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mrs-gauche · 9 months ago

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Vows & Vengeance Episode 1

ALRIGHT GUYS! As always, I'm super late to the party (although for once, I actually have a good reason, which is that I'm currently kinda in the middle of renovating my place lol), and while I first listened to the episode on Thursday, I just wanted to let it sink in a bit and listen to it again a few times, to really appreciate all the details. :D So here are a trillion few notes on the first episode (spoiler, I loved it! <3333) and I hope this doesn't sound too jumbled, I haven't had a lot of sleep lately. 😂😂💀💀

- Ok, so my first reaction to the ending was basically: "OH MY GOD NOTHING CAN EVER GO RIGHT", "DAMN THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY" and sobbing for Elio, I guess. lol

- My general thoughts: I loved it!! ❤️❤️❤️ I felt like it was gripping and immersive from the beginning, but also genuinely funny and moving at times! I think this first episode did a good job of setting up the plot, the pacing was good and I'm already invested in the new characters! The sound design and voice acting was top notch (albeit maybe a bit over the top and a little cheesy in a couple of scenes lol) and I absolutely LOVED the little nuggets of the Veilguard soundtrack we got throughout (Zimmer and Balfe confirmed!!). There are a few tiny nitpicks, but overall this was fantastic and correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never heard of a game being marketed with an audio drama before? 😂 But looking at Dragon Age's amazing voice cast (and the fact that they all made us develop a voice kink lmao), this makes so much sense and I need like a hundred more of these in the future. lol

Notes on the episode itself:

- The narrator reminds me so much of the ones in these old anime dubs. I was expecting him to be like "LAST TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z". He got lost in the wrong dragon franchise. lol Really cool voice though!

- I LOOVE how it starts off with a minute of just the ambient sounds, chatters and music of the tavern, to really get that immersion, as if you just walked into this place yourself. - That new rendition of "Oh Grey Warden" hit me in the feels ngl.. ;-;

- Nadia just walking it and poisoning Olen to get answers was such a badass introduction to our main character! - I like how the narrative is neatly tied together by making this a retelling of what happened, starting off with loads of questions and by the end we're back in the present again.

- Nadia and Elio are so sweet nawww <3333 - Those sounds of Elio waking Nadia up were straight up ASMR. lol - The tune that's playing in the back here is sooo nice, I wonder if it's part of the new Love theme or something. 🥹❤️

- A sort of forbidden love between Liberati and Altus, oh this better end f*cking well!! 💀💀💀 - Well, that birthday got cancelled REAL fast. lol - I get Nadia's outbreak, but DAMN, she went OFF on him from like 0 to 100 in a heartbeat. lmao I guess something was bottling up for quite some time. - "I'm sorry" Oh no. I notice a certain pattern. *sob* - Again, that track that's playing here, wooow. Goosebumps! It's a super tragic rendition of the main theme. I just know this one's gonna hit so hard whenever that plays in Veilguard. 😭

- I wonder if the docks here are the same we've seen in screenshots. :3 - The soundtrack that's playing here reminds me SO MUCH of Unravel (one of my favorite tracks in recent years! <3333) - I like Nadia and Vik's dynamic. Super authentic. :D

- Nadia's reaction to the gold and then "TRIPLE the bag for delivery??" Yeah, Solas truly is the richest apostate hobo in all of Thedas. Those vaults from Trespasser come in handy now. Good thing the currency of old Elvhenan is apparently still valid. lol - Solas' quest of collecting every ancient powerful artifact continues. - Isn't this like the second time now that Solas indirectly hired someone to break into the Archives? lol They really need to improve that security. (Watch there being a quest in Veilguard where you have to break in there again, but it's impossible due to the amounts of guards now and Solas is like "Yeah, that might be my fault, sorry." lol)

- Super random thought, but judging by the sound design, there's gotta be lots of chickens running around in the streets of Minrathous. lol - NEVE!! <3333 (I'm sorry to anyone who had the wildest conspiracy theories about that teaser image and was expecting someone else. lmao) - So, wait. Does that mean Solas also anticipated Neve to talk to Elio? Or maybe someone else was supposed to do that but Neve got there first? lol

- Nadia and Vik have got to be the noisiest thieves I've ever heard. LMAO HOW did you manage to steal anything until now?? 💀💀💀 - I love how you keep hearing Vik laughing in the distance while distracting the guards. lol

- I wonder if all the turmoil could have been avoided if they just informed Elio about his ancestor's connection to the Eye and the Venatori from the get go. I guess he needed that push of knowing to never be able to return to his life in Tevinter to go along with it, but.. *sigh* poor Elio. - "I trust you." UHGGHH We were on the right track there. 😭😭 - That music AGAIN?? Chilllls!! - Nadia just casually destroying hundreds of years worth of relics. Love it. lol - "FLAME BLAST!!" Oh, this is so anime. lmaoo - Elio going from "WE'RE NOT DOING THIS" to fully enjoying beating up templars and go full criminal in a matter of seconds as soon as he sees his girl in her element. He loves her so much. <33

- "Who's the hat?" lol - That groan after the Dread Wolf name drop? Yeah, that was actually me. lmao - So, I assume this also ties in with Neve already knowing about Solas and his shenanigans in Minrathous when she met Varric in The Missing. Maybe it was this very incident that Neve was talking about? - Noooo, Vik!! 😭😭 (I knew you for like five minutes, but you made in impact. lol) - Sooo... I take it these "assassins" were actually Venatori, since they were the ones going after the Eye in the first place? Or am I stupid now? - "The eye went boom!" Love that delivery. lol - "She's trying to freeze the bay!" Yeah, Neve just DID that. What a boss. - "An elf with a fancy tongue." Oh, I know who THAT is. lmao

- "Me and you." 😭😭😭😭 You two are killing me. - That motif AGAIN. 😭😭😭😭😭 - Oh, for fuck's SAKE. Solas really always has the best flippin timing. They're all sweet and loving and here goes our disaster man "I'm about to ruin this couple's day so good." 💀💀💀 It's her BIRTHDAY, dammit!! - "Ominous looking chap in the road" lmao All I could think of there was THIS (for anyone who gets the reference LMAO)

- How is it that I knew he would appear in this episode from the teaser, and yet I still freaked out so hard. lmaoo After such a long time, it's like any second of new Solas content makes my heart skip a beat (or several). 😭😭 I still can't believe we're getting all this. 🥹

- Look, I may be a Solasmancer and have my biases, but godDAMN.. GDL is so good. HE IS SO GOOD. That Welsh accent. That rolling lilt. A voice like velvet that can be both so smooth and so sharp. There is just something about his performance that has you on the edge of your seat every time he's talking and I looove these little moments when you can so clearly hear that cheeky little smile in his voice. 💜

And it's so nice to hear him talk so calmly (well, at first at least lol) and kinda playful again, opposed to how super anxious he sounds at the beginning of Veilguard. 🥺 It's kinda interesting to compare this performance with DAI now, because now he's fully embracing the Dread Wolf role, and I keep thinking this is him after being isolated for the past ten years. ;-;

- Anway, so Nadia "unknowingly employed by the Dread Wolf" gets her pay from Richie Rich and girl, that would've been the moment to LEAVE. *sob* - "What other choice do we have?" Well, I dunno, RUN?? lmao - *chuckles* "I will demonstrate." Alright, I'm dead. Why did you say it like THAT? T_____T - Hearing Solas talk in elven after so long.. Dead again. Overkill. And yes, he's saying the exact same thing he said to Sera once. No, we don't know what it means. lol Maybe Sera IS actually an ancient magical artifact and he tried to trigger.. something. lol - That whole flippin dialogue. Solas please stop talking like an old witch trying to lure her prey into her lair. 💀 - "I do not play games." *screaming* - Honestly, I was like "NOOO WHY would you GO with himmm" but then I remembered, SHIT I WOULD FOLLOW HIM ANYWHERE. Hell, I *HAVE* followed him anywhere. To Hell and back. 💀💀💀💀💀 - Solas' persuasion game is at maximum at all times.

- "Energy is neither dark nor light." Speak for yourself, Trickster God of In Between. - "It is the Fade. The Veil is fragile here."

- Solas finally gets to answer questions again, but Nadia is rude about it. 😂 Solas slightly approves AND disapproves. lol - "Kindly remove your blade from my neck."

- Those damn Venatori at it AGAIN with their hunt for magical McGuffins. After TN and the Missing, I'm starting to believe that is all Solas did in the last ten years, snatching one deadly toy out of the their hands after another. lmao - "And it is up to me to ensure we arrive at the best possible outcome." Oh, we're so doomed. - "You're sharper than you let on." Here we go again with the backhanded compliments. lol Ohhh, how I missed it.

"Some people confuse a reckoning as an ending." "I seek... regeneration."

Holy shit. The voice. The long pause. The delivery of that last line. Shivers down my spine. It feels eerie. Like he sounds.. desperate.. and maybe a little.. insane? lmao (That's how you start to talk if you've been separated from your soulmate for ten years 💔💔💔)

Ok look, I've seen a TON of people thinking that, because of the way he says this and him using the word "reckoning" ("For a reckoning that will shake the very heavens"), this HAS to be whatever part he took of Mythal speaking now that has taken over his mind or something. But.. I don't think so? lol

I honestly think this is just Solas who, after a thousand years of preparing to "heal" the world again that he broke, even after admitting to himself that this world and its people are in fact real and he has to destroy it, is SO close to getting there now and there's NO ONE who could possibly understand him or how he truly feels or what any of this or the Blights/Titans/spirits/gods/Veil even truly ARE, so no WONDER he sounds a little f*cking unhinged. 💀💀💀

The choice of words is very interesting though.. "Regeneration" is not something he has ever used, BUT it immediately made me think of the line "But still, some hope remains for restoration" in Trespasser. This is what google tells me:

Regeneration represents a form of upgrade from restoration. If restoration means “to make something well again,” regeneration, for some authors, means “to make it better” than a (supposed) origin condition.

Regeneration: "a renewal or restoration of a body, bodily part, or biological system (such as a forest) after injury or as a normal process/ or a spiritual renewal or revival"

You know.. if I read "restoration of a bodily part or biological system", you know what's the first thing that comes to my mind yet AGAIN.

Look, that Titan's body is SPLIT IN HALF and we know that this was kinda the catalyst for everything Solas did back then, so... I'll just leave that here and listen to rest of the episode now. lmaoo

- "And the eye will make us fix that?" "More or less." dksdjjgdkfvlf THE SMILE IN HIS VOICE. What does that even MEAN? What do you MEEEAN, SIR?? I would've RUN out of that cave SO flippin FAST. - "And you're sure this is safe?" "As safe as we make it." *literally two minutes later* "SOLAS, SOMETHING IS WROOONG!!" This is a goddamn comedy show. lmaoo - "Silence, please." lol at him still being polite. - "This is all to be expected!" *five seconds later* "WE MUST FLEE!" I BUST out laughing. WHY are you such a DISASTER. Nothing EVER goes right and yet you always keep trying, you fool, omg!! - I don't think we have ever heard Solas so distressed. lol Like, not even when Wisdom died or at the beginning of Veilguard. - "Take my hand!" I would've never thought to hear THAT Trespasser line repeated under those circumstances, but here we are. lmaooo - We know Solas is a hopeless romantic, so for him to see that sweet couple torn apart because of him, and him still trying to save Nadia, I'm not ok. - Solas being responsible for Elio getting banished to the Fade and him being trapped there not long after.. Do you believe in karma? 😂 - "I'M SORRY!" WHY DOES IT ALWAYS END WITH HIM SAYING THAT. 😭

- So.. uh... what even WAS the plan, exactly? lol Like, what was supposed to happen?? Maybe they should've asked a few more questions after all. 💀 - That following scene with Nadia all alone. I got chills again. That hit different. ;-;

- "Where can I find this wolf??" Oh, she is about to hunt him down. 😶 "...I'll be back." Nadia in full Terminator mode now. 😂 - How are she and Elio connected now though? How can she hear him? 🥺 And I can't help but think about whoever was left in the Fade in DAI again, too. 😭😭😭 - Not the credits making me almost sob AGAIN because of the music. 😭 It is so so good.

So there we are. Everything went wrong, a couple is doomed and Solas is sorry. So, nothing changed. LMAO Everything as usual. 💀💀💀 Solas, I swear, if you don't get these two back together again and pay Lavellan a visit afterwards, my Rook might rethink listening to your advice in Veilguard. lmao

I can't wait for that next episode! This was so much fun and an amazing start, and I'm so excited to hear all the other companions! :D ❤️❤️❤️

#vows & vengeance spoilers #da vows & vengeance #solas

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utilitycaster · 1 year ago

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but you do have to admit that you write your 2k meta's mostly because you want (negative) attention? otherwise I don't understand why you are not writing more of your faves instead?

Sure! I can explain why I wrote this piece, which I assume is the reason you're asking this now.

I wrote it because I naturally had thoughts about the group dynamics of Bells Hells after the episode and started thinking about why this group is so disconnected this far into the campaign when, for example, the Mighty Nein, who had far more friction and conflict early on in the campaign, were positively ride or die by this point. I also really did genuinely find the degree of pressure that Imogen and Laudna have been putting on Fearne to be excessive and had been quietly thinking about it since episode 75 - they were the ones to initially make a big deal about "Emperor and Empress" (the fact that Ashton mentioned the party's positive reinforcement of the shard's retrieval being a factor in their choice is relevant here), I was reminded by someone else regarding Laudna's immediate shutdown of Fearne's attempt to tell the truth in episode 77, and then they called her out in front of everyone after she had expressed that she didn't want it to Morri. It made a clear pattern that I felt was interesting to explore, and in doing so I started asking myself if there were other patterns of behavior. I linked to someone else's post as well in there that talked about how Imogen and Laudna pretty much always act together in group discussions in my post because that was also an inspiration, and I've also talked a lot in the past about how Imogen and Laudna rarely bring up their own sources of conflict with each other, so the fact that their accusations towards Fearne are in the same scene where Imogen expresses disgust about Delilah's presence also is very relevant to their general group dynamics, since their own relationship with each other is very central to how they interact with the group.

I do write about my favorite characters as well. I wrote pretty extensively about Ashton after episode 78, as well as a bit about their conversation with Orym, but Ashton just had their big moment of explosion and I need to let that simmer or something else to happen before I have any longer posts. I've also, if not written anything myself, reblogged a lot of great posts about Chetney's fantastic reveal which I think tied up that whole exercise beautifully with a truth that was not a passive-aggressive accusation of others nor a self-flagellation but a realization of his own behaviors as well as an explanation to the group without expecting anything in return. In talking about the shard I did touch on my main feelings about Fearne in this situation but again I think I need to see how she actually reacts to the information she received here to actually have meta of substance, rather than "oh, interesting." And you can go through my archives if you'd like to see more; I'm usually pretty good about tagging by character.

But also: I like writing criticism, specifically. It is fun for me. I find that writing helps me arrange my ideas and understand them better, and sometimes I even change my opinion when I revisit the text or find my argument doesn't hold together on an intellectual level, even if I feel something emotionally. I've changed my mind about characters before through writing meta! Sometimes more positively, sometimes more negatively, but it happens, because the act of writing meta, if you do so well, is an act of interrogating your own pre-existing opinions and making sure they make sense to people who aren't you.

I also think there's value in writing things that aren't universally positive. Again, it forces you to actually think through what isn't working for you or what you dislike or what traits characters have that you think are causing problems for people around them rather than just saying UGH THIS SUCKS. But also, writing up how you'd fix a plot you don't like or how you'd resolve a conflict requires you have empathy for the creators or for the characters. Sometimes, even if a piece isn't, in your opinion, good, writing criticism of it helps you understand why a creator may have made that choice you didn't like. You can disagree or dislike something while still respecting it, and making yourself explain it to other people is a really good way to process your own feelings rather than stewing in them. I find people who never express any negativity openly are often deeply resentful and unpleasant and passive-aggressive. Indeed, that's arguably the whole point of that honesty exercise! This party keeps trying to smooth things over and so a lot of valid concerns or complaints they have about each other have since metastasized into something far more hurtful.

I can't speak for everyone, but a lot of meta writers write meta because it's genuinely a fun hobby for them. When I was writing my piece about Dimension 20's genre experiments I stayed up later than I should have several times because it was interesting and I wanted to make sure I didn't forget how I was planning out the piece. I like writing a lot, and I've always preferred to write essays and criticism to fiction - I like to think I have a knack for the former that doesn't come as naturally for the latter. My brain jumps to analysis more easily than the invention of plot.

If you don't like the things I chose to write about, that's completely valid. But I'm not doing it for negative attention. I'm doing it because it's enjoyable for me. How you respond to it and how it makes you, specifically, feel, doesn't enter into my consideration. It's 2k words because that's how long it took me to say what I was thinking and it's about Imogen and Laudna's effect on the group dynamic as I understand it because that's what I was thinking about since it was very present in this episode, and I wrote it because I like writing.

Hopefully that explains it!

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag

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rdng1230 · 5 months ago

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9-1-1 Tag Game

I was tagged by @until-i-set-him-free

Rules: answer your opinion on these nine topics, then tag nine other people to give their opinion as well

Favorite Character: Damn, I know I'm the Sal girly around here but my favorite character is actually Eli. I love his mixture of Jiminy cricket and fairy godmother. And there's a heaviness to his soul that makes you immediately understand that every lesson he has to impart was very very hard learned. I also admire the hell out of May. (but also Sal and Tommy obvi)

Character You Relate to the Most: I think I relate to a lot of them in different ways. May is only a year younger than me so I definitely relate to her sense of wanting to fix the world and to not accept a shitty status quo. I'm an info dumper/deep diver like Buck, actually I make him look like a walk in the park lol. Chim and I have really similar senses of humor too. Oh and Sal's stubbornness for SURE.

Favorite Episode: I love a bunch of them for different reasons. Chim Begins is high up there. I miss the ones with thematic consistency, Rage is a favorite. The factory fire scene in Buck Begins always gets me.

Hottest Take: oooooooh y'all not gonna like this one. imo Bobby and Athena have diametrically opposed world views and attachment styles, and I feel like their marriage has fallen into a pattern of "lets just put them in peril so we never have to deal with the super major incompatibilities they have." And I haaaaaaate that because you have two fucking stellar actors who could EAT UP that material should the writers ever stop eating around the edges of all that.

Favorite Lone Star Character: I'm nowhere near up to date and I know things are a bit fucked with the actress not coming back for season 5, but I love Judd and Grace, their love is so intentional and based in these really strong mutual values. I love what they bring out in each other and in the world around them. Oh also Marjan because I have never been able to resist a hot civil disobedience doin' Roller Derby girl a day in my life.

Favorite Ship: Saltommy, Bucktommy, and whatever Grace and Judd's ship name is.

Most Underrated Character: Eli. I'm still so mad he wasn't at the madney wedding. (and his wife Molly, who they never even bothered to show on screen but you just know she's freaking awesome)

Most Underrated Ship: honestly, the answer would be saltommy but I have gathered so many of us together I forget normal people aren't obsessed with them. Honestly? I think the answer is Eli and Molly because we never got to see them. I just know their relationship would be so fucking amazing. I'd love to read people's versions of them!!!!

One Thing You’d Love to See: Well, more saltommy'ers of course, but also more peace in general for the fandom. There's enough sand and toys in the sandbox for everybody;)

NP tagging and apologies if y'all were tagged already: @racerchix21 @cliophilyra @nine-one-wanton @judymarch15 @sunnywithachanceofbi

@thepinkcrayon @loopsenjoyer @gaybonesforivy @jamieroyjamieroy

#bucktommy #saltommy

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horizon-verizon · 5 months ago

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I have some mixed feelings about the overall approach of Rhaenyra’s wardrobe. I think the patterns and construction of many of her garments had Japanese or Chinese influences (from what I heard, maybe I'm wrong). So far, Rhaenyra’s ceremonial gown is easily the best in overall wardrobe design. I kind of wish they had gone for a full-on Eastern Roman Empire influence though. Emma looks good in the East Asian-inspired cuts, but they’re not the most flattering for them (especially when they move around). The dresses that truly suit them are the dragon gown (episode 8 s1) and the gown with silver dragon shoulder pieces (episode 8 s2). I think styles that are more tailored to their frame are far more effective, especially at the waist. I loved the light blue dress from season one (Joffrey's birth). Bluish tones seem to complement Emma’s complexion best. The nightgowns are some of my favorite outfits, making Rhaenyra look almost ethereal. That said, I’m disappointed we didn’t see Rhaenyra in more purple or ostentatious gowns (the hair is a total letdown). That flair seems to have been given to Larys and Simon Strong instead. (Though I’ll admit, the puffed sleeves look surprisingly good on Larys!)

Here's a thing: we don't see a likeness of "Targ V and proximity to the Empire of the Dawn or Yi Ti" in the other Targs like Viserys, Rhaenys, Daemon, etc. in EITHER S1 or 2 for it to make sense as a Targaryen thing. No one as ever thought to point out how Viserys or Daemon have a Eastern Asian-inspired silouette--esp viserys...bc it wasn't a true conception back in S1. Daemon in S1--even when he wore (whatcamacallits) with the slightly raised shoulders. So was it really Targaryen or really poor planning & not knowing the cultural "character" of the dynasty? I think the latter. There still is a lack of cohesion to back those claims. As for whether Emma just looked good in them, I think they were fine but i wasn't all that impressed. Indifferent.

Yes, I did actually like the S2 nightgown a lot, & yes it made Emma look ethereal in a way we've been missing since S1E8. It's so on brand for someone of her station, easily passes as medievalesque, and it's pretty. Also is the closest to what even bk!Rhaenyra would wear out of most pieces Emma wore in the entire 2 seasons...and to bed, to sleep, which really emphasized the character. I LOVED the investiture attire from head-to-toe, and I still think it outstrips even the S1E8 gown Rhaenyra had (I really dislike the sleeves...why 3/4 sleeves?! It's anachronistic). And I loved Young!Rhaenyra's S1E1 tourney dress and esp her hair. That's Rhaenyra! And of course it was well made.

If we isolated the moment from the moments before--which I can't do bc I am not a designer nor a costumer nor a costume designer more invested in the aesthetics--or how the garment fits much more than how it works as a constant vehicle in story; to characterize and et the audience to focus on what the scene relates to other scenes and indicate development. I think the costumers were either held back by the producers or they genuinely weren't that story-forward. Both are problems. Unfortunately, they should have been doing this (the nightgown) from jump so now it also feels too disjointed for me to really be immersed and take it all seriously. A "too late" thing. Why would Rhaenyra all of a sudden start to glam up more and to te level she was always supposed to be at...right before a war?! Misplaced character development--we should have had young!Rhaenyra get more or "return" to "fashion" and "doll up" again, when she as been made the heir and she sees people/council members doubt her fitness to rule. At least.

I don't really count S1E6 blue dress as one of my aesthetic favorites bc I simply prefer Emma in red-black. Beyond aesthetics it served the scene bc it looked bedraggled and falling off her soulders as if se ad to rush, making sense bc she was literally giving birth in it, sweaty and bleeding. Some people say we could pretend that she wore blue to: feel close to Aemma, who was an Arryn (their colors are silver, white, and blue); to feel protected, bc Aemma is not there when Rhaenyra could have used her comfort and guidance; in memory of Aemma having her own troubles with birth and finally dying tryin to bring an heir for Viserys. Similar to what Rhaenyra is doing now, getting heirs, not just hers but technically Viserys'. I really hope this was a deliberate choice and not just the audience making up for a void, but idk I feel like they would say it if that were true to get people more into this show. Not just as a garment.

I’m disappointed we didn’t see Rhaenyra in more purple or ostentatious gowns (the hair is a total letdown). That flair seems to have been given to Larys and Simon Strong instead.

And the hair was always the worst. Too simple always (investiture and tourney were the best; S1E7 was close but we-the-audience could chalk that up to this being a funeral and the culture compelling those to be understated....but i don't think it was intentional). Too pale, all Targs had the exact shade and color of hair. For Rhaenyra, it always seemed dry unless she cried or was in her nightgown. S2 was better.

I was very curious as to why Simon Strong---of all the nobles to "overdress" or make wear intricate, richy-rich clothes---wore what he wore. Over literally the royals? idk. I prefer things to make sense. Larys kinda does bc he is in court and part of the council infront of royals, & constantly surrounded by other nobles who're lookin for a wa "in" at all times. Simon does not bc he's relatively isolated and has no one to really impress or convey status to to that degree. And if he is the type for that, we'd need a sort scene of that similar to how te GoT scene of Pycelle getting ready to pretend he's not as limber as he is to convey that. But simon is a minor character who doesn't and will not get such a thing....idk, idk.

Thus I tend to not be very eager to talk about HotD costuming, bc it often didn't do its job for me to really respect it. It all comes from very poor planning and treating the story like a marketing project instead of an opportunity to bring the/any real story to life.

#asoiaf asks to me #asoiaf #asoiaf costume #emma d'arcy #hotd costume #hotd #hotd critical #hotd comment

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oppitfs · 2 years ago

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Seventh episode aired, jujutsu nation! This is where Shibuya really starts!

_ To begin with, I really liked how they did the battle of Kokichi X Mahito. The movements and angles are much better than the first season. The neons from those laser beams were really cool too (reminds me of the shooting stars scene from Howl's Moving Castle).

_ My favorite scene from this fight was seeing Mahito changing his form to that of different animals while running away from Mechamaru, how fluid and natural it looked. Seeing him as a rabbit reminded me of what we're about to see in the anime with regards to Yuji. A really fun scene :D (Also nice to know GG agrees with me lol)

_ With this fight, I realized that there is a pattern in how GG conducts his fights. It builds a sense of assured victory over one side before a twist comes in and brutally destroys. In the first season we saw that special grade cursed spirit overcome Itadori before Sukuna appeared. We later saw a kindred spirit mistreat Megumi before he opened a Domain expansion. With Hanami it was the same. Now, in Shibuya, we will see Satoru very close to defeating the spirits before Kenjaku appears and defeats him. The same with Mahito X Itadori. Even the Yoruzo X Sukuna battle was like that from what I remember. Now, Kokichi thought he had beaten Mahito and was so confident that he could face Kenjaku, then die. This is just an observation, but given the current arc of the manga, I don't doubt that GG will follow the same pattern.

_ One sentence: THIS IS NOT MY SUGURU!!!!!!

_ Miwa is too adorable for this world! I feel like she is our Itadori in Kyoto. It's so sad to know that Kokichi just wanted to stay close to his friends and colleagues, live a normal life, and in the end end up dying. And her death was so brutal and sad… My throat choked when I saw that snippet of Miwa and Mechamaru and her so excited to visit him. The world did not deserve their love.

_ AHHH, SHIBUYA HAS ARRIVED!!!!! I loved that we have a female narrator. I don't know if they're going to keep it in my language or if it's going to be Ijichi narrating again, so we'll see. But I quite liked it. The extended scenes are also excellent! _ An addendum: These extras that appeared are very beautiful, haha! I even found one dressed as Mahito and another as Ghostface. GG always inserting pop figures in his works, kskkskks (next week I want to see Gojo stomping on these people's heads like the idiot he is)

_ The teams are finally formed. I particularly like Ino, Megumi and Nanamin's relationship. I felt high vibes from a parent with their two cubs, with Ino being older and showing off for Megumi. Oh, and Nanami saying that Megumi is talented was sweet (it reminded me of this fanfic here, which is an emotional weight more than the canon proposes).

_ The Zenin + Nobara team is not bad either. I know Naobito is a little shit, but I can't hate him after knowing that his favorite pastime is watching anime. And he looks really good twirling his sharp mustache. I'm excited to see how they adapt his ability, as it's literally taking frames. (Ah, I devoured that scene Nobamaki, Mappa, I can even forgive them for what they will do)

_ GOJO SATORU IS IN SHIBUYA!!!!!!! As far as I know the next episode will adapt his fight with the curses and Itadori X Grasshopper, so we'll probably have "Yo! Satoru" at the end as an impactful closing. I'm looking forward to seeing someone calling Yuji smart! He deserves it after an entire season of being declared "dumb."

Well, next week we won't have a manga chapter, which makes me worried. If I'm right and chapter 8 ends with Kenjaku appearing, Gojo's sealing will be in chapter 9. By the evil mind of GG, he's probably up to something with this. Perhaps Sukuna delivering one last, fatal blow to Satoru? Maybe Kenjaku showing up? I can't say, but it worries me…

#jjk shibuya arc #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk anime #shibuya #itadori yuji #fushiguro megumi #jjk spoilers #gojo satoru #suguru geto #mechamaru #mahito #kenjaku #miwa kasumi #kokichi muta #jjk manga spoilers #jjk 235 #sukuna

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popculturebuffet · 10 months ago

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Next up for Nickelodeon era of shows, who is your favorite character from each of the early to mid 2000s Nicktoons shows you've seen like: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, Chalk Zone, All Grown Up, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Danny Phantom, Catscatch, The X's, and Avatar the Last Airbender?

Jimmy Neutron: This is the entry for jimmy neutron... gotta blast.. arf arf you know the rest. Faviorite character is Hugh, an easy pick I know, he was in ASB1 for a reason, but the fact the man can make any scene memorable by opening his mouth says something. Sheen is a close second. The show itself is great and having rewatched an episode recently, stay posted for that review, I was reminded how.. timeless it feels, it's 50 sci fi feel meaning that apart from some slight age on the cgi, it feels like it could slot in anywhere in time. It's got great jokes, a standout cast, and a really intresting lead who does screw up but more because he thinks he knows everything rather than being a jerk as is sometimes common in cartoons.

Chalk Zone: Hi hi hi to you all, who else could I pick i'ts gotta ne skrawl. Intriguing origin, hell of an introduction and a silky singing voice. It's concept was a tad dated even for the time, but I love chalkzone too much, from said concept allowing for endlessly creative ideas, to giving a character godlike powers in a way that isn't SUPER op. Truly great show, dearly miss it and i'm sad it probably won't be back in some form.

All Grown Up: I really wanna shout it out all grown up with you. God this block is stacked. Dil is the easy winner here. His plot lines were always funny, his weird friendship with vice principal pangborn that evolves from "He thinks their freinds" to "Actually they kinda are", and his easy charm: he gets flak from the twins for being weird as shit.. and just lets it bounce off either not noticing or more likely not carring. As for the series as a whole.. i'ts pretty good from what i remmeber. Admitley the kids ages are weird, probably should've bumped them up to all being 12, but the series itself is a lot of fun: it's neat seeing where everyone ended up, having Kimi and Dill get fleshed out more as characters, and see how they've changed and what hasn't. (I.e. Phil's still gross, but lil is growing out of it, Chucky's still anxious but ti's now more social anxiety, tommy's curosity has turned to filmaking. ) I'ts good stuff and something I should revisit , and should watch on this blog at some point.

My Life As a Teenage Robot: Her teenage robot, life. And this one was a bit hard. The series honestly has a great suply of characters but my pick is.. armagedroid. A bit left field as he basically has one appearnce.. but it's such a great concept: a giant robot designed to bring peace.. but not able to do so without destroying everything and his fight with Jenny is easily the series best as she's down to her HEAD fighting this monstrosity. The series itself is genius and one of Nick's best and how it was treated sucks hard. Jenny is a likeable, fun protaganist who will screw up, being a teen at all but in relatable ways, nicely blending slice of life teen issues with high concept robot shenanigans. I also like Brad quite a bit being a fun sidekick with extra points for not being shipped with the protaganist because 'THAT'S WHAT YOU DO I GUESS'. NOt saying it can't work (if we get to disney they had easily the best around this same time period), but god was it overdone. The series itself wasn't, having art deco style for days and is in need of a revivial stat.

Danny Phantom: Gonna catch em all because he's danny phantom gonna.. you get the bit. Vlad. Nick's best villian ever, and the perfect green goblin to danny's spider-man. His episodes tended to be the series best and martin mull, rip, was a dream as him. The series itself is a stellar superhero show, probably the best of this excellent era for them. It has some age spots (most of these shows do, you may sense a pattern), but it's a great action show with nice continuity, a killer rogues gallery and a nice sense of progression. It's top tier and reviewing a good chunk of it has only helped my opinon.

Catscratch: LALALALALALA CATSCRATTTTCHHH. This is one I need to revisit as I don't remember it well but it has an all star voice cast up front. I mean it has Wayne Knight , Kevin McDonald, and Rob Paulsen as your leads and Maurice LaMarche and Liliana Mumy as your supporting cast. What else do you need?

The X's: don't really have one. This isn't a bad one I just.. dont' remember it hardly at all other than having a great art style.

Avatar the Last Airbender; Sokka. Your faviorite jokey hot mess boy wins this one easier than he should> He was one of my faviorites as a kid, that stands now, Sokka deserved better in Korra. We deserved to see his kids if any. The show itself is one i've been meaning to revisit for years now and is one of Nick's best period: Gorgeous, has one of the best built worlds in fiction, well plotted aside from a few filler feeling episodes (Which i'm gunshy on as Steven Universe got this accusation FAR too often. You can't call every episode that's a break from the main plot filler.. but you can call some of avatar's side adventures filler for sure), including the one they outright mocked, and some shipping issues that were fine when I was a kid but now aged badly, everything else is immaculate and makes for good tv. There's a reason both this show had a second wave of popularity form netflix, and that both it's sequel and reamake have struggled to reach this level. Though Korra as we'll ge tto is still pretty good. More on that later.

#nickelodeon #jimmy neutron #danny phantom #my life as a teenager robot #chalkzone #all grown up #the x's #catscratch

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lutawolf · 3 years ago

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Vegas and Pete: Love Language Food by Episode

Food incorporates all five senses. It’s a very powerful way of creating a connection and expressing love so is it really surprising that for some it is a love language? Pete very early on expresses his feelings on food. He correlates food with warm feelings, welcome, and caring. This is due to his grandmother and it means something that he shares his grandmother's food with Porsche. Food is extremely important to Pete. So let's talk about when it became important to Vegas and Pete.

Where are you looking evil sir?? He's looking right at Pete. Eventually Pete notices and tells Vegas where Kinn is but instead he sits with them. Pete moves his food over. He is super excited about it but baby boy does not touch a drop of his food once Vegas gives Porsche that meat.

Boy is not happy, not happy at all. I also want you guys to look at the first picture and where Porsches eyes are actually directed at. It's not Vegas.

Our next food related incident happens when Pete if following Vegas. Both Vegas and his brother notice and Vegas heads into the store and purchases Pete bug spray and bread. The condoms weren't for him at that time.

Then comes Episode 7 which really is when I first noticed the food dialogue. While taking my notes, I started really seeing a pattern. The thought hit me that Vegas absolutely has to know how Pete feels about food because there are too many moments for me to discredit. I'm going to list them for you.

The minute Pete mentioned grilled pork Vegas is turning around and getting it for him. Okay, I can already hear some of you dismissing this but think it through. He had Porsche next to him, his supposed "unrequited love" and Pete was a decent distance back and was whispering to Arm. How would Vegas have heard Pete unless his attention was already there.

Vegas offers food again when Pete pays homage to alter. Pete says they can wait to eat with everyone. Here is the interesting part. Vegas looks at Arm, then Porsche but looks directly at Pete and tells Pete "I'll get you some food."

Porsche says "oh they set up food" Vegas is in front of Porsche on the stairs and Pete is behind Porche. Vegas pauses as they come off the stairs so that Porsche is then in front of him slightly and Vegas is in line of Pete when he asks "hungry?"

Vegas and Pete make full eye contact. Third offering of food. What's that smile Pete. What's that smile!? And then I get my answer from @curiositykilledd who also co-wrote this with me... The food on that table is Southern Thai. Could be nothing.. Could be something. You decide.

Okay, back on track "You don't need a schedule to eat here" he is looking right at Pete when he says "you can eat whenever you want"

Vegas gestures for Porsche to drink. They clink glasses then Vegas turns and gestures to Pete to drink. Are we counting this as a food offering? If so.. Number five. All in one episode.

There are points in-between these gifs that most of you are familiar with. First the food Vegas so carefully made with love and then the second bowl of food, that if you noticed was still ramen. One of Pete's favorites. The spilt food that in fact foreshadowed their fall.

Then Pete follows Vegas and he can't say "Because I love you" but he can say "Because I'm hungry" and immediately Vegas pauses because he knows what food means to Pete.

We come full circle from that very first scene when Pete shared his food with Porsche. When he extending his care, concern, and friendship to Porsche. We come to the last scene in the series but also their last food scene. Not only does Pete get Macau food but buys Vegas food as well. The difference between that first scene and this last one is that though he is extending his care and concern, he is also giving Vegas his love. Food=I love you. It's their love language.

This post was co-written with @curiositykilledd. Hope all of you enjoy! 💜💜💜

#vegaspete #vegaspete love language #all the food references #luta opinions #kinnporsche luta #kinnporsche #coconuts mafia

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sleepless-crows · 2 years ago

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My Analysis for this Picture

THIS IS WRONG. I AM FIGURING IT OUT. DONT BELIEVE ANYTHING I SAY. ILL EDIT THIS SOON.

First of all, these are just my opinions. You can have your own. I can have my own.

And most of the things I will mention in this post are from my other posts and reblogs. (And I'll likely keep editing this if I find new information.)

Let's start with what I think is happening in this scene: I think this takes place in Kaz's room. The same exact place we see the De Kappel in the show. This is a sort of flashback. And Kaz is giving Inej her first knife after they managed to steal Van Eck's De Kappel painting as it is seen hanging on Kaz's wall.

Next, I will explain why I think this in terms of how it fits timeline-wise and why I disagree with other interpretations.

This will be in bullet form now for your attention span:

I don't think Kaz is removing his gloves or tying her vest here. That would stray too far from the timeline in the books. And if this scene was emotional in that sense, I know Freddy wouldn't act it as it looks in the picture. Kaz looks calm and collected without the jaw clenching and internal turmoil.

Notice how Inej has her hands behind her back. I don't think this fits current Kanej's dynamic (from where we left off in the show or started in the books). It feels like she still views and treats Kaz as her "boss", as show!Jesper calls him.

If you watch Episode 1 of the show when the De Kappel flashes on screen, you will see that the placement of the lamp and the painting are very similar as to this picture. The differences were that the walls were smoother, there was a fancier lamp, and the De Kappel was framed (in episode 1). All of these point to this picture happening before the Slat and the Crow Club finished renovating. This also makes sense if he were to give Inej her first knife early on.

A loophole in this theory is that I always assumed that Inej got her first knife way before she was competent enough to steal the De Kappel with Kaz. But I wouldn't put it past the show to do that.

My Other Thoughts

When I first saw the picture, it reminded me of the eye-contact, Inej-giving-Kaz-the-knife scene before she went to perform. That one. And if this picture is really Kaz giving Inej her first knife, there will be so much parallels and I'm excited for that. (x)

I think with the general vibe of the picture that Kaz will say something really poetic again, like the "No Saint ever watched over me, not like you have" quote. And if that happens, this will definitely be one of my favorite scenes. Also, we deserve a nice quote with the word "knives", don't you think? (x, x)

This is a stretch and absolute clownery. The scene from the teaser of Kaz in front of the De Kappel and this picture. I like to think there is a symbolism between Kaz wearing a coat and hat in the teaser while he was shrouded in darkness. While in this picture, Kaz isn't. (x)

This picture feels like a painting. Every Kanej scene is always so poetic and that was my initial reasoning. After staring at it more, I realized that when we compare the picture and just the De Kappel (which is present in the picture), they have a lot of similarities in color and pattern. There’s a sort of yellow light from the left in both pictures. The green on the walls remind you of the grass in the painting. And then there’s Kaz’s black clothing and there’s a sort of black near the right. (x)

And here is just my lengthy thread of reblogs that show how I came up with my theory. (x)

#i feel like i may not have covered everything yet but so far this is what i've got #kanej #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #grishaverse #shadow and bone s2 #shadow and bone season 2 #netflix shadow and bone #shadow and bone #shadow and bone netflix #shadow and bone season two #sab season 2 #sab netflix #sab s2 #sab #leigh bardugo

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nellie-elizabeth · 3 years ago

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Roswell, New Mexico: Missing My Baby (4x08)

I am so predictably easy lol. Literally you give me angsty Michael freaking out about Alex, and I'll forgive you anything.

Cons:

I really enjoyed this episode, but I'll of course try and step back and be objective about it! I think my main overarching complaint is that certain things in this episode would have been fine normally, but I feel a little weird about the pacing. I know that's a common refrain from me, but there are only five episodes left of this whole show, and it's a little concerning how we're still sort of lining up key pieces. Mostly, I'm talking about the Tezca stuff. It feels so late in the game to only now be clarifying the basic motivations and positions of our new characters. Clyde was my least favorite part of this episode, because the sinister reveal that he's the bad guy doesn't really hold weight when we saw him toss Dallas and Bonnie into quicksand last week. And what about the fact that Tezca is the one who quicksanded Alex? I just feel like the season spent quite a long time meandering before leading to this nexus point, and that does make me worried about what we'll be able to fit into the final episodes.

The big character thing that I need to mention this week... it's our girl Liz. I love Liz, I like having a female protagonist who is allowed to be messy and make these big mistakes and all that jazz, but this week she really, really rubbed me the wrong way. She's going around acting like she's the one who has the right to make big decisions on other people's behalves. She's the one who decides to keep Alex's disappearance a secret from Michael, and her reasons of "Michael might react poorly" and "I wanted to spare him from pain" are just... not good enough excuses! She also feels like she has a right to what Max chooses to do with his body and his powers, which is not a good look. And finally, after all the lessons she's supposed to have learned about the ethics of her alien scientific exploration, she goes ahead and takes Shivani to the pods, without running it by Max, Michael, and Isobel, and then Shivani finds out Max is an alien because of it! That's a huge secret to let slip, Liz. This is a big deal and it's super annoying that she's behaving in such an irresponsible and self-righteous way.

And then on the Echo front... you know how we're all pretty sure there's a wedding at the end of this season, because of the behind the scenes pictures? And how this season has the whole Echo proposal thing, and it keeps getting talked about? I am in the position right now of actively hoping these two are not going to get married at the end of this season. Unless the finale has like... a significant time jump and they've really worked on their bullshit together. Because right now? They are not in a marriage place, they're in a "we barely seem to know each other or how to interact with each other" place, and it's super bizarre to see them behaving like this so close to the finale.

It bothers me that we had to spend time in this episode with Liz getting sage relationship advice from Shivani and Michael, with Max angsting about Liz to Michael as well, when I'm sitting here thinking that the two of them are such awful communicators, it's frankly stretching credulity that they're even managing to stay together at all. This isn't how I want to feel! Unlike with Michael's character, who I feel has really grown and matured over the years, Liz and Max seem to be falling back into the same patterns we've seen a thousand times, with no sense of them understanding that their behavior is toxic. I want to root for these two, I've always thought Echo was a really good ship with a lot of angst and complexity, but I am just really struggling to connect to them right now.

As a last note and in the interests of thoroughness, while I am overall very pleased with how the Alex stuff was handled, I do think there were some awkward momentum killing moments that seemed odd to me. People were acting all urgent about Alex one minute, and then Rosa is talking about stopping to have pancakes with her dad first, and Michael is giving Liz relationship advice, and Liz has time to work on the cure for Michael and Max instead of focusing on her missing friend... it seemed like once they knew he was in trouble and actively reaching out for help, there should have been less time to sit around and have idle brooding conversations about other topics.

Pros:

So, let's start with the other plots before I dive into the Michael and Malex stuff, because you know that's the main thing I want to squeal about.

As I said, I wish the Tezca revelation had happened a bit sooner in the season, for pacing reasons, but I honestly really liked the material with Isobel and Tezca! The reveal that she was in fact an unwitting tool, a victim, of Jones, instead of an ally, was one that worked really well for me and that I never would have seen coming! I loved the tension between the two of them, and Isobel's determination to find answers. She really carried the main plot forward in a way that I found satisfying. Isobel's romance entanglements in the first half of the season left me feeling a little cold, so I'm just having fun seeing her back in the thick of things, fighting for answers.

And honestly, despite everything I said above about Liz, I thought the final scene of this episode with Shivani dropping the canister, was one of the best Liz scenes of the whole show. Great performance from Jeanine Mason, as we watch Liz grapple with the horror of Shivani's loss, and the lengths she's willing to go to save her dead daughter, coupled with the fact that she, Liz, is a hypocrite and she knows it: she got Rosa back, and she saved Max, and Shivani is right to point out the inherent unfairness of that. Why is Liz the only one who gets to bend the rules to be happy? Why can't she use use the incredible scientific miracles at her disposal, to save other innocent lives? You can see the pain on Liz's face as she tries to get through to an increasingly rattled Shivani, all leading to that moment when the canister drops and doses them both with the alien mist. I was honestly on the edge of my seat for that whole scene!

And now, for the whole point of this episode... the Michael and Alex stuff.

I want to start by saying that sometimes, honestly, being in this fandom can be kind of a bummer for me. When I was looking in the tags and seeing people's reactions, I saw a lot of anger and disappointment over this episode. I can only assume people's expectations were too high, that they'd talked themselves into hoping Tyler would be in the episode, or that they just wanted an even more extreme reaction from Michael, more anger, more urgency. I... get that, I get being disappointed that we've seen so little of Alex this season. But the part that makes me feel kind of bad whenever I check the tags is that everyone seems to take this lack of Alex as a deliberate choice on the part of the writers to undermine him, as opposed to them writing around a medically necessary absence of the actor.

Malex is my favorite part of the show! Truly, I get wishing things were different. But to pretend that anything not spent on Alex is a waste, that the show is pointless without him and that dragging out his absence is making the show terrible, is just not a justifiable position as far as I'm concerned. This has never been a show about Michael and Alex. If it's a show about any two people, it's a show about Max and Liz! I wish people could temper their reactions and appreciate that given the actor availability issue, they did what they could to build up the suspense about Alex's absence, and then to unleash a hell of a reaction from Michael on us when the time was right. Personally speaking, I was quite thrilled with what we were given.

To start with, I like that we get Maria, and Liz, and Rosa, all giving a shit about Alex. I wish this was something the show would do more often, I definitely think that Alex's friendships and connections with characters outside of Malex have been pushed aside a lot, especially in seasons three and four. But when they do give it focus and attention, I'm not going to complain, I'm just happy to see it! Rosa showing up to help Maria channel her potential new abilities was really satisfying to watch. Just everything about Rosa, the way she's come into her own, settled in her skin, makes me so happy. This is exactly what I would have wanted for her, and it's a lovely way for her to pay it forward, after Isobel helped her with her powers back in season three.

Then there's Michael's emotional journey through hearing the news. At first he's skeptical, and he actually stays pretty calm until it dawns on him that everyone, including Liz, Max, and Kyle, were all in on the fact that Alex might be in trouble, and that he was kept in the dark. At this point he rightfully freaks out, but what I love about the way that this was written and performed is that clearly, so much of his anger is actually aimed at himself. His guilt is clear the whole way through: Rosa points out that maybe Maria was the only one listening to Alex, and Michael pushes back, saying that he was thinking of Alex every second he was risking his life with the dark triad. And maybe that's true, in a sense, but I think it's pretty clear that Michael knows his focus wasn't on Alex. Then again with Max: he punches him, he says some awful things to him, and I don't really blame him for being pissed at Max, but he also says "I could have been looking for him," which feels like a condemnation of his own distraction as much as it does a condemnation of Max keeping the secret. Michael is realizing that Alex has been in trouble for days now, and that he hasn't even noticed. His friends were wrong for keeping it from him, and his anger is therefore justified. But the guilt is real too, even if he's perhaps being a little hard on himself.

And I love this. I love that even though it's not Michael's fault, that he had a lot of other things on his mind, and perfectly good reasons to think Alex was fine, that of course he'd go to this place of guilt. It's tied up so much in everything he's been learning about Oasis, this life-long yearning for his original home coming back to him in such a big way. Alex is away for one week, and he's busy fantasizing about leaving the planet? Of course he's a mess when he realizes Alex has been in trouble and trying to ask for help! He tells Liz that he lost sight of the home he was trying to build here with Alex, and I think we'll see his focus stay on that from this point forward. God, honestly, for all the issues this season has had up to this point, Michael's stuff has been my favorite all the way through. Such a delicious way to deepen his character.

Speaking of his character development, we then see that Michael's initial burst of rage cools off, and he makes amends to those he's wronged. I saw some people annoyed that Michael offered apologies to Max and Maria, when in fact they were in the wrong, but honestly I love that this happens. First of all, Maria and Max also express remorse, as does Liz. It's not like the show isn't acknowledging that they were in the wrong to keep the truth from Michael. But let's put this in perspective: Rosa and Liz found out last night. Max finds out maybe like... two hours ahead of Michael, at the most? It would be a different story if they'd been lying to him for days, but as much as I think Liz was wrong for doing what she did, I also think it makes a bit of sense to want some more definitive information. It's a misguided decision, but it's not totally monstrous.

Same with Michael's response: totally reasonable to lash out in that moment of fear! But it's a great sign of his character growth that he's then able to pause and reflect, and work together with his support system to find Alex, instead of tearing off on a rampage with single-minded focus on Alex and nothing else. Sure, it was fun to watch him lose his shit in season two, tying people up, building bombs, all to get Alex back, but Michael has grown as a character since then. He's learned to lean on other people. That's a good thing.

So many great lines from Michael this week that I want to call out. I really liked the way he talked to both Liz and Maria about Alex. He has that line to Liz about how you can't hold onto sand because it will just slip through your fingers. That's basically his way of saying that a relationship won't work if both people don't want it to. Such an important lesson that Malex had to learn together, as they took it in turns to be ready for one another, but had to wait until they were on the same page for things to finally click! And then one of my favorite lines of the episode, said to Maria: "I know you love Alex too. And that means we are always on the same side." Like!! Amazing. Perfect. No notes. I know most of the fandom vehemently disagrees with this viewpoint, but I wish more of the show was about Michael, Alex, and Maria, and the entanglement of their relationships and feelings over time. Obviously Malex is my OTP, but I love Maria's friendships with each of the guys and I loved this moment where the two of them were united in focusing on their love for Alex.

Alex playing "Would You Come Home" on the piano? Michael joining him on the guitar? The pendant glowing on Michael's chest? The lights leading them to a map? All of this shit was the CHEESIEST thing in the world, and I mean that absolutely as a compliment. Give me all the over the top sappy romance stuff, give me Michael looking like his heart is cracking open as he hears the song start, a single tear slipping down his cheek as he plays along... I was absolutely eating all that shit up, and I think it followed so beautifully from his initial anger reaction.

Another favorite moment of mine is Vlamis's performance on "I HAVE TO HELP HIM", as he's about to jump into quicksand after his boyfriend, with absolutely no plan. "I wasn't listening to him, I wasn't paying attention." Like, fuck me up, that's so powerful. His sheer desperation, and then the way he breaks down as Max pulls him into a hug... wow. I got a little choked up.

Speaking of Max! I loved all the brother stuff this week, I was hoping that the secret Max kept from Michael would be about Alex (since we knew about that from the episode description), and honestly the way this all played out was exactly what I would have wanted it to be! The initial anger, the punching, Michael absolutely ripping Max to shreds for putting his relationship issues above Michael knowing the truth about "the man he loves"... The line "I hope the wedding's worth losing a brother" is absolutely incredible, that went so hard.

Then we get Max showing up just in time to save Maria from the quicksand, and he also stops Michael from diving into the sand after Alex. I love that he was the one to talk him off the literal ledge. Max has always understood that Alex means everything to Michael. He compared Michael's feelings for Alex to his own feelings for Liz, back in season one, and he has been the one character on the show to consistently and repeatedly make such comparisons, actively paralleling their relationships with their respective significant others at key moments. So I loved that as a continuation point, and also just as a big ol' fan of all the sibling feels, watching Michael bury his face in Max's shoulder and cry was... very good. And it just gets better, with Michael apologizing for hitting Max, Max apologizing for hiding the truth from Michael, Michael talking obliquely about his own guilty feelings, and then affirming that all that matters to him is getting Alex back. Max calling Alex the love of Michael's life was also... very nice.

Wow, I really talked on about this one, huh? Could have guessed that would happen. If I had to say it succinctly, it would be this: sure, there are things I wish could have been different in this episode, even including the Michael stuff. Yes, absolutely I wish that we had more time with Alex in our final season. I'm guessing we see him again in episode ten, but who knows how active a role he'll play in the endgame? It's a bummer, and I do get that. But this was a PRIME episode for all my Malex feels, and I bet when the show is actually over and people can re-watch over the season without the suspense and uncertainty coloring their opinions, they'll have to agree that watching Michael break down and scream and punch his brother and play the guitar with the ghost of his missing lover, is all pretty dang satisfying to see.

8/10

#review #roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico review #malex #rnm

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newgenog · 2 years ago

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REVENGE

Notes: This is part six of chapter one (the conclusion of the "episode"). When this goes up on Ao3 tomorrow, I'll include the character matches I'm ready to share, for my fellow Revenge fans.

If you haven't already done so, please stop and read parts one , two, three, four, and five. This is a #Batwoman AU based on the ABC tv series #Revenge. The character parallels were interesting, and I decided to reimagine a world where Ryan Wilder has a more intentional pursuit of vengeance.

CHAPTER ONE - DECEPTION (Part Six)

Summary: Robyn Wilde, formerly Ryan Wilder, continues to make connections that set the stage for her revenge.

Wildmoore Week Prompt: Forced Proximity

Sophie: “Ah, nice to see you again, Robyn.”

Ryan had to accept that she couldn’t avoid that happening forever.

Ryan: “Same to you, Sophie.”

Kate: “How do you guys know each other?”

Sophie: “Selly introduced us. She ran off again, and Robyn found her.”

Kate: “Did she try to claw your eyes out?”

Sophie: “Nope, I found them snuggling.”

Ryan gives her a small smile. Sophie is going to be a little more trouble than she anticipated. She is trying to make friends with Kate, and already Sophie is pitting them against each other. She needs to redirect.

Ryan: “And you are?”

Mary: “I’m Mary Hamilton. Catherine is my mom, which makes me Kate and Beth’s younger, step sister.”

Ryan: “Well, I love the rainbow plaid! Plaid is my favorite pattern - I’m such a stereotypical lesbian.”

Mary does a slight curtsy with a big grin, while both Kate and Sophie seem to take note of Ryan's last comment.

Mary: "Evan, where have you been hiding her? It would have been nice to know you had another friend who'd appreciate my style!"

Evan: "We actually just met last week, and I already love her."

Ryan leans in to nudge shoulders with Evan.

Ryan: "The feeling is mutual! We're going to be besties!"

Kate: "Cute. I take it you're new in town, then?"

Ryan: "Yup! Moved into The Loft above The Hold Up the day we met. This is off the record until tomorrow, but I'm going to be announced as Jeturian's interim CEO."

Kate: "So you're the new tenant. Reagan left so fast, I wasn't really sure what happened. But, congrats on everything."

Ryan catches Sophie rolling her eyes and fights back a laugh. She's gathering the tension between Sophie and Kate means they have history and this might be a forced proximity situation. And, if Kate and Reagan were at all involved, Sophie's reaction to Reagan liking her might also make more sense.

Ryan: “Thanks! So, what’s the agenda for this thing? Is there some sort of schedule?”

Evan: “I’ve got you, babe! Scan this!”

Evan holds up a postcard with a QR code that was laying on the table, and she scans it with her phone. The auction is about to start in a few minutes.

Ryan: “Ooh, fun! It’s time to start bidding. I’m going after this Muay Thai lesson at the community center.”

Kate: “You like martial arts?”

Ryan: “I do. I’m proficient in about a half a dozen forms. It’d be cool to add another to the list.”

Kate: “We should spar sometime! It’s not actually that easy to find another woman to practice with.”

Ryan: “I’d love that!”

Mary: “Whoa.”

Sophie: “What’s up, Mary?”

Mary: “I’m pretty sure I just saw my mom go off on our dad. It must be pretty bad for her to risk making a scene.”

It is bad. Luke had used a burner to text Catherine, Candy, and Jacob stills from the video footage they’d captured of Candy and Jacob at The Royal Hotel. Suddenly, Catherine is walking very purposefully towards the stage, and she grabs the microphone as soon as she is in the center of it.

Catherine: “Happy Memorial Day, everyone! Thank you for spending this day of remembrance with us. As is appropriate on days where we acknowledge the loved ones who have served and are no longer here, we’re taking this opportunity to give back to our community. And so, we appreciate you for digging deep into your pockets to help the organizations that are taking care of those most in need in Gotham. My very best friend, Candy, is so invested in this idea that she wanted to start off the action for it this year. She has already committed fifty thousand dollars towards the Alpena Youth Corrections Facility in upstate Gotham. She knows how important it is to help kids who have been impacted by things like drugs find their way to recovery, and this particular cause is so very close to her heart. Please give her an applause for showing us what we should be challenging ourselves to do here tonight.”

You can hear shattering just before the applause starts, as Candice drops her champagne and the glass hits the floor. Servers run over to clean up the sharp fragments that had spread everywhere, and Candy smiles at everyone, nervous by both her public error and the sudden attention.

When the applause ends, Catherine says a few more words and sends everyone off to find the tables with descriptions of what is being auctioned off. As the crowd begins to move, so does Candy, towards the exit.

One down, so many more to go.

End Notes:

This is now on Ao3! If you're there too, please show some love. And as a bonus, you'll get the character matches in the end notes.

I'll be back here on Fridays with more parts of each chapter, but will put the conclusion of each chapter on Ao3.

All #Batwoman things I do now are in the name of #SaveBatwoman. Go follow all the social handles and support the cause, please.

#wmw23 #wildmoore week #wildmoore #batwoman #fanfic #ryan wilder #ryan x sophie #sophie moore #luke fox #save batwoman

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fourseasonsfigs · 3 years ago

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First Encounter

This is the third diorama set from Koitake / Tofu's official Winter Series for Word of Honor. You can read about the other two here and here.

The figs don't actually quite line up with the diorama - after all, the scene the figs show actually is the first encounter in the marketplace with Gu Xiang and Chengling, not the subsequent meeting in the peach forest. That being said, I love the diorama and the figs both.

The diorama, like the other two in this set, is really beautiful. It's solid and well made, and the pieces snap solidly into each other without needing glue. The standee / pop out pieces give it a nice sense of dimensionality and movement. The colors are rich and intense.

As usual, these are fully finished all the way around, so they view beautifully from every angle.

I would love these types of dioramas for literally every Wenzhou scene in the series, please and thank you.

Moving on to the figs, here's the scene they are from from the start of Episode 2.

These figs have Hobo-Xu in all his scruffy disguised glory, and the wealthy young master Wen in all his scholarly (disguised) glory.

This is the best rendering we have seen yet of Wen Kexing's costumes from Koitake / Tofu. The costume is quite accurate, actually patterned to match, and even has the flying shoulder seaming. I'm really happy about this, since this is one of my absolute favorite costumes of his.

They did a nice job making Hobo-Xu scrubby here - his mess of bangs and his mask and makeup. Wen Kexing's costume continues to be beautifully detailed from this angle, with a little bit of ombre silk shine to the fabric, and the belt with its double layer.

I like the way they did A-Xu's costume here in the back especially much. I'm not going to be too picky here (which is exactly what someone would say if they were going to be too picky) but Lao Wen's hair in the show is actually a little longer than A-Xu's. Is all. But who's quibbling?

The top view so you can see all those messy hobo bangs! I do wish they had rendered Wen Kexing's silver ginko leaf hairpin accurately, but that would just make me a quibbler.

The shoes and pants detail. You can also see the sleeve details as well.

Hobo-Xu's expression on this card makes me laugh!

Material: PVC (figs) and acrylic (diorama)

Fig Count: 84

Diorama Count: 7

Snowglobe Count: 1

Rating: We'll meet again if we're fated!

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

#wenzhou #word of honor #word of honor merch #shl #shan he ling #fate has a name and it's wen kexing #wen kexing #zhou zishu

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nimata-beroya · 2 years ago

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My new TBB theories

I've been thinking since the premiere, and some of my predictions for this season have turned out to be false. When I made those guesses, I was counting on the footage we saw in the trailers was from the entire season. Now that I know that's probably not true (most likely it's only about the first half of the season) and with what has happened in the first episodes (plus seeing different theories by the fandom), I'm forming a new theory or 2 on my own.

It started having just Crosshair in mind, but now it could be Cody instead. I know some fans are worried that Rampart lied to Crosshair, that Cody didn't go AWOL; it's just that Rampart executed him. I don't believe that at all, even if the new Imperial governor of Desix reported him for not following orders. It'd be the worst decision to kill off a fan favorite like Cody off-screen. Doing that onscreen, that it is possible, but not off-screen. I mean, Wilco got killed onscreen, and Cody didn't? Seriously? That makes any sense? No. So, chill, people, chill.

That's not me saying you shouldn't worry about Cody. I don't think he's dead, but Rampart might've arrested him for not following orders. It'd make more sense than killing him. I mean, I considered the place they are and who Cody is. Wilco was just (Not just, but you know what I mean) a captain stationed in a backwater planet, killed with little to no witnesses. Cody is in Coruscant AND he's a kriffing Marshall Commander. I'm not saying Rampart couldn't have done it, but it would be more complicated. More datawork for him to do afterward sort of speak. Datawork that brings attention to him that he doesn't want at the moment, I might add.

Besides, Rampart might think that Cody is another source of info to find the batch. Think about it. Cody requested to work with Crosshair first thing after he was medically cleared. Rampart must know Cody worked with the batch several times in the past. So, if Crosshair is helping the batch (or that's what Rampart thinks) he might use Cody to set up a trap, for Crosshair? For the batch? This theory by @feltpool is dark and put Cody actually "willingly" following orders from Rampart. It's interesting, but I don't think Cody would rat Crosshair out in the end (maybe that's why he got arrested). Not to mention that after watching the last scene with Crosshair asking about Cody and Rampart pretending not to know Cody's name just to gauge Crosshair's reaction (because that's why he did it), I'm pretty sure that it's both a way to psychologically torture Crosshair and exert control over him, and see What Crosshair does.

Because Rampart is well aware that the batch is a thorn in his side, one that needs to take out soon before they pop up again, and Tarkin finds out Rampart karked things up. If Rampart truly believes that Crosshair has anything to do with deserting clones (because it's not only CF99 being alive and possibly Cody defecting, it's also Howzer and half of his unit. Remember them? There IS a pattern), I'm sure he wants to wipe them all out in just one strike.

So, Cody's hypothetical arrest could be what urges the batch to go to Coruscant. Before the season started, I thought they'd go on the season finale. Now, I believe it could be by the mid-season.

Picture this: Rex contacts the batch for a job (as seen on the trailer), because he has heard about clones going AWOL, and he wants to find them. So they need to access information, but they only can do that directly from the source, so they go to the ship/facility/whatever and among the info they gather is Cody's location. So, they'll try to break him and other clones out.

Which brings me to the second theory (it's not mine, but I like it a lot) that all those deserting clones, including the batch of course, will do an uprising. I'm thinking that we could see the inception of it on the season finale. I mean, episode 2×15 is called "The Gathering". It could mean all the free clones coming together to execute "Plan 99", which is the title of 2×16. At first, I thought Plan 99 was a rescue plan, as in (finally) rescuing Crosshair (which still could be). But it could also mean Revolution.

Most likely, I'll be wrong about this (like I've been before; my initial predictions for the season are the proof of it), but maybe I get right one or 2 things. Maybe I'm not so off after all.

#tbb spoilers #tbb season 2 spoilers #tbb s2 spoilers #tbb speculation #tbb theory #ttb meta #tbb season 2

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allnewalldifferentwildspider · 4 years ago

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Zuko & Katara's Relationship Dynamic

This is like the third or fourth time I've tried to write up this post so please bare with me.

Oh wow. That video. Hopefully everyone has seen it now. Not only did it articulate arguments I've been making for years, but it also brought up ideas I had never thought of or noticed before. Watching that and watching the second half of Book 3 again (because it's my favorite) made me want to redo my zutara dynamic post.

I'm going to be using the tiny bits and pieces the show gave us to see how Zuko and Katara's relationship looks and how it would look if they gave us more because...Bryke really fucking hated zutara. I mean, I guess they did.

Katara is compassionate; Zuko is empathetic

A lot of anti-zutara arguments have said that Zuko and Katara could never be together because they would constantly fight and hate each other and it end sooner than later. Not only does this actually describe maiko, but that argument would need to ignore the characters' actual character.

One of Katara's biggest character traits is how compassionate she is. She has a drive to help others and ease their pain. Whether it's getting Aang out of the iceberg or healing a Fire Nation fishing village, Katara will go out of her way to help someone in need.

Katara: No. I will never ever turn my back on people who need me.

Zuko is very emotional and passionate person. As much as he tried to hide it to appease his father, Zuko does want to open up and connect with people. Unfortunately, aside from his uncle, most of the other people he knows are like Zhao and Azula. Not the most understanding of crowds. But because of this he can pick up what people are really thinking and feeling. Think of it as a defense mechanism he developed growing up around people like Azula.

Get these two kinds of people together and you get the crystal catacombs scene. Katara lashes out at Zuko until she breaks down. When she does Zuko opens up with empathy since they have something in common. This creates the beginning of an understanding between the two. Zuko uses that to finally open up to someone who isn't his uncle and Katara listens and reaches out to help. Contrast to the first episode of Book 3 when Zuko tries to voice his thoughts and concerns to Mai and she...doesn't really care.

Something similar happens during The Southern Raiders. Zuko figures out that Katara is taking out her anger of being separated from her father by The Fire Nation onto him and even connecting her mother's death to him.

It's not the first time Zuko has done this either. He easily figured out that Sokka was planning on going to The Boiling Rock. He does it again during Sozin's Comet when he tells Katara that Aang needs to figure out what to do about Ozai by himself.

There's a noticeable pattern of behavior by the time Sozin's Comet arrives. Zuko voices his concerns about meeting his uncle again and Katara is right there to help him through it.

Zuko's empathy combined with Katara's compassion creates almost a cycle of understanding and emotional vulnerability that the two can't really get with anyone else. One notices the other having concerns or problems and goes to give comfort by words or by actions.

Zuko still has a temper but so does Katara

Even after Zuko's fever dream character change thing, even after The Day of Black Sun, he still has it in him to yell at anyone who commits even the slightest transgressions against him:

Aang: That one felt kinda hot. Zuko: Don't patronize me. You know what it's supposed to look like. Aang: Sorry, sifu hotman. Zuko: And stop calling me that!

Sokka: So all we have to do is make Zuko angry. Easy enough. *pokes him with his sword* *annoying laugh* Zuko: All right! Cut it out!

Maybe it's the firebender in him or maybe he really is just like that. Basically if you annoy him, he'll let you know. What people sometimes overlook is that while it takes Katara a bit longer, she also gets worked up when people upset her.

Toph: What's the matter? Can't handle some dirt, Madame Fussy Britches? Katara: Oh, sorry, did I splash you, mud slug?

And remember, it was Katara getting angry at Sokka that even broke the iceberg that revealed Aang.

Katara: Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier! Sokka: Uh... Katara? Katara: I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT! Sokka: Katara! Settle down! Katara: No, that's it. I'm done helping you. From now on, you're on your own!

The point is that it is both Zuko and Katara that are very passionate and emotional people. One of them isn't emotionally dominating the other because they both wear their emotions on their sleeves.

This also comes in to play when they set goals for themselves. When Zuko sets a goal, he puts everything into it. Katara is the same way. The difference is that Zuko's drive sometimes gives him a one-track mind while Katara is more flexible. Like for example Zuko being so focused on finding Aang before Sozin's Comet that he ignores Toph's story about her childhood versus Katara wanting to go to the North Pole but taking time to stop and help whoever they come across.

This passion also fuels their values and how strongly they stand by their beliefs. I already put The Painted Lady quote up above but Zuko's morality is what is making him so angry at himself during The Beach. He knows what he did was wrong, but he couldn't face it yet.

Sometimes their emotions get the better of them, but it's only because they are passionate about what they're doing.

Their natural teamwork is amazing

I can't provide a lot of clues in this bit because it's more of a visual thing. Just consider how flawlessly their plans worked during their attack on The Southern Raiders. Especially when you consider that it was a stealth mission so they barely even said anything to each other during and it still went incredibly well.

You could see it again during their mock battle with The Melon Lord. Sokka must have noticed because he paired them together to deliver some "liquidy-hot offence." And they pulled it off, again, without having to say anything.

They've only been a team for a few weeks(?), days(?) but they act as if they've been doing it for years.

They trust each other's judgment

Piggybacking of the previous point, Zuko and Katara have only been a team for a while but there seems to be a level of understanding in terms of judgement. They both know that whatever the other chooses is going to be a well-thought out decision. Maybe it's because they see each other as the mature members of the group even though Sokka is the same age as Zuko? I don't know.

Aang disappears right before they embark on their fight against the Fire Lord, and out of nowhere, Katara puts Zuko in charge.

Zuko: Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka. We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away. Katara: What should we do Zuko? Zuko: I don't know. Why are you all looking at me? Katara: Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang.

and that wasn't the first time in that episode that she went along with one of Zuko's decisions

Katara: Aang, don't walk away from this. *She begins to walk towards him as a hand touches her shoulder to stop her from doing so.* Zuko: Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself.

As a lot of people have pointed out during the entirety of The Southern Raiders, Zuko never gives a suggestion on what he thinks Katara should do. Aside from making it a stealth mission, he follows her lead the entire way.

Katara teases Zuko (and he lets her)

The fun one. This one has two parts: pre and post The Southern Raiders.

Before The Southern Raiders, Katara was tolerating Zuko. She was still angry with him about the betrayal at Ba Sing Se. Getting little jabs at him was the only thing that was really helping her from loosing her cool around him.

Katara: I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know... how it would have been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago? Zuko: Well it's not lost. It's just weaker for some reason. Katara: Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are. Toph: Ouch.

He just finished yelling at Aang and Sokka but all he does is glare at Katara. She does it again, but to be fair, he kind of set himself up for it.

Zuko: It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old! Katara: Oh yeah? What's your little form called? Zuko: ...The Dancing Dragon.

Then comes post The Southern Raiders and...yeah, she's still picking on him and he still lets her. Granted it's a lot more playful this time around.

Zuko: They make me totally stiff and humorless. Katara: Actually, I think that actor's pretty spot on. Zuko: How could you say that? Actor Uncle: Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages. Actor Zuko: How could you say that?! (Cut back to Katara wearing a satisfied grin on her face and she looks to an expressionless Zuko as he slouches in his seat.)

I love pointing it out every time. She teases him and he does nothing about it.

Katara: Er, no. I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this. Look at baby Zuko! Isn't he cute? Oh lighten up, I was just teasing.

And she admits it!

So what can we take away from this? From what little time they were given together (thanks, Bryke) it seems that Zuko and Katara really understand each other on an intimate emotional level. They can sense when the other is distressed and offer comfort. They're both passionate in and out of combat, for better or for worse. They're comfortable with each other as if they've known each other for years even though it's such a short time. Katara also likes to add a little bit of playfulness in there with Zuko letting her have her fun, again, showing how comfortable they are with each other.

I do think their relationship could have gone to romantic sooner than later if you would have given it a bit more time. Like first half of a hypothetical Book 4.

To me, at least.

#zutara #zuko #katara #anti kataang #anti bryke

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br-disaster · 5 years ago

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nie mingjue’s outfits appreciation post

This is way longer than I expected oh gods, please forgive me for it.

It’s a well known fact that Jiang Cheng has the best wardrobe of all CQL characters, I’m not here to argue with that, but I think it’s time for us to stop sleeping on Nie Mingjue’s absolutely fantastic fashion sense.

I mean have you seen him?? The man is out there serving looks even with the Nie sect limited color palette. Please let’s ignore the context here and just look at his robes

I wasn't sure if I should rank them, so I’ll just ramble about them in order of appearance:

1. The gray “I’m the boss” one

That’s the first time we ever see him and what can I say? He does leave an impression. We see him using these robes two times, in episodes 10-11 and on the beggining of Fatal Journey, as the first picture shows, which makes me wonder: Is this his stay-at-home set of robes? ‘Cause damn

I don’t know how I should comment on the particular details of his robes but I really appreciate how wide this extra fabric layer makes his shoulders look.

Really imposing and powerful look.

2. The Sunshot incredibly beautiful "this is how you win a war" one

Look, this one might be my favorite, it has EVERYTHING

Shoulder game is strong here, and this bronze-like color goes really well with his belt. Now let's talk about his outer robe for a moment, just THE COLOR I mean it's the prettiest shade of gray I've ever seen.

Also Long Sleeves

And a CAPE. A f**king CAPE. I'll never get over this look and I'm really glad the costume department let this king wear a cape again in Fatal Journey, he was made for it.

Next comes the inner layer that's not really a robe, as you can see when he's standing, but the silver pattern is what really does it for me, guys. It's probably the first thing you see once you look down from his face, 'cause I know we all get lost on that beautiful mustache, and it's perfect.

You can’t lead a war campaign if you don’t look good, I see.

3. The "I didn't really want to be here but I’m looking good anyway" one

It's so dark, it probably reflects how he was feeling during pretty much all the scenes he's in while wearing it.

Once again he accentuates his shoulders with an extra fabric except this time his sleeves are not long at all. I personally think he looks even more handsome like this, it makes his arms look bigger. What is it called? I don't know, but it matches his belt as well.

( Is it really a belt, guys? I don't wanna disrespect but I don't even know where to start looking for names nor I know other english names for belts)

The subtle golden/bronze details on the outer robe and on the inner robe's collar contrasts really well with the black and dark gray

Sad thing he looked really miserable wearing it :c

4. The "big event he seemed ok with attending" one

Dark again. But he didn't look as depressed as in the previous one, he actually had fun that day, which is good. Enough of tears and betrayal for now.

May be the wider sleeves he ever wore, perfect for clapping his hands like a happy toddler. There's also a lovely flowery pattern on the darker robe that you can easily miss if you don't pay enough attention.

For the first time his shoulders are not accentuated by fabric or shoulder pads and it's really nice to see him like this. We all love a buff Mingjue, but CQL Mingjue is not that buff and I love him just as much.

Really elegant, not as imposing and he has every right to want to look civil for once. It may be the series' way of telling us that he's not dressed for real combat or war, who knows.

5. The "all this just for a flashback?" one

Listen, this one right here is just AMAZING

I don't understand why they dressed him so beautifully for what? 10 minutes of a flashback. I wanted to see it for more than a couple os scenes!!

Everything here is different, so this will take time.

First: His inner robe, the first one, is not the usual black, it's light gray, it's lighter than his robes actually, and we don't see him wearing it like ever again since chronologically in the series this is the first robe he wears. Does it secretly mean that all went wrong from the moment he met MY? who knows

Second: The outer robe is fancy. There’s so many details to it and it may be the lighting of the scene, but it seems to be a warmer shade of gray, doesn’t it? The golden\bronze thin strip around the silver larger strip is perfect. It kinda has the opposite effect of his shoulder pads, since it makes his shoulders look a bit smaller but it’s so very elegant.

Third: The upper part of the inner robe. I mean who gave him the right to look that good ??? It’s dark but it has golden little shapes in it!! And it kinda looks like there’s a zipper in there because of that mid section. And oh to be a single jewel resting over Sect Leader Nie’s chest...

Fourth: The bottom part of the robe is also something new. We see pleats on Huaisang’s main robes, but never on Mingjue’s until now, that’s why I took the last screenshot, nothing to do with the bloody Baxia at all. I wish we could have seen them in pretty pleated robes together.

It probably contradicts what I said about his shoulder things being a code for battle, since the first thing we see him doing with this outfit is killing some guy/puppet; but for the rest of the time he wears it is peaceful

Honestly, imagine how Meng Yao felt. It was some fairy tale thing, wasn’t it? You’re a nobody eating bread and drinking water and then this king pops up out of nowhere and defends you from bullying and offers you a job and takes you home with him??

6.The “kick your local murderer down the stairs” one

I don’t really know what to say about this one. The context kind of ruined it for me, but let’s try.

It resembles the fourth outfit since it’s a really dark inner robe and a lighter and patterned outer robe. Except this one has this nice and shiny thin strips around the sleeves and the waist.

It’s pretty but not especially pretty in my opinion. If I were to rank the outfits, this one would rank last.

7. The “fighting qi deviation and needing emotional support” one

Fatal Journey, baby.

I know what I said about the second one, but this might be my favorite. It’s practical, no long sleeves or heavy outer robes. It’s also appropriate for horse riding, wich is great. The simple, sleeveless light gray outer robe is really nice.

There’s a cape again!! And I have to say the cape looks even better now that his sleeves are tighter, the way it falls gracefully on his back is perfect. I love the way it seems to be attached to the shoulder pad too.

The robes are simple but the thing is: The accessories are not.

His belt is now silver and if we ignore that the production team just painted it, we can assume he has two sets of identical waist belts, one is bronze and the other is silver. Now the final touch: The shoulder pads. This is what makes this outfit the most extra of them all. It’s silver and just so, so pretty I wanna cry everytime I look at them. I mean, the layers, the dragon\beast entire head makes him look so fierce and ready for the fight.

I wonder how comfortable they are tho.

10/10 would rank first place.

bonus: Baby Mingjue

We love a consistent king after all! Has he been wearing dark robes since he was a baby? We will never know. I love this dark yet translucent outer robe tho.

1000/10 the cutest and best dressed child out there.

Conclusion: Nie Mingjue is a fashion icon!

* Do not take this too seriously, I did zero research and english is not my first language. If there’s any terrible grammar mistakes, point them to me and i’ll edit it. If I’m somehow disrespecting Chinese culture, please also point it to me and I’ll apologize, edit or even delete the post.

#nie mingjue #cql #chen qing ling #mo dao zu shi #is this meta?? idk #poorly analyzing fashion choices #nie brothers #the untamed

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