#all of the first half of this season laid the groundwork for this

[bottomvalerius]

Idk who needs to hear this but um

Killing one queer, disabled character in a full cast of queer, disabled characters is not “burying your gays.” It’s just complicated (and imo good) writing.

🤷🏻🤷🏻🤷🏻

[cina-full-moon-xanadium]

With the franchise continuing to grow in popularity, I thought I'd give a rundown for new fans of the earliest fist-fighting, bike-riding lone hero Kamen Riders that they might not be too familiar with compared to the modern shows.

Kamen Rider #1

Made with specific intentions in mind about the nature of violence in humanity, the first Kamen Rider often struggled with a distancing of sorts from his humanity that his superpowers gave him; focusing most frequently on the terrible harm he was now able to visit upon his opponents. Conceptualized as the lone hero with these powers, the bug-themed #1 didn't have a 'secondary rider' of sorts to help him out; instead being assisted most frequently by a professional officer who also acted as his liaison with the police. Another well-liked supporting cast member was an older 'uncle' figure who let the main hero stay at his shop. At the conclusion of the series, Rider 1 decided to leave Japan to journey abroad. Kamen Rider #1's show was very popular with children to the degree that, while not intended, it naturally spawned an indirect sequel series and eventually a whole slew of shows that continues to this day.

Kamen Rider #2

While Kamen Rider #1 was not conceived as having any successors, events behind the scenes incited the production of a replacement hero in Kamen Rider #2 who would take over from #1 over the next year. Very similar in design and origins to his predecessor with the same bug design basis and often mixed up with him, this new Kamen Rider was a quirky jokester type of character compared to the typical 'hero' type kids could look up to that #1 was; and often confounded his supporting cast with all the strange things he'd say and do. Rather than dwell on his personal tragedy of what he'd lost, #2 as a character preferred to focus on his own personal hobbies and interests; only going out to battle the enemies when called. #2 notably marked the introduction of a teamup of multiple Kamen Riders at once, though he fought with derivations of #1's suit rather than the original. While not as well remembered as the original Kamen Rider, #2 still laid the groundwork for many elements that the franchise stays true to today.

Kamen Rider V3

As the first departure from #1 and #2's basic setting and storytelling with a very different design, Kamen Rider V3 obviously had some big shoes to fill -- but almost instantly he was a hit, easily becoming one of the most popular Kamen Rider series of his era. While previously glimpsed with #2's occasional scuffles, V3 notably was the first Kamen Rider series to have fellow Kamen Riders fighting with each other; not out of misunderstanding, but out of genuine moral conflict. While some of this would be resolved, multiple Kamen Riders end up dying in this season, and arguably this rivalry is what most influences the typical Main Rider/Secondary Rider relationships to this day.

Riderman

While many Riders feature their transformation belt magically appear out of nowhere, the fourth Kamen Rider notably had a more 'realistic' transformation that required the hero to physically put on his gear. Arguably weaker than many other Kamen Riders due to having a limited powerset derived from now-outdated science, Riderman in his series was characterized largely by a distrust of everyone around him due to his coloured past; naturally leading to many of the show's most memorable character conflicts and fights. This Kamen Rider has an interesting relationship with death, with the ending of the show and post-series media seemingly unable to decide if he's alive or not.

Kamen Rider X

Plagued by rewrites and completely different directions in the first and second half of the show, the first Kamen Rider to constantly carry his weapon with him has nonetheless remained quite popular with fans of the era; in no small part due to the tantalizing relationship he has with a black and red rival he makes early on. While the show would eventually move on from this element, X as a character is informed by the tragedy of losing his father and the hero complex this event forced upon him.

Kamen Rider Amazon

A very sharp change in direction from the more technological Riders that came before him, Amazon in many respects does not feel like part of the Kamen Rider series as much as it does an original series very much doing its own thing -- and one that has garnered its own small fanbase. Amazon featured multiple forested fights and pit the main hero against animalistic beasts rather than what you might expect from a usual Tokusatsu monster. Amazon is frequently followed around by a young boy fascinated by the new world of possibilities the hero has introduced him to, and the relationship between Amazon and this boy is one of the highlights of the series.

Kamen Rider Stronger

This red rhinoceros beetle Rider is a cult favourite among fans for its infectiously confident main hero who makes speeches about the heavens as he charms his way out of just about any situation. This series brought the classic theming back in a big way, with all the main heroes being based on a different type of bug. This series may surprise modern Kamen Rider fans for Stronger only having a single upgrade form, not even having a single other one between his base form and final. Unfortunately, this series failed to be the jab-in-the-arm of popularity the producers wanted it to be; with the Super Sentai series that same year arguably overshadowing it.

(inspired by this twitter thread)

[flower-boi16]

This is a problem I've never seen any hh/hb critics bring out so...both shows lacks story arcs. There are so many definition for story arcs, but I'm going to explain what I mean by that. Story arcs for me is a certain part in the story that works like pieces focusing different journey or problem for characters in the same story. If both shows have story arcs like if season one of helluva boss focus on the imp doing their job and their beef with cherubs, season two focusing on their beef with dhorks. Season one of hazbin focusing on hotel's clients bonding, and season two how angels think of redemption. Each season can have multiple arcs going on, but given how limited episodes they got on each show, I decided to make each season focus on different arcs, but the writers have no plan how to organize different arcs resulting in many conflicts showing out of no where, and rushed payoff because they don't know what they want to focus. If the hh/hb crews know how to utilize arcs, they can put as many characters as they want as long as they can give enough episodes for their development. Imagine if every harry potter's villain showed up in the same book, that's how I feel about hh/hb.

HH and HB are just structured pretty poorly. They cram multiple seasons worth of plotlines into just 1-2 seasons and messes with the pacing REALLY bad. It all feels so...cluttered and unfocused like the shows don't know what they want to be about.

HB is ESPECIALLY bad at this as I've talked about before. The show completely forgot it's main premise and turned into a soap opera about Stolitz. It has no idea what it even wants to be anymore and it comes to a simple lack of structure.

Season 1 laid the groundwork for a lot of the show's issue and Season 2 would go ahead and make those issues significantly worse.

There's just two many conflicts and recurring plotlines for a show that currently has only 1 completed season, with the second still ongoing. It makes it into kind of a mess. Hazbin is at least better structurally but it still faces a lot of the same issues that HB does when it comes to how it's paced; the first four episodes feel like the first season and the second half feels like the second season because it feels like there's this giant gap in between halves where major things happened, but...we just never saw it.

And for HB, conflicts like the Dhorks plot line and Stolas' family drama are conflicts that are already enough to be the main story's of whole seasons, yet the show crams them into one season and it again, gets unfocused as hell. The seasons of both shows just choose to focus on multiple things at once rather than just having one, maybe two major plot lines per season, one show sets up six plotlines into just it's first season and the other rushes to the stuff that feels like it should be saved for season 2.

I just want to emphasize how unusual it is for a show to have this much stuff in just 1-2 seasons. Most TV shows tend to have one or two main recurring plot lines per season, with some smaller plot lines here and there that are typically plot lines for a specific character relating to their arc. HB in just it's first season set up six major plot lines within its story. Let me repeat that. SIX.

There's just. Too much shit going on in these shows. Plain and simple.

[lover-of-mine]

IDK enough about when scripts for S7 were written vs knowing 10 eps only and S8 renewal, but I kind of feel like eps 1-5 were written with Eddie/Tommy leading to Buddie in mind and then when the switch happened they changed a couple of things in eps 1-3 (not much, just Buck speaking to Tommy before he headed off after Eddie) and then ep 4 became a mish mash of what was originally planned with Eddie (his whole meeting someone and clicking thing and their "dates"). I feel like they were going Buddie (making Buck jealous while Eddie figured out he liked men in 7a and then going to spend 7b with the fallout of that leading to Buddie) but then found out they had only 10 eps and the woman who played Natalia couldn't come back so they switched it to Buck because it was easier to make him bi/they didn't have a storyline for him anymore if Eddie wasn't dating Tommy, making Buck question everything while still dating Natalia. And THEN they got renewed so instead of pushing Buddie to end S7 they moved it to S8 to give Eddie a better coming out arc, but then had to come up with a storyline for him beyond the nun thing and TM happened to watch Vertigo late one night... IDK maybe I'm crazy, but I just feel like S7 was planned buddie (starting with Eddie/Tommy as catalyst) - even including how they marketed the season before it aired with a lot of Buddie stuff and talking about it in interviews, etc (and that Family Feud ep) after filming the first 5 eps that had been written - and then between only 10 eps and a S8 renewal the plans changed. Does that make sense or am I delusional?

If you're delusional, we both are delusional because I'm right there with you. They already had episode 6 recorded by the time of the renewal but not anything past that, and assuming that the renewal allowed them not to rush things doesn't feel crazy to me. Also I think they switched things around because they realized Buck was more straight forward to get out of the closet than Eddie along with the actress availability, I don't think they planned on shoving Buck on the back burner, they just happened to not know what to do with him because Natalia couldn't come back so they couldn't use her for whatever plan they had about his death, and then they gave him something they had planned for Eddie, because the switch happened while they were filming the cruise, and just kept him in Eddie's storyline for the rest of the season because they didn't plan that far ahead lol the vertigo thing was very clearly a last minute decision because if they had thought about it earlier, they would've expanded the situation to happen all season, imo they could've used Kim in 705 for the conflict with Marisol instead of that nonsense of moving in/moving out, along with actually giving us the backstory on Eddie and Shannon. That deleted conversation with Chris adds a lot and it would be interesting if we had seen some version of it during 701 when Chris is having his crisis about Shannon and talking to 5 girls, and if they had laid the groundwork from the beginning of the season, that storyline wouldn't be so out of pocket. I think it was a combination of the way the actress couldn't come back, the show was renewed early and the way that Buck bi was well received, they kinda realized they could use Eddie being queer to bring the same type of buzz to s8 as biBuck brought to s7, and looking at it from a business perspective, to cram both storylines into one season when they could milk the exposure is kinda dumb, so we ended up with them not knowing what to do for the back half of the season and just winging it. And Ryan said they were getting scrips hours before shooting, so like, it was very clearly we did not plan for this but we need 4 more episodes so they let Tim play in his sandbox of madness.

[eleonkraken]

So I watched through 9-1-1 partly because they made one half of the famous ship canonically queer (and partly because I was bored). And my first feeling after 3 ish seasons of the show was that Buck read very queer to me. In a way that was vaguely similar to why Dean reads as queer. And I really liked his character.

Eddie just never appealed to me in the same way. I've read some Buddie fanfic and enjoyed it a lot, but it doesn't feel to me as if fanfic authors are pulling from the actual show to make the relationship happen. It feels more like they're starting from the idea of the relationship and working backward.

Now, I'm not sure the show writers would make one half of the popular ship canonically queer and not the other, so they may still make it happen, but I don't feel like the groundwork has been laid with Eddie the way it has with Buck.

It's kind of like making Sam queer in Supernatural. It's not impossible to make it work but it also hasn't been set up or foreshadowed at all. There's an angle you could take with Eddie, like, he was with his high school sweetheart for so long and his first relationship after that was a non-starter, and it seems like he's looking for excuses not to settle into a relationship. You can work with that. But the vibes have never been there for me with him. Not with the writing or the performance. So I think it would be very difficult for the writers to do it in a way that didn't feel like it was out of the blue.

That's not me saying it can't happen like that in real life. Of course it can be an out of the blue sort of revelation. But I don't think that would be good writing in a fictional story, in this particular situation.

And the character has just always read so straight to me. And their relationship too... They're not actually as close as they are in the Buddie fanon version of the show. The fanon and the fanfiction is kind of like a parallel universe to me. I do not see it.

Also I really like Tommy. But that's neither here nor there.

[abigailnussbaum]

Good Omens 2, Some Thoughts

Look, it's just not a good season of television. I'm seeing a lot of bargaining on my tumblr feed, and some galaxy brain takes about how the badness is the point, see, because it's a clue that all is not as it seems. And yeah, all is probably not as it seems, and in 2-3 years, when (if) we get a third season it will probably turn out that at least some of the weirdness in this season was deliberate (I've seen some very plausible theories already). But that won't change the fact that this season was not good. I have some thoughts on why below.

I wasn't blown away by the first season of Good Omens. I thought it had a lot of the same problems as the book, which Gaiman, presumably out of loyalty to Pratchett, chose not to address. But Tennant and Sheen were so good, and like a lot of people I had the reaction of "who needs plot, just have Crowley and Aziraphale hang out for six hours". Good Omens 2 feels like a finger on the monkey's paw curling in response to that. What it most resembles is fanfic, in that it's light on plot and has a bit of a hangout quality, but without the things that make fanfic fun - the emotional intensity and willingness to be silly and weird. It's all curiously flat and, honestly, not a little boring.

The most obvious example of this, clearly, are the flashbacks (or, as they're referred to, "minisodes", though all told they probably make up about half the season). It feels as if the thinking was "everyone loved 'Hard Times' in season 1, so what if we did a lot more of that?" And yeah, everyone loved "Hard Times", but that's because it told a complete and concluded story. It was done. All the things we needed to know about Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship over the millennia had been established. The flashbacks in season 2 add almost nothing to that (it does seem very likely that they are pointing towards a Big Thing about the duo that will be revealed in a future season, but again, that doesn't solve the problem with this season). What's worse, they're not very affecting in themselves. There's no "you go too fast for me, Crowley" moment. And meanwhile, in the present, the duo feel curiously inert. We have no idea how their relationship has (or hasn't) changed since the events of the first season, or whether either of them are trying to change that. They spend most of the season in a holding pattern until the sudden, catastrophic upheaval of the status quo in the last fifteen minutes, which feels like it came out of nowhere.

(I want to be clear what I'm saying with that last point. I am not saying that the season's ending doesn't make sense for the characters - on the contrary, I think it absolutely does. I'm saying that there's no lead-up to it. We think we're watching one kind of (rather dull) story, and then suddenly, total swerve into a very different one with no emotional groundwork laid. You can backfill in an explanation (and I've seen a bunch of posts that have tried to do this) but in the show as written, it's just not satisfying or cathartic. Instead of feeling wrung out, you're mostly just confused.)

I think what really annoys me is that most of the plot elements in the season are actually quite promising. The framing story of Gabriel's disappearance, and how it ends up being about something very small (while still hinting at bigger things to come). Crowley and Aziraphale obsessing over two women in their general vicinity, and trying to push them together even though they're not in a place to be in a relationship, as a displacement activity from dealing with whatever is going on between them. The idea that, quietly and without much fuss, another demon and angel fell in love and just decided to be together while our heroes have spent millennia failing to get their shit together (I don't love that this is a straight couple, but you could certainly take it as a comment on internalized homophobia). The ending, as noted. And there are some genuinely good moments in the season. The Gabriel/Beelzebub flashback is sweet and almost instantly sells you on their relationship (along the way demonstrating that less is more when it comes to flashbacks). The ball and subsequent demon attack are thrilling, and make you wish the season had spent more time with the other merchants. It's just that overall, the execution is so indifferent, and so much energy is being directed towards those pointless flashbacks, that what could have been a strong, small-scale story ends up feeling like a slog.

I've seen some comparisons between this season and Our Flag Means Death (I've even seen the suggestion that the separation at the end of OFMD S1 inspired the separation at the end of this one, but with 16 months between them I'm not sure that works). And, beyond the fact that there's a vast gulf in quality between the two shows, that's a comparison that would make more sense if OFMD had ended after episode 9. Instead, it gave us that shocking, sudden rift between the two leads, and then offered a hint of consolation and a direction for how they might find their way back to each other. Good Omens doesn't do that last part. Which, to be clear, is a perfectly valid creative choice, but it means that the audience walks away from the season in a very different emotional state, and that's something a writer has to take into account.

All of which is to say that it was, how shall I put this, uncool of Neil Gaiman to have written a story like this without being really, really, REALLY sure that he was going to get a third season. And look, it's obviously not his fault that the bottom has suddenly come out of the streaming business, or that we're in the midst of two strikes. But he's been reduced to running around saying things like "if you want a conclusion to this utterly gutting cliffhanger that I left you with, you have to watch and promote my show" (which among other things feels like it skirts very close to strike-breaking). And that just feels like a poor way to treat a fandom that has been so enthusiastic and supportive for so long.

(Finally, it's very possible that the decision to recast Anna Maxwell Martin was completely unrelated to the fact that her character is now Jon Hamm's love interest - it's been four years, there might have been availability issues. But it's hard not to notice that Shelley Conn's styling as Beelzebub veers more towards Sexy Goth than Martin's Grotesque Bug Person. If you must have a straight relationship in this show, why not make it kind of weird?)

[extasiswings]

Do you think it is indeed a choice that means something, or do we buddie shippers just need to start thinking that maybe it won't be happening? I really really hope you are right, but if they keep keeping them apart this whole first half of the season, I just wonder if we need to start being realistic? However why would they start the season with that kitchen scene then... I'm sorry this sounds negative and it is def not, I'm still hopeful, I just wonder if other people feel like this :)

Very simply: yes, it’s a deliberate choice, and not only is it not a cause for concern it’s necessary and should be exactly what leads to Buddie canon.

This season kicked off by throwing down a gauntlet that Buck is missing what is right in front of his face (a conversation that took place while he was literally looking at Eddie and Christopher and cooking for them like a whole-ass husband), that he’s searching for happiness in the wrong places because he can’t see what he already has (or thinks he can’t have it). They proceeded to send him off on a journey about fatherhood specifically (but only the illusion of it—donor, not dad) because of the Diaz Boys of it all, because Eddie and Buck still haven’t talked about the shooting, haven’t talked about the will, and are very much not on the same page about Buck’s actual role in Christopher’s life (aka to Eddie, Buck is Christopher’s other dad, to Buck, he’s only a contingency plan if Eddie dies).

Similarly, we also just got a giant flashing neon sign with Tomorrow—Henren’s queer love story (with shooting parallels galore), in which both of them ended up with a life and new dreams that looked nothing like what either of them originally intended or expected for themselves. The trajectory is LOUD.

The separation of arcs is simply because Buck and Eddie are different characters and because their arcs need to be a little bit separate right now while they’re both figuring things out. It’s partly to increase the dramatic tension and draw it out, but also partly for practical reasons. On one hand, there’s the fact that this is an ensemble show and they have other stories they’re telling and other characters—so they laid the groundwork, pivoted over to Hen for a few episodes, and now they’re pivoting back. On the other, there are legitimate plot and character reasons why they haven’t been involved in what we’ve seen so far (which, to be clear, is really just Animal Instincts). Buck is keeping this a secret deliberately. He went to Hen instead of Eddie deliberately—on a character level, because she has some experience with IVF etc and is a good friend, but also because this is not something he can talk to Eddie about. (By contrast, Eddie wanted Buck to be involved in his issue with Chris—Buck’s his co-parent, Buck is always involved, but Buck was the one pulling away and not letting himself get involved).

Eddie’s going to find out about the sperm donor thing. Probably in the very next episode (Cursed). As far as we can tell, he’s going to be the main (perhaps the only) significant person in Buck’s life to be involved in this storyline directly going forward (since Jen said Maddie hasn’t been involved with it at all). Which makes sense, because they’re on a collision course regarding all things shooting/will/Christopher/feelings-related. So they’re not separated entirely.

If I’m right, Eddie’s going to feel some kinda way about it. And Buck will feel some kinda way about Eddie reacting to it. And that’s what will set the stage for where we’re going in “What’s Your Fantasy?” With “Uncle” Buck babysitting (again, explicitly not being a parent) left once again to think about what he really wants in his life, while Eddie is going through a parenting first with Christopher (and Carla) in a scenario that is a perfect opening for them to circle back to what exactly Carla meant when she told him to follow his heart/what (who) Eddie’s heart really wants.

I strongly suspect we will have a canon confirmation of one form or another (because what it means to “go canon” is entirely subjective to everyone but whether that’s a kiss, some sort of confirmation of feelings (to a third party or otherwise), or whatever is all the same to me) by the midseason or very shortly thereafter, but they won’t actually get together officially until late in 6B (or the finale itself because Buck babygirl we have GOT to get you back in therapy)—which would be very S2 Madney of them. Regardless though, it’s happening. Everything they’re doing points to it happening. We are only 1/3 of the way through the season and this is a season-long arc—just be patient and enjoy the ride, because it’s shaping up to be some damn good storytelling.

[ragsy]

🔥feelings on an over-rated media

(I want to sit and listen to you be a hater, sorry)

i may have gone into this before, but i thought the owl house was way overrated. and i'm going to put my essay about it under a cut.

the entire first season felt like a first draft that someone turned in two minutes before the deadline, packed full of "jokes" that felt more like placeholders than anything actually funny, throwaway gags that contradicted the worldbuilding and underlying stakes that the show was trying to establish itself on, moments that were obviously supposed to be big turning points for certain characters despite not having any groundwork laid before them to make them big character moments, characters we (the audience) were obviously supposed to feel a specific way about despite, again, not having any groundwork laid to establish that outside of "you hate/love this character because we said so," ESPECIALLY about luz, you know, the MAIN CHARACTER, who was in theory supposed to be an "endearing weirdo who is just trying to find her place" but in practice was "Main Character who everyone unconditionally adores, despite all the times that she's fucked them over or gotten them in trouble." it's just a whole season of dissonance between what the show THINKS it's doing and what it's ACTUALLY doing. another example: eda clawthorne, most wanted witch on the boiling isles, lives in a house that everyone knows, hangs out on the public streets, and drops her adopted kid off at school out in the open.

and the thing is? season two fixed literally all of those problems! suddenly the jokes were funny, the character arcs had footing, the worldbuilding had direction and structure, and there were stakes! that mattered! to both me and to the characters! but season two had its own enormous flaw, which was that it spent half its runtime fixing all the shoddy floorboards and leaky pipes that season one left behind. (which, for some reason, included basically dumping gus and willow by the wayside, who had spent a significant amount of time in season one being built up as a very important part of the show?) and by the time the show was standing on its own two feet, the season was over, and the third and final season was more or less a tv movie split into a handful of episodes.

and then!!! it had the fucking audacity!! to end the show with erasing all of luz's magical progress?? what was the point of that? what did that serve to the story it was trying to tell?

i understand that the show had a lot of challenges behind the scenes, probably all from The Mouse himself, so i'm not pointing my finger at any individual who worked on it. the show had a lot of potential! it had a lot of really cool ideas! i fucking loved hooty! hooty forever! i've seen a lot of really excellent fan content! people fucking love this show!! HOWEVER! in actual execution, the television show the owl house from disney tv animation was a huge mess and will permanently be a mess for the rest of its recorded history. suck is forever. that's what fanfic is for.

[iphyslitterator]

I'm a newer fan so I may be way off but I have had a sickly gut feeling since I binged the first half of Season 7 that Chris ends the season under Buck's care, not Eddie's. Like there's a reason Buck's life is steady now, and they explicitly said Chris adored his now partner. Idk if Eddie skips town and leaves Chris with Buck to not disrupt Chris' life as much or if Eddie has a huge medical thing and he can't look after Chris or if he seeks inpatient help at a mental facility but that Ryan interview about bombshells is pulling that gut feeling to the surface.

Oooh, I don't it's going to turn out like this because a LOT of dominos would have to fall in the next 3 episodes, but there's interesting stuff to play with!

Eddie skips town: Honestly such a nuclear option I'm not sure the show could come back from it. WOW, the Shannon parallels of it all, but so much of Eddie's story is about Christopher that if he "abandoned" him without even the veneer of Afghanistan (or post-partum depression), I don't know how many fans could forgive him.

Huge medical thing: More likely! Already a lot of Eddie-near-death-experience and Season 4 Redux speculation floating around; he could be either fully incapacitated or needing to rely more on Buck. For me the main thing working against it is that it would be a great Buck plot (and Bucktommy for that matter), but I don't see how to make it connect to the cheating storyline -- if Eddie does end up in the hospital, I think it'll lead to ugly confrontations with Marisol, Kim, Helena, Ramon, Buck, and/or Christopher, and he's got to be conscious for that :)

Inpatient mental health facility: Bonkers option I don't think they'll take, but I WOULD read this fic. You've damaged your psyche so much looking for a wife and mother that you can't even be a full-time father rn. You've addressed some of your shit, but you're repressing and lying about the rest of it so systemically that you need four hours of group therapy a day to even BEGIN to unravel it. The cheating storyline doesn't feel like psych ward material, and I think the season would have to have laid more groundwork by now, but this is soooo compelling.

Re: Christopher & Tommy, that only came up when the show was pushing the Buck jealousy angle, and while I NEED and WANT and am thinking at ALL times about Christopher's perspective on Bucktommy, I think we would have needed a scene about it by now for it to be a plot point lol.

All that said, my policy on sickly gut feelings is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst! No need to jump to conclusions, but as someone who had a very real breakdown over the Magicians S4 finale, my rule of thumb is to ask myself, "Would I be okay if [x thing] happened?" and if the answer is "No," I figure out what it would take to get there. I don't think there's too much to worry about here, but take care of yourself 💕

[galaxythreads]

Given how the TVA is styled as reminiscent of nazi’s and in season 2 they’ll have their own versions of gas chambers, what do you think is the likelihood that Loki will decide to destroy them after all? Do you have any trust in the writers to not be blatantly pro-fascist and antisemitic? Am I stupid to hope that Loki’s line about always being the god of mischief will be his Steve Rogers “it all goes” moment? Basically what are your hopes for season 2 because I’m approaching it with the mindset of someone watching a disaster in the news.

This is a great question. Clearly, there's a lot of nuance to season 2 that not everyone wants to poke at and I understand that. I guess I personally don't see the writers as glorifying the TVA or seeing it as something "good", which is why I have like, er, 10% faith they're not going to be blatantly pro-fascist in season 2? I didn't know about the alt. gas chambers until right now and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Do not like. Return to sender. Do not press go.

I guess I saw the groundwork they laid in season 1 as the TVA being the bad guys and the victims all at once as it being more of a nuanced take of the TVA rather than blatantly being in support of it. Like I said though, 10% faith is...not very high. Like scraping the bottom of the barrel for me kinda high. If they can take the ground work they laid in season 1 and then actually put it to work in season 2 then I think it will retroactively fix a lot of the problems season 1 had with fascism.

Personally, and I might just not know enough about this, but I don't see the depiction of fascism to be inherently pro-fascist by nature? Like how showing murder isn't pro-murder. I guess it's really how you handle the story. So if they're going to show the TVA as being fascists, then okay, sure. Interesting idea. But are they going to DO something about it? Idk. Like I said, nuance. asdflkjdf. I hope they do not handle this badly. I understand feeling like this is a train wreck in slow motion.

So I guess that raises the question as to why I, who has a legendary history if being blesdifj about season 1, am watching season 2 at all? Do I intend to just torment the writers and yell about how bad it was the whole time? Am I hate-watching? Why? WHY am I subjecting myself to this?

Because I'm hopeful it will be better.

...That's kind of it? Yeah, that's it.

And honestly, watching trailers and clips, I am kind of excited for season 2. I think it was Michael Waldron or Kate Herran who said that season 1 and 2 were written as one season they split in half, so I'm curious what the complete story is and if it will fix the first half.

+ Loki season 2 has changed directors AND writers

So I think that this season is going to be handled very differently than season 1 was. Like Moon Knight is one of the most beloved MCU TV series because of how well it was handled and loved. I don't know a lot about Eric Martin, but he seems like his work has been over-all liked? I know that they keep hinting about more mischief to come, but like even looking at the trailers, I guess I already see improvements between s1 and s2? Magic, the lighting, centralizing the characters. If Benson and Moorhead can give even 30% of the love and care they gave to Moon Knight to Loki, then I think that overall fans are going to like this season more and the TVA will be handled much better. Do you know how rare it is to find someone who depicts child abuse from a mother in TV and then takes it seriously? That part of Moon Knight ALONE is what I'm like "!!! okay, so maybe this will be better overall??"

I've seen a lot of people claim ooc-ness from OG/Ragnarok Loki in the trailers alone, and I see some of it too, but that's not enough to stop me. We don't have complete context yet, so I guess I'm holding off on my judgment.

Honestly, all I want from season 2 is Loki's story to be taken seriously again. That's it. And maybe, just hoping here, for him to be the main character of s2. But like idk. I guess I have very low hopes, lol. I do foresee some weird, funky writing in the future, but I will say now that if loki season 2 is actually good - like really good - then the writers and directors will forever hold my respect and eternal gratitude.

And like 90% of my Loki mutuals have said they aren't going to watch it unless I greenlight it, because I guess I'm watching it for all of us? and then let them know if it sucks, so I guess there's a marginal degree of social pressure. (Which I'm fine with and think is a little funny tbh)

[bylightofdawn]

Whelp I haven't been super productive writing wise after all today. I did get the final chapter of Making Bets with the Devil posted and I've written a little bit on this Barret and Reeve fic but that's about it.

As always, the plot has decided it wants to go in a different direction than what I originally planned on. I suspect this could prolly balloon easily if I give this bunny even a fucking inch. So we'll see how that fight goes.

I discovered Prime has all of Heroes up so I've been re-watching Season One and man it's been a hot minute since I watched this show. I watched it when it first premiered, did a half-ass attempt at a rewatch when Heroes Reborn was set to come out and then that show kinda murdered any will I had to continue rewatching it. LOL Thankfully I've forgotten most things about this show so it's almost like watching it for the first time.

I forgot how chaotic the first half or so of Season One is because they are struggling to fit as many characters in it as they can and get the groundwork laid.

It's wild seeing a baby faced Matt Latner and Thomas Dekkar. Also, the guy who plays Issac was Aramis in the Musketeers. Another show I haven't watched in a hot minute. The sad thing is? I own BOTH of these series on DVD's but can ya girl be bothered to actually put a DVD in her PS5? Naaaaaah

I might try and put up something for WIP Sunday but it's almost 8 and I'm still going to try and aim to be in bed by 10:00 pm. Hell I'm already getting sleepy and tired. Which I'm counting as a win on the old sleep schedule

[yibennianyaji]

Good Omens 2, Some Thoughts

Look, it’s just not a good season of television. I’m seeing a lot of bargaining on my tumblr feed, and some galaxy brain takes about how the badness is the point, see, because it’s a clue that all is not as it seems. And yeah, all is probably not as it seems, and in 2-3 years, when (if) we get a third season it will probably turn out that at least some of the weirdness in this season was deliberate (I’ve seen some very plausible theories already). But that won’t change the fact that this season was not good. I have some thoughts on why below.

I wasn’t blown away by the first season of Good Omens. I thought it had a lot of the same problems as the book, which Gaiman, presumably out of loyalty to Pratchett, chose not to address. But Tennant and Sheen were so good, and like a lot of people I had the reaction of “who needs plot, just have Crowley and Aziraphale hang out for six hours”. Good Omens 2 feels like a finger on the monkey’s paw curling in response to that. What it most resembles is fanfic, in that it’s light on plot and has a bit of a hangout quality, but without the things that make fanfic fun - the emotional intensity and willingness to be silly and weird. It’s all curiously flat and, honestly, not a little boring.

The most obvious example of this, clearly, are the flashbacks (or, as they’re referred to, “minisodes”, though all told they probably make up about half the season). It feels as if the thinking was “everyone loved ‘Hard Times’ in season 1, so what if we did a lot more of that?” And yeah, everyone loved “Hard Times”, but that’s because it told a complete and concluded story. It was done. All the things we needed to know about Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship over the millennia had been established. The flashbacks in season 2 add almost nothing to that (it does seem very likely that they are pointing towards a Big Thing about the duo that will be revealed in a future season, but again, that doesn’t solve the problem with this season). What’s worse, they’re not very affecting in themselves. There’s no “you go too fast for me, Crowley” moment. And meanwhile, in the present, the duo feel curiously inert. We have no idea how their relationship has (or hasn’t) changed since the events of the first season, or whether either of them are trying to change that. They spend most of the season in a holding pattern until the sudden, catastrophic upheaval of the status quo in the last fifteen minutes, which feels like it came out of nowhere.

(I want to be clear what I’m saying with that last point. I am not saying that the season’s ending doesn’t make sense for the characters - on the contrary, I think it absolutely does. I’m saying that there’s no lead-up to it. We think we’re watching one kind of (rather dull) story, and then suddenly, total swerve into a very different one with no emotional groundwork laid. You can backfill in an explanation (and I’ve seen a bunch of posts that have tried to do this) but in the show as written, it’s just not satisfying or cathartic. Instead of feeling wrung out, you’re mostly just confused.)

I think what really annoys me is that most of the plot elements in the season are actually quite promising. The framing story of Gabriel’s disappearance, and how it ends up being about something very small (while still hinting at bigger things to come). Crowley and Aziraphale obsessing over two women in their general vicinity, and trying to push them together even though they’re not in a place to be in a relationship, as a displacement activity from dealing with whatever is going on between them. The idea that, quietly and without much fuss, another demon and angel fell in love and just decided to be together while our heroes have spent millennia failing to get their shit together (I don’t love that this is a straight couple, but you could certainly take it as a comment on internalized homophobia). The ending, as noted. And there are some genuinely good moments in the season. The Gabriel/Beelzebub flashback is sweet and almost instantly sells you on their relationship (along the way demonstrating that less is more when it comes to flashbacks). The ball and subsequent demon attack are thrilling, and make you wish the season had spent more time with the other merchants. It’s just that overall, the execution is so indifferent, and so much energy is being directed towards those pointless flashbacks, that what could have been a strong, small-scale story ends up feeling like a slog.

I’ve seen some comparisons between this season and Our Flag Means Death (I’ve even seen the suggestion that the separation at the end of OFMD S1 inspired the separation at the end of this one, but with 16 months between them I’m not sure that works). And, beyond the fact that there’s a vast gulf in quality between the two shows, that’s a comparison that would make more sense if OFMD had ended after episode 9. Instead, it gave us that shocking, sudden rift between the two leads, and then offered a hint of consolation and a direction for how they might find their way back to each other. Good Omens doesn’t do that last part. Which, to be clear, is a perfectly valid creative choice, but it means that the audience walks away from the season in a very different emotional state, and that’s something a writer has to take into account.

All of which is to say that it was, how shall I put this, uncool of Neil Gaiman to have written a story like this without being really, really, REALLY sure that he was going to get a third season. And look, it’s obviously not his fault that the bottom has suddenly come out of the streaming business, or that we’re in the midst of two strikes. But he’s been reduced to running around saying things like “if you want a conclusion to this utterly gutting cliffhanger that I left you with, you have to watch and promote my show” (which among other things feels like it skirts very close to strike-breaking). And that just feels like a poor way to treat a fandom that has been so enthusiastic and supportive for so long.

(Finally, it’s very possible that the decision to recast Anna Maxwell Martin was completely unrelated to the fact that her character is now Jon Hamm’s love interest - it’s been four years, there might have been availability issues. But it’s hard not to notice that Shelley Conn’s styling as Beelzebub veers more towards Sexy Goth than Martin’s Grotesque Bug Person. If you must have a straight relationship in this show, why not make it kind of weird?)

[cookinguptales]

I've seen some well-written defenses of the newest episode, claims that it was an intentional choice by the writers to remind us of how inhuman and selfish these characters are, that even when the characters try to do well they hurt themselves and others. and that's probably true but the way they went about showing that felt so different from previous episodes where they made that exact same point and kept it funny. TBH I feel like somewhere in the process the writers got tired. not "lazy" bc that implies an intentional disregard for the work. but let's be honest...

WWDITS is no one's full time job. The EPs all have other gigs outside of wwdits. The writers, directors, crew embers, even the cast... this is one of many gigs they work on over the course of the year.

NO ONE WORKS ON WWDITS FULL TIME and it is 100% possible, even plausible, that when we see stuff that just doesn't track with previous episodes...the simplest explanation is that the writers forgot they'd laid the groundwork for an arc and then never picked back up. or they changed their minds. or there was an argument about how to proceed and what we saw on the screen was the result of compromise. i think it was paul simms (correct me if i'm wrong) who admitted in an interview they dont have a multi-season plan. they're flying by the seat of their pants season to season and if the show feels like when a fic writer goes on hiatus and comes back and the fic just isn't the same anymore... that's exactly what's happening here.

there are a lot of cooks in that metaphorical kitchen, none of them are full time (not even the head chef!) and apparently there's no recipe book. so yeah.. the dishes are going to be inconsistent. but the restaurant has a lot of charm and good memories, so it stays in business

I'm not even upset at the new episode. i didn't loose sleep over it, i just... didn't feel much of anything. i stared blankly, got a few half heartedly chuckles and then went to bed feeling like someone really phoned that one in.

This is a fairly long ask but... I'll admit I don't have a fairly long response to it. I've seen those metas and while I respect that others have different opinions, I'm not convinced by the argument that these things were done purposefully to "remind us" that vampires are bad. We've always known that, and they've always been bad in a fun way. That's... kind of the point of the show. Nothing about Marwa's arc in particular felt fun and there's really been nothing in the show to indicate that the writers are aware of how awful her story was and did it on purpose. Nandor didn't acknowledge that it was wrong to change her in the first place, no one ever talked about changing her back for her sake, there were no lingering shots of her last moments alive or anything. Literally nothing was done in-show that makes me think the writers thought of this as a real problem.

As for the rest... look, man, I'm the last person this argument is going to appeal to. I also work on multiple creative projects at a time for a living and I also forget things. That's why I take notes, because I'm a professional. I'm gonna keep holding these writers to the same standard as they've had in other seasons. If you put your name on something, you've put your name on something.

[becomingbuffypodcast]

***Spoiler***

Willow and Xander getting together was inevitable at some point, based on the amount of groundwork that was laid down in the first season and a half of the show. Of course, in true Whedon form, it came at the worst possible moment and almost a season later than the fans wanted it, but the question is: was it necessary?

In the case of Willow, her cheating makes sense from the perspective of Xander being her first crush/love. For her it is complicated. Even though she loves Oz and thought she moved on, it’s incredibly human to suddenly be confused by the validation of Xander’s sudden reciprocation of her feelings. On Xander’s end, things are a little less clear. He’s known of Willow’s feelings for years and plainly said that he doesn’t see her that way, in fact going out of his way to hit on virtually every girl other than her. One explanation is that he doesn’t feel for Cordelia as deeply as she does him, leading him to look for a deeper connection in Willow. Unfortunately, given his inability to meet society’s expectations on manhood, it’s more likely that Xander’s pattern of pursuing powerful, unattainable women is a representation of his own insecurity and desire to meet that standard. Willow is the intersection of Xander’s desire for connection and status, as she is just now beginning to come into her power.

While it could be argued that Willow and Xander’s brief fling was created to show once and for all that they are not meant to be together, sadly, the most likely reason is so Cordelia will have a reason to leave Sunnydale at the end of the season. It’s frustrating to watch Cordelia’s arc and screen time reduced once she is no longer Xander’s girlfriend, especially when we could have watched her wrestle with the decision of going to LA to pursue her dreams or staying behind with Xander. It would have given the power of choice back to Cordelia, and given her an interesting storyline for the remainder of the season.

Do you guys think the Willow/Xander fling was necessary? Would you have changed how Cordelia and Xander break up?

Listen to us on Spotify, apple podcast, or wherever podcasts are streamed.

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Email: becomingbuffypodcast@gmail.com

[clonewarsarchives]

THE SHOW THAT CHANGED STAR WARS (#142, JUL 2013)

How Season Five of The Clone Wars changed Star Wars forever!

By Eric Kellar

The news that Star Wars: The Clone Wars would not get a full sixth season generated a lot of discussion, as fans digested the fact that many loose ends in the animated series would therefore not be immediately tied up. It’s no surprise that the show’s cancellation led to so many petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and social media protests. Since the summer of 2008, The Clone Wars had effectively dominated the Star Wars franchise, first as a feature film and then as a television show that also spawned books, comics, videogames, and toys.

 It’s also worth considering just how much the series had already accomplished by the time the sun set on the Season Five finale, “The Wrong Jedi.” Many fans immediately began wondering about the fate of Ahsoka Tano and the impact that her decision to leave the Jedi Order would have on her former Master, Anakin Skywalker. These weren’t the only issues that the last season dealt with in its 20 action-packed, thought-provoking episodes. Season Five was a veritable maelstrom of character development and thematic exposition. It built upon a four-season-long exploration of the complicated web of situations and issues at the core of the prequel era.

REBELS WITH A CAUSE

After an impressive season premiere following up on the adventures of Darth Maul and Savage Opress, Season Five delved into the idea of rebellion with four episodes set on the planet Onderon. These episodes not only showcased the animators’ increasing skill at depicting lush environments and exotic creatures, but they also hinted at the seeds of rebellion that would spread across the galaxy with the Emperor’s declaration of a New Order ineRevenge of the Sith. The Onderon rebellion laid the groundwork for the disparate rebel groups that would unite by the time of A New Hope.

The Onderon story arc also explored the psychology of rebellion by placing Steela’s band of freedom fighters in the classic insurgent’s predicament. How much damage could they do to the Separatist army occupying Onderon without inciting a backlash from the people? What kinds of disruptions would the people endorse, first tacitly and then openly? How far could the rebels take their campaign of sabotage before they risked trampling on the very innocents whose lives they wanted to improve? This conundrum—a central theme of all rebellious movements—received almost no attention in the original trilogy, which focused on starker contrasts between good and evil.

RETURN OF THE SITH

Without a doubt, the return of Maul was one of The Clone Wars’ most game-changing decisions. But even though Season Four actually re-introduced the character, it was the fifth season that built him up and tore him down in a way that dramatically altered our perceptions of him. After Mother Talzin healed his mind and body with her dark magicks, Maul set in motion a series of ruthless plans that nobody could have imagined him masterminding prior to his animated resurrection.

In the fifth season premiere “Revival” and the three Maul episodes that followed later in the season, the former Sith apprentice demonstrated that he was more than a simple killing machine. He made alliances and inspired loyalty through fear and cunning, he bested Obi-Wan Kenobi and was always one step ahead of even his most creative pseudo-allies, as we saw in the case of Pre Vizsla.

Maul’s journey from quite literally, “Half the man he used to be,” to shrewd tactician and puppet-master ruler of Mandalore represented one of The Clone Wars’ boldest moves in its five-season history. The Dathomirian Zabrak had spoken less than three dozen words in The Phantom Menace, but supervising director Dave Filoni and his team endeavored to show fans that there was more to him than met the eye. While Maul remained ruthless, he also knew when to use violence and when to be more tactful.

It was not long before his exploits attracted the attention of the man behind the curtain, Darth Sidious. For the first time in the series’ history, Sidious left Coruscant to tie up a loose end. Sidious confronted his former apprentice in the episode “The Lawless” and made short work of both Maul and his brother Savage Opress. In a duel that left no doubt as to why Sidious was the Dark Lord of the Sith, he re-established his control over Maul and told him that he had plans for the newly subservient Zabrak warrior. In just four short episodes, we saw a completely new side of Maul, and the writers teased us with the cryptic promise that Sidious wasn’t done with Maul yet...

AHSOKA COMES OF AGE

Ahsoka Tano was the most important character in Season Five. She played a role in almost every story arc, from the rebellion on Onderon to the Jedi younglings’ unexpected first mission to the dramatic turn of events beginning in ‘Sabotage.” In 2008, The Clone Wars feature film introduced Ahsoka to the world, and ever since then, many of the story arcs in the show have been designed to push her in new directions and expose her to challenges that would test her mettle. There was more of that in Season Five than ever before, and because of that, this season irreversibly changed Ahsoka —and by extension, her emotionally invested mentor Anakin Skywalker.

Ahsoka’s growth in this season began on Onderon, when she was forced to confront two obstacles to her future success as a Jedi Knight. The first challenge was her frustrating obligation to obey the Jedi Council and refrain from actively aiding the rebels in ways that could tie the Jedi to their fight. In the struggle on Onderon, Ahsoka saw good people trying to do the right thing for the right reasons. She recognized that the Council was caught up in politics, however, and bristled at their constraints. Despite (or even because of) her Jedi training she made the decision to disobey the Council. When Onderon’s Separatist-backed puppet government was about to execute the rebel leaders, she stepped up and revealed Jedi presence on Onderon—to save friends and prolong their fight for freedom in that corner of the galaxy. To Ahsoka, the lives and ideals that she preserved seemed to justify defying the Council’s orders.

The second challenge that Ahsoka faced on Onderon involved her emotions. Her old friend Lux Bonteri was back in her life, fighting with the rebels alongside Steela and Saw Gerrera. Ahsoka and Lux had a complicated history, mostly due to the fact that Lux’s late mother had been a Separatist senator. The other problem, of course, was Ahsoka’s commitment to the Jedi Order and her vow of romantic non-involvement. Earlier seasons made it clear that the two teenagers clearly felt something for each other, but the constraints of the societies in which they lived made it impossible for that feeling to blossom into anything significant.

She carried obvious emotional baggage with her throughout the four episodes, and there were many moments where Ahsoka seemed to be wishing that the Jedi Order didn’t forbid attachments. She managed to keep her feelings in check during the mission—thanks in part to some rather ironic relationship advice from Anakin—but the tension between her and the structure within which she worked would eventually burst.

As the Onderon story arc gave way to the “Young Jedi” four-parter, however, Ahsoka’s status within the Jedi Order seemed stable. Ahsoka’s next major mission offered her even more independence and responsibility. Tasked with guiding and protecting a group of younglings who were building their first lightsabers, Ahsoka received a taste of what it would be like to be an instructor at the Temple or a Master to a Padawan of her own. In retrospect, this was a remarkably effective bit of storytelling. With a major change in Ahsoka’s life looming on the horizon, this story arc offered us a “what if” sort of premise: What if Ahsoka had remained in the Order and gone on to supervise younglings or train an apprentice of her own? In the story arc’s final episode, “A Necessary Bond,” Ahsoka even held her own in a duel against General Grievous, something that far more experienced Jedi have often failed to do.

ALL GOOD THINGS...

The twentieth and final episode of Season Five, “The Wrong Jedi,” packed a double punch, because it was, in a sense, two endings. It showed us the end of Ahsoka’s membership in the Jedi Order, as we later learned, it was also the last new, regular episode of The Clone Wars to air on television.

There had been signs of a widening rift between Ahsoka and the Order for several seasons. From the older Ahsoka visiting her younger self on Mortis with a warning about following her own path, to the ideological rigidity of the Republic political system and its reluctance to endorse negotiations with the thoughtful Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri, right down to the insulting and disgraceful way in which Ahsoka was treated in the final story arc. Her decision to leave the Order came after several incidents that sapped her faith in the government she served and discredited the organization to which she had devoted most of her life.

For five years, Ahsoka had served as a vehicle for engaging a new generation of fans. She was the viewers’ eyes and ears on most of her early missions: it was through her perspective that we watched Anakin and Obi-Wan team up to defeat the Separatists. While Star Wars has mostly been about the Skywalker family story, The Clone Wars was in many ways Ahsoka Tano’s story.

Ahsoka’s importance to the series was greatly enhanced by her status as Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan. Whatever happened to her in the end would weigh heavily on Anakin. One need look no further than the Season Two episode “Weapons Factory.” When Ahsoka and fellow apprentice Barriss Offee became trapped in the rubble of a Separatist foundry on Geonosis after an explosion, Anakin’s demeanor—visibly disturbed, anxious, distracted, and angry—worried his counterpart, Master Luminara Unduli. Whereas Master Unduli acknowledged the possibility that their Padawans might die, Anakin refused to concede such an eventuality. There were smiles and reassurances all around when Ahsoka and Barriss emerged from their would-be tomb, but the unsettling trugh was that Anakin was emotionally invested in Ahsoka’s wellbeing to an unhealthy (but darkly familiar) degree.

The show also hinted at the marginalization and ostracizing of the Order through Ahsoka’s story. From the ordinary citizens protesting outside the Jedi Temple to bombing suspect Letta Turmond’s disdain for the Jedi and their ivory tower, the last story arc of Season Five explored an issue that had taken a backseat to other developments. As the series inched closer to Revenge of the Sith, one of its challenges was to seed the idea of public backlash against the Jedi Order. What better way to do that than to test the Jedi’s ability to protect both its own members and the innocent civilians who worked for the Order?

When the corrupted Jedi apprentice Barriss Offee confessed to having bombed the Jedi Temple and framed her friend Ahsoka for that and subsequent acts, she framed her confession in the form of an exposé about the failures of the Jedi Order. Given that the Jedi were not universally loathed in Episode Ill, The Clone Wars could only take the anti-Jedi propagandizing no far. Even so, Barriss’ confession must have had Palpatine smiling on the inside as he watched the proceedings. In a speech that carried all the hallmarks of the self-appointed Emperor’s address to the Senate at the end of Episode III, Barrios sowed distrust in the Senate (and the HoloNet-viewing galactic public) regarding the Jedi Order’s ability to police themselves and secure their ranks.

The Jedi Order’s popularity was not the only thing in jeopardy, however. The Order was also losing the trust of the Clone Army. Rarely had viewers seen a negative impression of the Jodi Order through the clones’ armored faceplates. Ahsoka, innocent but without an alibi, presented an easy scapegoat for the clones frustration when she escaped her military base prison cell. Since the war began, the clones had been dying by the hundreds, and the idea that it was the fault of their Jedi leaders could not have failed to register with them. When Ahsoka supposedly snapped, they found an outlet for their anger. The most sinister fact of this entire story arc was that the clone troopers’ blaster fire was effectively target practice for the massive anti-Jedi operation that loomed on the television series’ horizon: Order 66.

ANAKIN’S JOURNEY

When it came to reacting to loss and pain, however, Anakin Skywalker was a different story. In a sense, The Clone Wars has always been about Anakin, and although this season featured him in only a few episodes, the last scene of the last episode was enough to raise all kinds of questions about his emotional stability, his faith in the Jedi Order, his opinion of the Council, and his trust in his own mentoring abilities. Ahsoka Tano meant so much to Anakin that fans had always expected her eventual fate to weigh heavily on him. The scene that concluded The Clone Wars’ final season encapsulated the whirlwind of change and expansion that had occurred in the season’s 22 episodes. As Ahsoka walked away from Anakin into the sunset and the scene faded out, the transformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader loomed large in fans’ minds.

[cosmicjoke]

Well, I finally had a chance to watch the final episode for Attack on Titan, until the third part debuts, and man oh man, I really don’t have the words.

First, I just want to take my hat off to MAPPA for doing an absolutely extraordinary job of adapting SnK this season.  I never felt the criticisms were at all justified, and this 2nd part has only solidified that feeling for me.  Everything, from the animation, to the music, to the sound editing, voice acting and direction, has been beyond superb, and truly captured the gravitas, drama, intensity, tragedy and poignancy of this final arc of what is genuinely one of the greatest manga’s I’ve ever had the pleasure to read.  This last episode was no exception.

The entire final half, after the flashback, was intensely dramatic, and intensely heartbreaking, and the first half, going into the flashback, when the Survey Corps attempted to go to Marley to try and find some kind of accord through peace, only for them to slam up against their uncompromising, immovable prejudice and malice, truly laid the groundwork for the tragic and overwhelming destruction that the episode ends on.

All I could think, in those final seconds, when the millions of Colossal titans forced their way through the gathered forces of the world, and began to make landfall, and we’re shown the horrified, stricken faces of the soldiers as they can only watch their own, approaching doom, was “This is the destruction you’ve reaped with your own hatred.”.  Seeing the callback to Eren, watching his mother devoured by a titan, and then his terrifying conviction as he states that he’s going to wipe them all out, all of his enemies, was truly heart stopping.  This truly was the culmination, truly the consequence, of generational guilt, generational blame.  Of holding accountable innocent people for crimes they didn’t commit.  For continuing to hate others for nothing more than an accident of birth.  This is the result of uncompromising ideology and prejudice. 

We see Eren, and all of the Scouts, pushed to the brink, backed into a corner with no choice, and through, most tragic of all, no fault of their own.  They came to Marley with genuine hope, even as logic told them that success was unlikely.  But still, they held to that hope, only to have it thrown back in their faces, and dashed cruelly, as first they were faced with the hatred of the general populace, out in the market, and later, in the assembly, the futility of their mission driven home completely.  And we see how it’s this moment, this hopelessness, and the uncompromising rejection against him and his people, which drives Eren to accept the future he saw, and embrace it.   Which ignites in him that drive he’s had since boyhood, to fight, and win, at all costs.

I think what made this all particularly affecting was the juxtaposition of the flashback, with the present.  The hopefulness and brightness of the members of the Survey Corps getting to experience the wonders of the outside world for the first time in their lives, their excitement and happiness, was genuinely moving.  So to have those moments of hope and happiness contrasted with the despair of reality, the cruelty and unfairness of their situation, only made the tragedy of the whole thing that much more powerful. 

The world condemned and shunned the Eldian’s of Paradis, and threatened their very existence, their very right to live, for the past one hundred years, showing no signs, no indication, of softening their stance, or rethinking their hatred.  They left them no choice, and in the end, it was them who engineered the Rumbling themselves, by continuing to press their hatred upon a group of people who didn’t even know they existed.  It was them who created Eren, the tool of their own demise. 

What an incredible job MAPPA has done here.  They’ve done true justice to this incredible story, created by an incredible artist in Hajime Isayama.  Thank you MAPPA, for bringing this final arc so spectacularly to life, and for imbuing it with all the depth, weight, drama, intensity, tragedy, and important it deserves.  It’s going to be hard waiting for part 3.