical" solution to all our problems! Animation, comics, books, games, short videos, you call it.

We all know the blessings and curses of going indie, and I won't overflow you with that. YouTube's free there are tons of more qualified people covering that issue.

I'm here to give my modest (and extremely based) two cents about the "content"—and once again, it's NOT what you're thinking.

Because every time I see an indie creator trying to be a bit "controversial"... Well, you're on Tumblr. You know exactly what happens to them.

(Cut off the heads of the impure)

So if you allow me, I’m going to be unapologetically indulgent and speak directly to you—yes, YOU, my lovely friend, artist, and INDIE creator.

(If you’ve got a problem with that, feel free to walk away. I’m NOT claiming to have all the answers or to be morally superior. Trust me, I'm definitely not. If something I'm morally inferior. My opinions are wonderfully clouded by my messed-up, and uniquely broken view of reality. Take everything you read here with a grain of salt—and please don’t take it at face value.)

My friend,

Really—do you really want indie creators to do the same old thing we see every single day? To copy-paste mainstream media and wash away all their personal weirdness to appease a scared (and unnecessarily clean) audience?

To spread the same tired message like a broken record? A coward broken record?

“Love yourself,” “Trust yourself,” “Power of Friendship.”

Yeah, sure, we’re ALL about self-acceptance here—big fans, truly, don’t get me wrong… But, hear me out: could we please sell it in a way that doesn’t scream “morning special”?

You know, something cooler? More creative? Actually meaningful and—dare I say it—not so painfully obvious? Can we all collectively agree to not beat people over the head with the message?

Just once? Even for kids? Especially for kids?!

Kids are not dumb, y'know?

-If you’re writing for kids, remember—they’re smarter than you think. We don’t want to turn them into brainwashed little worms.

“Oh, but my kid loved the new Disney live-action spinoff about Background Character #87!” Well, duh. That kid also spends half their screen time watching neon-porn content-farming on YouTube "Kids.”

Kids DESERVE so much more than that hollow nonsense. They deserve to be challenged, to actually feel something. Let them laugh, let them rage, and—hold my hand on this one—let them even cry over their cartoons. Shocking, I know, but they’re capable of handling more than shiny distractions and canned moral lessons.

(Ah, the dream of seeing death and blood handled with actual respect in a kid's movie—what a whimsical thought. But let’s be real, spoiler alert: we’re getting another “everyone’s fine, don’t worry about it” storyline than anything remotely thought-provoking.)

-If you’re writing for teens, for the love of all things unholy, don’t be the cringy millennial trying too hard to be “relatable.” Teens don't want "edginess". They want connection, and that's the reason they are so easily coopted to join a problematic streamer discord server. Because they crave for COMMUNITY!

They deserve better than just flashy anime fights and over-the-top gore. They’re old enough to demand real depth in their stories. And yes, brace yourself, they absolutely can handle angst.

If they couldn’t, Ao3 and Twitter wouldn’t be flooded with fan content that’s not only eight times better than the source material but also dripping with meaning.

(And the TikTok references? Teens don't think those are funny. No one does, actually. Let them go.)

(Look a timeless joke!—Clever, bold, and packed with social critique! Did Disney accidentally let a "woke" writer into their room before it was even a trend??)

If I’m going to leave anything behind in this world, then I want the next generation to THINK. To question the status quo. To fight for their rights like the rebels they should be. (and I honestly hope you're with me on this one—otherwise, you’re just wasting your time reading this overly dramatic and ridiculously self-indulgent rambling mess).

-If you’re writing for adults, don’t shy away, darling. Make them uncomfortable. Be unapologetic. Double down the weirdness. Throw in all the bizarre metaphors your heart desires and trust your audience is sharp enough to get them.

(Okay, fine, spend three minutes on Twitter and you’ll quickly lose faith in that idea. But hey! We’re not gonna bow to mediocrity because of one or two—or five thousand—bad apples, right?)

Use smut if you feel like it. Let the prudes lose their minds. Fill your walls with dicks if that's your vibe (yeah, that reference—you know the one).

Smut’s our friend, honeybee. We’re Queer. Purity never served our kind. 

(And just to clarify—I’m not talking about kids here, for God’s sake! No smut for kids, you absolute fucking weirdo!)

Don't worry about hate. No art is truly complete until someone’s got an opinion—positive, negative, realistic, or wildly inaccurate. It all matters.

(Even those church guys ranting about how we’re turning people gay matter. And in my personal opinion, they probably matter the most. 😌)

"Not everyone’s gonna be a fan, Princess. And frankly, I love making it harder for them." (that one is mine actually, you’re welcome!)

Look, you do you, my love. But if I had the chance to create something of my own (without a couple of execs buzzing at my feet), I’d at least TRY to put a decent act of not restraining myself to dumb corporate rules.

Shoosh, shoosh, now. I get it. It’s not your fault. It’s hard to break free from the suffocating grip of the norm you’ve been force-fed since birth.

But what’s the point of making art if you’re too scared to say something? Too scared to make a statement?

But if you’ve got the courage, and insanity, of going indie—and let’s be real, you need a hell of a lot of both—then yeah, I trust you’ve got what it takes to create something WILDLY out of the box 💖 (Like, please do. I'm basically on my knees right now).

Oh, and for Hell’s sake, get some humility and go study storytelling. Seriously!! You're not getting anywhere with that sloppy writing (and I say it from a place of experience, by looking at my own old drafts). We need knowledge, references, and a ton of good writing if we want to change the world—even if it’s by writing silly gay stories.

---------

—A educação não é neutra. Ela é uma prática de liberdade ou de dominação. A educação que temos não está quebrada, ela funciona exatamente como foi planejada para funcionar: como um meio de opressão.— 

(não exatamente Paulo Freire, pq fiquei com preguiça de procurar a quote certa e escrevi oq eu lembrava kkkkkk)

[natlacentral]

As ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Debuts To Strong Audience On Netflix, Creative Team Looks Ahead To Expanding Live-Action Adaptation

The results are in, and Netflix‘s Avatar: The Last Airbender seems to be a hit. 

The live action adaptation topped the streamer’s weekly English-language TV list with 21.2M views in its opening weekend. According to Netflix, it reached the Top 10 in 92 countries. It was edged out as most-watched title of the week by the Swedish natural disaster film The Abyss.

That’s a strong showing for the eight-episode series, which was another big swing for Netflix as it continues to dip its toes into anime-inspired content. In fact, Avatar managed to surpass One Piece in its debut weekend.

As with One Piece, Netflix was firing on all cylinders to launch the series, partnering with Serena Williams and even taking over the Las Vegas Sphere. So far, the Avatar global social campaign has reached 1.53B impressions, which is on par with both One Piece as well as Netflix’s hit series Wednesday. The main trailer alone has amassed 85M views to-date, while the #AvatarTheLastAirbender hashtag has generated 1B global views on TikTok in the past week.

Avatar marks Netflix’s second successful live-action anime adaptation, after a rocky start in the genre with its adaptation Shinichirō Watanabe‘s anime classic Cowboy Bebop. While die-hard fans of any animated series are likely to have a few things to say about their live-action counterparts, the streamer appears to be finding a groove when it comes to how to bring these stories to life on the small screen. 

“We’re trying to make a show for the most viewers possible. That doesn’t mean that there’s anything we’re gonna leave behind from the animated series. There’s not more purposeful deviations in order to make it acceptable for a broader audience,” Avatar executive producer and director Jabbar Raisani told Deadline. “I think it’s really attempting to be as faithful as humanly possible to the animated series, but also knowing that we have to fit it into this eight-episode, driving narrative that keeps us streaming.”

Other than missing story elements, which are obviously necessary when adapting from a 20-episode animated season of TV, one of the larger changes audiences might notice is the tone. 

“There inherently has to be a tonal shift as you’re moving towards live action, because things that work in anime won’t necessarily work with real people,” Raisani explained.

While animation can often boast a more exaggerated tone, that isn’t as possible when it comes to live action. 

“One of the things I did, specifically thinking of directing, was just working with the actors on different versions of the take. So with Sokka, with his humor, for example, we would do a version that was the flattest read, and then we would get more and more big and campy and over the top,” Raisani said. “Ian was great at giving a range. That allowed us in post to say, ‘Okay, let’s go funny’ or ‘We can go bigger’ or ‘Oh, man is now starting to break the tone and it feels cartoony. It doesn’t feel like he’s in the same show as everybody else.'”

Something viewers may notice remains faithful to the animated series is the dynamic camera movements, many of which came directly from the source material. 

Raisani described an Episode 4 scene where Aang backflips over a boulder. Not only does the scene come from the animated series, so does the shot used to capture it. 

“I literally just looked at the animated frame [and said], ‘Okay, we want to make this literal frame but with real people,” he said. 

It’s a bit preemptive to say whether the series will end up among Netflix’s most popular, since the series will have a 91-day premiere window and would need more than 83M views to achieve the feat. However, it certainly bodes well for a renewal. The good news is that the creative team appears to be chomping at the bit to expand the story and address anything that might have been missing from Season 1. 

“There’s stuff that we filmed that I love that isn’t in the show. There’s stuff that I love the idea of that we filmed and it just didn’t fit,” Raisani said. As a fan of the original animated series himself, he knows that audiences might be yearning for more than what they were able to fit into the first season.

“If we get another season, then we will certainly have those things, because I know what we missed now and I know how to do better the second time around,” he said, adding: “The animated series is a really good guide…for where the show can go.”

More specifically, Raisani said he’s already exploring new ways to shoot scenes that involve bending that would give the actor more agency on set and, in turn, make the final product feel more organic. He pointed to fire bending as one of the trickier elements to master, explaining that each actor had a light on their hands to emulate the fire, but they weren’t able to manipulate it themselves, which presented some restrictions. 

“If they could trigger their own bending… I think we would have a more seamless product,” he mused. “So stuff like that you’ve just got to try it and then you learn and then you do it again, but better than last time.”

[aquitainequeen]

Aside from news on how things possibly stand for a Shadow and Bone/Six Of Crows renewal (basically no news is good news, keep going with the campaign!) there's also a short interview with Eric Heisserer, which sheds some interesting light indeed on the writing and making of Season Two, and it explains a lot of things:

Here are the questions posed for Eric's interview: 

"I'd like to know if there's a way to liberate the pre-written scripts if Netflix doesn't plan on using them" - Christian Thalmann (creator of the Fjerdan language)

"In my view, 'The Crows' have the potential to revitalize the Grishaverse. Unlike "Shadow and Bone", this new show could rely less on elaborate visual effects and offer a fresh narrative angle. Heist-themed shows are currently in high demand, adding to its appeal. Am I mistaken in thinking that our focus should primarily be on 'The Crows'? The likelihood of 'Shadow and Bone' returning seems slim, but I've always believed that 'The Crows' had a greater change of success." - Joleen

"If/when the spinoff is back (finger crossed) was there anything he had planned that would completely surprised, for good reasons obviously, the audience? And we should hold our breath for that twist/turn??" - Rti

"What are the difficulties you mentioned about filming S2 in that Reddit comment? Don't want to sound negative, but what went wrong?!" - Mitra

"How long was the sizzle reel ready to go but he had to keep it secret?" - Discord Team

"I would love to know his perspective on the impact of streaming on storytelling. Would we have had to launch a campaign like this 10-15 years ago for a show like this? What are the main points when it comes to streaming models and telling unique, diverse stories?" - Acorn_Bri

Eric's Responses: 

1) "There is a way to liberate the Crows scripts from Netflix, yes, and in fact that would be part of the buyout for another streamer when acquiring the rights to Leigh's novels. It would be a package deal." 

2) "The focus on the Crows is helpful in two ways -- first, those scripts were written, which lets us get a running start at production, and second, just from casual analysis of book sales, it's far more popular worldwide than other Grishaverse titles. So it will be a bigger draw for viewers. The trap though is the cost. It's more grounded than S&B, sure, but the Ice Court is a unique location that either requires a really costly set build, or set extensions and VFX work to make it look authentic, which means nearly every shot of the heist once our crew gets there could be a VFX shot. My guess is the budget would be on par with S2 of S&B.

3) "Yes, there is a surprise or two in the Crows spinoff season, but overall it's as close to the novel as we could make it. And Leigh's novel is such an amazing story with natural cliffhangers that work as episode "out" moments, etc. I think the biggest move we made was to feature every single Crow's backstory to go with their episode. So that was fun/sad/exciting." 

4) S2 kept throwing challenges at us, and it started long before we got to production. Like months earlier, when we learned the location we needed for the Little Palace in S1 was closed to us due to the pandemic. So right there we lost out on a ton of S&S scenes, because it wouldn't be a match. But we also had written a compelling side arc for Ivan and Fedyor in S2, these two Grisha trapped on either side of the civil war. Each of them played a big role in the story, but Simon (Ivan) had a feature film that overlapped with our schedule and couldn't move, which meant we lost him. So Daegan worked to revise the season keeping Fedyor and leaving Ivan like dead from the end of S1. He was Kirigan's right-hand man for the season. But poor Julian caught COVID just when we were to shoot out most of his scenes, and after tyring to ake the schedule work, we had to come to the brutal truth that there wasn't a way to keep Fedyor in the story. Our only option was to bring him in at like episode 8, which would've been too little, too late. 

COVID continued to be a monster all through production, requiring us to juggle schedules and miss out on days, and it was madness for the cast, who had to pivot with almost no notice whenever someone was ill and quarantined. This isn't unique to our show of course---it happened with everyone. It's just the challenge. 

Beyond that, we had been given the go to write a special standalone story: The Demon in the Wood. This would have been released on its own around Christmas, like a BBC special but for Netflix, and would help bridge seasons 1 and 2 by showing a little of what Kirigan was doing before we seem him in S2, and also provide more character context, etc. Christina Strain wrote that and did great work adapting Leigh's short story. But it never went the distance. 

There was a lot more to S2 as well, scenes and side stories and little interactions that were lost due to budget or time restrictions. Again, not unique to our show, but agonizing all the same, since what you get is not what we had written, or in some cases even shot. I'm incredibly proud of the cast and the team, and Daegan did the heaviest lifting while I was off finishing the Crows writing room. But we had a lot more thrown at us." 

5) That sizzle reel was put together four months before the second season dropped. 

6) Streaming is a challenge to serialized storytelling in that it looks at 'content' often with a different agenda and uses metrics that can take a creative issue and exacerbate it. Like in broadcast, if viewership and thus ad revenue has slightly declined, the show will ned to find a way to make their 22 or 13 episodes on a proportionally smaller budget. What is not done is reduce episode order. But if a streaming series underperforms or doesn't meet expectations, an the streamer doesn't cancel it outright, the go-to budget reduction idea is to reduce episode order for the next season. When you just have 8 episodes and continue to deal with notes to compress, pace up, or omit for what you'd scripted for a longer season, reducing further to six or four episodes is exhausting. 

This happens due to a slide in autonomy from what the showrunner position has been. What the chatter on the picket lines revealed to us is that most showrunners today don't get to see their own show's budget, and thus don't get the freedom to make budgetary decisions that could better protect the story they're telling. More and more, showrunners not at a legacy network aren't the final say or at times even involved in hiring key roles. I don't have any ideas that aren't already in contract language, I just see how the job on this side has gotten harder and there isn't much of a way for us to make it easier for each other like we could with having writers on set or in post production, because the streaming model has made that impossible." 

[melonteee]

I’d like to state that I love the One Piece live action very much. And I like it precisely because it changes stuff up a bit. I don’t need a panel for panel re-shot, I think those are boring. One Piece live action to me feels more like one of those myth retellings, same people, same key events, some themes are the same but you add a new sprinkle to make your own artistic choices or to highlight something that you feel important even if the original version didn’t.

For instance, I think pulling Garp forwards is pretty clever. It gives a more Western feel to the story by having the antagonist tell half of it. Western stories oscillate between A and B plots (or more) quite a bit and thrive off of conflict. It’s not necessary for a story to function obviously but it’s part of the new style, namely it being a Netflix show. It is for a decidedly Western audience, it’s okay to use the tools of Western story telling. It changes the pace and the urgency, there’s an external pressure looming over the whole season and I like it when shows can do that.

I also love that we get the Cory and Helmeppo story more centered. Oda had only place in the chapter covers because of how vast One Piece already is. I appreciate the change that I get to spend more time with them and be part of their budding friendship. But you need at least parts of the Garp story for this to feel coherent within the show.

The live action reminds me of why I love writing fanfiction. Not to be disrespectful towards the original artist, far from it, but because I want to experiment with the things the original has and, importantly, doesn’t have. To keep the heart of the story and its key elements - which I think they did by and large a good job at, and to change it up for the new idea this iteration is presenting. In this case: What would One Piece be like if made for Western audiences?

Another guiding question is, what would One Piece be like if as realistic as possible? It not being a drawing anymore changes the tone and perception significantly, so they have to adjust for that. The over the top humor of Oda doesn’t work in this new medium. It’s a difficult needle to thread as Oda’s humor is so integral to everything, characters, plots, world building and so on. But that’s the challenge they set and I do think they caught quite a huge portion of it.

For example, Zoro isn’t as goofy and doesn’t grin as broadly as in the manga because no one is. Ruffy is less goofy so Zoro has to adjust down as well. He still smiles and cracks jokes and is his chaotic self. To me, in this world this version fits.

Overall, I love this live action a lot. It’s the best of its kind I’ve seen. And I love all the little scenes and gifs people make from it, they make my One Piece heart beat proudly. All the details that went in to the show I appreciate, the changed by and large I respect. It’s not the same but good.

And as someone who follows your tumblr, that opinion feels sometimes a little lost in all the asks you get about it. So I wanted to let others of your followers now, who - like me - might’ve felt a little discouraged by reading some of those asks and answers: It’s great if you’ve loved this show. That’s what it was made for. 💚

I appreciate all this but I need you to know, I am in the minority here in regards to not enjoying the live action - positivity for this is everywhere. Like I really do appreciate what you're trying to do here and I appreciate you like it a lot, but if my honest opinion regarding a live action adaptation discourages people then...idk there's plenty other places to turn to, my opinion on it shouldn't be the end all be all of opinions.

All the questions you brought up are fine, but the thing is if they're gonna change it up, then that's not an adaptation - that's a reinterpretation. You change an adaptation and its fidelity to fit the medium, that is not what this live action did. Through producer interviews they even stated that's what they WANTED, they WANTED a panel for panel adaptation, and they literally failed to do so. I'm glad you wanted something different, and clearly a lot of people also seemed to want that? But I personally didn't want One Piece to be different? I didn't want it to be 'realistic'? I also couldn't care less how the west wanted to make One Piece?

Making Zoro and Luffy less goofy means they are not the same characters, it shouldn't be more 'realistic' to make them more 'serious'. If anything that's just disappointing that these Netflix producers think realism means sucking the fun and humour out of characters. Those changes in characters is what bugged me the absolute most and, to speak frankly, I absolutely hated this version of Zoro. I would argue this whole adaptation does not make One Piece's heart beat loudly at all, if anything it feels embarrassed for what the original characters are meant to be and want them to be something else entirely. It feels like it needed to be 'edgier' and 'grittier' for literally no reason.

Different strokes for different folks I guess, and I'm sorry if I sound kinda miffed in this ask but it's because you will literally find positivity for all of this anywhere else. I'm sorry if I discouraged you but, again, my opinion on a piece of media shouldn't be the end of the world lmao. I'm happy people found joy in something I couldn't, but respectfully, I don't need it thrown at me when I've seen it everywhere else constantly and am just speaking honestly on my own little blog here.

We can agree to disagree and continue loving the ACTUAL thing that brought us all together, which was the original animanga!

[blogger360ncislarules]

When Young Sheldon heads to Caltech, he leaves behind a mother and twin sister in mourning.

Neither Mary nor Missy are in a particularly great place in 1994, when the Big Bang Theory prequel wraps its seven-season run. Mary has thrown herself into her religion (as foretold by Big Bang) and is largely ignoring her children’s needs. Missy, meanwhile, is angry at the universe for taking her father.

Now that Georgie, Mandy and CeeCee live across town with Mandy’s parents, and Meemaw lives with Dale, Mary and Missy have the Cooper residence — which, at one point this season, housed seven people — all to themselves, until Mary sells the house at an unspecified point in the future.

Fans of The Big Bang Theory know that Mary and Missy turn out OK… but what about all those Young Sheldon fans who have never seen Big Bang — a reasonably large and growing faction of the audience as new generations discover the series on streaming?

“It’s interesting because we definitely have seen — especially since the show went to Netflix — a younger audience has found it that I don’t think is that familiar with Big Bang,” executive producer Steve Holland tells TVLine. “We were trying to use these last episodes to start [Zoe Perry] on a road towards the Mary [we know] in Big Bang Theory, who we know is even more religious than Mary [in Young Sheldon]. This was the beginning of that path.

“To me, it doesn’t feel like a dark place to leave her. It feels real,” the EP says. “She’s still grieving the death of George and she has turned to religion. She says ‘Jesus is helping me through it,’ and I don’t think that that’s a depressing place to leave her. We don’t leave her bouncing back from the death of [her husband], but that also just didn’t feel real to us.”

Holland argues the same is true for Missy. “We know from Big Bang that she goes off the rails a little bit in the wake of George’s death, so it’s hinting at that future for Missy but also trying not to leave her in such a dark place that it’s just depressing,” he says. “She’s obviously angry, and she’s grieving, and that also felt real, but we didn’t want to leave her in a really grim place at the end of this show” — hence Missy’s final interaction with Sheldon before he leaves to start his new life in Pasadena, Calif.

Even still, portrayer Raegan Revord says she feels bad for her character as Young Sheldon comes to an end. “It breaks my heart,” the 16-year-old tells TVLine. “She just doesn’t have it easy. Her whole life, she was kind of ignored because of her [twin] brother, and the one person who paid her attention died. She’s left with a grieving mom who probably [isn’t] there for her the way that she should have been because they’re all dealing with [George’s death] in their own way. Mary very much leans into her religion… and in Big Bang, Missy’s a waitress, she’s got all these kids [and] she’s the least successful Cooper kid.”

Whether it happens between the events of Young Sheldon and Big Bang, or after the events of Big Bang, Revord hopes that Missy “finds some peace and happiness.” Could that come in the form of a storyline on CBS’ forthcoming spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage?

“I think, you know, we’ve always talked about this new show as this world getting to continue,” Holland says of the Montana Jordan and Emily Osment-led continuation. “It’s important for us that it create its own identity and it isn’t just Young Sheldon Season 8 — part of the move to multi-cam is for it to have its own identity — but at the same time, these people are family, and they live in the same town, and it is always our hope that this is a world where they’re going to pop up, and that these stories will get to continue in some fashion.”

Review Mary and Missy Cooper’s Big Bang Theory futures below, then leave a comment and let us know if you’d like to see Zoe Perry and Raegan Revord reprise their roles on Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.

Mary Cooper's Big Bang Timeline

Laurie Metcalf's debut as Mary Cooper in 'The Big Bang Theory' Season 1, Episode 4: "The Luminous Fish Effect" (OAD: Oct. 15, 2007)

Photo : Monty Brinton/CBS/Everett Collection

Season 1, Episode 4: Laurie Metcalf makes her first of 14 appearances as Mary Cooper. She develops an attraction to Sheldon’s new boss, Dr. Eric Gablehauser.

Season 3, Episode 1: Sheldon pays Mary a visit in Texas. 

Season 4, Episode 3: Mary returns to Pasadena, helps Sheldon and Amy work through their first fight using reverse psychology.

Season 5, Episode 6: Mary returns to Pasadena. Sheldon competes with his friends for her attention.

Season 7, Episode 18: Sheldon pays Mary a surprise visit and finds her mid-coitus with her boyfriend, fellow church parishioner Ron, who she meet at her prayer meeting.

Season 8, Episode 23: Mary returns to Pasadena and meets Leonard’s mother Beverly for the first time.

Season 9, Episode 24: Mary returns to Pasadena for Leonard and Penny’s wedding and has a fling with Leonard’s father Albert.

Season 10, Episode 12: Sheldon and Amy visit Mary in Texas and tell her that they’re living together. Mary gives them her blessing.

Season 11, Episode 1: Sheldon calls Mary and tells her that he and Amy are engaged. She’s happy, but not surprised, as she’d been praying for them. 

Season 11, Episode 24: Laurie Metcalf makes her 14th (and final) appearance as Mary Cooper. At Sheldon and Amy’s wedding, mother and son acknowledge how much they miss George Sr.

Missy Cooper's Big Bang Timeline

Courtney Henggeler's first appearance as Missy Cooper in The Big Bang Theory Season 1, Episode 15: "The Porkchop Indeterminacy" (OAD: May 5, 2008)

Photo : Sonja Flemming/CBS/Everett Collection

Season 1, Episode 1: Sheldon mentions a sister who hostesses at Fuddruckers.

Season 1, Episode 15: Courtney Henggeler makes her first of two appearances as Missy Cooper.

Season 7, Episode 11: Missy gives birth to a baby in Texas. Sheldon flies in to assist as Missy’s unnamed husband recovers from a motorcycle accident. 

Season 11, Episode 23: Georgie mentions that Mary was a mess after George Sr. died and Missy was just a “dumb teenager.”

Season 11, Episode 24: Courtney Henggeler makes her second (and final) appearance. Missy, now separated from her husband, is pregnant with their second child. 

[ear-worthy]

The Deposition Podcast Premieres With Testimony Elon Musk Tried To Keep Secret

NEW PODCAST THE DEPOSITION BY HUG HOUSE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS A DRAMATIC READING OF THE ENTIRE MUSK DEPOSITION HE WANTED TO KEEP SECRET

Trials are dramatic. We've had some high-profile trials recently that have captured the attention of the media and the nation. We've had the Trump vs E. Jean Carroll sexual assault trial, then we had the Trump vs New York State civil fraud trial, and then we had the Trump convicted by a New York State Supreme Court jury of 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.

We just had the Hunter Biden gun conviction trial, and now we have a sitting U.S. Senator, Robert Menéndez, on trial on federal corruption charges.

Usually, the legal fireworks are reserved for trials and depositions are simply the practice round for the legal battles to come.

Anybody who has watched Suits on Netflix know that Harvey Specter can light the match that turns a routine deposition into a conflagration of legal jousting. In real life, leave it to Elon Musk to turn a deposition into an absurdist farce in which black is white, up is down, truth is no longer needed, and narcissism parades around like a stripper at a "gentlemen's club." Here's the summary narrative: On March 27th, 2024, Elon Musk was deposed in a defamation lawsuit filed by Ben Brody, who Musk wrote about speculating Brody was a disguised federal agent in a “false flag” situation (he was not, obviously). Musk and his lawyer, Alex Spiro, attempted to retroactively make the deposition confidential. It was not. It is, though, hilarious. The Deposition, a new podcast by Hug House Productions, uses the transcript of the deposition in full as its script. Part reenactment, part reaction, the direction given to the actors is simple: Play your parts as seriously as you can until you absolutely cannot. The Deposition keeps in all the character breaks, laughs, and incredulity the actors experience while reading – while also making sure the audience knows what this case is about and what was actually said. “It’s an important story, an important look into how depositions work, and something most people might not be fucked up enough to read in full like we did when we pitched the project to our team,” says showrunner, Hug House CEO, and voice of The Court Reporter, Wil Williams. “It’s unbelievable. Not a single page of the deposition lacks a moment of pure absurdism. We cannot wait to bring that to our audience in a way that is hopefully more fun and cathartic than just reading it on the page.” The Deposition releases its first episode on the Fourth of July, 2024, with weekly releases following. This limited series includes four episodes, plus a full master cut of every individual episode stitched together for those who want to experience it the way it was given – more or less.

Hug House’s goal in coming together and creating podcasts is to bring stories to the world that feature and spotlight queer characters and artists, as well as those from other marginalized groups. In telling these stories, Hug House also seeks to educate people about the reality of and process that goes into creating these types of stories so that others may learn from our successes and our follies as they bring their own experiences and stories to the wonderful medium of podcasts.

Below are the actors playing the roles of the participants in the deposition.

Elena Fernández Collins – Mark Bankston Ely (they/them) is a podcast critic and forensic sociolinguist living in Portland, OR with one cat and one ongoing Master’s thesis, in an apartment that ain’t big enough for all three of them. Ely is the They write about podcasts for their own website, outlets like The A.V. Club’s Podmass, The Bello Collective, and Discover Pods, and curate their own newsletter about fiction podcasts, Audio Dramatic, and also host the Radio Drama Revival podcast.

Anne Baird – Alex Spiro Anne (they/them) is a certified mathematics nerd and business enthusiast and the Chief Operating Officer of Tink Media, a podcast growth and ideas company that specializes in creative partnerships and out-of-the-box marketing strategies to help podcasters expand their audience and grow their numbers. As the CFO of Hug House, Anne handles all the financial and operational decision as well as serving as a co-host on Scoring Magic, the producer of VALENCE, the showrunner for How to Act Fereldan, and the marketing manager and line producer for Radio Drama Revival. When Anne isn’t being consumed by work, you can find them listening to musical soundtracks and podcasts or frolicking in a field of horses.

Josh Rubino – Elon Musk Josh (he/him) is a Boston-based voice and character actor who loves talking but hates writing about himself. You can hear him as Father Klem in Forgive Me, Bernie the mailman in Greater Boston, as Telesphore Winterlich in The Kingmaker Histories, Liam Alden in VALENCE, and really anyplace where fine audio dramas are made. Since portraying Elon Musk he has been in the shower… we’re hoping he comes out soon.

Wil Williams – The Court Reporter, showrunner, editor Wil (they/them) is a podcast does-everything-er who loves snails and deeply upsetting media. They are the CEO of Hug House Productions, where they've been the showrunner for VALENCE, Scoring Magic, Nevermorphed, and The Deposition.

C. N. Josephs – The Videographer C.N. (he/they) is a transsexual writer and artist from the rainy forests of the Pacific Northwest. His work as a freelancer has included pieces for Tor.com, Simplecast, and the print anthology Stories of Autistic Joy. Outside of work, C.N. enjoys drawing, crafting, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Zach Orsulak – Mr. Grant Zach (he/him) is Wil’s husband, a nice, sweet guy, and the funniest person alive.

The Deposition is almost the trial of the century. Don't miss it. 

[totodiletears]

On the subject of Posts About Female Characters in Fandom That I Don't Want To Comment On Because I Don't Want To Fight:

I've also kinda been thinking that there's some kind of... I dunno, terrible feedback loop when it comes to canon female characters. You know, there are fewer decent girls and women written in mas media because sexism, and also people are harsh toward the girls and women they DO get and prefer the boys and men because sexism, so in response future canons focus more on the boys and men, so with more people attaching themselves to the boys and men, rinse and repeat. Like, okay, you want me to get fandomy about a character? For me at least, odds go way up when you can point to a character who is clearly competent and still sometimes go, "lol look at that idiot." The lol is vital, I should note. We need to be able to laugh at them sometimes. Shamelessly tease the blorbos. A lot of times, even when ladies are present, you don't see people doing this with them. Why?

For example, let's look at Avatar the Last Airbender. This is a show that is is really quite good with its girls, by children's animation standards, especially for the time! We have a good balance of boys and girls, and they're pretty well-characterized! Now let's go in with my "competent but sometimes an idiot lol" standard.

First, obviously, we have Sokka. Sokka is like the single best example this show has to offer of a character who is highly competent while also having idiot moments. Zuko is also a strong contender. Probably not a coincidence that shipping these two got so much more popular after the Avatar-on-Netflix resurgence: fandoms love to see their dumbasses.

But can we really describe any of the girls this way? They're mostly just straight-up competent. Ty Lee maybe, but she's more quirky than dumbass. Katara comes the closest to having proper dumbass moments, and what do you know, fans have historically been harsh on her.

But then, Katara's moments aren't really framed as being funny. She steals from pirates! And we get a story out of it for an episode, and fans get to argue with each other about whether she was right to do so or not. Nobody ever looks at that moment and says, "haha what an idiot I love her." It's less like Sokka worrying about Enemy Birds!!! and more like Sokka breaking the rules in Wan Shi Tong's library. Sure, some people might fold the latter into poking fun at Sokka's dumbassery, but I don't see it happening if we don't also get moments like the former.

BUT. There is a young woman who's a major character in the overall franchise that I liked well enough. Korra is a competent character I would point at and affectionately say, "haha look at this idiot." But a lot of people don't like her! And I don't mean, "a lot of people don't like Legend of Korra" because that's fair, it's a lot more inconsistent of a show and some people aren't going to like that. What I mean is, I've seen a lot of people who just straight-up hate Korra the character because... she's really strong and sometimes does dumb things. Is this solely people not liking when a woman exhibits these traits, or is it something people are more critical of when the overall show is not as good as its predecessor? Perhaps a combination of both?

BUT BUT. Then we have the Kyoshi novels too! Kyoshi is totally a competent dumbass. And I don't think I've ever seen someone who was annoyed by her. These books have had a pretty positive reception. Is this because fandom is more willing to fall for a woman character nowadays, or is it because the novels have a much smaller audience than the TV shows?

OR. Is this just the result of the Strong Female Character(TM) going down in popularity since ATLA aired? Becoming more criticized? Because once upon a time that was considered the single best way to write your girls and women, and Strong Female Characters(TM) never got to have dumbass moments. But then again, while they're less common, Strong Female Characters(TM) are still alive and well. And they're still boring. Are they common enough to be part of the explanation for why fandoms are less likely to focus on the women? Or is the fact that they still exist evidence that there are still many people who wouldn't like a more interesting female character?

I don't actually have any answers. But I think it would be a good conversation to have. I'd rather grapple with these questions than just go, "HEY MISOGYNISTS STOP WRITING MORE FIC ABOUT THE MEN" every time someone brings it up.

[hauntedfalcon]

thinking about how my husband lamented that Rings of Power doesn't do much with the Valar. thinking about how the Queen of Numenor says faith is a thin thread to hang a nation from, which runs counter to... most of recorded human history, not to mention Tolkien's works, where multiple nations of men awaited their True King to deliver them into a golden age, and Boromir's declaration that "Gondor needs no king" signified faithlessness and that was a negative thing. thinking about how there are articles out there to explain why Galadriel was upset in Rings of Power, to explain that she turned her back on elf heaven, on the selfsame far green country with whose description Gandalf moved us all to tears in Return of the King, and she chose ruin and the world

thinking yet again about how Cersei Lannister blows up a whole church because the Sparrows had become more influential than the crown, and a handful of episodes later she says "hey smallfolk, come into the castle keep to stay safe from this battle" and the smallfolk... do it, instead of saying "fuck no, that's the lady with the wildfire who killed our beloved priests and committed the worst possible blasphemies, and this matters to us because we are peasants and the only thing in our lives is work and religion" and there were no further repercussions because apparently the influential state religion of Westeros was one building and a cool catchphrase

thinking about Tess of the Road, which I almost did not finish because wow it's grueling to be a woman in a fantasy novel isn't it? thinking about the spiritual epiphany it grants its title character in the midst of a kneejerk "Catholicism but even more oppressive" setting because it reads easily I guess (see also all the Dragon Age games). still haven't unpacked all my thoughts from that one tbh but it's rolling around in there and it will be for a while

thinking about how almost nobody wants to write characters who have relationships with their gods, even in fantasy, a genre where characters could have very literal relationships with their gods, be they adversarial or positive or realistically messy. thinking about how writers seem not to want to touch that, either because it's too messy or because of an impression that society is beyond that. thinking about how this extends beyond the fantasy genre. thinking about how sterile Station Eleven's post-apocalypse felt and how part of that was a lack of folk practices or any spiritualism apart from the antagonist's obviously bad oppressive pseudo-Christianity. thinking about Anne McCaffrey insisting there is no religion on Pern in the far future, versus, like, everything about Deep Space Nine. thinking about how Battlestar Galactica felt ballsy as fuck for having monotheistic Cylons and polytheistic humans, but in the end that thread and the implications of robots worshiping a god just... never went anywhere

thinking about how, when religion is included in a work of fiction, it’s almost always with a wink wink, nudge nudge, you know and I know how backward and bogus this is, but it’s almost never played straight, much less validated in the narrative (I love you Netflix’s Shadow and Bone). and when it is portrayed as a positive influence in people's lives, it's in the vaguest, always culturally-Christian, terms of "light" and "darkness" and "hope". thinking about how Midnight Mass told a story about people who took so much comfort in their religion that even after it turned them into vampires and destroyed their community they sang hymns as the sun rose, and how that was such a foreign thing that a lot of the audience found it unbelievable

thinking about the extra layer of hypocrisy in defending a work of fantasy by saying "it was just like that back then" when a) there was no back then because it's fantasy, and b) the work in question ignores the foundational role religion played throughout the medieval Europe all these fantasy worlds use as a template

thinking about how art is meant to nurture the soul, but increasingly neglects to grant one to its characters

thinking about how if we can't imagine a world where people have a spiritual life that isn't just a tool of oppression, how can we create one

thinking about how much I love the Queen's Thief series and Arthdal Chronicles

[impostoradult]

I finally figured out why it feels like Supernatural murdered a unicorn (AKA why you need to STOP telling me to watch Black Sails)

I’ll start by saying, everything everyone else has been saying CERTAINLY bothers me: 

- the queer-baiting - the bury your queers - the undermining of Dean’s character arc  - the wasted opportunity for a certain kind of overall narrative closure - the flat out disrespect to Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles

 All of that bothers me tremendously. 

But there has been something else rather ineffable about this that has left a horrible taste in my mouth that I couldn’t quite pin down until last night. Bear with me, if you will, because this will require some set-up. 

*** This is not the first show to ever disappoint me in a spectacular fashion, nor will it be the last, I suspect. And one of the ways I’ve always coped with that disappointment was to remind myself that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right. (”It” being any number of things from just pure narrative emotional coherence to not burying your queers to not stringing along your queer audience and then yelling fuck you to them on the way out) 

But somehow that assurance -- that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right -- has rung particularly hollow in this instance, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why until yesterday. 

I kept asking myself, why do I still have this feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach, like something was lost here that can never be recovered? 

Because something was lost here that I am doubtful can ever be recovered, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else talking about this aspect of it at all. 

***

A few months ago, TV critic Maureen Ryan did a great interview piece with Mike Schur (of Parks & Rec/The Good Place) discussing the death of long-form TV in the streaming era. They explore how the longer seasons and longer runs of traditional broadcast/cable TV provided an opportunity to tell particular kinds of stories that you simply can’t when seasons are 8-10 episodes and series typically run 2-4 seasons (thanks Netflix).

One key thing we’ve all lost in this new era of highly condensed TV storytelling (and of prestige TV narrative styles)? The traditional (several season’s long) slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance. Not only is there simply no longer the time or space to write such romances, it has also come to be seen as hacky, manipulative, cheap, artistically impoverished, low-brow, a embarrassing vestige of the era before TV became art™. 

Everybody is trying to be Fleabag now. No one wants to be Frasier. (”It’s really more like a 10 hour movie” they all like to brag)

Obviously TV still has romances, even ‘drawn out’ romances. But ‘drawn out’ in 2020 is like 2-3 seasons, maybe. More commonly it’s like half a season. Take Schitt’s Creek. The number of episodes between when David and Patrick first meet and when they first kiss? Seven. Seven episodes. Half a season. If you watched it live, it took less than 2 months for them to move from introducing that dynamic to consummating it. And I’m not bagging on Schitt’s Creek; I think the David/Patrick’s story is very lovely and well-written. 

But Niles & Daphne (Fraiser) had to wait 7 years and over 150 episodes before they finally got there. Josh & Donna (The West Wing) had to wait 6+ years, and 145 episodes. Mulder & Scully (The X-Files) had to wait 7 seasons and 143 episodes. Booth & Bones had to wait...you see where I am going with this. 

And my point is (and I can’t believe I never realized this explicitly until now): there has NEVER been a queer slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance of that type on TV ever. EVER. 

I’m going to say that again, because I think it bares repeating:

There has never been a queer, slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance that fits the 100-150 episode paradigm of delayed gratification on TV. 

Not ever.  

I can’t think of ONE example  Not a single, solitary one. And I know queer TV pretty well. Arguably the closest we’ve ever come is Legend of Korra, and that ran 50 episodes, a THIRD of the length of old school will-they-won’t-theys like Booth & Bones or Josh & Donna. 

Queer people have had a fair number of canonical romances on TV by now, even fairly long running ones. But we never got a primary/front-and-center romance that you had to root for for 100+ episodes before you got any kind of canonical consummation.

That is a particular kind of TV experience that queer people and queer characters were just 100% shut out of until it was too late. And because of how the TV landscape has changed in the last 10 years, I don’t know that that opportunity will ever come back around in our lifetimes. 

***

Dean and Castiel are/were a legacy of an earlier era of TV, an era that still contained the possibility for a will-they-won’t-they of that particular mold. There were other shows that could have also filled this gap at one time - Rizzoli & Isles, OUAT, House MD, etc. But one by one all of them were killed off, their queer romances unrequited, until Supernatural was the only one of its’ generation left standing. 

And they should have acknowledged that they were a species about to become extinct. 

There are plenty of other valid and compelling reasons Supernatural should have gone full Destiel, don’t get me wrong.

A) It would have been the most emotionally satisfying ending to the series and to those characters (and that would have been reason enough). 

B) It would have stopped the manipulative queer-baiting of the (disproportionately queer) fanbase (and that would have been reason enough). 

C) It would have been queer representation of middle-aged men, of bi men, of queers who came to their queerness later in life (and any/all of those would have been reason enough). 

D) It could have been a glorious subversion of the bury your queers trope, considering how often they’ve died and been resurrected (and that would have been reason enough). 

But point E) on this list is the reason this one hurts in a singular way that no one even appears to be acknowledging. 

Almost all of the other wrongs and missed opportunities contained in this Supernatural debacle have the possibility of being rectified (at least to a degree) elsewhere. I can and I likely will get more bi male characters from TV as time goes on. I can and likely will get more middle-aged queer characters. I can and likely will get more queer characters coming to their queerness later in life, and starting queer romances later in life. I can and likely will get more queer characters who aren’t killed cheaply and prematurely. I can and likely will get more genre TV shows with sprawling myth arc plots that are resolved in a coherent, satisfying way. I can and likely will get Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles involved in other projects that value their work and their talents. 

All of those other things are at the very least POSSIBLE, and many are even likely. 

But a queer 100-150 episode slow-burn romance a la Mulder & Scully or Niles & Daphne or Booth & Bones? That is the one baton Supernatural dropped spectacularly that no one else even has the possibility of picking up again for the foreseeable future. (They don’t even write those types of romances for heterosexuals anymore!) 

Seriously. It was a TV unicorn. And rather than letting it run wild and free, they stabbed it with a rusty nail. 

***

Given the monumental shifts in the TV landscape that have occurred in the last decade, I don’t know that TV will ever go back to the slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance spanning 100-150 episodes. Today it is a miracle if you can get ANY show to last longer than 50 episodes in the first place. 

And that is the piece of this that makes it feel (to me) like they murdered a unicorn.  

Because queer people have gotten a lot of things from TV, and they will get a lot more as time goes on. But that one? That one could very well be a totally extinct species.

That is the larger missed opportunity here that has left this feeling especially hollow and destructive. That is the thing that makes me balk when people tell me to go watch Black Sails or Pose or whatever other prestige TV show is doing this representation ‘better.’ Because that’s not really the loss I am mourning here. I KNOW there is ‘better’ representation elsewhere.  

But the will-they-won’t-they/slow-burn romance is a qualitatively unique thing that queer people literally just never got. Ever. There is no substitute, no alternate, no other show I can turn to with that kind of build-up and pay-off for a queer couple, and there probably won’t be in my lifetime. Not unless the TV industry undergoes another monumental evolution similar to the streaming revolution that shifts the incentives back to telling those types of stories again. 

All those shows you want me to displace Supernatural with? None of them can give me the one thing I uniquely wanted (and could have gotten) from Supernatural. THAT ALTERNATE SHOW DOESN’T EXIST. It doesn’t exist. And I have no reason to hope it will ever exist in my lifetime. 

So stop telling me to look somewhere else; you don’t understand what made this one a unicorn. 

***

Addendum: The only other possible show that could perhaps fill this gap is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (re: Mac/Dennis). But I’m hesitant to say it exactly meets that criteria, for a number of reasons:

1 - It’s far less serialized relative to Supernatural and (except for a handful of stand-alone episodes) very little of the story is grounded specifically in Dennis/Mac’s romantic dynamic (unlike SPN, where it is absolutely central to much of the narrative)

2 - IASIP is fundamentally satirically in nature/tone which makes it much harder to have genuine romantic pathos (not impossible, but harder) 

3 - All the characters on IASIP are fundamentally crummy people who you aren’t exactly supposed to root for. Which doesn’t mean a romance between two of them can’t have its value/charm/worth but it’s not the same as when it is between characters who unequivocally deserve nice things/happy endings

[renatapatata]

ok so post umbrella academy season three thoughts:

(yes i already binged it i have no restraint)

i feel like i like this season especially just for how it dealt with all the loose ends that the season 2 time travel debacle left us with and now that the umbrellas (and sparrows) have dealt with those consequences the world had been remade once again and next we will be seeing everyone in a??? world where they so far dont have any powers anymore (that being said im guessing its because of the machine reggie needed to use and allison didnt get sucked into it so she surely still has her powers left) and where obviously things will still be weird since its the hargreeves that were talking about - and its all leading to the audience getting to know more and more about reggie's final motives.

allison going a bit off the rails this season made sense to me tbh and i just wish she didnt have to do all the self destructive things that she did, and sparrow academy ben being a 'dickhead' or more hostile also made sense since he was the number two or rather, demoted number one in his family who seeked his father's approval (thus his personality clashes a lot with diego's and reminded me of early season 1 luther) but all in all he is just a big softie who wanted to be accepted by the umbrellas and he gave viktor advice to stop wallowing in his sadness and!! im just really excited with what theyll do next with his character and netflix better keep promoting this show 😤

[hangovercurse]

Worst Firsts

You and Colson go on Worst First with Brittany Furlan and Tommy Lee.

Request: “Have Colson(mgk) and reader (who are dating) go on worst first with brittany furlan(lee).LOVE YOUR WORK!!!❤❤”

Colson X Reader

Warnings: Cursing, talk of sex (no actual smut)

Word Count: 1684

“Hello all you fine folks out there and welcome back to Worst Firsts. Boy oh boy do we have the show for you today. First off, we have my husband, Tommy Lee, with us here.” Colson banged on the table as you gave out a small cheer. Brittany continued, a small laugh sent in your direction, “We brought our favorite Tommy Lee two-point-O Machine Gun Kelly back on the show today!” You cheered for your boyfriend as Tommy banged on the table. “And for her first time on the show, we have the wonderful Ms. Y/N Y/L/N!” Colson shouted for you as Tommy continued banging on the table. “Thank you guys so much for coming, thank you for coming back Colson. I am so excited you guys are here today.”

“I love bein’ here.” Colson said into the mic, shooting Brittany a smile.

“When you asked us to come on, I was so fucking excited.” You said, Colson nodding with you.

“For real, bro. She was off the walls.”

Brittany continued, speaking to her audience, “If you guys didn’t know, Gunner here played Tommy in The Dirt way back in 2019, which released right before you two met, am I right?”

You smiled lightly, a slight heat rushing to your cheeks as the focus turned to you and Colson. Luckily, he answered for you, “yeah, we met literally like maybe 3 days after the premiere. That was such a sick time in my life.”

“Dude, I bet. You release a kick ass movie and then turn around and meet-“ Tommy started, Colson cutting him off to finish his sentence.

“The love of my life, yeah.” You smiled bashfully, Colson’s arm finding its way around you and pulling you into his side.

Brittany smiled at you two, Tommy’s hand reaching over to grab hers under the table. “So, this show is all about first times and, while normally we would talk about worst firsts, I gotta know how you two met.”

“It’s honestly not much of a story,” you began, “Netflix had this party and we were both invited because we both had movies out on Netflix. I went up to him at the bar because I thought he was hot and we started talking and now, uh, we’re here.” Colson nodded as you recounted the memory.

“I was trying so hard not to fuck anything up though, because literally the entire night before she came up to me, I was trying to figure out how to talk to her.” Your boyfriend said, red on his cheeks.

Brittany sent you a mischievous smile, “so what happened after that? Did you give him your number, did he ask you out, something else?” The inflection in her voice and the wiggle of her eyebrows let you in on exactly what else she thought you might have done.

“Something along the lines of something else.” You said, a smile playing on your lips. Colson threw his head back in laughter. Tommy nodded with pride at you two.

‘Speaking of something else.” Colson began, making you look up to him in both confusion and panic, “This is all about worst firsts, right?”

“What are you about to say?” You asked him, a warning in your voice.

He giggled, “remember the first time we had sex in public?”

Brittany’s eyes went wide, “you two did what?”

Tommy asked, “first time?”

You leaned into Colson’s side, a blush rising to your face. “That was literally the most awkward experience of my entire life.”

Colson laughed at the expressions of the older couple, “okay, basically we were on tour in the middle of butt fuck nowhere and there was nothing in this town. No bars, no clubs, nothing.”

You continued his story, “but there was this tiny carnival. So, after the show we went in hope of something fun happening.”

Tommy laughed, “well something fun certainly happened.”

“After about an hour in we were bored and she was only gonna be on tour for a few more days.” Colson said, “so we figured we should make the most out of the lame ass carnival. And then we found it.”

“the photobooth.” You said, watching Brittany’s jaw drop.

“Him, I expect this from.” She pointed at Colson, “but you?”

You giggled, nodding your head, “It was her idea!” Colson exclaimed over your laughs.

“I hadn’t seen him in almost two months and was only on tour for two weeks, I had to make up for lost time and this was the only place that we could get any semblance of privacy.” You said, shoving Colson lightly as he grinned proudly at you.

“Wait so did you two get caught?” Tommy asked, intrigued.

Colson answered, “we didn’t get caught, per say, but as we were leaving this family came up to the booth. And I mean, there’s not a great way to hide that you’ve just had sex. We tried, but people still know.”

Brittany and Tommy laughed, the latter banging his hand on the table as he did so. “The look on that mother’s face. I thought she was gonna call the cops or something.” You said.

“Was it at least good?” Brittany asked to which Colson replied,

“we were in a photobooth, Brittany. No.”

Tommy chuckled, “I’m sure it was better than doing it on the tour bus.”

Your eyes went wide and a laugh tumbled from your mouth as you recalled the first time you and Kells had had sex on the tour bus. “We do not need to talk about that.” He looked down at you as he spoke, a look of warning in his eyes.

“Oh yes we do.” Brittany said, looking at you to speak.

“There’s not much to it, but as I’m sure you can imagine, the bunks are not the most spacious of beds. And Colson here is a six-foot-four giant who barely fits in the bunk as it is.” You began, giggling as Colson’s glare hardened on you. “Let’s just say Kells almost got a concussion because he hit his head so hard.”

Brittany laughed as Tommy spoke, “sex in the bus is difficult, dude. I get it.”

“Why didn’t you just go on top?” Brittany asked you.

Colson grumbled, “because she was “tired from her flight” and “didn’t want to get hurt.”” He used air quotes as he mimicked your words from the night, making Brittany and Tommy laugh.

“I sat on a plane for 9 hours to see you, the least you can do is top.” You said, shrugging as Colson let out a silent chuckle. “But yeah, it was not good.”

You continued to talk about other first times you’d had. You told the couple about your first kisses when you were younger, retelling the story of your first kiss in middle school when your braces got stuck on the poor kid’s lip.

Then Colson recounted the story of the first time you both went out on a boat together. “For context,” you started, “I am terrified of the ocean. I can swim but I refuse to go into any water that isn’t a pool.”

“We were out there with a couple of our friends and she was staying as far away from the edge of the boat as possible. And then some of our homies tried to pull her towards the edge and she freaked the fuck out.”

You pouted, “you fucking laughed the entire time it was not funny.”

“It was!” He exclaimed, “you were pulling away like a little kid.” You glared at him, “but, for the record because people are gonna think I’m a bad boyfriend, I made them stop. And then I dragged her towards the edge myself and made her sit with me.”

You then told the story of the first time you’d gotten a call from the hospital to come get Kells. “I was unaware that this was a normal thing. So, when I get a call at 4 am that he’s in the ER I was kind of freaking out. And then I get there and him and Rook are just sitting there messing around like two little kids.”

Colson chuckled, rubbing his face with his hands, “you were so worried when you first came in and then as soon as you saw us you got so annoyed.”

“What did you guys do that got you in the ER?” Brittany asked.

You deadpanned, “they were throwing knives around and Colson nearly cut off his finger.”

Tommy nodded, “nice.”

After a few more firsts, Brittany asked the final first worst, “what was the first or worst fight you guys got in?”

You looked at your boyfriend, trying to figure out what fight he’d pick. “The first big fight we got into was that night at the hospital that we mentioned earlier.” He said and you nodded in agreement. “Which I was totally in the wrong about.”

“Yeah. We got home and I literally couldn’t talk to him without wanting to scream.” You said.

Tommy tilted his head, “were you mad that he had gotten hurt or that he called you so late?”

You shook your head, “I was more frustrated than anything. Like I was fucking panicking because I thought something really bad had happened and he was treating it like a joke. But we talked about it and obviously we’re fine now.” You said smiling up at your boyfriend.

He grabbed your hand under the table, squeezing gently. “Yeah. That was also the first night I told you I loved you.” He said, nudging your shoulder with his own.

You rolled your eyes, nudging him back, “yeah, yeah. Don’t get all sentimental on me now.” You said, giggling silently.

Brittany and Tommy watched you, smiling like proud parents. “Alright folks, we’re gonna end this podcast here. Thank you guys so much for tuning in, thank you guys for coming.” She motioned to you two, “It’s always so nice to see you guys, love catching up with you. If you’re not already subscribed, you should do that. Leave a like, a comment, whatever you want.”

[charlie-minion]

Could the same SPN finale make a little more sense with some additions/changes?

I’ve had the idea for this post stuck in my head for days now, but with every new conspiracy theory and every new eventuality in the fandom, it became difficult to cool down enough to write something less ship-related and more narrative-focused.

What Supernatural and non-SPN fans have to understand is that a lot of us have expressed disappointment and frustration after 15x20, not because of Destiel (that’s just one part of the whole problem), but because the finale doesn’t make sense. Everything was leading up to something beautifully crafted until the end of 15x19. Beyond that, it’s hard to understand what happened. The story rendered all the character growth irrelevant, invalidated the themes of free will and “family don’t end in blood”, regressed to the original brother codependency they spent 15 years trying to overcome, made a queer non-binary character in a male vessel and a deaf female character basically disposable, and kept the show’s reputation of queerbaiting and misogyny until its very last breath.

That’s not going out with a bang! At least not a positive one. We all were ready to mourn Supernatural, but we wanted to feel proud of its legacy, and somehow TPTB managed to tarnish that legacy in less than 45 minutes. What a way to ruin the other more than 13,600 minutes of story!

It doesn’t matter who is to blame (The CW, Robert Singer, Andrew Dabb). It doesn’t matter why it happened (homophobia, censorship, marketing for Walker, bad writing). What matters is that at the end of the day, the finale that aired is what we got and that’s going to hurt for a long time. It hurts even more when we realize that the same finale could have easily made more sense, even without being perfect.

That’s what I want to do in this post. I want to show you how things would have been less jarring (for the fandom), while still keeping the goal to please the general audience.

Before I begin rewriting 15x20, I have to mention that I talked to my conservative boomer sister about the finale. She hasn’t watched the second half of season 15 yet (she’s waiting for Netflix to have it), but she’s been watching the show for a long time (she introduced me to it 8 years ago). She’s the perfect example of a viewer from the general audience. Loves the show but doesn’t give a second thought to it and definitely isn’t paying attention to character development or themes. Doesn’t engage with fandom, actors, or any of the show’s social media. Pure GA! When I told her the series finale had aired, she asked me about it and I refused to give her spoilers. Because of that, she told me the ending SHE wanted. She said she would be happy with either of two possibilities: the boys retiring and finally living a normal life OR they going to heaven and finding peace at last. She saw Sam and Dean as a unit, which means: both retiring or both going to heaven. AND she saw Cas as part of that, too. She wasn’t so sure about Jack. And for her, we could use the “Eileen who?” and it wouldn’t be a joke. She didn’t remember her.

NOW IT’S TIME TO WRITE A NEW VERSION OF 15X20 (KEEPING 15X18 AND 15X19 EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEY AIRED). This will be a very long post:

The opening remains almost the same. No “Carry on my wayward son” to induce feels. Too soon and too predictable! (Reasoning: Everyone was expecting it to play right there, so it would bring more tears at the end)

In the opening, after the scene where Jack says “People won’t need to pray to me or sacrifice to me”, we also see the scene from 15x19 where he says “I won’t be hands on”. Then we see the rest of the opening as it was. (Reasoning: People needed to be reminded that Jack would NOT intervene and that’s why later on, he would NOT save Dean).

We get the same montage, but when Sam takes a break from his morning run, we see him reading a message on his phone. A simple: “Hey Sam, what’s new?” from Eileen. Sam smiles fondly and begins to type a response we don’t get to see. The next scene continues the same, Sam making breakfast. (Reasoning: A text was a very simple way to show that Eileen was alive and still in communication with Sam).

The montage slowly ends as Sam enters the library (not after he sits down). He seems to be talking on the phone but we only hear an “I’ll tell him. Bye”. As he walks towards the table, he tells Dean: “Charlie says hi. Mentioned something about Stevie’s perfect scrambled eggs we have to try.” Dean’s answer is “Awesome!” (Reasoning: Just ONE line was needed to unbury Charlie and her girlfriend. ONE LINE).

Sam sits down, opens his laptop and everything continues the same. The title card shows for the last time.

YOU SEE? In the first 4 minutes they could have acknowledged that THREE WOMEN were alive and safe: Eileen, Charlie and Stevie. It wasn’t hard! Don’t blame bad writing on Covid! Now let’s continue.

Sam and Dean arrive at the Pie Fest just the same. Dean goes to get some “damn pie” and Sam takes out his phone. He dials and when someone picks up, he says “Hey, Jody, how are ya?” We don’t hear the rest of the conversation. The scene moves to Dean coming with his 6 portions of pie. Dean sits down and Sam tells him, “Talked to Jody. The other hunters haven’t had much work lately.” “That’s good, isn’t it?”, Dean says. All we get from Sam is “Yeah.” So, Dean looks at him and asks “what’s wrong?” like it happened in the episode. (Reasoning: Again, a couple of lines to make sure the people that were killed in 15x18 are safe and remembered by the boys in 15x20. Why is this important? Because they’re family!)

The conversation about Sam’s sad face happens the same. Sam is the one that mentions Cas and Jack. (Reasoning: Because this episode was so Sam-centered, it’s obvious he was the protagonist in the finale. If we see him communicating with Eileen, Charlie, and Jody, then it’s NORMAL, even expected of him to be the one to bring up Cas and Jack). Without these additions, it’s harder for people to understand that most of the finale was NOT from Dean’s POV but from Sam’s.

Dean’s “if we don’t keep living, then all that sacrifice is gonna be for nothing” stays the same. (Reasoning: I believe it’s necessary that the show sticks to the importance of “letting go” and “what is dead should stay dead” for the first time ever because the message is “even when you lose someone you love, you can still find some form of happiness and keep living, for you and for them, because that’s what they would have wanted”. Bringing someone back means “I can’t live without you”, and that’s just more codependency. It’s how the demon deals began in the Winchester family –Mary being the first one to do it. This would explain why Dean didn’t ask Jack to bring Cas back, as he asked Chuck. He understood Jack was NOT going to interfere anymore and accepted it. Besides, when Cas saved Dean from hell, Dean thought he didn’t deserve to be saved. This time that Cas saved him, Dean finally feels worthy enough to accept that YES, HE DESERVED TO BE SAVED ALL ALONG, just as much as he deserved to be loved by that angel of the Lord. In this scene, Dean also says that the pain is not gonna go away, which means that from HIS PERPECTIVE, it still hurts that Cas is not there. The problem is that the finale is not showing his POV but Sam’s.  

Sam pies Dean on the face just the same. (Reasoning: That part was just to avoid ending the scene on a sad note).

Everything related to the case happens exactly the same. (Reasoning: At this point, people don’t really care about the MoTW, they care about Sam and Dean).

NOTE 1: The case is important to show that even when the Winchesters are finally free of Chuck’s influence, they CHOOSE to keep hunting. It isn’t something they do out of revenge or because it is their destiny anymore. Maybe they were forced into the life at first, but they’ve learned to find joy in saving people. Being hunters is who they are. However, the fact that a job application was shown on Dean’s desk is also important because it means he was willing to explore what else was there for him besides hunting. Maybe he could find a balance? Maybe he was thinking it was time to quit? We will never know! The thing is that Sam only finds out about it when he goes into Dean’s room after his brother is dead, so maybe that’s when it hits him that Dean wanted to explore his options, and Sam starts to think it’s time for him to do the same.  

NOTE 2: I believe the masks the vampires are wearing is something we can blame on covid. If they had their faces covered, it was easier to use people from the SPN crew for some scenes, instead of using more actors unnecessarily.

NOTE 3: When Sam and Dean arrive at the barn, we get 3 visuals to remember Cas in the same scene (those are for the fandom, not for the general audience): a) the barn, obviously; b) the bag that resembles Cas’ trenchcoat so much that many people thought that’s what it was; and c) two feathers hanging on Dean’s right when he opens the trunk.

The scene with the throwing star happens the same. (Reasoning: The episode is still told from Sam’s point of view, so it makes sense that he fondly sees his brother as a man child).

Jenny the vampire? Uhhh… I mean, it’s not the best piece of writing I’ve ever seen, but it’s not the worst, so okay. That stays the same. (Reasoning: There is none, but she’s not what really ruined the finale, so whatever!)

Dean still dies impaled on a rebar. (Reasoning: OK. HERE ME OUT!!! I hate as much as everyone else that Dean is killed. I think it’s lazy writing, but that’s what we got and I can’t change that in this re-write, so if killing Dean is what we have to work around, then, memes aside, death by rebar is better and here’s why. There’s no one to blame for Dean’s death: no Chuck (the boys were willingly hunting even after Chuck was defeated), no vampires (they were all killed and were no real threat, so it was impossible for Sam to begin a quest for revenge against all vampires. What was Sam going to blame? A rebar? Can you kill it? Hunt it? NO. It was an ordinary death, a stupid accident. Just like any person can die at any moment by slipping on a banana peel. Is it a good death? No, but it’s good to know he doesn’t die trying to save Sam or Cas, because Dean Winchester is NOT willing to give up his life in exchange for anyone else’s anymore.

Sam takes out his phone and says he’ll call for help, but his phone is more visible to the audience. He dials and it’s almost to his ear when Dean stops him and Sam hesitantly hangs up. (Reasoning: People have complained that Sam didn’t call an ambulance, but actually he tried to. It’s just that people missed that part, maybe?)

After Sam puts his phone back in his pocket and says “OK” to Dean, he adds, “I’ll pray to Jack”. Dean’s immediate answer is: “No hands on, remember?” “But Dean”, Sam says, and Dean interrupts him with “OK listen to me” and tells Sam what to do with the kids they rescued. (Reasoning: Jack is God now and how come Sam didn’t remember? The viewers remembered, so it was necessary to include a line that ruled the option out and that showed Dean didn’t want Jack to intervene. The rest was fine).

The lines “You knew it was always gonna end like this for me. It was supposed to end like this, right?” disappear completely from Dean’s monologue. (Reasoning: This is the most problematic part of Dean’s dying speech. He fought God and earned free will, he is no longer controlled by fate or destiny. Accepting that he is supposed to die on a hunt regresses his character development and denies his desire to keep living. This was a total mistake and should be removed).

Instead, if going to heaven is the ending TPTB wanted to give Dean, at least he should say something more empowering. Sam tells him that both of them are going to take the kids somewhere safe. Dean answers and the scene follows like this: “No. Sammy, we made our choice, didn’t we?”, he smiles with difficulty. “We were free to write our own story and we did. We decided to keep saving people, hunting things. Because it’s what we love despite the risks.” (Reasoning: If Dean’s going to die it doesn’t have to feel like it was always meant to be that way. He should die knowing that he exerted his free will until his last breath).

The rest of the dialogue between Sam and Dean happens almost the same. Except that instead of Dean saying “‘cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It’s always been you and me”, he says “’cause when it all came down to it, we’ve always had each other’s backs. Always.” And instead of Sam saying “Don’t leave me”, he says “I still can try to save you.” (Reasoning: It sounds way less codependent without diminishing the importance of their love and support for each other).

Besides, let’s change Dean’s “I’m not leaving you” for “You don’t have to be alone. You’ve still got family.” The rest stays the same word by word. (Reasoning: Dean reminds Sam that “family don’t end in blood” and there are still lots of people out there who love Sam and will be with him).

“I love you so much, my baby brother” stays exactly the same. (Reasoning: Dean always had trouble to express the big L word. I always believed and said many times that before Dean could say “I love you” to Cas or any other character, he had to say it to Sam. So, this is important as part of Dean speaking his truth).

The last part when Dean insists Sam tell him that it’s okay stays the same. (Reasoning: It’s the final moment when the codependency cycle breaks. No more running in circles).

The forehead touch between them stays the same. (Reasoning: I think I would do something similar if my sister were dying. I know there are w*ncest shippers out there, but it shouldn’t matter because the moment feels appropriate for that kind of goodbye). 

See? There are changes but not too many. That’s why I’ve been saying that it was easier to get it right, yet they still managed to screw it up.

The second montage stays the same. (Reasoning: Life goes on, but of course Sam has to mourn).

The call about a case in Austin remains the same. (Reasoning: It’s the only part of the episode where someone from the found family is mentioned, so I think that Donna’s name is perfect in that moment. However, without the other additions I’ve made in this re-write, that off-hand mention feels too little. Its purpose was to tell the viewers that if Donna was alive, so were the others, but the way the episode was executed gave us an isolated Sam, incapable of having friends and a family without Dean).  

After 30 minutes of Sam’s POV, let’s finally see the last bit of Dean’s POV that we’ll ever get.

Dean arrives in Heaven and Bobby receives him. All their conversation stays almost the same, except that after mentioning Rufus and before saying “and your mom and dad…”, Bobby adds an “Ellen and Jo let me borrow their place”. (Reasoning: If you’re gonna put the man outside the Harvelle’s place, at least mention them for Jack’s sake!).

Besides, after Bobby tells Dean that Sam will be along and that time in heaven is different, Dean gives a small smile and says, “Well, there’s no rush. I want him to have a long, happy life.” Bobby answers with: “I would expect nothing less from you, boy” and tells him he got everything he could ever want, etc., just like it happened in the episode, and finishes by asking “What are you gonna do now, Dean?” (Reasoning: It’s important we know for sure that Dean is NOT codependent anymore and that he doesn’t expect to have a miserable afterlife just because his brother is not there yet).

Instead of saying “I think I’ll go for a drive” Dean says, “I think I know what I want” and walks towards baby. Bobby still tells him to have fun. (Reasoning: “Know what I want” is ambiguous enough to help us introduce the last piece of the puzzle, the one thing Dean’s wanted for many seasons and has never been able to express).

 The biggest change is coming:

Dean gets on the Impala and has a moment of silence while he contemplates the wheel. He begins to pray: “Hey, Cas, you got your ears on? I hear you’ve been busy working on this updated Heaven with Jack. You were right about him, Cas. You had faith in him and he saved us all. You could always see the best in everyone, even when they couldn’t see it themselves. Even when I couldn’t see it myself. There’s so much I want to tell you. Maybe you can visit sometime. I hope prayer’s still a thing up here.” (Reasoning: Dean’s side of the confession was unaddressed and that was terrible writing. If there was no way to get him to speak his truth textually, at least take him as close to it as possible).

We listen to a flutter of wings and a “Hello, Dean” from the back seat. We don’t see Cas, but the camera shows us Dean’s cocky smile and he says “Took you long enough.” He turns around slowly. End of scene. (Reasoning: The flutter of wings confirms that angels have their wings back and ties that loose end. The final “hello, Dean” was highly anticipated and it made sense. If Misha couldn’t be there to film, for whatever reason, or if the problem was the kind of conversation Dean and Cas would have, then don’t show it, but leave the door open. Let us know that the two characters were reunited and will talk, but whatever Dean has to say is so private that it’s not for us to hear, only for Cas.  

We finally hear “Carry on my wayward son” and get a montage that begins with Sam playing with his kid. Then we see Dean driving, super happy, and Sam living his life to the fullest. We still get Sam’s Blurry Wife, BUT… we see pictures of Eileen in the living room (not just of John, Mary, Sam, and Dean). We also see photos of Jody, Donna, Charlie, and AU!Bobby. (Reasoning: FAMILY DON’T END IN BLOOD).

The scene where Sam is wearing the party wig and looks miserable inside the Impala is cut and nobody talks about it ever again because it never existed. We get a scene of Sam teaching his son how to fix the car instead. (Reasoning: First of all, don’t give Sam a life where years later he’s still in pain. Second of all, the fucking wig was a crime).

Sam’s dying scene stays the same. The only thing is that his son signs a couple of phrases to him before actually speaking. (Reasoning: More confirmation that Dean Jr. is Eileen’s son).

We hear the final “Evanescence-like Carry on my wayward son”. Again we see the photos and there’s family other than the Winchesters there. (Reasoning: Obvious at this point).

The rest is exactly the same. The show began with two brothers and it’s okay if the last scene is with the two brothers reunited in Heaven. At this point, the other parts of the story are acceptable enough for us to feel happy that they get to see each other again after years of a happy (after)life.

Now look me in the eye and tell me this was too hard to execute. I still think that bad writing is a thing we can’t deny here, adding to the possible meddling of the Network. Maybe Dabb wanted us to hate the finale because he couldn’t get away with what he truly wanted. If that was his intention, then kudos to him. He and The CW really gave us a finale that only 30% of the fandom liked.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this and it helps to give you some peace of mind. In my heart, this was the finale we got. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t drop the ball either.

[edream93]

just popping in to say your fic, we'll light the fuse, is fantastic. your characterizations are great and i love the plot. and its a damn shame that netflix canceled jatp. i really hope hulu or another network picks it up. it was such a great show! madison is ridiculously talented!

Thanks anon!

I'm so glad you like my characterizations and the plot. They're both aspects of my writing that I spend a lot of time thinking about when writing a new chapter. That's probably part of the reason it takes me forever to update 😅

And yeah, I was sad that JATP was canceled too. It was such a cute show and I was/am invested in the characters. I hope hulu or another network does pick them up. I'm not 100% surprised that Netflix dropped it though.

Have you heard of the show "Infinity Train"? It's another great show that was canceled but by CartoonNetwork/HBOMax. One of the things that I heard about why that show got canceled is because of the audience. Typically, shows are obviously "made for" kids or adults. We know that you don't need to be a kid to watch a kids show but even with something like Descendants, it was obvious that it was made for kids from the plot to how easy it is to sell toys based off of the series. For shows like Infinity Train, Julie and the Phantoms, and I even think that other show, One Day at a Time, that initially started off on Netflix before it got canceled and then picked up, is that they're not really "for kids" but they obviously weren't "for adults". And that's, unfortunately, a problem for Networks. If we had to label them, these shows are probably be labeled "for teens" which apparently is a very tricky audience to market to which is why networks apparently avoid shows for that audience. Like if teens watch a show that is "for kids" or "for adults" that's awesome! More views, but apparently, for networks in terms of money, that "for teens" category is difficult.

What's frustrating is that Nikelodeon has shown that it's doable though like with Avatar the Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra. Avata was originally created "for kids" but once the creators realized they had a very big and loyal audience of teens and adults, they had slightly more mature but still appropriate episodes. And despite what you may or may not think about Legend of Korra, that show was definitely "for teens" maybe even "young adults" and people still watched it. Steven Universe is another good example of that gray "for teens area".

Obviously, the first season of Steven Universe was very light-hearted but if Rebecca Sugar had been able to have more seasons, with the way that plotlines were going, Cartoon Network would probably have classified it as "for teens" even though a lot of the episodes were honestly super import for kids to watch and learn from as well. Now Steven Universe was able to have a final season to tie everything up but from what I understand, it wasn't clear if that would even happen and though the SU crew were able to tie up major plot points, there are still a lot of things that they definitely would have wanted to explore if they were given more seasons.

Anyway, I'm going on a tangent, anon. The TL;DR of it all is that Julie and the Phantoms is a great show that should definitely be picked up by another network who is okay with having a show be in the quasi-gray area because the characters are awesome and anything Kenny Ortega touches brings in money at some point. If there was ever a show to bet on, JATP is the one.

Thanks for your question!

[mermaidsirennikita]

So if I understand correctly, Bridgerton S2 had 444M hours viewed in its first 10ish days. I was confused initially because I thought it was 251M cumulatively as was widely reported today, but the Netflix site says 251M for the week of March 28-April 3. I’m not sure why Netflix isn’t circulating the 400M+ total hours number more. Unless I’m mistaken? Which is possible. But if not, that is wildly impressive for the show losing its star, and not debuting over a holiday during peak pandemic.

Do you think this will finally induce other streamers to get on HR adaptions? The interest is there!! I think these numbers are especially important since the show can exist beyond one person (RJP) - it’s the genre itself that has an audience. And save for the couple, S2 was super mediocre TV (versus S1 imo), so people are clearly hungry for *any* romance. Honestly I feel like there could be a separate streamer just for romance lol. There’s so much material.

I think both seasons were kinda messy TV, but you don't need to be *good* to be successful. In a lot of ways, I preferred s1 to s2. In a lot of ways, I preferred s2 to s1. I can say that I *do* understand why s2 has people in a chokehold online, even if I'm not a slow burn fan myself. The internet loves something being dragged out. They react more on social when their hopes and dreams are frustrated. It makes sense.

I've read 400+ as well, so I do think those are the actual total hours, but for the purposes of killing the record they're advertising it as killing, the 251 million hours is what matters.

The thing is that I do think.... Idk. I think there's a bar that constantly gets raised for romance adaptations, for a variety of reasons. And if the next bar is "an even bigger s3" when the main romance is probably Polin? Lol... we'll see. I know Polin has its diehards. I don't know any Polin diehards in real life. I am beginning to think they're industry plants. (I kid! But also--do I?)

But like, obviously there's a demand for romance adaptations in general, and HR adaptations for sure. Romance novels sell a fuckton. They're the financial backbone of publishing. Y'all get to read snoozers about the common man and poorly-conceived YA dystopians because Beverly Jenkins, Sarah MacLean, whoever else, is getting those $$$.

There is actually a streamer for romance movies and in turn romance novel adaptations--PassionFlix. It is not.... good.... from what I've seen thus far. I wish it was! But alas.

I think one thing that makes romance kind of scary for those in TV is that, in a lot of ways, it is repetitive. A lot of the plots run kind of similar. (Sex lessons! Sex clubs! Arranged marriage!). There's always a happy ending. There's this idea that you need to be reinventing the wheel in today's landscape... Unless you're doing the millionth action movie or superhero flick in a row. So what's the (main) difference? Action movies and superhero flicks are identified with a male audience, how ever many of us ladies watch them. Romance novels are associated with a female audience. The female audience is still very much *not* trusted by those in film and TV.

So I'm not holding my breath, but I'm hoping that someday, maybe there will be another HR adaptation. And that it's adapting something legit super good this time.

Edit: oh, also, wanted to make this clear. I DO think it was key for the show’s success that the first season starred RJP. He got people to try something they hadn’t before. He got people in the seats. They realized they actually liked it and weren’t above romance novel adaptations, and stuck around.