#and that final scene was literally the worst cliffhanger EVER

[volunruud]

okay that was literally the worst episode ive ever seen.

[salad-006]

btw salad what's ur opinion on eddsworld legacy?

For the most part, i think legacy is Okay. It's not the Best, but its nice to see so many people come together to finish off the show. I can respect all the work these guys did, especially tomska.

If you came for my option on the season and thats it you can leave, because the rest of this is me going crazy mode

My only real problems lie with only 2-3 episodes, and it drives me Crazy because they're By Far the most popular, so they've caused the most problems. This one question ended up becoming a giantic essay SORRY im just passionate about ebbworld

Keep in mind these are Just my options, I'm not going to look down on you if you're the number one The End Fan. If you like it then Cool, you can continue to enjoy it. And i can continue to hate it over in my corner

I'm keeping this section on Fun Dead short, mostly because it's not really the worst offender

The "Obliviously stupid to progress the plot" trope is so bad here. They've seen zombies before how do they not recognize them now. I get them being oblivious to super obvious things is the joke ,but its just not funny

For a Zombie centric episode, there's barely any Fighting. I feel like big fight scenes are what people like most with these. But no we get a 30 second montage, one that's not even animated

They are such wusses in this episode id bully them if i was there i think

The End. Don't even get me started on The End. Legitimately i have never seen such a botched finale in my life. Fair warning this is about to get long and angry im sorry

Let me ask one question: how come in the Finale To Eddsworld Legacy, the season Dedicated to Edd Gould and his work, Edd Himself does not play a prominent role? I'm not even kidding, you could write Edd out completely and Nothing would change. Ive heard people say this was Tomska going out with a bang before leaving the show, but from what i know he also wanted eddsworld to be completely over at The End. If that's true he could have atleast let Edd shoot the harpoon or some shit, come on

This is such a disappointing finale overall. They don't do anything exciting. We just get to watch a little "do you remember this episode?" Montage, all the sudden everything gets crazy then oh! Episodes over goodbye forever.

An end fight might have been more exciting had it been set up properly. They gave us the bare minimum, which was having tords stupid little gang tag appear a few times then having two of his coworkers/soldiers appear a few times. That doesn't hint at a Tord being an evil meglomaniac who's got a giant fucking robot hidden under the house

FUTURE EDD CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AS WELL, AND HE WORKS GREAT BECAUSE HE SETS UP THE LORE IMMEDIATELY. Tords return gave us Nothing beyond "he is manipulating them!!" Instead we get the book dropped on us halfway through the LAST EPISODE OF THE SEASON without ever being given any sort of explanation. That's just it.

ALSO FUCK BRINGING TORD BACK AT ALL. the dude asked to be removed from the show and what did they do? Hinted at his return like 15 times then had him come back as this manipulative mastermind, whos got a bunch of science stuff and a russian accent. At the bare minimum you could have writtten him to atleast resemble something close to Tord. There's literally more evidence that points to him being a clone than there is him being the real Tord, and it WASN'T EVEN INTENTIONAL.

Took a character who had left with all his loose ends tied up, brought him back with completely new unexplained info, then ended the show with both the original and the new loose ends untied. I've read this was Tomska trying to write Tord out of the show for good, but he somehow managed to do the complete opposite by leaving him at a LITERAL cliffhanger. Now all the 12 year olds are @ ing eddsworld begging he comes back for a redemption episode.

I could scream forever about the end but ive already said too much SORRY. This is why im just rewritting it myself to make it good

One last thing: its somewhat heartbreaking to me how Legacy has totally overgrown the classic episodes. Of the top Ten most popular videos on the channel, Seven of them are legacy episodes, with Edds three episodes being at the very bottom of the list

I just don't like it. I dont like how legacy has become like the Face of what eddsworld is. Maybe it's just because Edds work has been one of the biggest inspirations in my life (if that wasn't obvious already) IDK it seems unfair

Tldr: i dont like what legacy has done to the series and the fandom, but it's okay for the most part. Fuck The End though

[e17omm]

Interesting. Welp, lots of thoughts about HSR 2.2 below.

Lots of thoughts so Ill start with a checklist.

Firefly: good so far. It doesnt seem like she hates her life being trapped in the SAM suit, and thats good. I was worried they were going to make her despise having to be Sam. Seems that she can survive for a while without the suit, which I find fine.

Now as long as they make her fight AS Sam and they wont really have screwed up anything with her. Not everyone needs to have superpowers. Let Firefly's powers come through Sam. She'll be a really unique character that way. Seriously, who else fights using a mechanical body armor like an anime Iron Man in a Hoyoverse game? I'd have no issues with Firefly then.

Well, except one thing, but I'll get to that later.

Now, the fucking plot twist? Holy shit. This really went from "that was kinda anticlimactic. We really went from "we do the cool thing" to "someone else does the cool thing" to "we pass out before we see the cool thing" like, really? Everythings solved and we're already ready to leave? We get on the train, have a chat with everyone, vote on where to go. And (presses hands together in front of my mouth) holy fucking shit.

My one issue is that I wish they actually ended the 2.2 story after the plot twist reveal. Of all the "cliffhangers" and "plot twists" they have tried to do, THIS WAS THE SPOT TO DO IT. THIS WAS IT. This was HUGE. Its in the third Penacony mission, so it would have avoided that thing with "oh yeah you totally wiped out the Herrscher of Dominance halfway through the second chapter" thing. Like, this is the end. We're done. We won and are leaving. In the 3rd story mission. This was THE moment to reveal the plot twist, just barely start it to not leave everyone confused, and then end it and save it for a 4th story mission in 2.3

But it was way too short. It was way too easy to just, get all the crucial pieces and solve the puzzle. We started Act 3 of the story and it only lasted like 20 minutes. It really could have done with SOME difficulty in getting all the important pieces to solve everything.

But we just learn about the plot twist, everyone important groups up, and we fight the final boss. Just like that.

Next on the list, Acheron! Or should I say, Raiden Mei? When that shadow asked for her name, I was PRAYING that Hoyo knew what they were doing, and they did! They didnt skimp out on it! Didnt go the whole "I have lost my memory of it" which would have been such a cop-out. But nope! They did it!

And the Honkai music? Fuck I had chills. And this is pure nostalgia of the best parts of HI3. Those parts were so good that you remember the music and the feelings you had with those notes.

I cant remember much of the music at the later stages of HI3. The story just hasnt grabbed me like chapters 5 to 25 did. (Hoyo should take notes of their own work, ngl)

Now... onto "Death"

"Death" might be the WORST character design I have ever seen. Not from the looks, but from their role in the story and how Hoyo uses it.

A shady character shows up, pulls out a gun, and shoots another character in the head. And later you tell me that that wasnt actually a murder? Bullshit. Get that garbage out of here.

And you know the worst part? ONE SCENE is what ruined "Death" for me.

Firefly's "Death" scene. Delete it. It ruins so much. She is the only one we see "Death" "killing". Why. She's not dead. Why did you show that "Death" "kills" like that? Who sat down and wrote that part? Literally just make us not see this scene and heavily imply that it killed her like they implied that "Death" killed everyone else and this would've been fine!

I can buy that Robin and Sunday are alive because we see neither of them dying. Robin is off-screen and Sunday is hidden from the camera.

But we saw a death when it killed Firefly.

Next time someone is shot in the head on screen I will be expecting it to be an imposter, a stunt actor, an illision, or WHATEVER ELSE. BECAUSE EVEN WHEN THEY SHOW DEATH THEY CHICKEN OUT. AND ALL THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED IF FIREFLY'S TRACES DISAPPEARED RIGHT BEFORE WE COULD SEE HER. WE COULD EVEN SEE "DEATH" SNEAKING AWAY AS WE ENTER THE ROOM. BUT DONT SHOW THE DEED BEING DONE.

...

Onto the final boss. ... Its... I mean, the boss fight is neat. Um, not sure if Hoyo now thinks that "big thing is intimidating" but this boss was just kinda, eh.

We've already defeated two big things with Cocolia's (now our) mecha, and then Phantylia. And now this sympthony thing.

Uh, Hoyo does know that big doesnt immediately equal "intimidating" or "scary" or "impressive", right? I just wanna be sure. Because this boss is none of that.

Uh the music also get a bit too pop-star-y? Its not bad, I just feel like it goes against the tone of what the story wanted this moment to feel like.

I also wish that Acheron actually did something to help in the end. She kinda just "eh well you can fight now. Me? Byeeeee~" I know that she had a glory moment in 2.1, but like, come on. Sunday just gives up fighting because we told him that people dream in order to wake up. Which doesnt sound philosophical enough to me to make Sunday have a freaking reality check and fall from the platform in shock and defeat.

Hoyo has really been trying to make so much of their stories in the Honkaiverse have a higher meaning and be a matter on philosophy, and then they keep asking why birds fly and I am so fucking tired of it.

Like, this is all they got and its not even a joke.

So, yeah. I kinda really wanted IX to show up and just, consume Penacony. That would've been cool and been decently foreshadowed. Could have had everyone go numb or like, whatever happens to us when we get close to IX in the Simulated Universe, and then have most people try to scramble to the ships to gtfo, and then have IX appear and consume the place.

But as long as we head to the Edo Star next, I'll be happy.

A place under attack by the Antimatter Legion and their distress signal recently went out? Send me there. Right now. Not even a question. I want to see the Antimatter Legion actually live up to what everyone has said about them. Dont fucking bait me on this Hoyo.

Oh yeah, another thing before I finish this!

Where are our ability to hear Stellarons? Did Hoyo forget that we can hear the voice of Stellarons? That is like, one of the most interesting parts about the Trailblazer!

Imagine a world where we get to Penacony in 2.0, and everything's fine and the same as it was. Except... we can hear the voice of a Stellaron. But, there's no signs of it. There's no Fragmentums. There's no sign of it at all. But we keep hearing its voice.

It could have slowly told us the story of Penacony over the course of these three patches so that we didn't have to get a history lesson before the climax of the story.

It would have easily added some mystery and questions while basically requiring no changes to the current story. Is there a Stellaron on Penacony, or are WE the only Stellaron on Penacony?

Speaking of the Stellaron inside of us... It has barely mattered after Belobog...

Hoyo... This should be a big deal throughout the story. Herta is shocked that a human body can host a Stellaron. We can hear the voices of other Stellarons. We could go nuclear if it goes out of control. Why has it not really mattered after Belobog? Hoyo, this isnt something you should just wave off like you have been doing with the Traveler's ability to wield 5 of the 7 elements. Dont make the same mistake twice.

This is dragging out, but I just keep remembering more things!

Hoyo, please dont tell me that you are unable to make long-term stories anymore. Everything has been self-contained recently. And sure, you've TRIED to make it feel like it has a larger impact, but in the end it always hasnt.

HI3 Part 1.5? It MIGHT be important later. I dunno if Vita has any importance at all to part 2 so far. All the regions in GI are basically self contained. You could take Mondstadt Traveler and toss them straight into Fontaine and you would basically not have to change them at all. All of HSR has also been rather self-contained. Happy that Dan didnt actually call the Luofu, that would have just made this all seem even more miniscule and also extremely convenient.

But... Remember when Himeko fucking died and the next 16 chapters was the fallout of that? Remember when we could have big story moments that still mattered for more than 3 months of real time?

Penacony's story is over, and I dont think that anything that happened here will have any impact on the next destination. Did we even actually pick up any new crewmembers?! Please tell me that the cowboy and Black Swan actually joins us for a while. You Chekhov's Gun'd it all the way back in Belobog!

So in short. I liked Penacony act 2 and 3 a lot. Not close to anything in HI3 chapters 5 to 25, but it was good. Could have been a lot better with (imo) rather small changes.

Also wtf is up with Hoyo's budget allocations? They put so much budget into the filler generic battle part of act 3. That was so much effort put into just filler. What's up with that?

[justafairytailofinnocence]

I just found your blog and I literally read everything you’ve written and all I have to say about is, I’m absolutely in love with it! I was hoping if you don’t mind, can you do a part two for The Prank of the Sea? I detect a cliffhanger there and would love to read more of it! :)

Davy Jones x reader🐙👧

A prank of the sea🎉 🌊

Chapter 2

Synopsis: It had been sometime since the incident, davy had grown soft for y/n and he gets quite protective of her.

Warnings: blood, a scene of gore.

The Flying Dutchman sailed with the strong ghast of wind blowing against the shredded, torn sails. The waves beneath the Dutchman pushed out of it’s way as it carried the vessel, the ship bounced up and down as it pushed through the sea. Upon the top deck of the ship, Davy proudly held his gaze out for any on coming lost ships or in other words lost souls. Davy kept his sight on the horizon; his tentacles twitched with a thought, a thought that bothered him. Ever since the incident that happened a few days ago, he hadn’t been able to concentrate, perhaps the thought of the one person that cared for him would’ve been lost forever. The pain of losing someone you care about hurts more then any sword or bullet being plunged into your chest, it lingers, the thought lingers for eternity. An eternity that spills your life forever, Davy already felt this pain, the day he lost his beloved and turned into a monster.

Davy’s eyes were keeping a close eye on the horizon, his gaze scanned the seas when suddenly he spotted y/n sitting against the railing. Y/n’s hair blew back against the wind as the ship gained speed, the crewmates were all at their stations while the guards dogs whipped them. Y/n blocked the sound of the screams from her mind; she was enjoying the view of the sea. They only arise to the surface once a year, she was making the most of the sun soaking into her skin.

Davy kept his eyes on the girl, she made him feel things that haven’t been felt for centuries. It was unknown as to what but the soft feeling made him vouch for her, although he didn’t dare tell this to anyone. The tentacles on Davys beard curled and drooped, a sign he seemed relaxed at the sight of the girl. While y/n was smiling at the sight of the sun, a crewmember with the head of a shark barked at her from a distance.

“Yer thar, girl, get back ta yer duty” he shouted.

Y/n rolled her eyes at the shark head sailor, she wasn’t afraid of them, Davy was the captain and what orders he gives, she’ll only follow. The Shark head was getting infuriated at this point and growled sinisterly, he stormed over holding the whip. “Less ye don’t get back te yer station, I’ll kill yar” he shouted.

Y/n didn’t back down, she stood her ground “Captain Jones hasn’t given out any orders”.

To the shark head he saw this as an excuse for the girl to slack off, with a growl he showed no mercy. The whip came to the side of y/n’s arm, she yelped in pain. “Tha be yer final warning” he growled, y/n took a glance at her elbow, it was red with a rash that started to drizzle blood. Y/n looked up in fear, her heart was racing, the shark head rose his arm back laughing at the girls expense in fear. Y/n closed her eyes preparing for the worst outcome however just as the sailor nearly threw his arm forward, he cried out in pain. “ARRRRRR” he shouted; his arm landed on the ground with a loud thud. Y/n opened her eyes, in the moment of the gore fest she looked behind the sailor. A sword with shining dark red, mouldy liquid stained the metal; blood dripped from the surface of the tip.

Davy curled his tentacles in anger, he stood against the sailor in intimidation “I did na’ expect mah crew, ta’ turn on each other”. The shark head froze in terror as he saw the captain behind him “Ya ta’ get back ta yar post-ah laddie ah’ I feed yar ta’ tha kraken”. The one-armed shark head flinched with pain as he picked up the whip, Davy glared at the sailor as he hobbled away. Y/n placed her hand on her chest, her mind was still trying to process the shock of the incident. Davy turned toward y/n; his attention was caught against the slash on y/n’s arm. Y/n held her hand over the slash, she didn’t want to show Davy, she wanted to be seen as tough.

“It’s, it’s nothing Davy really, just a scratch aye” Y/n smiled with reassurance.

Davy observed her arm more closely, a sneer formed on the captains face as he hoisted his sword. The tentacles below his chin curled and flailed about in rage, he was plotting to kill the sailor.

 “He’ll bah disposed o’-ah!”Davy growled.

Y/n quickly jumped to her feet and grabbed Davy by the shoulder “no, it wasn’t his fault, I should’ve been following orders”. The captain turned, in a fit of rage, his claw gripped the sword extremely hard. Y/n followed her hand from the touch of the captains wet coat, her hand trailed up onto Davy’s cheek. The slimy sensation didn’t bother her that much, her hand to Davy felt soft and warm, unlike the sailors, she was human.

The eyes on his demeanour softened, his tentacles curled up reaching y/n’s hand, they softly gripped the girl’s skin. Y/n smiled with light, Davy backed away with confusion, instead he looked back and forth to find some excuse. “I bah sorry yar arm bah hart’ from ma crew” he awkwardly mumbled. Y/n in response smiled as she showed she wasn’t affected by it “don’t worry, tis only a scratch”.

Davy nodded in response, he didn’t know how to exactly comfort y/n from pain, only because he knew how to create it. “Davy, since that day, I forgave you, I forgave you for hurting me” y/n muttered “I guess my blessing is giving life to those that need it”.

The captain twitched his tentacle, he didn’t exactly want to appear soft in front of another member of his crew. Instead, he turned away "yar blessing’s healed mah heart”. Y/n grew shocked when she heard the captain mutter something so kind, it was the first time she had ever heard of the captain being kind to anyone. Davy returned to his position; his eyes softened as he recalled the touch of the girl’s hand.

Perhaps in another life, he would’ve set her free to walk amongst mankind so he could be cursed with seeing her smile.

Anyways that's all I have for now:

Ta Ta ✨️

[starry-mist]

S4e16 thoughts:

Help. I am in a glass case of emotion. It's just SO GOOD.

Charlie to Maya about the attack on Rebel: That must be your worst nightmare.

Because this is literally his worst nightmare.

Jesse asking Sarah how Charlie's doing is awesome, because he knows that she's going to be perceptive in this situation when it comes to him and Rex.

The unraveling of Sarah's relationship with Michael would have worked so much better if it had been spread over several episodes. Though I suppose one could take the lying in episode 14 as a symptom that things are perhaps not all that solid, but the forgiveness after that...ugh. I don't love how they handled the relationship in general, but in hindsight I will accept it as the obvious plot device that it was.

(Also, Michael totally adopted Bentley, fight me.)

In another universe, I would totally ship Charlie with his vet (I forget if they've given her a name.)

The team seems to finally be acknowledging that Charlie is not okay. Way to go for realizing this after how many months? Solid investigative skills there, team...But anyway, there's no way Charlie should have been on this case, and he should have been pulled from it after taking Maya to the scene where she beat up a suspect. Oops.

The Charlie and Michael scene. Damn. Whip them out, boys. (Watch this post get flagged as mature content.)

Rex making the rounds at the station to give each of his humans some comfort. Love that for them.

Charah finally having some actual conflict. Yessssssss. Give me more.

Let’s pretend Sarah's hair doesn’t change lengths multiple times over the span of this ep…

It's amusing to see Henry Higgins from Murdoch Mysteries as a bad guy.

I could watch Charlie walk into the lab and say “you were right” a thousand times. (It's possible I have at this point.)

"When you want somebody who isn’t available" YOU PUT ON YOUR BIG BOY PANTS AND FUCKING DEAL, CHARLIE. But he gets points for actually finally TALKING ABOUT HIS FEELINGS.

The bullpen is such an awkwardly public place for a breakup.

The literal cliffhanger. Help, I have died. I still want to see the alternate ending they apparently filmed though.

Rest in peace, Paul Pope. If you haven't ever done so, I highly recommend searching articles about him/interviews with him. He did so much for the Newfoundland film scene. This show would not exist without his efforts.

[shygaifu]

#31 - Shuriken Sentai Ninninger

...Really? This is what everyone thinks the "worst season ever" is?

Ninninger was a very mixed bag for me, doing some things really well and others very poorly. It wasn't anything groundbreaking, but it was consistently fun throughout, and still worth the watch IMHO.

Starting with the bad, the characters. You have a lot of fun characters individually, but the problem is their interactions, or rather, their lack of interactions. Much like Goseiger, each of the protagonists feels tied at the hip to another protagonist (Takaharu and Fuuka, Yakumo and Kasumi, Nagi and crippling character neglect), not allowed to interact with any other members of the main cast. Takaharu breaks free of this, obviously, but it's not like he gets any character growth as a result, nor does anyone besides Kinji, really.

Speaking of Kinji, though, his introduction was stellar. Such a fun dynamic with the rest of the team, and I'm glad it lasted more than just one episode. Easily the most I've been invested in a 6th Ranger's introduction since Gosei Knight.

I wish I could say the same about the villains, but this is sadly the weakest cast of them we've ever had by a long shot. Kyuuemon is the only vaguely interesting one, and even then he pales in comparison to any other main antagonist. No, I'm not calling Gengetsu the main antagonist, you can literally count the lines of dialogue he has before the endgame on one hand. Kyuuemon's redemption in the final episode also felt severely rushed and unearned, but the Returns movie actually expanded upon the ending quite a bit, for once.

Finally, to wrap up the character dissection, we have to talk about the power-ups. This season was...odd, in that regard. Based solely on its design, the Chozetsu Brace is clearly meant to be used by Takaharu and Takaharu alone, which leads to him hogging a lot of the later fight scenes despite the series generally not being too red-focused. But...the other members of the team get to use it anyways? Never more than once (besides Yakumo) though, and not everyone even gets to transform with it. Kasumi was ROBBED, easily my favorite of the cast by the way. For once, I really vibed with a Pink Ranger, probably because the two girls on the team didn't fall into the cookie-cutter "feminine and tomboy" archetypes. Oh yeah, Kinji got a power-up too, for some reason. I like the concept of the 6th getting their own power-up, since they never seem to get to use the main one, but...Kinji literally does. And his unique power-up is woefully underdesigned by comparison. Overall, a very bizarre blend between how Shinkenger (peak) and Kyoryuger (ass) handled their power-up.

Now onto the mechs. I honestly really liked the mech fights at first, probably the second best so far outside of Go-Busters (third if we're counting Kyoryuger Brave, but we're not, the mech fights are that show's only redeeming quality). Having an actual flexible costume make up the base of the mech allows for more interesting fight scenes, and I wish they let Shinobimaru see more use. Same goes for Rodeomaru. As per usual, the first few episodes shit out random auxilary mecha we see once or twice then never again, but I honestly don't mind. It gives the genuinely important mechs more screentime.

This series also had a bizarre obsession with cliffhangers. I think over half of all the episodes ended on one, even if it was something totally mundane that had no right to be a cliffhanger. Still, despite its fetish for cliffhangers, Ninninger was overall a fun show with surprisingly good comedy here and there.

Current Sentai Ranking:

[tenchiforum]

Top 10 Worst Tenchi Muyo! Episodes in 2022 #30YearsofTenchi

Original post and results

It’s finally here! The top 10 worst episodes of Tenchi Muyo! as voted on by YOU, the fans. Here’s what you chose! 10. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA5 EP3 – “Welcome to Tabletop Island”

Starting off the list is OVA5 episode 3 “Welcome to Tabletop Island”. Earlier in OVA5, the characters are told about Tabletop Island, a place that is essentially a tropical paradise that would be good for Kenshi’s development, because at this point the plot literally revolves around whether or not anything will affect Kenshi going to Geminar. This is where we are introduced to the characters from the Paradise War novels. You wouldn’t know this because they don’t properly introduce anyone and these characters are in a spin-off of a spin-off. Episode three is actually somewhat ambitious though, in that the characters actually move around instead of just sitting the entire episode. This results in one of the worst animations in the series in Tenchi “jumping” through the trees and not even connecting with them. As the episode goes on, Tenchi starts to remember that he has a large group of women around him, and has a moment with Ryoko on the beach at night. This is where the episode makes probably one of its worst mistakes. Ryoko starts reminiscing about events from OVA1, with the episode showing us the redrawn scene from OVA1 of her sitting around the fire and destruction of Jurai, reminding the viewer of when the main characters in Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki were actually the main characters and they actually did anything other than talk. To end it, Tenchi says he’s “envious of Seina“, and decides the harem is now.

9. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA3 EP2 – “Fiancée”

The third OVA series of Tenchi Muyo! is often pointed to as the fall from grace for Tenchi as a franchise, and episode two of OVA3 is absolutely the prime example of why. Beginning from the cliffhanger of the first episode where Tenchi believes he sees his long-dead mother in the flesh—a plot point that has been the source of many poignant and moving moments throughout the franchise—OVA3 episode two decides to say just kidding, it’s actually his 80 year old sister who he (and everyone else) has never seen before. Her purpose? To introduce Tenchi’s fiancée of course! We’re then greeted to this green haired woman named Airi, who is also his grandmother because hey you surely must have watched GXP right? Within 30 seconds of being introduced to many for the first time, Airi singlehandedly lays out the fan favorite Ryoko, uncontested. His fiancée you ask? Noike Kamiki Jurai, Mihoshi’s “long-time partner”, who no one has ever seen before unless you, again, watched GXP—but lets be real, no one likes GXP—who then proceeds to spend the rest of the episode showing how she’s fit to be the “main” girl over the rest. If there exists a checklist on how not to introduce new characters and plot points to a well-established series, this episode checks off every single one of those boxes. Arguably the worst part of this episode is the pretension by which all of these new characters treat the older, established, beloved characters we all know and love. As Ryoko is acting predictably as Ryoko would (and should) to word of Tenchi having a fiancée out of nowhere, Tennyo says back coldly, “This was all decided long before either of you were in the picture.” As if to say nothing you can do will matter, that regardless of if you like it or not, this is how it is. A theme you’ll notice is unfortunately repeated ad nauseum and with greater intensity as the OVA continues.

8. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA3 Special – “Final Confrontations”

Final Confrontations opens up with the world being reset, again, after a failed universal reset, and finally ties up the Misao Kuramitsu arc, not before, of course, giving Ryoko another beating. Then the episode gets to probably why it was voted onto this list and very easily makes it one of the worst episodes of Tenchi Muyo! period: the complete character assassination and retcon of Tenchi’s mother. The one thing that the Ryo-Ohki OVA had never done was go in-depth on why Tenchi’s mother had died. Up to this point, we knew Tenchi’s mother as a calm, sweet, gentle soul who would do anything for Tenchi. Well, as it turns out, this characterization was all a ruse! You see, actually, apparently, everyone but Tenchi knew that Kiyone Masaki was actually a lunatic, who loved to write “idiot” on people's heads when they would get hurt, and was generally a mean-spirited, horrible person. (more on that later) Oh, and those good ol’ memories Tenchi has? (ie. the one’s all the fans have) actually those can be attributed to either his newly-introduced 80 year old sister, Tennyo, OR his new “old” not actually yet stepmother, Rea. What really puts it over the top though, is when Tenchi runs off to Ryoko’s cave to get away from this lunacy. First, Rea shows up and gaslights Tenchi into thinking that his memories of Kiyone are wrong and he should face “reality”, then Noike comes over and basically says “Oh, you think that’s bad? I was an orphan because my parents left me because my mom sucks, that’s life huh?” and finishes it off with quote “I had a chance to see her for who she really was, and I guess that sometimes that’s all we’re gonna get, right?” Imagine, after 12 years of fantastic characterization in virtually every medium from every other creator previously, writing this line and expecting people to take it seriously.

Tied for 6 & 7. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA5 EP6 – “The Max Level (?) Hero Departs”

One might think that surely, the last episode of OVA5 would be solely dedicated to the “main” characters of Tenchi Muyo! but at this point, who even are those characters, really? If you go by this OVA you would think it was the characters of the GXP and Paradise War novels, as well as the spin-off series, Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari, or as Funimation knew was the only way to sell it and have people care about it, Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar. One of the most talked about things by fans of the last three decades has been who Tenchi is going to have kids with, something Ryoko fans in particular have seen could be a possibility for a long time.

Well, she does, but it’s not this supersweet moment, it’s not the house coming together to help with the birth or hearing the first cries, Tenchi holding Ryoko and the baby. No, it’s an afterthought to Kenshi’s training montages. The same follows for Ayeka, and eventually even Ryo-Ohki, yes, Tenchi has sex with Ryo-Ohki.

Anyway, back to what matters, we finally hear from Tokimi that it’s time to send Kenshi to Geminar, and we do, with Nobuyuki and Ryo-Ohki crying and the music building up to the moment where Rea’s spell is broken and she’s “free”. Only for Washu to say, not only can they watch him, but if anything happens, they can just pull him back.

So then… Why all this build-up? Does anyone really believe that if they couldn’t save Geminar, that they would really let Rea die or have anything bad happen to her? Also, why are we focusing on Geminar so much in the first place? In a series where consequences no longer exist, what effect would letting Geminar’s society disintegrate have on Earth, or even our universe that is in another dimension? Naturally, the only thing that matters now, is that Kenshi has made it to Geminar, and OVA5 has fulfilled its purpose.

& Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA4 EP3 – “Oath and Wish”

The big day for Rea and Nobuyuki is finally here. Before we can get to that, we have to do more talking, in particular getting Rea inducted into the Masaki Village Counsel (yes apparently where they live is now called Masaki Village, yes this was only brought up anime-wise in OVA4). In this episode alone there are 42 unique characters on screen.

42.

Back in the day, OVA series were able to have a unique following outside of traditional ways of broadcasting by having bigger budgets per episode and more risqué content. In 2016 however, doing an OVA means that you have no budget and can’t get any sponsors. A point made abundantly clear by the two dozen nameless women sitting right next to each other with the same exact face. The most interesting thing that happens, and arguably the highlight of OVA4, is finding out that Rea, Tenchi’s new unassuming stepmother is actually an artificial human from another dimension… And that she was sent from her world to ours without her knowledge because of a rampaging mechanoid named Gaia that was going to destroy the Final Fantasy-like prior civilization that was Geminar. She is found by Kiyone Masaki after isekai-ing, and that’s her connection to Tenchi, Nobuyuki, and Kiyone, and the reason why Kenshi goes to Geminar.

Everything I just wrote, sadly, is infinitely more efficient and interesting than how it plays out on screen, with most of that being done as, you guessed it, exposition between Azusa, Seto, and Washu.

5. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA4 EP4 – “Good Days, Departure”

The last episode of OVA4 starts off with Kenshi being born and a very quick montage of him as a child before a very jarring time skip to a few years later. This episode in particular is 29 minutes long, and 25 minutes of it is just sitting and talking about Kenshi and whether to send him to Geminar. Literally, that’s it. You switch back and forth between only two scenes of characters sitting and talking, 15 women in one and 6 men in the other.

One person on crunchyroll referred to it as quote “‘Sitting and Talking’ the anime” and that is exactly what it is. The pacing is abysmally slow and uninteresting, which is actually a feat when OVA4 manages to do this for three episodes already. It is mind-numbing to such a degree that OVA4 episode four might be the only anime episode to make fanservice and anime food look boring just by association and proximity. There’s a golden rule called “Show, don’t tell“, often attributed to Anton Chekhov, where the writer should show the reader or viewer the scene instead of describing it in words.

OVA4 and this episode in particular are the literal opposite of that.

4. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA5 EP1 – “Step Mother, Step Sister, Inheritance, and…”

One would think, seeing six brand new episodes coming out for a series would be a good thing, but in the case of OVA5, episode one wastes no time at claiming its rightful spot among the worst of the worst ever. For some reason, two whole years after OVA4 (production wise) and almost 15 years after OVA3, the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA continues to find ways to want to desecrate Kiyone Masaki. In what ways you ask? The first 10 minutes of OVA5 are solely dedicated to it as a matter of fact. Rea and Tennyo (who now has dark grey hair, because why not) sit down and talk (or more accurately, Tennyo complains) about how much of a burden her mother was to everyone. How Kiyone Masaki is now a scatterbrained genius hoarder who stole things from the academy for her research. But we have to make sure that Rea’s character gets fluffed up too, so Rea says that she should have gotten an aide. To which Tennyo exclaimed that they called Nobuyuki a quote, “god, a saint, and the ultimate masochist” at the Galaxy Academy for marrying Kiyone. She treated him so badly, in fact, that the human rights commission conducted an investigation into his well-being.

I’m gonna repeat that one more time: a human rights commission conducted an investigation into Nobuyuki’s well-being because of how badly Kiyone treated him. To which Rea and Tennyo thank each other for not being that.

Speaking of bad, this episode has some of the most god-awful art in the entirety of Tenchi. The screenshot above is also not in-between shots from the show, that's a keyframe. That's on screen for more than a second.

And before we get off the subject of Kiyone, because the show literally won’t let us now, we find out what her whole purpose was with her research in the first place. After hearing via Nobuyuki’s journals that Kiyone inflicted quote “psychological terror” in their relationship, we hear that the plan “all along” (now from Tennyo via the journals but also from everyone in OVA4) was to send Kenshi back to Geminar, but then Tenchi was born and got in the way of that and Kiyone died.

Tenchi being born got in the way of the main plot. Kajishima Good Hank‘d Tenchi Masaki in a show named after him.

This is bad fan fiction. This would give even the worst Ken Penders comic a run for its money.

3. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA4 EP2 – “The Masaki Destiny”

Continuing from where episode one left off, episode two of OVA4 does more of the same, talking about Rea’s wedding. The first 10 minutes are dedicated to characters from GXP and Rea talking about the upcoming wedding and sending Seina’s friend off. That’s one of the other huge problems with OVA4 and 5 and is a cardinal sin in storytelling, they don’t make any attempt to even tell you who some of these characters are. If you have only watched the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA and are a casual fan, or heck even if you’ve watched all of the Kajishima anime, you’re still flying blind. OVA3 at least made the attempt at explaining who a new character was and their association to the OVA from another series, but here? You’re out of luck. There’s also more changing of backstories to minor characters who are now more important. Tenchi’s aunt from the first episode of OVA2? She’s actually the sister of the old woman who runs the onsen from the earlier OVA, but if you blink you’ll miss it because she refers to her by name (which you wouldn’t know just by watching the OVA) as sister, once.

There’s also the continued degradation of Kiyone Masaki, still, 10 years after OVA3 came out, with instances like Yosho telling Nobuyuki he’s become meaner, probably by being close to Kiyone. The rest of the episode is dedicated to Tenchi’s space aunt from the first episode of OVA4 getting close to Tenchi and taking a bath with him and doing totally normal things an aunt would do. Daughter of Darkness made you wince and recoil at the incest, but OVA4 celebrates it. When Tenchi’s aunt announces that they’re going to take a bath, Ryoko and Ayeka question it. Bear in mind this episode takes place at the same time as OVA3, where just the mention of another girl with Tenchi would send Ryoko off the wall. Now? Ryoko just goes “Oh, I guess that’s how it is.” and goes back to just doing nothing.

Whatever this show is now, it is Tenchi Muyo! in name only.

2. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: OVA5 EP5 – “I am sure you have your opinion on the matter, but please consider the matter closed”

Episode 5 starts off with another time-skip and yet more exposition about how Kenshi is doing. Shocker, I know at this point. In particular, Minaho (that’s Tenchi’s space aunt who says she looks just like his mother but doesn’t look like her at all) laments about how Kenshi is being groomed to Seto’s liking, (even though everyone agreed at the end of OVA4 to do this) she is “trying” to change the direction of it, but is too powerless to change it. Remember kids, if things in life aren’t going your way, never try and change things and just suffer, because I am sure you have your opinion on the matter, but please consider the matter closed.

The episode ends with Tenchi finally getting around to making the harem ending “official”. Where despite the fact that Azusa says this will more than likely cause conflict, screw it, it’s happening. That’s one of the worst aspects of this show, is the answer to every question is “that’s just how it is.” Which, in turn, just makes the entire thing look like a contrived charade. Why does no one ever go against the grain? All this does is make you want to root against the “main” characters, not for them. Every single instance of a character showing even an inkling of controversial thinking or conflict, internal or external, is immediately hand-waived away as a non-issue and never comes up again. Everything is in service to getting Kenshi to Geminar and Seina and Tenchi settling down.

Oh, and according to Tenchi the catalyst for him getting married now is because of quote “hearing about Seina-kun’s wedding plans.”

To quote AnimatedEmpress on this episode, “The animators, the subtitlers, everyone is honestly tired of this OVA and Kajishima’s bullshit at this point.

1. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA4 EP1 – “The Day Before the Party”

Episode 1 of OVA4 being number one on the list is fitting for a number of reasons, even though there are somehow demonstrably worse episodes that follow it. That reason could be because OVA4 represents the ultimate line being crossed in the minds of fans that can never be crossed back over, the effects of a collective Baader–Meinhof phenomenon finally playing out to its conclusion. Yet another badly animated, stilted, soulless pastiche of the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA can no longer be seen as a fluke, it was intended. This is the world of Masaki Kajishima laid bare for all to see completely unrestrained, unhinged, and unencumbered by any other human input, and devoid of any excuse for its shortcomings one could muster from any previous tired mental gymnastics session with the Ryo-Ohki OVA. That ugly but inconvenient truth plays out here, committing multiple egregious sins in storytelling, the most important of which is that it is painfully boring when it doesn’t have to be, purely because Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is no longer made for millions of fans around the world, it is made in spite of them, and explicitly for an audience of one.

[altruistic-meme]

AFTG fic recs

Hi all! I just wanted to share some of my all-time favorite fanfics for aftg, for no real reason other than I want more people to read them and send their love to the authors :) 

Under a readmore because it got. A little long. But please enjoy!

WIPs

Dangerous Habits by LovelyLittleGrim ( @lovelylittlegrim )

Andrew has run into problems while on undercover jobs before. None of those problems were anything like the troublesome runaway that is one Nathaniel Wesninski

Aka: the fic where Andrew is undercover as a hitman for hire and Neil is the guy who hires him. Things get complicated from there.

Undercover Andrew? BAMF Neil? Hitman AU?? Absolutely. I’m in love. The story is just *chef kisses*

Chapters: 8/9

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, past rape/non-con, Drake Spear (who is his own warning), Butcher Neil, 

--

Negotiations by elesary ( @elesary )

This is what Andrew Minyard knows: his brother is dead, killed by a petty Raven prince who has never learned to keep his hands off of Andrew's things. His brother's daughters are his responsibility, a job that is made infinitely harder when their shitty grandparents want custody. Nathaniel Wesninski is a liar, but he might be the only way to avenge Aaron and protect his nieces. All Andrew has to do is watch Nathaniels - Neil's- back as he carves out his own life and identity from everyone who thinks they own him.

Andrew has always been good at upholding his end of the bargain, has he finally found someone willing to uphold theirs?

This fic has got me fucked up, honestly. I’m emotional over it. It’s fantastic.

Chapters: 11/?

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, attempted sexual assault, Butcher Neil,

--

the upper hand by plantelty ( @plantelty  )

Shortly after losing his mother, Neil arrives in the small town of Palmetto, South Carolina, alone in the world and with an impossible plan to carry through.

At the age of eighteen, Andrew ends up helping a boy stage his own death.

-

Just two fucked up boys learning to trust each other during the course of a summer, but also: multiple references to songs, twinyard angst (Nicky tries his best), The Plotting of Neil Josten's Gruesome Demise, and shit hitting the fan in a variety of ugly ways!

The cliffhanger has got me on the edge of my seat, but it is 100% worth the read and the wait for the last chapter!! 

Chapters: 10/11

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Canon typical violence, 

--

The Butcher’s House by Fire_Bear ( @fire-bear )

Andrew thought something was odd with the house the Foxes had to move into after their Athletes' House had been burnt down. He just wasn't prepared for what was actually wrong with it.

For this was a house full of monsters.

Ghost story! Ghost story! Ghost story! I literally think about this fic every other day, it’s fantastic. 

Chapters: 6/?

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: character death (major or minor is unclear), injuries, 

--

Promise of an Unbroken Boy by elesary ( @elesary​ )

Neil is caught by the police with Mary's burning body and is sent to juvie in Oakland where he is assigned to share a cell with one Andrew Doe, who promises him Exy, if only Neil will tell him all of his secrets. With no access to tinted contacts and hair dye, he agrees, it's only a matter of time until he's killed after all. What does he have to lose?

But Andrew's found someone who knows what a promise means, and he'll be damned if he lets that go without a fight.

Ngl this is definitely in my very top favorites -- I LOVE the idea of Neil and Andrew meeting pre-series, and this fic just BLEW my expectations for that plotline out of the waters

Chapters: 14/?

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Underage, attempted rape/non-con, canon-typical violence, 

~~~~~~~~~

Complete

The Nameless Monster by kanekicure ( @kanekicure )

Nathaniel Wesninski wants nothing more than to see his father dead and buried. But when his father promises him the title of The Butcher, Nathaniel quickly realizes that his destiny of following in his father's footsteps is closer than ever before.

So of course, when he gets forced to go undercover for the Baltimore police, he starts seeing what living could truly be.

-

Andrew Minyard is a newly recruited police officer for the worst precinct in Baltimore, who is dedicated on hunting down the notorious Butcher and his unnamed underling. But when Neil Josten is thrown into his midst as his civilian consultant; he starts to realize some things don't quite appear as they seem.

I love the story telling -- the secret identities, the plotting, everything.

Chapters: 14/14

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Butcher Neil, implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/referenced child abuse, implied/referenced slef-harm (I believe there is a scene that is somewhat detailed on this subject), some characters also get drugged at one point, 

-- 

that’s just something people say by nanatsuyu ( @theoctopusnods )

Neil makes the mistake of stealing the wrong car. Andrew makes the mistake of offering a ride to a liar. They both make the mistake of turning the whole affair into a road trip ‘home.’

Gonna be honest; the summary does not give a big idea as to what is in store and i am SO GLAD I gave this one a try so i’m telling you that you will be too

Chapters: 24/24

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: implied/referenced child abuse, panic attacks (somewhat grahic descriptions of)

--

The Story After You by kanekicure ( @kanekicure )

Andrew Minyard does not understand how Riko Moriyama landed Neil Wesninski.

How the snot-nosed, small dick, rich brat, second son of the Moriyama family who also just so happened to own the largest EXY gear and merchandiser company in the world “RAVEN” - had landed smart mouthed, quick witted, stupidly blue eyed Wesninski, was beyond him. Well, unless Wesninski was a gold digger, but Andrew doubted it.

-

Or; how Andrew Minyard says he doesn't get into messy situations, until he meets Neil and suddenly he is in the most messiest possible situation ever imagined in his life - oh and also, he might be becoming a homewrecker.

Ok I am behind bc I haven’t read the final chapter of this but!! I love the story, it’s very emotional and moving, and I love the characterization in it.

Chapters: 10/10

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Abusive Riko/Neil, abusive relationship, implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/reference child abuse, implied/referenced self-harm, graphic depictions of violence, some descriptions of injuries/scarring, 

-- 

This Complicated Life by 5a5b5p5 ( @andrewsbutterflyknife )

“This is exactly why I don’t want you and Andrew to meet,” Aaron says grumpily. “You two would get along far too well.”

Neil grins. “I just like pissing you off,” he says, “It’s not my fault your brother does such a good job at it.”

—

Neil doesn’t expect much from his Sophomore year of college, but when he becomes a waiter at the Palmetto Bistro, his life gets a whole lot more interesting. As it turns out, maintaining friendships new and old as well as navigating an interesting relationship with the head chef of the restaurant—who just so happens to be his best friend’s twin brother—is a lot more complicated than he’d thought it would be.

A much more light-hearted fic than most of the others! Includes a secret relationship, and also chef Andrew >>

Chapters: 10/10

Rating: Mature

Warnings: 

--

When I Fade, Keep Me in Your Memory by demesh 

Neil Josten has a secret: he can flicker out of existence.

He can vanish with the turn of a thought; click his fingers, and suddenly he’s not there anymore. Invisible and untouchable, he becomes a living ghost.

Having promised his mother never to let his ability go, Neil teeters the line between faded and real, a person and an echo. He can’t risk getting hurt.

But then, one day, someone sees him when they shouldn’t be able to.

 A (flower-shop) AU about how a faded and lonely Neil finds it in him to become someone real.

Another fic that I need to catch up on ;; but anyway it’s amazing and I love Neil’s ability in it, it’s so well explained and well-written about

Chapters: 12/12

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: mentions of past abuse, panic attacks

--

12 Ways to Woo a Minyard by NikNak22 ( @knickknacksandallthat )

Neil is a math nerd who, by a stroke of dumb luck, falls into a group of friends that are the closest thing to family he’s ever had. So, when he tells them about his new mysterious crush, he shouldn’t be surprised how immediately they come up with a plan to help win them over. One they insist that if Neil follows it, he’ll have them falling for him in no time. But things don’t always go to plan – or do they?

Nicky wants to set him up with someone else. Matt and Jeremy are confused but supportive. Allison and Seth offer lewd suggestions, while Dan does her best to keep everyone in line. Jean and Renee know something, Aaron doesn’t really care, and Kevin just wants Neil to join the lacrosse team.

But one thing’s for certain – whether Neil’s successful or not, everyone’s got money riding on this.

The romance-trope-filled fanfic of my dreams. Sometimes you just need a fic of pure joy -- this is that fic. 

Chapters: 14/14

Rating: Mature

Warnings: 

--

finders keepers by moonix ( @annawrites ​ )

Andrew meets Nathaniel through a scavenger hunt app. As their team takes part in a hunt that sends each of them to creepy, abandoned places alone to solve clues and gain points, Andrew and Nathaniel begin a little treasure hunt of their own. The anonymity of getting to know each other in small increments, never meeting face-to-face, allows them a level of intimacy neither are used to. Meanwhile Renee’s friend Neil is acting weird whenever Andrew shows up…

This was one of the first fics I read for aftg!! And BOY what a great start!! All of the little pieces and parts that work together, and just the scavenger hunt itself is fantastic! (I also REALLY wanna know if there is an app like this out there because I would be down to do that)

Chapters: 8/8

Rating: Mature

Warnings: (these all come from the author:) “mentions of historical abuse in a mental asylum, mentions of suicide, mentions of murder and kidnapping, morbid facts, creepy abandoned places including a haunted house at a theme park with disturbing rooms, special appearance of a creepy clown doll, fatphobia and some introspection on body image/complicated relationship with food, mention of self harm scars”

-----

Scared to Live (But I’m Scared to Die) by Major_816 ( @major816 )

Neil Josten goes to the Nest for Andrew, but he stays for a lot more.

~

"I'm sorry Coach," he muttered.

"For what kid?" Wymack shifted. "You've got to give me something to work with here."

Wymack watched the thin traces of sorrow as paper exchanged hands and he was looking down at a contract with the Edgar Allan Raven's.

"I signed them Coach, I'm sorry."

~

The one where Neil doesn't come back from Winter Break.

It is VERY dark, and is one of very few fics that I have actually been almost unable to read one of the scenes, so DEFINITELY pay attention to the warnings -- both these, and the ones provided for each individual chapter. I did go through the fic to collect as many warnings as I could find in the chapter warnings, but be sure to take care of yourself.

Chapters: 36/36

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: rape/non-con elements, implied/referenced rape/non-con, discussions of rape/non-con, canon-typical violence, graphic descritions, physical abuse, panic attacks, descriptions of injuries (often graphic), psychological warfare, dissociating, psychological torture, physical torture, use of knives, alcoholism/alcohol abuse, pain-induced delirium, rape/non-con, emotional self-separation, suicidal ideation/thoughts of suicide, emotional distress (which sums up the whole fic and also me while reading it), handcuffs/chains used as restraints, referenced/implied abuse towards animals, vomitting, begging, excessive use of painkillers, drowning, waterboarding, physical restraint, mutilation of an animal, mild hallucinations, non-con drugging, sleep deprivation, starvation, humiliation, the Butcher, 

Also one of the first fics I read and 100% my absolute favorite fic!!! Which is adfjhsd a little worrying, considering, but it is what it is. Anyway. This fic absolutely wrecked me, and while it is technically complete, there is a sequel in the works! So! But I am so so excited for the sequel, and I am working on rereading this. It’s amazing. 1000/10.

[vibrantlifeboringdeath]

you are so SO welcome to tell me your opinions abt stranger things vol. 2

THIS IS THE WORST SHOW I HAVE EVER BEEN OBSESSED WITH. I WANT TO PUT THESE CHARACTERS INTO AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SHOW WHERE THE DUFFER BROTHERS CANT DO ANYTHING TO THEM ANYMORE. SEASON 2 OF FREAKS AND GEEKS EXCEPT ITS JUST THE STRANGER THINGS CHARACTERS. PLEASE.

Short summary of things that, off the top of my head, infuriated me:

- why did Vecna not kill nancy? why did nancy just get a Villain dialogue and get told to go tell Eleven about it? Vecna even USED the trauna from Barb at the start why wouldnt she have counted for the fourth kill. Why is Vecna such a drama queen they spent THIRTY WHOLE MINUTES EXPLAINING THIS CHARACTER at the end of part 1 and I STILL do not actually understand his motivations??? this would have made sense if it was to El but I'm mad bc Steve and Robin should 100% have had an argument about her favourite song and gotten to save her. It makes it even MORE annoying that thwy left it on a cliffhanger just for Vecna to not even TRY killing her. What a waste

- the russia plot continued to just. Not intsrest me much. This was better bc there was less of it and all driven by a Specific Thing Happening and there was better character stuff but like???? breaking OUT of the prison just to realise they have to break BACK IN,,, you could FEEL the duffers forcing more screen time for their Two Biggest Names into the finale. It annoyed me. However, David Harbour with a Sword was Very Very Good. Reboot Highlander with him please.

- The El plotline similarly felt MASSIVELY padded to fill extended runtimes. In part 1 it ALL led to answering That One Question when it could have been giving us character moments, or telling us more about the actual purpose of Brenner's project.

- Jason was set up in part 1 as the Best Human Antagonist the show has ever had; as threatening a presence as Billy made all the worse by the fact that he was NOT an outisder, he was a leader, a mentor, someone people looked up to, someone people thoight was cool. He turned the WHOLE TOWN against Eddie and the Hellfire club in part 1... and then in part 2 its just him and One Other Guy who turn up to the house. Did they just,,, forget that he did that??? they just completely dropped the most interesting aspect of him in the final act of his presence on the show. So much wasted potential.

- the pacing was just so off. It felt like Steve Robin and Nancy were getting choked out by those vines for like, half an hour of real time while all the other plot threads were resolving. They have absolutely failed to justify the longer episodes imo, there was just. So much Nonsense I had to slog through for the (constantly diminishing) things I'm actually here for

- I get what they're going for with Will but they need to SAY it. Say the WORD. the scene where Jonathan encourages him to be more open was nice but I just. Its not Enough for me. Skating dangerously close to Supernatural territory of 'being aware what the audience wants but cant quite get clearance to do it' in terms of how theyre handling it. It's not ACTUALLY queerbaiting, its just about clear enough, but it FEELS like it you know

- someone told me they were gunna use Separate Ways by Journey and I was PUMPED. My favourite Journey song. They wasted it. They didnt use it for a powerful sequence, they literally just used a really underwhelming remix of it at the end of an episode basically as a trailer for the NEXT EPISODE. It should have been the song Robin used to free Nancy from Vecna and then they should have kissed

- there is 100% a take of the scene in the campervan where Eddie leans in to kiss Steve, and the show would have been better if they went for that

However, the good:

- I DO feel like we got more, and better, character interactions/moments in the two new eps? When they were prepping the weapons to kill Vecna especially, and at the very end when they went to help at the charity thing.

- Eddie playing Master of Puppets. I S C R E A M E D. I do not have words. Oh my god. Fuck. And the way that soundtracked the other stuff going on was also REALLY good, that scene ruled so hard

- The way Max escaped to a Safe Memory, and the way Vecna announced having found her by upside-downing the memory was visually very cool

- the way that everyone, in every plotline, had a hand in beating Vecna (at least for now). That came together really well

- i was expecting to just be really mad if they killed Eddie, but... it really worked for me. People on here seem mad they didnt try and clear his name but like, what exactly were they supposed to say? the tragedy of it really made it stick for me, and the fact that he really did Stay Himself right until the end. The fact that Only Dustin seemed upset about it in the group annoyed me but,,, I liked how it was handled and the scene with his uncle. But the Duffer Brothers NEED to write a character who can overcome his flaws without dying tragically. Please.

- I R E A L L Y felt it what happened to Max. they really sold that for me. I was already crying about Eddie and that really really hit me hard

- Winona Ryder. I do not need to elaborate.

All in all, the stuff that worked for me REALLY worked and I continue to be infatuated with my various blorbos, but... I wish some other Writing Team was happening to them. And I really wish they hadnt lengthened the episodes, or had lengthened them using more character moments instead of like,,, what felt like just a lot of back and forths and fakeouts?

[miraculouscontent]

All the thoughts:

First off, the plan.

I don’t get Shadow Moth’s plan or Optigami in general. Like, it was already weird that we had the phone that picked up on a kwami’s voice (I’ll hold my tongue on that one until we have all the episodes that take place before this, though my hopes aren’t high), but both Optigami and the phone happening in the same episode when it’s been resaid in this season that kwami can’t be seen/heard by technology is just silly. I get that Optigami is a sentimonster so it’s “magic technology,” but I dunno, something feels weird about it.

The reason I bring it up is because what’s shown contradicts what happens later in the episode. The footage shown by Optigami shows Carapace de-transforming and Wayzz popping out of the miraculous right afterwards, but when Senti!Carapace and Rena Rouge detransform at the end of the episode, the kwami don’t pop out. The former is also consistent with most detransformations; the kwami usually pops out (for the easiest reference, the beginning of “Miraculer” does this with both Alya and Nino, and Alya detransforming in “Gang of Secrets” also does this).

I presume this was done to force Ladybug to use her Lucky Charm in order to figure out that Senti!Nino was Shadow Moth’s sentimonster, because otherwise I just imagine Wayzz popping out to complain that there’s something in his miraculous and how it isn’t even paying rent.

Gabriel also non-subtly invites “everyone” to the event, yet “everyone” apparently only means conveniently the people who Shadow Moth knows as heroes, plus Marinette for no explained reason whatsoever. Chat Noir could’ve even noted after the fact that everyone invited were past heroes (because he knows Multimouse and probably wouldn’t think “wait, that doesn’t make sense--”), or the characters themselves could’ve noticed it, but that would’ve meant the show pointing out the blatant plothole that Marinette is lobbed in there. This could’ve also been a chance for the characters to all establish, “hey, we were heroes!” and have a cool camaraderie between them (presuming they know that they were outed), but instead they serve no purpose beyond being essentially background characters for Style Queen to tick off like a checklist. They had the perfect moment to do something to give everyone more character and they wasted it to do an unneeded scene of Alya trying to shove Marinette towards Adrien (I’ll get there).

It also puzzles me that Gabriel’s plan was to cause an akuma that would force Ladybug to bring another miraculous when...

Style Queen didn’t cause her to do that?? Now, if one isn’t really thinking (like it seems the writers didn’t) and/or only vaguely remembers the episode (i.e: that Chloe got a miraculous and Queen Bee/Wasp is the immediate follow-up), then they’ll recall that Ladybug did indeed go to Master Fu’s to get a miraculous, but only did she not need it in the end, the reason the Lucky Charm sent her there in the first place was to get Plagg, i.e: the cat.

And yes, Shadow Moth does have Style Queen glitter the building so that no one can get in, which ends up blocking Chat Noir off, but that only works if he knows that Ladybug is in the building but not Chat.

Speaking of Ladybug, and this one is more of a nitpick, but she delays using Miraculous Ladybug and I feel like it could’ve been done better, like if she went to use it but stopped herself because something didn’t feel right, but instead she points out the weirdness of not using her Lucky Charm while not thinking further on it until she sees the handshake. Regardless of the comments she makes towards the Lucky Charm, the episode leaves a weird feeling of, “Why haven’t you used Miraculous Ladybug yet? The akuma is gone.” Marinette even saw the sentimonster, which clearly isn’t Style Queen, yet the episode forgets about it because--oh wait, it was just there to build up to an attempted identity reveal that went nowhere.

So, yeah--the elevator...

Say it with me: it’s stupid, it’s pointless, it makes no sense, it serves no meaning to the plot, its only roles in the episode is for love square fuel and to embarrass Marinette.

And on that last note, I know I said I’d keep quiet on the phone, but I swear, if it’s not explained in any form why the kwami can communicate with her, then it was literally just invented so that it could startle/embarrass her.

Also, to the surprise of no one, the kwami who live with her still don’t understand how to deal with her. :|

Not only does the scene draaaaag and the chances of Adrien and Marinette not only thinking of the same hiding place (an elevator, something that both makes no sense because Style Queen can easily pop up if she hears the elevator, but also that they rarely ever choose as a transforming spot; in fact, I can’t think of a time they’ve chosen an elevator??), but also happening to pick the same elevator.

As for it making no sense, the identity reveal was completely unnecessary. Either of them telling the other their identity would’ve done nothing, and even if they planned to tell the other to block the eyes watching them so they could transform, it wouldn’t matter, because that just makes it obvious what they’re doing. Plus, if the concern was needing to tell the other so they could get out of the elevator somehow, then there would’ve been no reason not to tell them after the eyes were gone. Marinette could’ve texted Alya at any time when they were being quiet.

And as if the setup wasn’t already contrived enough, Nathalie takes far too long to leave Adrien and Marinette alone. Optigami goes into the elevator on Nathalie’s orders (which is the whole thing that makes the two go quiet and consider doing a reveal in the first place), and it takes fourty seconds before Nathalie finally notes that it’s just Adrien and Marinette. Like, unless she got up to make a sandwich before she analyzed the footage, I just--???

Anyway, the last thing to really talk about is Alya and oh my gosh, the sheer amount of double standards here...

Like, just starting with the scene where Alya physically shoves Marinette towards the elevator, despite Marinette’s protests, it just makes me shake my head all the more, especially after “Mr. Pigeon 72.” I already knew the show wasn’t going to follow up on the whole “when you’re ready” stuff in “Gang of Secrets,” and “Mr. Pigeon 72″ just forwarded that with Alya immediately pressing for Adrien, but I didn’t expect Alya to try and force things this hard.

Just gonna add as well that both Luka and Kagami saw Alya do this, which would’ve been a great opportunity for it to trigger alarm bells for both of them (Luka going, “oh, it’s no wonder Marinette struggles with Adrien when--” and Kagami like, “hey this is familiar, almost like Marinette thought it was okay because it happens to her all the time and maybe I should step in to say something”; by the way, for those who want another fix-it, yeah, that’d what it’d be), because Marinette was literally totally fine until Alya tried to force the matter.

But again, blatant show of “fine if it’s for the love square, not fine if it’s not.”

And after “Mr. Pigeon 72″ and now this, do the writers really think that I wasn’t going to notice the fact that Marinette is only getting the “damsel in distress” role now that the kwami and Alya are conveniently there to save her? It’s like they knew the backlash that would happen from Marinette telling Alya her identity (the rightfully deserved backlash, not even because of the identity thing - I understand narratively that Marinette was at her breaking point, though the timing is awful - but because Alya was like--one of the worst choices), so they decided to justify it by having Marinette be put into peril multiple times this season to the degree where Alya would have to swoop in and save her. Essentially, they’re nerfing their protagonist and forcing her into these situations to lift Alya up and make Alya look like a better/more intelligent friend.

Marinette didn’t need a confidant because she was constantly one step away from danger, she needed one emotionally, yet now the show has been continuously letting Alya figure out important guardian matters and saving Marinette’s backside because apparently, “Marinette is more emotionally stable now that she has someone who knows her secret,” wasn’t enough. Handing Alya the win on Lila and either ignoring or excusing all of her past actions to make her look good wasn’t enough.

Trying to make everything about Adrien instead of Marinette wasn’t enough. Now they’re throwing in Alya and giving her stuff to do while Marinette sits idly and just waits to be saved. Yes, Marinette ultimately does the most in the end and Alya screws up, but what happens?

Alya gets rewarded for it. She gets to have the fox miraculous given to her permanently, which the narrative lowkey chided Marinette for not doing (with Trixx’s snippy comments and Alya pulling a “Gang of Secrets” where she’s suddenly 100% “on Marinette’s side” so that it makes it feel like she deserves whatever she’s going to be given). The show is both setting Marinette up to fail so they can continue having their drama (regardless of how well permanent Rena Rouge goes, they wanted to leave the episode on a cliffhanger) and getting on her case for breathing while rewarding other characters after they’ve failed.

Which, spoiler alert for the next episode, ends up working out, thus making it the “”“right”““ decision. Apparently Marinette is meant to suffer and be given all these consequences/embarrassment when she screws up, but people like Adrien Alya get rewarded and given a free pass to do whatever they want with no consequences (Marinette doesn’t even remotely get on Alya’s case or be upset that Alya made decisions without her; even Fu gave Marinette, Tikki, and Plagg a look in “Sandboy” and made them explain/apologize; but of course, that’s because Marinette was involved, I guess).

And... look, it’d be one thing for Marinette to want an understudy, or to want someone to have a permanent miraculous as a form of protection in case she needs it, but Alya wasn’t even suspicious when Senti!Nino didn’t give her their usual high-five. Alya claims to be this great reporter and tries to imply in “Gang of Secrets” that she suddenly knows all things about Marinette, yet doesn’t change her expression at all when the person she thinks is her boyfriend gives her a regular high-five instead of the one they made up? I guess the show wanted to give Ladybug something more after Alya and Kaalki did a chunk of the work, but if they wanted to present Alya as a worthy guardian, then that should’ve set off red flags, especially after the whole Ladybug reveal and Alya realizing that Lila’s full of it (which I know still hasn’t been shown but if she’s gonna be Ladybug’s confidant then she has to step up her suspicion game).

Like, I don’t know if they’re just trying to have Alya work off any bad things that the fandom might have on her, but with this episode and the next episode, it just feels like they want Alya to stay in the role that she had with Marinette: the “Alya knows best, is presented as a supportive friend, and has a leg up on Marinette in terms of mental/power dynamic.”

Because, despite knowing that she’s Ladybug now, Alya’s relationship with Marinette really hasn’t changed. She’s still forcing Marinette into situations with Adrien, she’s still got the doubtful eyebrow raise whenever Marinette does “Marinette things,” and Alya still has the, “I got you, girl!” attitude about everything, even if she really doesn’t have Marinette’s back in the right way. Heck, even the kwami (or at least Trixx) seems to go to Alya over Marinette, the kwami themselves just whining and behaving like children around Marinette herself.

At this point, why not just hand Alya the ladybug earrings and call it a day? If Alya’s not only an understudy for being guardian but is also apparently going to keep saving Marinette, she’s clearly “better,” and that moment with Senti!Nino ended up getting her rewarded, why not just let Marinette hand over the metaphorical mantle and be officially stress-free? Then Paris would have a “““non-clumsy, less emotional, less anxious”““ Ladybug.

Well, because that would mean lessening Marinette’s suffering and the show would be over without that. *sigh*

I don’t know, it’s just upsetting. It’s the "Malediktator”/”Gang of Secrets” thing where Marinette tries to follow something she’s been taught by other characters (who are presented as wiser than her) and it ends up blowing up in her face. “No permanent miraculouses” wasn’t her rule - it was Fu’s - and then the show immediately chides her for it.

Basically, Marinette tries to make her own decisions and it blows up in her face. Marinette tries to follow her own rules and it blows up in her face. It’s the love square all over again: she can’t confess to Adrien, but she can’t move on either.

That’s why “Optigami” is so insulting. It puts its double standards on display for the world to see and sets things up to go exactly the way it wants with no regard to making sense or working to an interesting story.

[itsclydebitches]

Is it bad that I feel Penny’s 2nd permanent death has cheapened the stakes to me to such an extent I don’t care if the character’s life are in danger or even ended? Unless they die in a particularly gruesome manner…I don’t care. Penny’s death was cheap, tasteless, and I think sucked all the stakes to me.

I've personally had a problem with RWBY's death stakes ever since Weiss' injury in the Haven fight. Making that an episode cliffhanger when we all knew RT would never commit to killing one of the main four, using that as the means of unlocking Jaune's semblance, and then, importantly, never following up on how Weiss deals with a near-death experience felt quite cheap to me. It was a moment where death/grievous injury was used only for the week long shock value (similar to Oscar's disappearance in Volume 6) and a means of furthering Jaune's abilities rather than Weiss' emotional growth (particularly egregious in a show where 99% of the cast already has their semblances unlocked. Revealing them in a dramatic, life-or-death situation was never an expectation). The fact that it was such a departure from how the story treated Yang in the past — committing to her injury and allowing her time to come to terms with it — just made it all the worse.

However, though this was one moment out of one volume that fans might be willing to overlook for a variety of reasons, Volumes 7-8 just failed so spectacularly and so often that yeah, death has no real meaning in this show anymore.

Let's tally things up:

Clover dies in large part to Qrow's stupidity. This is never acknowledged.

Qrow instead swears vengeance against Ironwood. They never meet again.

Whether everyone agrees or not, this entire situation came too close to queerbaiting for some fans.

Clover's corpse/the environment is badly animated, leading to confusion about whether he actually died.

Oscar is shot off of Atlas in a move that would have been a killing blow if not for Ozpin's unexpected magic. He never works through this and likewise never even explains things to the rest of the group, adding to the secrets issue.

The councilman is randomly shot by Ironwood, signaling his fast-track towards villainy.

The Ace Ops and, more importantly, Winter all witness this, yet it has no impact on them remaining loyal until leaving him serves the plot.

Ironwood tearing the flesh off his arm to save everyone from Watts is treated as evidence of his lack of humanity and the prosthetic he gets carries is designed to highlight how Evil he is now.

Fria dies which has little emotional weight because we knew nothing about her. She was quite literally only a vessel for the powers and was treated as such by the story.

The Hound, introduced as an incredibly formidable foe, is done in by a badly developed power and a falling suit of armor. There's no interest in who that faunus was, only what this implies for Summer.

Hazel death is confusing af. He couldn't have burned to death that fast. Oscar's cane shouldn't have hurt him based on what else we see. Where's the body? All of this follows a split-second "redemption."

Vine sacrifices himself and no one cares because we knew nothing about him. Also it's kind of weird to frame his heroic suicide as, you know, heroic after a volume of telling Penny she can't do the same. It's just weird mixed messaging.

Rhodes was killed incredibly fast by his kid student and although I care a little about him, the general consensus is that this was a girlboss moment because flawed men trying to help are the worst, right? Far worse than a villain we established in Episode One.

Watts presumably burns to death off screen.

Ironwood presumably drowns off screen.

Jacques is blown up without any of his family knowing about it. He's blown up because Winter just... left Ironwood's gun-gun by the cell?

The community is still debating whether Maria and Pietro are alive. Was Amity still falling? Was there any way off? Why don't any of the characters worry about them, one of whom is Pietro's daughter?

Yang "dies" after a single hit and only Blake gets to react to that.

The rest of the group (plus Jaune) quickly follow, to the surprise of no one.

Penny is resurrected with little fanfare, is stripped of her cyborg nature, gears up to take on Cinder with Weiss and Jaune, is instantly taken out, and then convinces the healer of the group to kill her.

The Altas arc has so much death and grievous injury — clearly trying to be the next Volume 3 — and yet none of it has an (enjoyable) impact on me. Sometimes that's because RT is killing off side characters they never bothered to develop. Sometimes it's because the writing is so confusing idek if the character is dead. Sometimes it's because the circumstances induce anger rather than grief. Penny's second death definitely caused a reaction, but not the one RT was going for. I was frustrated with how badly constructed this suicide was, disappointed in how the circumstances leading up to this erased so much that's wonderful about Penny's character, and yeah, disgusted that we were right back to that Volume 5 Weiss scenario: here's the graphic death/almost death of one of the girls to forward his story. Only this time, instead of just getting a cauterized spear to the gut, RT thought assisted-suicide via sword was the way to go.

Penny's original death was heart wrenching. Pyrrha's was tragic due to how avoidable it was. Roman's was shocking and perfect for setting the new stakes. We didn't know if Ozpin survived, but back then that was the point — a mystery to reveal next volume — not because the scene was badly constructed, or the writing seemingly just forgot that characters existed. And again, flawed as it was in some respects, we got a story of Yang losing an arm and coming to terms with that. Now, we get the story of a man losing his arm and that makes him lose his intelligence and conscience too, I guess.

I'm trying to think of a post-Volume 3 death that hit home and I'm coming up short. But deaths like Sienna or Tock, while carrying their own problems, didn't really hint at the over-arching problem with character deaths the story now has. With the comparative wealth of fatalities we got in Volumes 7-8, I was finally able to step back and go, "Wow. Right...none of that did anything for me." And yeah, as one of the most shocking deaths, as a second death, and as one of the oldest and most beloved side characters, Penny encapsulates that best of all.

[twh-news]

'Loki' Full Season 1 Review: The Most Frustrating Thing Is How Incomplete the Story Feels

Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 1 finale of Loki, "For All Time. Always."

[TWH-NEWS note: Tom is NOT confirmed to be on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even though the article so claims. Marvel hasn't confirmed it.]

The Loki season finale is perhaps one of the most vexing episodes of television I have seen in quite some time. The Disney+ sci-fi drama, tracking the events following Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) escape from the pre-established timeline, was never confirmed to be an ongoing show versus a limited series, with rumors of a second season on the horizon from the beginning, so the biggest twist delivered by "For All Time. Always." ended up being confirmation of a Season 2 with a post-credits title card.

However, while there were other key reveals made during the episode, those reveals left behind plenty of story to explore in future seasons. Too much story. There's a difference between a few dangling plot threads and a mess of string, and the staggering number of questions left unresolved by "For All Time. Always." crosses a line when it comes to completion — especially given the fact that there's no clear sense of when the show might return, and the real story being told is much bigger than the fate of one mischievous scamp.

In general, every episode of this show was beautifully made, with immense credit going to director Kate Herron, head writer Michael Waldron, and the creative team. The cast of known all-stars like Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, blended with new all-stars like Sophia Di Martino and Wunmi Mosaku, did a remarkable job of grounding even the most fantastical moments in raw humanity, and the writing popped with verve and wit. Also, Loki does come full circle on what was its original raison d'etre — the redemption of a character who literally was plucked out of the timeline at his worst, having attacked Manhattan with an alien force so destructive that the Earth needed a whole damn team of superheroes to stop him. On this score, the show was wildly successful, breaking down Loki's sense of grandeur and purpose in the first episode and then slowly but surely rebuilding him into a man capable of evolving beyond his past. Loki did more to examine a single character's psychology and motivations than we've ever seen in the context of the MCU, and all of the progress and growth made by the character, as a result, feels truly earned.

However, if Loki's redemption was the only thing this show had been about, it would have been a very boring show, and Loki was far from boring. The official theme of the series was "What makes a Loki a Loki?" but the real issues being raised were far more existential; in so many ways, this was a show about faith and free will, an undercurrent that deserves more exploration and frankly appreciation, especially after the questions and themes left dangling by the last episode.

This element proved to be key to so much of the show's construction, especially when it comes to the TVA, which basically functions as a religious order — its devotees slavishly sacrificing their lives to the cause of protecting the Sacred Timeline. It's not subtle, especially when the dark side of it is revealed, those devotees learning that their service happened against their will. "We can't take away people's free will, can't you see that?" Mobius pleads with Ravonna in their final scene together, before she walks away in something resembling agreement with him, telling him that she's going in search of free will herself.

Loki Season 1, by the end, becomes a show not just about a crisis of faith, but about an apocalypse. Every time a story about apocalypses comes up, I find it impossible to forget that the Greek word from which the term originates actually means "revelation." That's why the part of the Bible about the world ending is called the Book of Revelations, but beyond that, the definition serves as a reminder of why endings can matter. Endings are beginnings, in some ways. A painful breakup reveals the flaws in what might have seemed like a loving relationship. Extreme climate change is a revelation regarding humanity's callous attitude towards its impact on the environment. For the characters of Loki — perhaps the entire MCU — the apocalypse they're facing following the destruction of the Sacred Timeline also means the revelation of what lives they left behind.

Certainly there's a ton of room for speculation as to what lies ahead for these characters, but the fact is that the next chapter of Loki's journey won't even be told on Disney+, as Hiddleston is reportedly in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and there's no telling when we might return to resolve the events of the Season 1 finale. Cliffhangers are one thing; anyone who grew up watching '90s TV learned the hard way how to handle the dramatic season endings of The X-Files or Star Trek: The Next Generation. But Loki didn't dangle its characters off a cliff — it pushed them off the edge, leaving them suspended in mid-air for who knows how long.

Back in the days of The X-Files you at least knew that whatever jaw-dropping cliffhanger the season finale had just delivered would be addressed by the season premiere in just a few months. (Maybe as many as six months, depending on the baseball season.) That's a sense of certainty that Loki fans do not have the luxury of enjoying; based on where the conversations around a second season currently stand, it could be a while before the contracts are even signed. Conservatively, at this point, it feels unlikely that we'll get a second season of Loki until near the end of 2022, and given that the first season took over two years from its announcement to now to actually debut, 2023 doesn't feel like too much of a stretch. Maybe Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw get to make cameos in Doctor Strange 2 as well? Nothing is possible and everything is possible. We just have to wait for the answer, and in the meantime stew in dissatisfaction.

"Only one person gets free will. The one in charge," Ravonna tells Mobius — implicitly referring to He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors). Who, speaking of, is now dead, Sylvie having completed her one primary quest to revenge herself upon the ones who took her life away. That, combined with the Wizard of Oz parallels, makes this a show that's fascinating to parse (Sylvie literally killed God!), but frustratingly incomplete in its themes. Literally as the episode officially ended on the visage of Kang enshrined as the ruler of the TVA, I said out loud "Well, there's going to be a Season 2," and I suppose that thanks are owed to Marvel and Disney+ for not leaving that element in suspence for more than two minutes and two seconds.

But if I have a religion, it's my belief in the power of storytelling, how the myths we create for ourselves and others can shape lives and hopefully make them better. One tenet of that is the idea that great stories deserve some sense of completion. So, the first season of Loki committed a pretty grievous sin.

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep 14: So If You Put a Fraction Into a Duel Disk, the Card Explodes

We left on quite the cliffhanger last episode, so I’ll fill you in:

I did not get the haircut.

Like I seriously considered getting a Zigfried for a cool 3 or 4 minutes there, but then I decided to wait a couple of days and I basically forgot.

But, back to the arc finale, Seto has decided to walk, not run, to the Kaiba lab in order to fix the virus rapidly eating his entire company.

I just want to point out that Zigfried went through a LOT of work to get Seto Kiaba to go “uggggh” turn around, and pretend to calmly walk away. I’m used to Seto losing his nut kind of a lot and blowing things up but this season he’s like “be chill be chill be chill” so that the entire world doesn’t think he’s a spaz on TV.

And little aside about Seto’s design choices here, I fell down a hole of interior design videos, and can I just say: apparently these wood frame things on the wall are back in style? Good on you, 2002(3?) Seto Kaiba. Don’t think that current designers are painting them purple but...we’re halfway there to Yugioh fashion.

Meanwhile, Pharaoh decides to remind everyone that these stakes are hella low. The worst that happens is that Zigfried deletes the plane that Yugi needs to fly home...which would be an impressive virus.

Like it’s hard to tell if Yami even has a solid concept of “capitalism” and whether or not he cares about or understands the makeup of Seto’s company (which up till now has operated like a small country and not a business...which is a little more Pharaoh’s understanding. Either way...hard to tell if Yami would shed two tears for the loss of Kaiba corp.)

And, despite what I say in the caps, I feel like Leon and Zigfried are the first villains we’ve ever had that Yugi and Pharaoh didn’t unintentionally disclose that they are 2 people to. Zigfried and Leon are just...completely oblivious to how effed up Yugi’s bean is. They think that’s just a normal kid and lol no dudes...y’all got distracted by Seto Kabia but you have a literal Egyptian God just hovering around in the background and dating 3 people by accident.

Like when the show shelves the main storyline, it is very funny how it’s all “And we’re gonna put the Pharaoh crisis on hold--just put a pin in it. No one will notice this child is two nervous wrecks stitched together” and then Yugi and Yami just kinda hold it in and watch all patiently until it’s their turn to get off the bench.

(read more under the cut)

In the giant computer tower, Seto Kaiba shouts out a string of orders and numbers, admired the many sonar detector looking windows open on every monitor, and then sat down at his desk to like...check the firewall, I guess?

The virus is past the firewall. It’s um...it’s inside the firewall, pretty sure that was the point, but youknow, it’s a kid’s show so they’re just throwing out computer stuff that has no meaning to the writers of this show.

Mokuba thinks fondly of how Seto Kaiba has never screwed him over (which I mean...maybe not on purpose, ((except for that one time he did screw him over on purpose to get Gozaburo Kaiba to accidentally give Seto Kaiba the company, but you could say that was a grander scheme that he knew Mokuba would see through, which...)) but Seto certainly has screwed Mokuba over accidentally. At least once.)

And meanwhile, Yami fixes everything through card shenanigans.

So here’s the shenanigan this episode: I don’t go over cards here but this one requires a limited amount of explanation.

So every round the golden castle deletes half of Yugi’s cards. So he was like...I’ll just draw down to one card. They can’t delete half a card...so that means the card must delete one of the two cards on the field which means it must delete itself.

...which is like the closest Yugioh will probably ever get to abusing a glitch to do a speedrunning tactic like GDQ.

Anyway, like I stated in the title: there are no fractions allowed in Yugioh. If you do that to your priceless one-of-a-kind card you got from winning one of Pegasus’ murder tournies, it will irreparably bust the card.

I’m sure at least one of you will correct me with the proper way to insert a fraction into your duel disk. Cuz like...as I say multiple times so we never forget, I barely pay attention to this card game and I’m just flying by the seat of my pants.

I want to say Seto and Mokuba were in the hacker chairs for like...3 minutes maybe before they realized “oh...Yugi fixed it...” and walked the half a mile back to the duel arena.

and also, as I’m looking at Seto’s glasses here, I just realized...all of Kaiba’s team wears sunglasses all the time. Inside, outside, night, or day...

They haven’t outright said this...but what if those aren’t sunglasses?

Is Roland and that other Roland wearing fancy cyber glasses? They are, right? Because they wear them indoors?

Damn, they can’t take a piss without being on call with Kaiba Corp, can they?

Now the problem is...Yugi played all of his cards (he has two in front of him face down, but none in his deck) and after milling himself, this means he’s now basically a sitting duck for Leon to take the title of “King of Games.”

Leon insists that he defend whatever scraps are left of his card honor and not duel a person who is carrying no cards and Yugi was like “COME AT ME BRO THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I KNOW I’M ALIVE.”

He didn’t even have to do a horror on Leon, he just...played cards good? I skipped it, I’ll be honest, but overall Leon’s card honor was...saved? Maybe? I mean he also go destroyed when his competitor had not a single card in his duel disk so...

...Leon will have to work on his card honor off screen because he’s pretty well humiliated at this point.

But stumbling onto the playing field like he’s half dazed/daydrunk, Zigfried is like “You forgot I already won, bastards!”

Which is when we find out that Zigfried’s “delete all” virus failed to press “enter” and deleted basically nothing. Just like when my Mom attempts to send something in Gmail but doesn’t press “Send” and tells me that Google is down and broken.

Sorry my bro has informed me that he ALSO has had to help my Mother locate the “Send” button and I just...I know she absolutely did that but I’m in denial that this Riddle of the Sphinx has happened to her multiple times.

Honestly, the pep talk we get from Leon at the end to cheer up his bro was a whole lot of “we will pick ourselves up and we’ll do better next time. Together.” and sure you can translate that as “we’ll be honest next time” or you can translate that as “next time we will be not nearly as obvious about inserting a virus into their computer until it is done doing the job, bro.”

Just like Dartz, we didn’t really get a whole lot of retribution or closure when it comes to Zigfried. But, unlike Dartz, Zigfried didn’t do too much murder, so I guess this is fine. He tried to cheat in a card game...

...and I guess tried to delete Kaiba Corp but youknow...

...people let him have that. The police saw the ticket of “this man tried to delete Kaiba Corp” and they just...didn’t arrest him. The judge saw that ticket and didn’t put out a warrant. They just let Zigfried have this, almost like “better luck next time, ya?”

And then Roland clocked out for the day and went home, thus ending this arc.

Look at all these characters, most of which we never saw duel even one card.

We also got one shot of Mai for some reason although she was not in this arc.

AAAHHHH. Every time I’m like “the show is done screwing geography” we get another freakin geography spook!

But we went back to California in order to get a scene of these guys in an airport to get a flight to Japan...

which means Rex and Weevil just...were they shipped home by the Kaibas? Because way to ditch getting arrested by the American Government, hot damn. They are...literally terrorists who destroyed a Caltrain in a plot to kill everyone in the world so like...really surprised Rex and Weevil are in public...but maybe all the FBI were dead at the time so they just didn’t know?

Meanwhile, Duke has to go back to Death Valley and call a tow truck for his car, RIP.

I sure hope he got PTO during this stunt and isn’t going home to a pink slip.

I’m not sure of Dukes life or anything going on with Duke. I’m sure the thing about Serenity is him joking because we have all forgotten about that girl by this point...but also...is Duke...still living in the Tenderloin? The crime rate is very, very high and the ground isn’t solid, so it will liquefy if there’s an Earthquake, but it is one of the few places in the Bay Area that doesn’t light on fire every year. He has that going for him.

I just really hope Duke moves out of the Tenderloin one of these days, he needs a better life.

Meanwhile, Rebecca does one last crime.

This is like a post-epidemic reaction to a hug, but in 2002(3?).

I don’t think I’ll miss Rebecca too much. Wanted to like her more, but she was under-utilized, like most of the characters on Yugioh. Not even just talking girl characters here--most characters on Yugioh are super under-utilized, just Tristan Wallflowers doing nothing, but also being selectively OP as hell about very specific things they never, ever need to do.

Speaking of the devil:

Yugi...just saved his entire company...

But Mokuba is just has to make sure to make it seem like they owed Mokuba and not the other way around. Just in case.

So off they go on this massive plane. It’s probably more to do with the length of the trip as to why the plane is so big but also...

This plane is overcompensating.

But before we analyze that, lets close the book on Seto Kaiba’s very short therapy arc. Overall, it was a nice distraction, but I can see why people call it a filler arc, as it really doesn’t affect...anything going on in the major plotlines, which makes me think it could have been a movie or a game or something. But overall, it’s not bad, it’s just not what you’d expect if you were a Western audience.

Like I’m preaching to the choir, but typically, Western stories are entirely plot focused, and so our arcs always give or take away from that plot. But in a Eastern story arc, it may instead be character focused, where the climax is a character evolving or coming to some sort of cathartic realization, which this arc was, in a big way. We still had some plot, because this is a Shonen, but overall it was about characters, and specifically whether or not Leon and his bro would reconcile or change--which they did.

We did get to see a little more growth on Seto in that he...didn’t go bonkers and hallucinate during a card game. It’s been a while since we’ve had him not do that. Seto was very chill this arc, which makes sense, it was a very chill slice of life arc for everyone involved.

So, next we move on to the next one, which bro has informed me...is

still not Bakura.

According to Bro, the next arc didn’t even air in the Japanese version of the show? Like he’s got a lot of spicy Yugioh headcanons so he could be wrong (He did tell me that he thought that Zigfried was Seto Kaiba’s ex boyfriend when he saw this as a kid which...that sure is a way to interpret this arc, and it probably wasn’t just my little brother who went down that thought tube there...)

(Bro Note: To be fair, I didn’t watch much of this arc as a kid.)

But he says the next arc was originally a movie. But they released it in the States as episodes to be part of S5, just to put more episodes in there. Which, if he’s correct, makes it seem like we’re getting like the Mulan 2 experience kind of shoved in between this arc and the next

But um..

according to bro it has virtually no card games.

.......

I’m so used to only capping 10 minutes an episode, what?

Anyway, until then, here’s the link to read the rest of these from the start in chrono order:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

I’m kinda itching to do a Season Zero, it’s been a hot minute--so those take a little longer to do, especially since I need to go to a different site I haven’t...checked out yet...I’ll be back...eventually? I just know that at some point in Season Zero they fight it out with yo-yo’s and I want to see it.

[lizacstuff]

SCK episode 46 asks!

Hi folks, below the read more you'll find a smattering of asks about this week's episode as well as a few spoilers for 47.

Good asks this week:

(under the cut)

Anonymous asked: this may be superficial of me, but why are they dressing Serkan in such ugly tops? they finally brought Eda's hair back but now this

BWAH! You're not wrong. You know what I'm wondering, if they've put him in some of those outfits because they are showing his suburban dad side? It's kind of a subtle nod to him embracing father hood and a different way of life? He's now all about running around the yard after his daughter and not about what he looks like when he's being SERKAN BOLAT, FAMOUS BUSINESS MAN and WORLD'S BEST ARCHITECT.

Also, Eda's hair, thank goodness they let that go once the flashbacks were over and we didn't need something to distinguish between then and now! Those curly bangs were not it.

Anonymous asked: They built up the Edser chemistry soooooo well throughout the episode... for that ending? Who decided to cut it there?! The scene was BEAUTIFUL I’m actually upset lol. are not we going to see any more? I’m not asking for a sex scene, I wanted to see THE moment they decided to get back together (the tattoo line doesn’t do it for me) - a few words, tears as they embrace, him walking through the door as she closes it, one passionate kiss, something! But it doesn’t feel like a cliffhanger that continues next week. I’ll be so underwhelmed when they cut to the morning after and we have to infer that they got back together overnight *sigh* if they were allowed 1 kiss only, id rather it have been here instead of ep 2

We do deserve to see how they reconcile, that should be one of the biggest moments of the season after 7 episodes of build up to it.

90% of final scenes in this show have continued uninterrupted the next week. To me there's no reason to think the next episode won't pick up right where this one left off. Crossing fingers!

Anonymous asked: It just hit me that Serkan is the “Kiraz” for Kemal - but Kemal actually missed his child’s whole 35 years 😬 this is an interesting turn of events. Also that line Serkan said about how fathers should love their child’s mother and how he didn’t have that with his own parents....but his real dad does love Aydan, more than she deserves haha.

Oh so true! Kemal really does love his mother more than she deserves! How he puts up with her, I don't know.

The parallel between Serkan/Kemal and Kiraz/Serkan is strong and I hope it gives Serkan some perspective when he starts grappling with this knowledge. I'm sure it's going to be very disconcerting for him, because while he expected to never see his father again, Alptekin is still his father. He's still the man who raised him and formed him into the man he is. Serkan still runs the company he founded and bears his name.

I don't expect any of that to change, but hopefully he can forge a separate relationship with Kemal that might fill some emotional holes that he has and bring him some peace.

None of that even contemplates how Kemal will feel, thankfully Aydan didn't willfully hide the truth from him. How awful to realize you lost 35 years.

We aren't there yet, but I wonder at what age with Kiraz learn the truth, that her dad is not an astronaut, that her parents went through hell with with cancer and plane crashes, and that her father didn't know of her existence until right before they met?

Just something to think about.

Anonymous asked: i'm so happy for hanker, don't get me wrong, and i'm also so happy we get "together" edser for so many episodes until the end, but i'm already tired of the constant "hanker improvising" comments i know i will be seeing. not that they don't improvise in some scenes, but i just know that every romantic edser scene is gonna be analyzed to hell bc ppl want to look for hanker in them. like there's no possible way that ayse, the writer ppl hate the most, could write any romantic scenes.. nope no way!

Yes, this is one of my pet peeves, I can't stand the "Edser left the chat" and all the "that's Hanker, not Edser" type conversation. it's so invasive and most of all disrespectful to not only the writers, but Hande and Kerem and all the work they pour into bringing Eda and Serkan to life.

One of the things in fandom that sets my teeth on edge is when folks take some interpretation of the character by the actor and then decide because it wasn't "scripted" (pro tip the vast majority of physical movements the actors make are "unscripted") that it must just be the actors themselves and have nothing to do with the characters. What an embarrassing and naïve assertion. Actors literal job is to take what's on the page and then translate that. So, no, OF COURSE, every look and touch is not scripted. The actors interpret how their characters would think and feel, and what they would do in given moments and then do those things.

Eda is not touching Serkan's arm just because Hande can't hold herself back from touching Kerem. Puh-lease, they are professionals. Grow up.

However, having said all that, I do think there was one scene that seemed to be very improvised this episode. The bean scene in the grocery store did feel like them just eFFing around. LOL.

andhewonherheart asked: @andhewonherheart: SCK promo department is best and worst all at the same time, cause giving away the last (cliffhanger) scene in fragman is just cruel. But based on the next week’s fragman thing happens that we we think happens *wink*

Hee! So true. The thing I'm grateful for is that in season 2 not one fragman has made me dread the episode, I think there was at least one fragman an episode from 29-37 that was hella upsetting.

As far as I'm concerned these fragmans are doing there job, making me want to watch.

I am really excited for Serkan planning how he's going to ask Eda to marry him, I wonder what Kiraz's reaction is going to be. So far she's been their very own cupid!

Anonymous asked: I didn't find it surprising that Serkan removed his tattoo as soon as Eda left. His logic is always out of sight out of mind though it doesn't work. He did the same when he broke up with her when he found out about the death of her parents. He removed all of her belongings. But their memories are too strong and enough for him to continue to remember her.

Truth! Will he ever learn that it's never going to work? He'll never be able to erase Eda, she has left an indelible mark on his soul. Let's hope he's never faced with that situation again! From here on out, he and Eda are together, a unit, and will live a long life together and in love.

Anyone have any guesses where Eda's tattoo is? Will we find out or will it remain between the characters.

Anonymous asked: I've seen some people say that Edser are getting married now way too fast and to that I just have to laugh lol. First there were complaints we don't have happy Edser and now when we do, of course there's something else. These two have had a rollercoaster of a year when they first met and a five year separation.. they've been through the dating phase, the engaged phase.. of course they'll head straight to the altar! It's not like Eda's plane proposal and that first wedding wasn't rushed either!

I'm on team head straight to the alter! No more waiting. They've had terrible luck, so they just need to tie the knot and make sure there are no easy outs.

As for people who think it's too fast, they don't even know the storyline yet, I swear there are folks who complain just because that's their personality and they're never satisfied.

Anonymous asked: From some of the spoilers of BTS pics, and the fragman we got, I was just reflecting on this season and Turk romcom dizis in general and I just wanted to say how LUCKY we are to see Edser married (again, from spoilers) and with a kid on screen for more than just 10 minute at the end of the finale. Like, it is really rare and as much as people have nitpicked on this season in general, I feel like watching these last episodes have been such a breeze after the last arc of S1.

Oh agreed, I think these episodes have been very enjoyable. The writers are giving me exactly what I want from this show. Comedy, UST, romance with a little light angst thrown in now and again. I would rewatch this season a dozen times before even thinking about watching anything from the 30s.

We are very lucky that we've got to see them as parents, and actually forming their family. We've gotten so much domestic goodness so far and we still have a ways to go. I'm very appreciative of this season and that Ayse came back, got rid of the constant ridiculous melodrama for melodrama's-sake and is telling a very human story about family and love persevering.

Anonymous asked: the last scene gave me chills for some reason. you could actually see eda fighting her head and her heart and deciding to take the step (metaphorically and physically!) towards him for good. i wanna SUE whoever decided to end it the ep there though.. it was actually cruel. also looking at the next frag.. it makes my heart soft that in the flashbacks we see serkan pushing off their wedding bc of his fears and now he can't propose and get married fast enough.. can't believe we're really getting it

I know, it's almost surreal at this point. Since we're near the end we know it's for real and won't be ruined by psychos or awful family members or terminal illness. I just hope that they give us an emotional scene when they get married, whether its just them or the whole cast is there as guests, after everything they've (we've) been through we need to see them both feeling that moment and reveling in it.

FYI - I'm out of town next weekend, so I may be slower than usual in replying to asks and in posting gifs of 47, but I'll get to it all eventually!

[godsofhumanity]

ATHENA COMPLEX (WEBTOON) | REVIEW

aight so i’m sure a lot of people have heard about this comic available on webtoon.. i think it’s getting popular again because it’s just come back after being on break for like 3 years lol,, anyways @greekschist recommended this webtoon to me, and now that i’ve finished season 1, i’m here to share my two cents about it :D

OVERVIEW: Suffering from heartbreak after being rejected by Poseidon, goddess of wisdom, Athena, becomes human to seek revenge... but as a high school boy. There she plots to befriend Poseidon’s reincarnation, Adrian, who doesn’t have the slightest clue about the world of the gods. But will her sweet vengeance be thwarted by other opposing forces, or will her own one-sided love hinder her plans?

RATING: 4/10. it’s a little bit weird,, plenty of creative license used in here. if you like cheesy “rom-com” with a dash of heartbreak and trauma, then this is probably the comic for you <3

AVAILABLE ON: webtoon

spoilers undercut!

THINGS I LIKED:

- character designs!!!!!!! i didn’t like everything, but Poseidon’s design was really awesome.. the blue and gold palette worked wonderfully for him. i also like Metis’, Iolo’s, and Ares’ designs ^-^

- cliffhangers. i think something this webtoon does really well is leaving cliffhangers.. little bits of information are very slowly revealed, but without just giving it to the reader in one go.. i think this helps draw the reader in.

- the art. the opening panels that appear to look like gold, resembling depictions of mythology commonly observed on ancient greek pottery are done so well!!! really breathtaking to see. 

- fighting scene are also done marvellously,, even if at times i felt the plot was a little wishy-washy, i continued to read just to see the fighting panels because they’re so gorgeous to look at <3

- interesting take on the original mythology. i really like the idea that Gaia curses all the gods because she’s sick of their fighting and can’t take it anymore. i also liked the way the idea of Athena being the prophesised child was dealt with- it’s something i think about a lot, like, what if Athena actually did have a brother who took over from Zeus.. it’s interesting to think about.

- relating to the previous point, i think it’s a cool idea that perhaps the prophecy will still come true- even though Athena is a girl, and the prophecy tells of a male child, Athena goes around parading as a boy on Earth, so in a sense, the prophecy is still being fulfilled, and that’s pretty clever to me.

- Ares!!!!!!!!!!! i know he’s meant to be a piece of shit, but i really like his character arc,, and i mostly continued to read season 1 because i wanted to know what was happening with Dogres.

- the way that no character seems to be painted in black and white- there is no “absoluteness” in this story- no one’s right and no one’s wrong, there’s just perspectives and experiences. i think it’s easy in mythology to just point fingers, but this webtoon avoids doing that, and i really liked that even the worst of the bullies still have sides that might appeal to the audience.

- Adrian being aware of his water blessing.. manifesting Poseidon’s horse and completely bashing those two hunters of Artemis were probably my favourite scenes.. the art for the action scene is done sooo well

- Ares debut panel where he emerges in a tornado of fire,,, we get it Ares

- Apollo healing Shawn. finally some good fucking news

THINGS THAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

- Athena’s whole motivation. it seemed to me from chapter one itself that Poseidon has only ever approached Athena from a fatherly, or brotherly perspective. it’s fine to feel admiration for people, especially older people, who have become father-like figures,, but the way she’s thrown such a massive temper tantrum just because he said that he didn’t return her love in the way she wanted it... idk... seems awfully spoiled of her (and i’m glad Poseidon said no).

-  - the way that Poseidon looks so godly, and then Zeus looks like blonde nagito komaeda.... i am NOT a fan.

- adding to the previous- Apollo’s design.. people in the webtoon comments were like “apollo senpai notice me” but he looks so average,,,, idk,, i just don’t get it.. 

- Nike... she’s kind of annoying,,, and she keeps on changing her mind about what she thinks is good for Athena and idk,, probably the top character that gets on my nerves

- the whole plot where Athena was like “oh sibyl i’m actually only talking to adrian because i like you~”... it felt unnecessary and also weird,, especially the episode where she comes home and nike is like “what’s wrong?” and iolo tells her that “Athena has never taken advantage of a human before”... why start now, Athena?????????

- Athena’s muscular design,,, literally NONE of the other titans are depicted with as much muscle as she is so i just don’t quite understand where it came from?? also Poseidon saying “oh i don’t see you as a woman because you wear armour all the time” but like?????? what????? i know that’s the whole point, but i just... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

- Athena not even changing her name when she pretends to be human... why would you not just make it like “Athens” or “Athenian”... 

- those two huntresses in the last few episodes of season 1 acting all “badass” and hunting down Adrian,, when in fact they were actually just bullies,, using magic on a literal child who has no idea wtf is going on... 

- Artemis and Apollo being so cold to each other

- i hate the way Athena seems to be the only one who “cares” for humanity and even then,, she obviously doesn’t care enough because she’s plotting to absolutely demolish a small human child solely because he just happens to be Poseidon’s incarnation (through no fault of his own)

- i mean,,, how is it that there is NO ONE else who even moderately cares for humanity??? is this not a portrayal of the gods of humanity?

[popculturebuffet]

Final Space: And Into The Fire Review or Now with 110% More Homoerotic Telepathy

Welcome  new and old to my first Final Space review! If you’ve never seen the blog before, and given this is the first “new” series i’ve covered as it come out in some time that’s probably quite a few of you, welcome. I’m Jake, I do recaps and reviews of various animated shows and comics, mostly just stuff I want to do, often on comission (5 dollars an episode if theres any episode of the first two seasons of this show or any episode of any other show you’d like tos ee me cover), or for my patreon patreon.com/popculturebuffet. And it is my utmost honor to add this show to my rotating roster of shows I cover as they come out. 

I friggin love Final Space. I was intrigued by it back when TBS released the animatics alongside Close Enough (Wth the two shows ironically finally together on HBO max as of earlier this month), for their doomed block. I heard a lot of good things about season 1.. and let it get away from me, not watching it till Season 2. But both seasons had more than enough to pull me in with intriguging characters, even greater jokes and a truly unique idea for a premise involving giant monsters, an edltrich god and lots of cookies. 

So while it took an extra year given Covid, I’m super friggin pumped to get into season 3 at long last after the hell of a cliffhanger, especially since ironically last night I saw Steven Yeun’s oscar nominated performance in “Minari”. Now i get to watch him play a cat teenager again too.. and in a few days Mark friggin Grayson. It’s a good week to be a fan of his is what i’m saying and a good week in general. 

Previously on Final Space Yo!: Since it’s been a year and while the series provides  a recap , I’m going to be doing these anyway so:

Our heroes finally got all 5 dimensional keys and freed Bolo, and in the process also freed Avacato from Invictus, the horrifying entity controlling final space. Meanwhile Tribore got Sheryl to stop being a selfish prick and she joined the team trying to be a better mother from now on. But freeing Bolo came at a high cost as Nightfall sacrified herself as the sixth key (KVN was natrually both Gary and Bolo’s first choice, but was inllegible. ) So we ended the season with our heroes entering Final Space and Gary reuniting with Quinn.... while Invictus loomed. So over a year later we finally get some answers so join me under the cut for spoilers, recaps, and homoerotic text ahoy. 

Something i’m doing since both the roster keeps changing.. and as I correctly guessed from the trailer, and the general tone of the promos for this season, that everyone won’t be all together all season.. or even in one piece.. i’ll be doing a silver age style roll call to let us know who all we have on the Team Squad for the episode Roll Call: Gary, Quinn, Avacato, Little Cato, Ash, Fox, KVN, HUE, AVA, Sheryl, Bolo, and Tribore

So we pick up right where we left off, Gary tearfully reuniting with Quinn, with Quinn wishing he hadn’t come for her, and Gary being Gary naturally having ignored that, and actually been more determined since that made it forbidden which made it extra tempting and him want to extra do it. God I missed this glorious idiot let me tell you. 

So things are quickly interrupted by invictus, who turns out to be a giant flaming head.. thing... and chases them and the crimson light, which has to start speeding with our heroes tethered to the outside, Quinn holding onto Gary. 

So we get one hell of a thrilling chase as the Crimson Light outspeeds the demon head and runs into two titans, but Bolo shows up to take out one, with Mooncake trying his dimension shattering blast thingy on Invictus.. and naturlaly g ven this is the big bad we need to show off how horrying they are, and it does NOTHING. But Gary catches his little buddy so we’re alright. 

Sheryl also shows off her badass bonafieds by LIGHTFOLDING THROUGH A TITAN... granted she still has some parenting skills to learn as “lightfolding while your son is hanging out the back through an edltrich god” really isn’t a motherly thing to do.. but neither is trying to murder your child several times or blaming him for how shitty your life turned out so ANYTHING is a step up for her. 

But.. it’s not enough. While she does manage to kill ONE the Crimson Light is too badly damaged to go on and we get two tragic deaths in one go... The Team Squad is forced to abandon the Crimson Light.. and AVA is too damaged to Upload into HUE. “I’m Sad” “For who?” “For you.. and for us. “ God damn Tom Kenny is amazing. You don’t need me telling you that, but sometimes you need a reminder. 

So our heroes end up on a desolate mystery world, stranded in final space with no ship, no suplies and no hope. The only thing to do now is survivie and hope they can continue the mission at some point. 

ONE MONTH LATER

Things have not gotten any better, as naturally , our heroes have only found weird cartoon eyed worms that regrow their heads when you bite them off. So while this means unlimited food, it’s also disgusting and Garry hates it. “This may be a head but it tastes like a butt”. Quinn and Tribore are with him and Quinn hasn’t been ready to talk about her experiences trapped in this hellscape and still isn’t but being a good dude, Gary dosen’t push her on it. Though the weird red veiny thing on her arm tells me maybe one of you should speed that up before she explodes or gets cronnenburgy. Just saying. I’ll also say i’m not huge on the one month time skip, as while I feel they probably have a reason for being that specific i’ts a bit TOO long and I question why have that long a period of a jump, not the longest but still long enough for things to happen with nothing changingin that time? Still it’s a minor nitpick in an otherwise fantastic episode so I can let it go, I just don’t get it. 

What we do get is some Gary Corpses dropping and Invictius puppeting them... i’m with gary that is bowel openingly scary. I also do like how despite the FAR more dire circumstances, they still get in the requisite shenanigans this series requires. I’ts not to the network mandated subplot levels where it distracts, but it’s enough to help ease the terror of the situation and isn’t around for situations like the opening where it really SHOULDN’T be. As the series always has when something big happens, the bollocks goes away. Once we’re in between we can get back to literal pissing contests, KVN leading a crowd to their deaths and HUE in a pimp hat like god intended. 

So yeah our heroes have to outrun the horrible horde of Gary’s, though Little Cato catches on something’s wrong as Tribore makes gary cary him as foreshadowing for later and Sends mooncake down to asssit. Our heroes escape.. but a cave in happens.

After the break, Gary wakes up confused with the party now split in two: Gary, Quinn, KVN, Tribore and HUE on one side and Avacato, Ash, Fox, Little Cato and Sheryl on the other. So Gary does the logical thing... and take his shirt off telling Avacato to feel him. 

I mean I didn’t even ship them before this scene but... Gary claims because of their bond he can telepahtically connect with Avacato. That’s normal Gary shenanigans.. except not only does he shrug off his girlfriend asking why they can’t do that.. but it WORKS. We have a scene of the two telepahtically talking in a wheatfield that is so homerotic I guarantee there only wasn’t the Careless Whisper sax because they couldn’t afford it.. or their saving it for later this season. Look sometimes you don’t ship a ship because you just.. dont’ care that strongly one way or another and sometimes you just need an incredibly gay scene to see the light. Same thing happened with Weblena same thing here. 

Fox also says “that was glorious to watch” same man. That was freaking art. So our heroes split up into three plots. As usual for me

Team Gary: So yeah... Triobore’s pregnant. No way to really softball into that. He’s been pregnant this whole time. So we get a stupid and mildly horrifying gross out sequence with Gary having to look Triobore in teh eyes and Quinn having to “uncork him”. Which is code for ... you know what i’m not going to say it. If you’ve seen the episode you know and if not your better off not visualizing it trust me. Point is this whole sequence is dumb and the worst part of the episode by far. And the series CAN do good gross out. While Olan Rodgers regrets it, the pissing contest was one of the funniest scenes of season 2, and managed to make a gross idea on paper actually pretty damn funny. This.. this is just “Haha males giving birth and tribore’s an asshole”. There’s no joke here just a .. plug. .. gah.. the vomit is rising let me tell you. 

We do get something good out of this nightmare, Tribore’s son who hatches as the army of gary’s dig their way in, Quanstranstro, who rapidly ages into a stylsih spanish speaking adult badass. He is fucking awesome and a great addition to the team and the sheer.. oddity of his birth is wonderful even if the actual birthing was not. Then the climax happens so before that. 

Team Avacato:

Avacato and Co come across a sleeping giant robot cyborg .. thingy. Naturally Fox wakes him up. Little Cato remains not suprised. It occelates between panicking over it’s legs being gone and amenisa and is pretty damn funny. It’s voiced by John Dimagio. But it gets serious as we find out nothing has ever made it out of final space, and things.. change the longer there there. And Quinn’s been there several months if not a year. Whuh oh. This part is much better both due to better jokes and plot advancment.. though again Quanstrano is still fucking amazing. 

Team Bolo: Bolo meanwhile returns and fights a titan, and has mooncake help him rather htan join the others, but looses, hitting the planet with his body.. I mean he might not get back up.. but the impact shatters the caverns and causes an explosion. Everyone but Gary, Quinn, KVN and HUE are MIA, as our remaining party find earth floating overhead. 

TO BE CONTINUED> 

Final Thoughts: A decent start to the season. Like I said the whole birthing sequence can die in a fire and reminds me of the terrible comedy subplots adult swim wanted grafted onto two episodes.. but otherwise it’s a tense stark opener that sets up the bleak tone while still keeping the series rediciulous shenanigans in tact. It’s the perfect welcome back after so long. I mean the gay telepathy alone would make it a winner. 

Next Time on This Blog: We dive into a little history with HIsteria. See you at the next rainbow.