#bones if you need ideas for filler episodes i am right here

[incorrect-league-of-villains]

Hawks: We’re kind of missing something, guys.

Dabi: Cohesion?

Toga: Teamwork?

Spinner: A general sense of what we’re doing?

Sako: And Tomura isn't here.

Dabi: Oh, and that, yeah.

[satansaidmyturnintheh3llscape]

Everything Right/Wrong with Ninjago “Legacy of the Green Ninja” E3: Double Trouble

Disclaimers: Show owned by LEGO. This is not a professional review/critique - it’s mainly intended for comedy.

- Intro ✅

- Lloyd is holding that lightbulb way too close to his face. Green Bean’s gonna lose an eye ❌

- “I can’t seem to teach him to control his power!” He’s about to beat up a punching bag because he hit himself in the face with a broom. I don’t think his powers are what he needs to control right now ❌

- “Sometimes the greatest opponent we face is ourselves. That is especially true of Lloyd.” This is a very interesting take on Lloyd’s character and one that not enough people talk about… including the show itself ❌

- “He is the son of Lord Garmadon.” Yeah but Garmadon hasn’t had any place in raising Lloyd yet, so he’s not really the one to blame for Lloyd’s anger problems ❌

- “It’s going to take time for him to embrace the light.” It doesn’t take much time at all, actually. My biggest issue with this season is the fact that they had plenty of episodes to better set up a proper arc and development for Lloyd, but they don’t. Sure, he gets this episode and sort of Child’s Play, but otherwise he’s not that much more focused on than he is in season 1 (in terms of the filler episodes). Sure, a race episode is… well it is there, but give us Lloyd struggling to unlock his powers because he knows he’ll have to use them to hurt his dad, or something like that. A lot of the first half of this season just feels like a missed opportunity. Fluff is fun but I want angst, d*mmit! ❌

- I know showing Kai, Zane, and Cole talking in the background while Jay and Nya talk is supposed to be realistic, but I just find it really distracting, especially since you can hear them whispering ❌

- Isn’t Nya like 15? How did she get a job? ❌

- “They’ve changed to the Darkley’s School for Great Children.” Use of the word “children” implies one of two things: a) the school has opened up to all genders (seems unlikely since all students seem to be boys and there’s no way this show was that progressive considering we’re just now getting pride flags on screen), or b) The writers barely got away with “bad boys” and now “Darkley’s School for Good Boys” would be the censors’ last straw ❌

- “Wait, they’ve turned good?” Yeah yeah, insert joke about astral projecting voices ❌

- “I love ceremonies! That means there’s gonna be cake!” Finally, some realistic representation of asexuals in the media- ✅

- Not enough people acknowledge how hilarious it is to see a warlord h*llbent on destruction organizing a meeting to “brainstorm” ideas to destroy the heroes ✅

- “OVER THE SIDE!” Over the side ✅

- “Can you make a giant ham sandwich?… I would hope not, I’m so hungry.” Am I stereotyping my own community by saying that every character that thinks about food is automatically ace? Maybe. Is it gonna stop me? Nope. ✅

- “How can I defeat ninja who so rudely refuse to be defeated!?” I know some people don’t like that Garmadon was made less scary this season, and I see their point, but I just can’t help but enjoy every moment he’s on screen ✅

- Someone make a gif of Garmadon punting that snake off the ship. Please? ✅

- Why would there be mint-condition extras of the ninja’s suits just lying around the ship? ❌

- “I have made you to be equal to the ninja.” Why? He can create anything, so why didn’t he make the exact same copycat ninja, but make them just a tad bit stronger than the real ninja? That seems like it’d be more effective ❌

- ^ Ya ever just look at someone and KNOW they make TikTok thirst traps? ❌

- “Any sudden what?” “AHHHHHH-“ ✅

- Brad Tudabone? Does every villain here have to name their kid some godawful pun?!?!? ❌

- Building off that, you have Lloyd Garmadon (pun on Lord Garmadon), Brad Tudabone (bad to the bone), and… Gene? Now I’m laughing at the only kid with the normal name because he’s somehow the outlier in this trio ❌

- I know making unique character designs is hard with lego, but did every kid really have to look almost exactly the same? I feel like the plot twist shouldn’t be “hey the kids are evil!” but rather “hey, where the h*ll did someone get a cloning machine???” ❌

- “They overthrew us! They’re monsters!” No, just children, which is 100 times worse

- “With friends like you, who needs enemies?” This line makes Lloyd visibly sad and I think we should talk about that more ✅

- Evil Jay, Cole, and Zane go from across the room to behind Kai for no apparent reason ❌

- “Lloyd is not at the amusement park!” Why would he tell them that? ❌

- “Jay, you back yet? Can’t wait to see you at the auto body shop!” What phone plays a voicemail after a missed call, unprompted? ❌

- Nya falls for this ❌

- D*MN that escalated quickly; consent??? ❌

- Also, this was originally supposed to be the MAIN relationship of the show and the ONLY time throughout these 2 seasons that they kiss on the lips is in this moment, where one of them isn’t even the real person! ❌

- “Call me!” 1: You live together, 2: No. ❌

- “… they’re gonna brainwash Lloyd and undo all the lessons we’ve tried to teach him!” How intelligent and cunning does Kai think this group of 8-10 years olds is? ❌

- If all the teachers quit after the school turned good, then who made the choice to turn the school good in the first place? ❌

- I love every single moment between Lloyd and the Darkley’s boys ✅

- The evil ninja dodge the spitballs but not the smoke bombs for some reason ❌

- Lloyd falls flat against shattered glass and RUBS against it and doesn’t cut himself ❌

- “Why do I always get tied up?” The writers heard Lloyd’s plea and decided to upgrade him to cages for the whole rest of the series! ❌

- “I escaped fair and square!” ✅

- “Which them?” “My friends of course!” Moments like this make it really hard to try to prove you have a braincell, Lloyd ❌

- Gene has an awful complicated way of depicting a basic element of 7th grade math❌

- “When I arrived here on my first day, I didn’t know how things worked around here, and everyone made fun of me. Brad even put fire ants in my bed.” Lloyd’s life really is just one Shakespearean tragedy after another, huh? ❌

- “All of you have a secret good side that stays quiet out of fear, because it thinks it’s alone, but it’s not. And I’m living proof!” ✅

- “Who here can sew?” Everyone, apparently❌

- “My eyes! I can’t see!” Good to know that evil Kai is just as much a baby as real Kai is

- “Normally we’d punish you for holding us captive, but now that we’ve all learned a valuable lesson, I suppose it’s cause for a celebration!” … What? ❌

- “It’s great to have the tank back!” You had it for 5 minutes before it got destroyed! AND IT’S STILL NOT A TANK ❌

- How can Garmadon contact the ninja? ❌

- Love that Nya put a game controller in the Ultra Sonic Raider. She knows them so well ✅

- “You go to school and sometimes you might pick up a thing or two.” Lloyd ✅

- But also, school propaganda ❌ /lh

- The internal conflict in this episode seems to be that Lloyd has some sort of mental block keeping him from controlling his powers, and the resolution had him overcoming it and learning to control them, but… how? What happened during this episode that made Lloyd develop? How did he go from trying to kill a punching bag to spewing stuff about secret good sides in one’s self? ❌

Sentence: Bring back Brad and Gene you cowards

[jockpoetry]

supernatural sees women as a tool for development and strengthening of narratives/motivation and dean sees his body as a tool. is that anything?

When I saw this ask I really made the 🥴in real life. So, yeah anon, I do think there’s something to this.

Quick Disclaimer before I actually launch into my thoughts™: A lot of my read of Dean stems from my experience as both an oldest daughter and a transman. Being the oldest daughter was an experience I lived for many years, but I am also a man. I wasn’t raised as a man, I wasn’t socialized as a man, and even though once I came out upon reflection my masculinity was obviously there. Like I was a man™ before I knew I was a man. Even when I actively tied my identity to femininity for a long time! A lot of my prideful moments were based around statements like: “I was the only girl who (fill in the blank).” 

So I am just putting that out there before I launch into my spiel about Dean/Gender/Tool because they all interlock for me. 

I am also going to apologize in advance because I know this has fully gone off the rails and I’m not even done writing it yet. If this is incomprehensible ! Well, happens to the best of us.

First off, most importantly I guess before we discuss womanhood and Dean and the way both are utilized on the show I need to say that I personally don’t subscribe the whole Dean is female coded thing. 

It’s a read I can absolutely understand. But for me..he’s not. 

He’s a hypermasculine man to the point that when (and because he is written as a punchline, as the stupid™ brother, as the whore™, as the mother/father™, as daddy’s blunt instrument™, etc) Dean deviates from the pre-accepted definition of hypermasculine it’s Wrong. 

It’s Instantly Feminine. 

I think the internet has made the world very black and white, or blue and pink maybe. This point, I think, colors a lot of these discussions. Dean cooks, he cleans and so therefor he’s female coded. When that really just feeds back into the whole toxic masculinity loop. You can’t be masculine and cook and clean and cry. That’s for feminine people only. 

I get the argument! I do, I just think that Dean’s actions are not inherently feminine, it’s just in the vacuum of Female and in the Absence of Traditional Masculinity it makes sense to assign him female coded and move on.

IN FACT the way that Dean is the action hero of the show, the Masculine™ one on the show - but he cries, and he rages, and he cooks (Again and Again) and cleans (Again and Again). The fact he’s macho and confident but he has so little self esteem. Is frankly insane to me. You have this blaze of glory character who is so depressed that they have him kill himself. Twice. In explicitly “I hate myself, I hate hearing all the things I hate about myself, I want to destroy myself” ways. 

On just a regular ol’ network show that is just ungodly bad at times. They let their Male Hero cry - all the time (if I linked every example of this the essay would be...longer than it already is, but just take my word for it). Dean tears up and grieves and shows more than just Angry Horny Violent™ (he shows plenty of that, don’t get me wrong) but he’s Emotional (Again and Again and Again). In many different ways!

I mean, beyond even just tearing up, they make their Male Hero™ face sexual violence in pretty, uniquely horrifying - and queer! - ways.

Let’s make it clear, they did a lot of this unintentionally. 

Or they do it as a joke. 

Off of dean for a moment to say women are plot devices in this show. I could probably count on one hand female characters who have sincere depth to them that have roles outside of progressing plot, filling a filler episode, and who are still alive. Like even characters such as Charlie who are wholly developed, and interesting, are only remembered/mentioned/utilized to progress plots or fill an episode out - and then she dies. For pain™ for plot™ for no other reason than to traumatize a character. 

Which let’s also make it clear Dean’s trauma is also only used as a plot device (as is Sam’s but in a different way, and Cas’ trauma is a whole other barrel of fish we’re not gonna dive into right now). Like wholesale full stop they don’t actually care about what happened to him. Unless it’s relevant in an episode. 

Oh that boys home he was left at when he was 16 for months? Sure we’ll sprinkle that in in the back half of the series. Oh he was covered in bruises and said it was from a hunt (when it’s clear contextually they were from his father but saying the fantastical but true is easier than saying the uncomfortable but true). As Dean says though the story became the story, he was sixteen. He just went along with what John said.

We only see Dean ever truly rage at John, by the way, when either Dean is dead (when he’s between life and death and he rages at John, right before John “apologizes” for traumatizing him, for putting too much on Dean’s shoulders, and fucking dying) or John is dead (the Djinn episode where Dean is straight™ and John is dead™ and he goes to his grave and just yells and rages like he should have to his father in the real world).

Dean’s trauma from being both tortured and torturer in hell? Yeah, we don’t talk about that after it’s Relevant™. Even though it’s clear - especially in the demon!dean, mark of cain era, all those years later - Alastair still has his hooks inside of Dean. I stopped watching originally after s8 ended. I was fed up with the show, and with this whole renaissance I’ve been doing a rewatch and I’m into season twelve now and it really has never come up again. 

Even when he had the mark of cain and he was tasked with questioning and accused of torturing it was “the mark has changed you” and not “you were victim and victimizer in hell for forty years, which is longer than you’ve been alive on earth” (and, was about as long as he wound up living. Which is desperately sad.

Because we talk about Sam’s desire for a “normal” life but, Dean wanted out too. He was tired in the first few seasons of this show, he never had a chance to taste freedom (we don’t count the boys home, because that was a different kind of regimented life, and it was a false freedom) the way that Sam did in Flagstaff with Bones or at Stanford with Jessica. Love for Dean is sacrificing, it’s putting himself/his happiness/his well-being last.

Because Dean only knows love in the context of violence (like all of these fun examples, for starters) is a phrase that I’ve said a lot both in private chats and on here, and I absolutely think it goes to him being a tool (a blunt instrument, a plot device, so both textually and metatextually) instead of a person. Which Cas sees Dean’s shame/guilt and sees that side of Dean because he touched his soul, and saw more than just the Righteous™ man, more than just the tool, he saw A good man, not a machine. 

On the other side though you have how “bad guys” view Dean: Desperate, Sloppy, Needy, Dean’s hole (Again), which is again so wildly counterintuitive to the story of a Macho Man Hero™. You’re using vocabulary that is both queering him and feminizing (and I know this a meme format, but sincerely it is done in a derogatory way it is feminizing. It’s breaking him down to bare parts, to a sloppy hole). 

My whole rewatch I have been absolutely fascinated by how identity and free will is utilized/conceptualized on this show. Castiel has been my main focus, but Dean and how he is framed by himself and others is...fascinating - and frustrating. The writers inconsistency lends itself not only to this unintentionally queer character, but also one that again is incredibly easily read as a non-traditionally masculine character.

As a feminine character.

This show has so few female characters that of course it had to foist the roles/behaviors/plots that a female character might have onto a male character. Which I think is part of why reading Dean as trans (either transmasc, or transfemme) is so easily done like.   

Half of these are shit posts, but you can find trans allegories/textual evidence in this show again, again, again, again, and again. And this is unintentional, they don’t want you to look at Dean and see woman, former future or present. Like a lot of these I’m sure are punchlines for them, because women/queer folk are punchlines to them. 

Sometimes the only women in an episode are random witnesses who get two sentences of dialogue, and then the main guest character is a man. Who flirts with Dean, and Dean is receptive to it. 

They paint themselves into a corner, there are female Rabbi. So easily could Aaron have been a woman instead of a man, but they made the choice to play up the HaHa Dean & Men card. 

Because, again, Dean has filled the slot of Woman™ of Female Lead™ and the flirting would’ve been straight if Dean was a woman. It’s a plot device, they needed to have the guest character be disarming, be cute, make the main character flustered. 

It’s just the main character is a man, because they’re allergic to women. But they still need those female plots, tools of femininity, to move their show forward. I mean I am a big subscriber to transmasc Jo (no idea if anyone else is with me on this one, but let me explain). Jo is in love with Dean (concept) not Dean (actuality). Which, we’ve all had our eggs cracked by someone like that. We were in love with them until we realized we just wanted to be them.

He loved her like a little sister, she loved him like a lost idol. He’s a golden calf and she dies for him, because she believed in him, she was the original character dashed at the altar of the Winchesters. 

I fully believe if she had lived and if this show had a crumb of actual good writing Jo could have been a deeply compelling transmasc character. But I also think she’s a fascinating inversion of Dean. Dean is a Masculine Character who subverts Toxic Masculinity, Jo is a Tomboy™ she’s not your (if you take it straight, literally and metaphorically) average female love interest. She’s angry, she’s not soft at all, all edges and corners and thorns. She isn’t helpless, she’s stubborn but not in a “you’re going to get punished for this” way. She’s right when she’s stubborn. She’s helpful, she’s a martyr. 

I could do a whole other essay just on Jo (and Ellen, and Ash, what a fucking trio!) but needless to say Jo was one of the first...plot device feminine tools sacrificed to this show. She was a regular, she was unique, she was an engaging character, and she still died (to progress the plot? no. for man pain? yeah, for like three episodes maybe, and then it’s forgotten just like the rest of Dean’s trauma, as we mentioned above). 

Dean and Women and Love is a very interesting tool used too because. Boy they sure try to make Dean love women and it fails in small ways, and in big, meaningless, failed het domesticity (again) ways. Not to mention whatever Lust (in the form of a woman) having no effect upon him, when they could have used that moment to assert his Masculinity and Heterosexuality. He behaved normally? And...also...whatever the fuck the Adios thing was!

Like they have these opportunities to make him Traditionally (toxically) Masculine, but make the choice to...not? To soften him. Because it’s a tool. He’s their female lead, textually he had to take on the role of mother(/father) to Sam, but...I mean this is a million miles long already. I know, but we absolutely can’t not talk about his Paternal/Maternal behaviors. (Which appear again and again again and again, outside of his relationship with Sam even/especially). He’s the mother hen, sage, safety net, beacon, home to so many side characters they meet.

I mean in many ways Jody is also a Dean comparison. Lost her family. Found a new family. She is non-traditionally feminine, but easily flustered and Silly™ (let’s just drop the entire sex talk over family dinner scene with Alex and the boys and looking to them for help, even though she was already a mother, and she’s a cop, and a hunter and this confident no nonsense individual.... She’s not). We are meant to see her as this hard ass, but she makes extra food for the boys to take back to the bunker. She’s deadly in a fight, but also still easily overwhelmed and put into damsel mode, and she cares so much even in the face of adversity.

It’s also fun to see how Jo | Jody are reflections of Dean at different points of his life. Younger, cocky | Older, settled.

Even when the text tries to tell us that he’s not.

When it reminds us that he’s violent. That he is his father, even if he says that Sam is more like John (which was reflexive, which was angry because of Adam and how Sam was behaving like Dean in that episode, and yes there are parallels to be drawn between Sam and John, the show barely dives into them). Instead we’re told that Dean is John (Again and  Again and Again and Again). 

So intensely that a fanfictionalized version of the Winchester Gospels makes it an entire fucking musical number. 

And yet, despite the texts insistence to make Dean Macho Man Father Reborn™ We get this Dean who is silly (and directly compared/contrasted to the female character in this scene), soft, in heels, nagging, and... Sully (you know Sam’s imaginary friend who has the same Haircut Dean has, who is a softer, shorter, friendlier, campier, version of Dean who was a replacement For Dean until the real one let Sam back in? That? Sully?) it’s hard to take them seriously. 

Hell, even when he was A DEMON? What did they do? They had him sing off-key drunken karaoke, they had him doing this ! Like that’s your hero, unhinged, free to be as bad as he could be, and you put him in a cowboy hat in a romance with the king of hell. 

The Female Lead, everyone. Who’s biggest betrayal(s) comes at the hands of his love interest (again, a man even though it was an angel who could’ve taken any vessel! who could’ve been recast, who canonically dies admitting his love to Dean - that one), who he tries so hard to be loyal to. 

The contradictions of his character are laughable. He is so emotional, but if he is engaged about his emotions? He shuts down, or he’s exasperated about being asked about them. It really is Female Lead/Only Here For The Plot disease, because everything is more important than him. How’s he doing? Doesn’t matter outside of the context of how x character is doing or that y character is dead. Or his emotions only matter if they’re done in penance. 

They also really do frame him as Pretty Boy™ in a violent way, or in a derogatory manner. They’ll give us homoerotic shots like this or these and never really acknowledge how these are gay shots. Sorry the gun scene is a a straight up sex scene, the beer sip spilling out over his mouth is oral, the scene where Cas fills up Dean’s glass with whisky is also a sex scene, they do this shit on purpose but accidentally queer it up. If Dean was a woman these scenes wouldn’t even matter. They’d be passing moments, but because he is not just a man but A Man™ they’re insane to see.

Not to mention all of these scenes and all the ones I haven’t linked where Dean dresses up. He performs masculinity, but he performs femininity too. He’s a plot device that is slotted in to whatever role they need. He’s Super Straight Butch Man™ but coaches the lesbian on how to successfully flirt with a man. He’s Action Hero™ who sits through a montage with the same lesbian and yays and nays her outfits, and enjoys himself.

Fuck he loves dressing up, he feels better in these costumes because performing a character is easier than being himself. Because who is Dean? He’s a tool, both textually and metatextually. It is exactly how the women and because of the women on the show that Dean is the way that he is. If there was a more steady female presence Dean would not be half as much of a plot device or half as camp/gay/feminine/non-traditionally masculine/queer coded as he is. 

In conclusion....

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 06.04.21 lb

lollipop girl figuring out ki ohhhh it was vansh i handed the black box off to that day. ok and???? who gave you the box in the first place to give it to him????? WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR??? WHY YOU HERE??

oh shit she got kidnapped and coerced into it and........... tattooed or some shit??? she herself can't seem to remember what she has to do with this infernal black box.

vansh giving angre deets of where exactly in the jungle he conked off for 6 hours. man, will we figure this shit out this week or naah? this show always kheenchofies the lamest of "mysteries" for literal monthssssssssss.

angre talking good sense, ki is figuring this out more important to you than riddhima herself??? man, angre...... you're too pure for this world and this fam.

my god the stink-eye vansh gave him. vansh you're a hella bad husband. kuch seekho angre se. honestly.

anyway, vansh frames this bs as being worried for the family and sends angre off on his way.

ANGRE'S SHOULDER STILL HURTS AND VANSH OFFERS TO GO INSTEAD IN THAT PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE WAY THAT DOESN'T REALLY GIVE YOU AN OPTION AND MAN............. I REALLY HATE VANSH. HE JUST SUCKS AS A HUMAN BEING ON THE WHOLE.

package for riddhima that chachi intercepts coz she likes how the box looks. iss family mein sab ke sab pagal hain.

opens it and there's a dabbe mein dabba and some gold chain with a tackyass pendent in it. gold hai, toh ofc chachi keeps it.

it was sent by vyom. thankfully some samajhdaar naukar told riddhima ki chachi le gayi aapka parcel.

chachi gives her some other pendent altogether.

lmaoooooooooooooooo, riddhima's like huh? this looks so real? i ordered some artificial stuff. this is realllllll pretty and legit looking. phas gayi chachiiiiiiiii. 2 lakh ka asli maal riddhima ko pakda diya.

chachi finally fesses up and gives her the one that came for her. i loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee smart!riddhima who's playing every asshole in this house.

riddhima finds siya coming home in her sexy sari at bloody 2 am. she just asks siya where she's been and ishani comes and defends her and takes her away.

riddhima noticed that her earring was missing though, and remembers creepy zero fucker playing with a earring that looks exactly like that. tries to warn siya ki sambhal jao, tumhare lakshan theek nahi lag rahe; and ofc siya's rebelliousness kicks in and she's all YOU'RE NOT MY REAL MOM OKAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

btw only dumbass teens and those who aren't really properly adults say this I'M AN ADULT I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING OK YOU DON'T NEED TO TELL ME bullshit. as a fully grown adult i am legit here 5 days a week crying, SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO DO I LITERALLY HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA HOW TO GO ABOUT SHIT WHY DIDN'T THEY TEACH ME THIS SHIT IN SCHOOL INSTEAD OF MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL??!?!

so anyway, we can cut siya from the list of sensible ppl in this house. bacha sirf angre.

angre's gonna set off on his jungle trek but wife's here in a sari to seduce him.

angre's like babe i love it and i love you but can i take a raincheck?

TO WHICH THIS CRAZYASS B PULLS HIS GUN AND PUTS IT ON HER OWN MAATHA. MAN.................... ALL THESE FUCKING RAISINGHANIA SIBS NEED TO BE PUT IN INTENSIVE COUNSELING BEFORE ALLOWED TO GET INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH SOME POOR UNSUSPECTING SUCKER. tbh, i'm kinda scared and worried for vyom now, seeing what kinda crazy siya could unleash on him. riddhima really worried for the wrong person in that dynamic.

she's legit asking him to choose between work or wife and he's like taking it pretty chill and like, both are pretty important to me.

ohhhhhh, he's chill coz the gun isn't loaded. lmao. i think he's learnt it's best to have an unloaded gun in this house around these crazies.

to which ishani is now yelling at him for walking around with an empty gun which is hella unsafe for him.

he's like ok fine...... it's loaded. i just said it to get you to drop the gun. MAN, EVERYONE HERE JUST GETS OFF ON LIES AND SUBTERFUGE. WHY ARE YOU PPL LIKE THIS?!!???!?!?

ishani's like could you please just leave this horrible job with my disgusting brother who doesn't care about anyone but himself????? now that, she's right about.

anyway this convo is pointless. angre would leave ishani before he'd leave vansh, so............. yeah.

fuck man they really dressing vansh in these white shirts and solid neutral blazers and getting me going unfffffffffff.

time for riddhima and vansh's vague flirtation convo of the day.

after lotsa shakki looks at each other, V finally leaves. riddhima hands off a flask of some healing drink to angre as he heads off on his hike.

idhar anupriya's informing vansh of dadi's newly developed anorexia and sending him off with a full tray. god what a useless filler ep this is.

angre trying to talk sense into the other half of the relationship, asking riddhima why she's pulling this shit, does she not love vansh anymore?

riddhima's like i'm doing it for him; tum nahi samjhoge. *sigh* we know, sis. we all know you are doing this FOR him only. ugh. majaal hai jo tum apne liye kuch karo.

vansh here to coax secrets outta dadi. will it work tho?

nope. she's lying to him and saying she's just worried about "the family" and they hug it out. MAN WHY IS THIS EPISODE SO BORING!?!?!!? NOTHING IS HAPPENINGGGGGGGGG.

riddhima's in the secret room manhandling the safe and instantly the alarms go off. SIS I THOUGHT YOU ALREADY FORESAW THIS IN YOUR DREAM AND MADE ANOTHER PLAN?!?!?!!?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand vansh is here.

lol she makes no bones about coming here for the "precious stuff". and quicklyyyyyy changes that into HIM being the precious thing she's here for. lmao so laaaaame.

"mujhe safe mein kyun dhoond rahi thi tum?" lmaoooooooooooo

she's like i came to KEEP something in the safe. that do takke ka pendent, which she bought for herself as an anniversary gift from him. lol man, she's got the dumbest fucking story.

he showed her where he keeps the remote of the safe. on purpose i'm sure.

i can't focus on this scene due to how fucking thick rrahul's beard is. MAN SOMEONE GIVE THE MAN 30 MIN TO TRIM IT, IT LOOKS RIDICULOUS. IT AS GHANNA AS THE JUNGLE ANGRE IS ROAMING IN RN.

anyway he's promising to give her a better gift than this: the details of what went down in those 6 hours. so stupid, who would want something they already have?????

precap: same as yest, but one added scene of riddhima and vansh playing darts. okay????????

[kemonododo]

Decided to rewatch the whole series after seeing the finale, here's my thoughts as they come along part 1

Razz tells Adora not to look for others to tell her what to do and asks her what she thinks. Adora decides she must fight the Horde. It's poetic that Adora gets so hung up on destiny and fulfilling her goal, when the final message she needed to learn was said in the third episode. Razz is the wisest of us all.

Angella repeats what she heard in the legends of She-Ra, notably that she is meant to "bring balance to Etheria". From Angella's perspective this seems like a good thing, but it's so much more sinister knowing that basically means "to turn the death star on".

Catra was pissed at Adora, but seemed willing to leave the Horde until Hordak elects her as Force Captain. This is the start of her conclusion that Adora was only holding her back, and so the decent of her madness. That little smirk kills me, because that face will shed a lot of tears from this point on.

Season 5 showed us what Adora's She-Ra looks like, without the First One's influence. It might be a bit blasphemous, but I think that reveal would have worked better if this early season She-Ra was the mini-skirt, cleavage design of the 80s. Have a bit of symbolism about societal beauty standards. Love the muscles though that part is perfect.

The first time Catra and Adora meet back up after their falling out is a little unremarkable, the wounds are still fresh and they're still angry at each other but I think both still don't understand how big this schism between them will be.

I just realized Entrapta's castle has a picture of a Tyrannosaurus rex with a unicorn horn and Pegasus wings. Is that what Mara's dragon was!? 😂

God I love Entrapta, even when I first watched this I was excited to see the purple Hatsune Miku in the intro. She always cared about people since the beginning, she just doesn't understand politics.

Castaspella and Angella were shipping Glimbow from the start lol.

The show gives us a full view of how Shadow Weaver's abuse affected Adora. Being constantly pressured to be the best and strongest at the threat of Catra's health has left Adora a jittering wreck. Call me sadistic, but I love that it wasn't resolved in this episode. Adora wins the battle against SW today, but all the way up to the series finale we see SW's dirty fingers clawing away at her conscious. It takes more than 20 minutes to escape a life of manipulation.

Princess Prom! This is when the show goes from a 7 to a 10. Not only the prom being a fun venue, but this is where Catra begins to get some agency. This is the first time she really feels like a main character, which is great because I love her more than anything. Also the first time we see Double Trouble and the Star sisters, which I guess are different from the Star Siblings in season 5? A bit of a continuity error.

Aww, Glimmer is jealous. I can relate to her fears of being pushed out, but the fact that she's pretty madly in love with him adds a whole new layer. Bow is right but he's being a bit insensitive here.

Let's just take a moment to appreciate how far we've come. Remember when this was the gayest thing in the show?

It's fun watching the princess alliance so early in their friendships, they obviously care enough to go with Adora on this mission to save Glimmer, but I love how annoyed and distracted they get with each other.

This episode is also really big for Catra, realizing she will never get Shadow Weaver's approval, that longing look at Adora, "this is not because I like you".

The Beacon is sandwiched between two great episodes that make it feel like filler, but a lot actually happens. We see more of Adora's insecurities, especially how she starts to take it out on herself when she runs into a problem out of her control. We got the formation of the super pal trio, a short lived group with an amazing dynamic. And we also have a huge moment with Angella that basically defines her entire character.

Entrapta's insecurities are revealed. She wants friends, she loves people, but they're complicated and hard and always seem to leave her. It's heartbreaking and something that comes to a head on Beast Island.

I love this scene with Catra and Shadow Weaver. It's clear she still loves her evil mom, and we see how SW has abandoned the idea of Adora for now and is now beginning to manipulate Catra. We also see another Catradora parallel, both of them tell straight to SW face that she has no power over them anymore, something we continue to see is not true.

Promise! 18 months later and it's still my favorite episode of the show. I like how it starts off with the anger they've been feeling up until now, but through the mind melting manipulation by skynet Light Hope, it's multiplied a thousand fold. Before this Catra was pissed at her friend, now Catra wants to murder the person she thinks destroyed her life. After this Catra isn't a cute tsundere, she's completely homicidal. She still loves Adora obviously, but Light Hope has corrupted that love into the most vitriol hate on the planet. It's wild to think they both love each other so much, and yet the abuse that have scarred them prevents that love from breaking free. This is the true moment where the show starts, this is where it became the best cartoon I have ever seen.

Also this is the only time since the first episode and Catra's redemption in season 5 where their chemistry is in full play. They just love each other so much, god I'm fucking tearing up again.

An important thing people forget about the Catradora dynamic is Catra's inferiority complex. She has been told since the day she was born that she is worthless, below Adora in every way. She loves and looks up to Adora, but her existing in Adora's shadow blackens that love. Which is why her joining the rebellion isn't a good ending for her. She needed time on her own, away from Adora, to carve out her own identity. It was her struggles as Force Captain that finally pushed her to start doing good, that realization that she is unhappy in that role. If she had left with Adora in episode 1, she would still be bitter and cruel and toxic, because she'd still be standing behind Adora.

Shadow Weaver's abuse goes both ways, as now Adora feels like she needs to protect Catra like a helpless kitten. That dynamic was not healthy, and it would not have lasted. Catradora can only exist now because they both accept each other as equals.

That final "you promise?", probably the most important words in the show. I've seen this episode a dozen times, but after seeing the finale the tears are running down my face again. Adora was the light of Catra's light, nothing mattered as long as Adora was there with her. She loved her so much. The Fright Zone, Shadow Weaver, her own insecurities, they all impacted Catra. But in that moment, them cuddling on their bunk, it didn't matter. Little did she know Adora loved her back just as much. Fuck I'm crying again.

Catra took that memory, tainted by Light Hope, and saw Adora as a monster. Someone who manipulated her like everyone else and abandoned her at the first opportunity. Someone who broke her most important promise, someone who broke her heart. Catra is probably the best written character in fiction, no I am not exaggerating.

It's a hard follow up after that episode, but the amazing juxtaposition of Entrapta and Light Hope telling the same story with different information is bone chilling and goosebumps giving.

Knowing the whole story of Mara, Light Hope's speeches are terrifying. Her manipulation makes Shadow Weaver look soft. Luckily we have an Alicorn to help, like all other abuse in the show it isn't over in a single dialog exchange, but Swift Wind is speaking the truths Adora needs to hear. The thing about Adora though is one of her main character flaws, she gives in to the doubt her abusers seed her. Her friends constantly tell her she has worth and deserves love, but she has it in her head that she must sacrifice herself for the greater good. That's another reason why Catradora works in the end, Catra helps bring out the selfishness she needs.

Battle of Brightmoon isn't a great finale, my time in the MLP fandom has soured me on "then all the friends came together and shot the villain with a rainbow" conclusion. Luckily, the show would knock the next three out of the park.

Catra starting the new season strong, I love the juxtaposition of the horde soldiers fearing her while the super pal trio doesn't. I love that little smirk, she thinks it's the first she wants yet we all know it's the later.

Frosta got a character change, I understand what they're doing where the other princesses are bringing her out of her shell, but it all happened off-screen so she just seems out of character. The little moment with her and Glimmer is great, and a little bit of forshadowing for Glimmer's queenly role.

Every Shadow Weaver and Catra interaction is fantastic, I love how SW gets so easily under her skin and how Catra pretends to brush it off. Those black tenticles still have a hold on the Kitty's heart.

Ties that Bind is a fantastic episode, especially seeing Catra's interactions with Bow and Glimmer. I love how this contrasts with the season 5 episode A shot in the Dark, here Catra is bullying the best friend squad with malice while the later has Glimmer and Bow playfully making fun of her with love.

Glimmer's actions here are also great forshadowing for her role as queen, especially how desperate she is to destroy the horde and how it affects her morals. Makes her decision to use the heart in season 4 very believable.

I love how Adora keeps referencing ghost stories she heard as a kid. I love the idea of her and Catra under the covers telling scary stories to each other until they'd both end up cuddling while insisting they aren't scared.

Entrapdak! Entrapta's love of science, complete lack of fear, and unending kindness can turn even a dictator cute. They have fantastic chemistry.

I love this little moment with Catra, Shadow Weaver correctly assumes that she's being pushed out and left behind by Hordak, and sure enough she finds Entrapta standing next to him in the lab she was almost killed just for stepping in. Her fears are repeating.

Ah! Goosebumps! The show is slowly moving to be more and more Sci-Fi, and that little shot of Mara's crashed ship with the fantastic music is just a hint to what's to come.

Roll With It is an absolutely adorable low stakes slice of life episode that shows how fun these characters are even when they aren't fighting a war. It's probably the funniest episode in the series, the 80s She-Ra segment is my favorite. There's also the wonderful moment of Adora's breakdown, the pressures of being the world's savior takes a toll on her.

White Out! One of my favorite episodes. The mostly self contained story, the new setting and outfits, great Super Pal Trio bonding, Scorpia being a lesbian, Sea Hawk, and the only time we see the corrupted She-Ra. It's a fantastic microcosm of the show itself, and it's really funny. The Scorpatra stuff is a bit sad knowing how it ends, but it is nice seeing how Scorpia can have a crush while still realizing the toxicity of her relationship later on.

Shadow Weaver's backstory and the biggest window into her head. She believes what she is doing is right, but her methods are full on psychotic, and she was power hungry from the start. I love her so much, she's so deliciously evil. The Eldritch horror that is the spell of obtainment is a treat, and SW's arrival at the Fright Zone is beautifully terrifying. This episode also has the best scenes with her and Catra, it's devastating to watch Catra continue to pine for SW's approval and how, after all this time, SW still only sees her as a tool.

Shadow Weaver is one of my favorite characters, literally every scene with her a amazing. "I can tell by how your voice turns shrill when you scream" what a bitch I love her. I also really like how you can tell Catra and Adora still love her, even after all this abuse. She's a monster, but she's also a mom, and both of those identities conflict in their heads.

Shadow Weaver's and Light Hope's reveal of Adora's origin is goosebumps giving. The revelation that there is a universe beyond Despondos is amazing, but I especially love Light Hope continuing to withhold information and effectively lie to Adora. Razz, Swift Wind, Angella, Catra, they all tell her to make her own decisions but this moment with Light Hope where she is told she doesn't have a choice is what Adora latches on to.

There's also the deal with Hordak, when Light Hope tells the story, she paints it as Hordak ripping the poor baby away from her family. We later learn that's wrong, Hordak saves Adora, he finds a tiny baby and even as a heartless destroyer he knows he can't leave her out there to die. He steals her away, but he does so from Light Hope, the original kidnapper. If Adora was raised by Light Hope, she probably would have fired the heart without question. The Horde was not a good environment to grow up in, but it was an important part in making her the hero the universe needed.

I love Hordak's monologue, the art style and music are fantastic and the whole thing is terrifying. To imagine the big bad horde of the show is just a tiny sliver of what is out there. It also shows Hordak's motivations, which don't excuse his actions but do explain them. This show does a fantastic job at letting us sympathize with the evil-doers, and that has only grown now that Wrong Hordak has shown what it's like to be disconnected from the hive-mind. Bonus points for explaining Imp's origin and showing how Entrapta is exactly the person that he needs right now.

Catra is being embarrassingly edgy here, but it is funny that she's talking about "lost it all" and she seems to think this is rock bottom, oh girl you are in for a ride awakening with how much farther you can fall.

Promise plays again as Adora has another break down. We finally see Mara, and as with everything to do with the First Ones it is chilling. I love this slowly unraveling storyline of Light Hope's true intentions. At this point it is clear she is not to be fully trusted, but we have yet to see how truly sinister her intentions are.

Catra, again, being one of the best characters ever written. She finds a minimum amount of happiness in the wastes, and immediately it all comes crashing down when her trauma resurfaces. That scene of the anger taking over is a masterpiece. I have said a million times that she'd never be truly happy in the wastes, and the later seasons confirm it, but it is heartbreaking to see how even the slightest hint of a smile is ripped off her face.

The Glimmer Angella arguments hurt, they're both right but it's sad to see them fight and how Angella takes Glimmer's advice while Glimmer doubles down on her faults.

Shadow Weaver back on her bullshit, manipulating teenagers to give her power. Noelle mentioned how she truly believes she's on the good side, and obviously she doesn't want the Horde to win, but you can't deny she has some selfish motivations behind recruiting Glimmer. That lust for power remains with her until the very end.

We see Adora getting to Entrapta here, people I think really didn't get their impressions of her right. Entrapta loves tech and science, and sometimes it blinds her, but she isn't immoral, she does care about the safety of her friends.

"You made me this way, and you get to be the good guy" "you couldn't wait to get away from here, from me. But you came back for Adora". You can see how SW's betrayal not only reaffirmed Catra's fears, but was probably just as much a force behind her decent into madness as Adora was.

There's also something beautiful about the symbolism of Shadow Weaver using her new victim like a battery to crush her old.

And Catra betrays Entrapta and Scorpia, this is officially the worst she gets, at this point her hatred of Adora is taking over her. We see more of it in season 4, but her desire to hurt Adora as much as Adora has hurt her causes her to crack like an egg. Scorpia's face says it all.

I love getting to see Catra and Adora in their element, completely in love with each other. None of the complexity of the world at large, just them two together. Even Shadow Weaver's approval of Catra, this is her dream world.

It's funny how Scorpia's first instinct upon seeing Catra is to hug her while her first reaction to Adora is to insult her. She has terrible judgement of character lol

Everyone's insistence that it's "perfect", watching the world shift and fall apart, the confusion, the panic, the show masterfully shows Adora's emotions in this mind-melding episode.

"Soon the two of us will be ruling Etheria together just like we always planned" "Is that what you really want, to rule the world?" "I mean, yeah, obviously. Isn't that what you want too?" God this little moment is perfect, it shows how much they're wavelengths differ. Catra focuses on the "together" while Adora focuses on the "rule the world". Like DT says later, Catra's heart was never truly in it. This thirst for power is just the world's most destructive coping mechanism.

[alphabees-writes]

Glee - S1 E1 (Pilot)

Is it a smart idea to rewatch glee again? No.

Am I going to do it anyway? You bet your sweet bippy I am!

Am I going to liveblog my garbage monkey brain thoughts along the way even though nobody asked for it? Hell yeah.

Here goes!

Wow. The first frame of this entire show is literally of a woman who looks like she’s about 10 years above the natural lifespan of a Cheerio. Then again, I’m sure Sue’s not above holding back her best recruits for multiple years because Ohio high schools are apparently just Like That™

I also never notice this opening song was a remix of Keep Me Hangin On, wow. That’s actually kind of interesting foreshadowing of sorts, like, kind of smart. I’m glad I’m watching the part of Glee that was kind of smart.

This scene also doesn’t feature any of the Unholy Trinity as far as I can see. Are they a JV squad? Am I putting too much thought into this?

Sign #1 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Really, my guy? Driving around with your muffler dragging on the ground so bad it’s making sparks? That’s not very Road Safety of you. Fuck off. 

Sign #2 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: Wow, there’s going to be a lot of these, huh? Anyway, anybody with working eyes would clearly see how scared Kurt is right now. “Making some new friends Kurt?” Fuck off. 

KURT. FIRST SIGHTING OF THE BOY. What a delight. But also, not a delight, because he’s being bullied and he deserves better. Look at his outfit. Iconic from day fucking one. 

Finn, you’re a himbo. What’re you doing with these assholes?

Puck’s first line in the whole series is “It’s hammer time!” What a fucking dork? Who made this boy popular. 

DO MORE THAN TAKE HIS COAT, FINN. LET HIM GOOOOO!!!

I paused while they were tossing Kurt in the dumpster and, wow, got the most hilarious frame where the guy who isn’t Puck is getting a meticulously polished boot to the face. Netflix let me take screenshots, you coward.

The first shot of Quinn... My wlw bones are shaking.

Why would they use that photo for Lillian Adler...? WHO WAS BORN IN 1937, MIGHT I ADD. THAT’S NOT A REAL YEAR. 

It’s weird to see Mr Schue actually speaking competent Spanish. Why did they veto that later? The ONE likeable thing about him was his competence as a school teacher, and they really threw it out the window huh?

WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THE MEMBERS OF SANDY RYERSON’S GLEE CLUB??? This kid seems to really like singing. Also, welcome to the beginning of Ryerson being annoying as all hell.

Oh my gosh, the background choir stuff. This show really had style back in the day!!!

R A C H E L B E R R Y Y O U R M A K E U P ! ! !

Ken Tanaka walked so incels could run.

Jane Lynch you beauty. You absolutely impeccable beauty. 

“Since when are cheerleaders performers?” Uh... Emma...? I get that Sue’s going ham on her budget but, like, be nice to the students? They perform their butts off!

Sue really just BRAGGED about having an iPhone. I was 9 when this came out. Why do I feel old...

Sign #3 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: He hears his coworker, presumably of several years, just got fired and doesn’t even ask why. He just jumps on the glee club like a frog on hot asphalt. 

He really wants to Make The Glee Club Great Again, huh? 

MySpace was really a thing, huh? And why does this grown-ass male teacher know so much about the students having them?

I know nothing about actual American schools, but I do know that they sure as shit don’t work like this. Why does a club have to win EVERY competition to be considered an asset?

Mr Shoe really lying awake at night half-naked next to his wife thinking about the glee club already? Yeah sounds about right. Also, of course you’d think up Nude Erections for a name, you asshole. Put some clothes on.

R E S P E C T MERCEDES YES!!!

Brad the piano player was really here from day ONE... Icon.

Cellophane, Mr Cellophane... Yes Kurt bby you killed it. 

Chris Colfer looks so YOUNG here!!! 

The hair fix... I C O N I C !

Tina really wrote her stutter down, huh? And nobody ever saw through it? Amazing. 

The goth Tina look, too... Perfect... Never change...

Say what you want about Rachel Berry being generally insufferable, but I really fucking feel it when she sings On My Own. The monologue kind of kills The Drama of it, but they really solidly established her character by layering them. She really is a gold star right now.

The first-ever on-screen slushie!

The way she walks down that hall. My God you can just see how terrible she is to be around.

Never forget Rachel staring at photos of her with two men who turned out to not be her dads. Who are they? What are their stories? We’ll never know.

God, I love this stupid scene of Quinn, Santana, and a bunch of Cheerios cartoonishly typing hate comments on Rachel’s MySpace video and laughing like knock-off Disney villains. 

I like watching season 1 Artie because season 1 Artie was a good character. Mostly. And he KILLED Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat. Rachel wasn’t asking for a male lead who could keep up with her vocally, she was being straight up ableist and that’s a fact. I love Cory, but Kevin McHale was always a better singer.

Mercedes picking up and spinning Rachel for this little routine is something I never really appreciated before, it’s cute even though they don’t like each other yet!

I really don’t get why Rachel says they suck. Yeah, sure, she’s gunning for a solo, but the vocals were solid there. The choreo was just a little janky, possibly because it’s their first EVER rehearsal?

“There is NOTHING ironic about show choir!” Incredible.

How long did it take Mr Shoe to find Rachel out on the bleachers? Did he search the whole school first?

ARTIE! CAN! KEEP! UP! WITH! YOU! VOCALLY!

I never understood Rachel quitting so soon. How long was she in the old glee club for? Surely they were never popular either?

Ah, the first “My hands are tied” for the series. Mr Figgins is a garbage principal. 

Not going to advise the principal against referring to Artie as a cripple, William Shoestir? Alright. 

How did the Schuester marriage last as long as it has? Do Will and Terri’s insufferable personalities just cancel one another out?

Sandy Ryerson really just openly brags about cheating the system for medical marijuana and dealing it? 

Matt Morrison 100% has lip fillers. Nobody’s smile curls like that naturally.

“Terri and I are trying to get pregnant” What a weird way to phrase it. What is it, a race? Who’s going to get knocked up first!

A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN, HOW I’VE MISSED YOU... The sound design of this show at this point is just... *Chef hand kiss*

“What you’re doing right now is called blurring the lines” Oh just wait until season 4, Sue... Just you wait.

WHY is Mr Schuester so ridiculously sweaty? I didn’t need to think about that?

EVERYONE on the football team is 30.

William Schuester you can’t just watCH TEENAGE STUDENTS SING IN THE SHOWER YOU ARE A TEACHER WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR LICENSE?! 

Hearing Cory sing this always makes me emotional. What a talent!

Sign #4 That Mr Schuester Is An Asshole: I don’t think I need to say why using the weed to blackmail Finn is a shitty thing to do, do I?

“I’ll pee in a cup! ...I’ll pee...” I love Cory’s delivery. 

PRIORITY #1: HELP THE KIDS Oh season 1... I love you so.

Mr Schue you WISH you were anything like Finn Hudson. You never will be.

Ah... Finn’s first monologue. He’s such a sweetheart. AND SO IS CAROLE. Carole is a queen I will stan forever. YOU THROW THAT MILK BB!!!

All Finn wants to do is make his mom proud. What a sweetheart. Mr Schue you do NOT deserve him.

These POV shots really enhance things, why the fuck did they stop using them?

Subtly having Kurt look at Finn in the same shot as Rachel was a nice touch indeed!

RACHEL WAS REALLY DOWN WITH ROLLING ARTIE RIGHT OFF THE STAGE HUH?

Terri’s a straight up hoarder, huh? Like a raccoon but instead of collecting edible garbage, it’s monogrammed garbage.

Surely you can’t just... BECOME an accountant, right? You need some serious qualifications for that right?

Also say what you want about how insufferable Terri is but her actress is ridiculously talented and absolutely steals every scene she’s in.

Now the background choir is doing Soul Bossa Nova and I am L I V I N G why didn’t they keep that motif!!! It was so ICONIC!

I don’t need my prostate removed. RIP Carole Hudson but I’m different :/

NO MEANS NO, KEN! TAKE THE L AND MOVE ON! Way to take out the fact that a girl won’t date you on everybody else around you! Toxic bastard. The absolute stench of melodrama on this bastard is noxious.

I was going to ask why Rachel didn’t know about Finn and Quinn if they’d already been together for 4 months, but then I remembered gossiping requires friends...

“Terri rides me. Hard. And I’ve always appreciated it!” Why don’t we talk about how this line sounds more. Why doesn’t Emma bat an eye at it oh my god

HERE COMES VOCAL ADRENALINE!!! And Jesse St. James is nowhere to be seen. How convenient. Also, they’re all 30. I’m sensing a pattern.

Sorry VA, all songs popularised my Amy Winehouse legally belong to Santana Lopez

Puck, if you were stupid enough to fall for the prostate excuse, that’s on you. Or maybe it’s on the education system...

You can do better that Mr Schue, kids. Don’t mourn him.

Ok, what the fuck is this scene where he’s filling out the job app to become an accountant? There’s a dude in the row in front off him just throwing crisps around? What is this place?? Why are you here sir??? 

“Accounting is sexy” shut up you horrible married man

The Cheerios sure did have straight ponytails for like, one episode, huh?

Finn is such a good boy. He doesn’t know it yet, but he is, and saving Artie from that portapotty is his first step to figuring it out.

This shot of Finn just wheeling Artie out of there... Ugh. My HEART.

KURT WHAT ARE THOSE LAYERS? SWEATER SHIRT SWEATER? HELLO???

Pee balloons. Nailing the lawn furniture to the roof. Finn, you’re better than that!!! Stop your dudebros. 

They really had Artie be a guitar player, and a pretty good one at that, but they never mentioned it again? Artie had such potential SMH. (Also, Netflix subtitles are telling me it’s Arty, but I categorically refuse to spell it that way.)

Whyyyyy didn’t he go to KURT for the costumes as well? Look at his outfit, Finn. He clearly wants in on that job. 

Will Schuester really is just desperately clinging to his glory days in high school. I’d feel bad for him if he wasn’t such a creep about it. 

Emma, meaningfully: Do you know who that is? That’s you, Will... [FRANTIC DISCO MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND]

I find it hilarious how the audio of Don’t Stop Believin’ just DOES NOT match the characters except for the solos... Also wow, autotune city. Am I awful for genuinely not liking this cover? 

I like watching them perform it though. Kurt’s adorable little shimmy... Rachel and Tina smiling at each other like that... Everybody having a blast... I’m here for it

LOOK AT MY BABIES TILTING THOSE MIC STANDS...

Ok the way Rachel and Finn look at each other here is making me FEEL

I know Puck’s about to join anyway but WHY is he there watching... Just to have a mysterious bad boy moment? Lol you dramatic bastard

Please let them win nationals without you, Will.

So, yeah! There’s that! Those are my thoughts and feelings, basic though they may be. Episode one is fantastic, the kids are fantastic, and William Schuester can suck a toe. 

[writing-for-amusement]

Commission for Confidence, 2

Summary:  Y/N has been struggling with her self esteem for years. After incessant pushing from your best friend, Y/N decides to commission an artist to draw her, expecting everything to happen via Internet. However, when your phone is stolen, you try to cancel the commission, but Peter Parker has other ideas. He quickly becomes enraptured by you, and a friendship forms easily. Will it lead to something more? Or will your past fears get in the way?

A/N: Okay, this chapter is necessary, but almost considered filler because you still haven’t met Peter yet. I’m probably going to post Chapter 3 in a couple of hours because I’m impatient and since it’s already written, why not, right? Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!

Taglist: @pparkerwrites, @scatterbrainedgenius

Chapter Two

The next day ended up being much more hectic than you had anticipated. You woke up on time, but due to typical New York rain, your walk was littered with slips and multiple splashes. Not only that, your train ran late, and you were groped a surprising three times.

It was not a good day and it hadn’t even started yet.

You strode into work, dripping wet and with a mud stain on the bottom of your skirt and across your legs, but with your head held high.

You enjoyed your work as an editor for a publishing company. You’d moved from home to settle down in Manhattan for this job (though you were living in Queens); you had your own office with a view, and you were doing something you enjoyed. You got to read the fiction works and decide if it was good enough to move on and become a book (sometimes you got to help artists organize their works into a book). It was lovely for you, a wonderful job to have at what was considered a “young” age.

You dropped your bag on your desk and hurried to the break room. Arthur, a friend you had made immediately upon arrival, was refilling his coffee cup. He looked up at you and grinned, but that changed into concern when he saw your haggard appearance.

“Jesus, love, what happened? Shall I call up Charlie and have him bring you some clean clothes? They’ll be too big, of course, but—”

“It’s fine, Arthur!” you laughed, grabbing the coffee mug you had put into the break room. You poured yourself a large cup and just the smell started to warm your cold bones. “I’ll dry off soon enough.”

“This isn’t your old job, you know you can go home to change and won’t be punished, right?” Arthur asked with a chuckle on his lips.

You threw a sugar packet at him. “I know that, it’s not like I’m new here anymore! Besides, if I get sick, it’s not going to cost me a kidney and a leg because we have insurance.”

“No, it won’t do that,” he agreed as he picked up the packet.

“I’m getting to work,” you informed him, clutching the mug of coffee in your hands and scuttering to your office.

Work happened to be incredibly busy. There were more than thirty transcripts on your desk to work on, several of them rather thick. You actually ended up skipping lunch, instead snacking on an apple you had shoved in your purse before leaving your apartment. Of course, you were reminded of how you worked yourself to the bone when you first arrived at this job.

With the stressful echoes of your horrible old job ringing in your mind, you had worked harder than ever to prove yourself in NYC. Your supervisor was quick to notice how you showed up early and stayed late, reading and marking more than anyone. She pulled you aside, kindly informing you that she knew you were capable, otherwise you wouldn’t have been hired for the job. She also told you to “calm the fuck down” and that, “no one is judging you here, my dear.” It had been incredibly helpful to your adjustment.

Truth be told, you had wanted to hide from your horrible morning. When the day got off to such a rough start, you liked to hide yourself in the transcripts so that you could focus on potentially bolstering the dreams of the authors.

As it neared time to go home, your supervisor appeared at your door. “Hey, Y/N, go ahead and go home. I know you showed up soaked, you deserve an early start to the weekend. Go on, go.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll go, Edith, I’ll go,” you sighed playfully. She smiled at you and blew a small kiss before walking off.

Knowing that it would be a simple night in for you, you grabbed some transcripts to look at over the weekend. With that, and your coffee mug washed, you walked out of the office and into the Manhattan late afternoon sunlight.

It was a calmer commute back to your apartment. At least, it was until you got home.

Your phone was gone.

It must have been taken while you were on the subway, even though you tried so hard to remain vigilant. Knowing New York City, it was gone forever now, and you needed to get to work on not letting people get your information from it.

You logged on to your laptop and quickly went to your phone provider, going through the steps outlined in the “Stolen Phone” section. Losing your phone was not ideal, but you had a plan that covered this situation, so it could have been worse. And, thankfully, you had just backed your phone up to the cloud when you were at work.

After filling out the proper steps, you went to your email inbox and sent out a mass email to your colleagues, letting them know that your phone had been stolen and to email you if they needed anything over the weekend. It was then that you remembered your plan to take reference photos for Peter.

With a sigh, you realized that it would be a better idea to postpone the commission than to keep the seemingly sweet Peter waiting. You began to compose your email, once again thinking too much and taking probably too long for what should have been a simple email. Still, you ended up with this:

“Hi Peter,

I am so sorry, but today my phone was stolen thanks to the ever so amazing New York City subway. I unfortunately do not have another way to take reference photos (none of my friends are available), and I don’t want to fill a spot for your commission that won’t be able to be finished for a while, because my phone is being shipped and won’t be in for about a week. Therefore, so I don’t waste your time, I need to cancel the commission. I’m sorry if I did waste your time.

Thank you for your understanding, Peter. Perhaps I can commission you (for realsies) in the future. I still love your art, btw.

Y/N”

With a deep sigh, you ran a hand through your hair and sent Monica a message on Facebook, explaining the situation. She, of course, sent back multiple sad face emojis, but was overall understanding. Then she offered to hunt down whoever stole your phone and beat them up for making you stressed, which made you laugh.

You ordered some Thai food so that you wouldn’t have to make anything. After the day you’d had, the last thing you wanted was to get sweaty from standing over the hot stove.

As you settled into your couch to wait, with your laptop open next to you so you could message Monica, you got a notification for another email. You saw it was from Peter, and a melancholy smile touched your face.

“Hi Y/N!

Omg you live in the NYC area too??? In that case, if you’re comfortable with it, we could actually do your stuff in person! Only if you’re comfortable with it, of course, and I’d like to meet for coffee before we begin. Getting to know my muse is my favorite part of commissions; usually I just ask questions via email, but this way, we both get coffee!!

Please let me know if you’d be interested in meeting up for coffee in Manhattan this weekend; I think it would be very beneficial.

Thanks, and (hopefully) see you soon!

Peter”

You blinked in surprise after reading the email fifteen times.

Peter was certainly passionate about art and about coffee. Though you didn’t blame him, because as an artist who went through a prestigious university, Peter probably lived almost solely on the beverage for four years. You debated whether you should take him up on his offer, because, well, you did want to meet him.

You were still thinking about it when you turned on your TV and selected the HULU app. You were still thinking about it when you picked a random episode of The Golden Girls. And you were still thinking about it when you answered your door for your takeout.

Finally, as you began to dig into your food, you made your decision. With your takeout container in one hand, you replied to Peter’s email with the other. You suggested your favorite coffee shop, Constellation Bakery and Café, and suggested meeting tomorrow. The ambiance was calm and friendly, so you thought it would be a good meeting place.

After informing Monica of the change in plans, you ate your Thai takeout with a vigor you didn’t know you had. The food was exceptionally delicious today, and the cooks always gave you extra shrimp in your shrimp pad Thai. The comforting food warmed you to the core, and you felt a lot more relaxed than you had in days, even weeks.

Before you went to bed, you got a reply from Peter, agreeing to meet with you at the coffee shop at 1 p.m. With an excited smile on your face, you actually fell asleep easily.

[sage-nebula]

I hope you dont mind my asking, but wouldn't GF have decided to remove the national dex long before LGPE released? I can see those games selling well confirming to GF that "pokemon sell well regardless of cut features" but it feels strange to blame it on LGPE when the development time on the games would suggest they made this choice awhile ago. (Not to defend lgpe lack of content) Sorry if this is a bother, I just feel like I'm missing something and would really like to understand your reasoning

For almost any other game I would agree, however for Pokémon in particular:

The National Dex (insofar as the ability to transfer old pokémon over) was never going to be a Day One feature. It’s never a Day One feature in the first games of the generation. Even if they wanted to make it one, in this case they couldn’t because Home isn’t releasing until 2020. As I’ve said in other posts, if they wanted to patch in the NatDex, they’d have the time to do it. Technically speaking, they’d have the time to do it, especially since the fanbase would be willing to wait (even if there’d be a few whiners here or there) the extra time.

Since it’s not a Day One feature, it’s something that can be worked on later in the development cycle (/can even continue to be worked on after the development cycle, or at least it could be if this series were treated with the respect of, say, The Legend of Zelda series). Again, I’m not talking about DLC that’s already on the game card that needs to be activated later, I’m talking about DLC that’s patched in, content created after that you download either to the harddrive or (though I don’t know if Switch DLC works this way specifically) onto the game card itself. Given the type of content they generally want to show early in the release cycle (the general theme / concept of the games, scenes of the various areas in the region, new ‘mon), and the fact that this would be a feature added post-release anyway, we can make a safe bet that the NatDex is something they’d work on much later in the development cycle, possibly even in the last year since, again . . . they’d have that time if they wanted to use it (and if this series was treated with genuine respect).

The Let’s Go games were stated by Masuda to be the future of the franchise if they sold well. They featured a Pokédex that was limited to only the Kanto ‘Dex, plus Meltan and Melmetal. They released in November 2018, and indeed, they sold well. In early 2019 (February, IIRC) Sword & Shield were released. While of course I don’t work at Game Freak and thus can’t say for sure, I would place money on the idea that if they were even a bit on the fence about adding the National Dex, the fact that Let’s Go sold so well despite being limited to 153 ‘mon pushed them right over the edge to, “Cut the National Dex from Sword & Shield, there’s no point in working on it.” I mean, why should they expend the effort if people will buy the games anyway? Especially when President Ishihara went on record saying that long-time fans only cared about “new pokémon and features” around the time of Let’s Go’s release. Sure, they might have already been thinking about cutting the National Dex beforehand, but Let’s Go no doubt assured them that it was a safe and correct call to make.

So that’s what I mean when I say that Let’s Go’s positive sales figures sealed all of our fates. To be entirely honest, before the National Dex announcement, I was certain that we wouldn’t see the shockwaves from Let’s Go until Gen IX. But Sword & Shield having a limited ‘Dex just like Let’s Go, and having special feature ‘mon behind $60 paywalls like Let’s Go, and having core features stripped out like Let’s Go, and the fact that it’s starting to look frighteningly like the starters won’t be able to evolve like in Let’s Go . . . the effect is pretty apparent. Sure, some of this stuff was present even before Let’s Go (namely the whole “let’s ditch useful features in the name of simplifying things” tack that Masuda has been married to for years now), but in the wake of Let’s Go, it’s success, and what Masuda said would happen if it was successful, it’s really hard not to see the link.

(Note just in case anyone read too quickly: I’m not saying the starters WON’T evolve. I’m only saying that I’m starting to fear that’s the case since we’re less than a month away from release and we haven’t even seen second stage evolutions yet. Maybe they’re just trying to keep starter evolutions a surprise, that’s entirely possible, but it’s also highly suspect, and Game Freak destroyed any trust or good faith I had in them a while back.) 

As a final note, the reason why I say that the Pokémon games aren’t treated with respect is . . . well, there are a few reasons:

Game Freak stated themselves that they put their B Team on Sword & Shield while their A Team worked on Little Town Hero. They also said they wanted to create something, “as exciting, or perhaps even more exciting” than Pokémon. They’re tired of working on Pokémon, and it shows. Which, I mean, I get it, it’s been 20+ years, but in that case tell Nintendo so that they can shift the main games over to another studio. I get that Game Freak was created for the sole purpose of making Pokémon, and maybe Taijiri-san is pissed at how you’re disrespecting his baby (I would be), but for the good of the series, if you don’t want to work on it, give it to someone who does. Don’t just shift it onto your bare bones secondary dev team.

These games are in a hellish development cycle where a new one is popped out every year. Contrast this to The Legend of Zelda where, while we’ve had some anomalies where assets were able to be largely reused and so games came out only a couple years apart (see: Ocarina of Time to Majora’s Mask) --- even that had two or three years before releases, not one the very next year. Most mainline Zelda games spend five or six years in development. I’m fully aware that we will likely be waiting until something like 2022 for Breath of the Wild 2, and I am prepared to wait that time because I know the game we get will be incredible. Granted, I’m going to be dying every single time they announce a release date to push it back, but it’ll be a death I’m grateful for because I will know that the end product will be worth it. The Pokémon games used to have a similar luxury. While there were a grand total of five games released during that time (with “five games” being used loosely, given that one was a slight upgrade and the other four were really two games with slight differences between versions), Gen IV lasted for a grand total of four years. We had Diamond & Pearl in 2006, Platinum in 2008, HeartGold & SoulSilver in 2009, and then finally, Black & White in 2010. By contrast, Gen VII didn’t even last three years, technically. I mean, this November would be its third anniversary, but that’s when Gen VIII officially starts instead. To be fair, it could be argued that Gen IV didn’t have a full four years since it came out in September 2006, and Gen V came out in September 2010. But even if you make that argument, it still had a full year on Gen VII, and to be honest, that showed. The Sinnoh games are far and away not my faves, but they were still full of content. HeartGold & SoulSilver are often considered to be the best remakes in the entire franchise, and considering the content that was cut from OmegaRuby & AlphaSapphire and Masuda’s reasoning for why that content was cut, I can’t exactly argue with that even though I did genuinely enjoy ORAS. And the games that Gen IV ushered in? Controversial opinion, but I think that the Pokémon games peaked with Gen V. Black & White not only initially had a ‘dex that was nothing but new pokémon (and yet STILL included the Nat Dex later, because in Masuda’s own words he felt it cruel to keep people from playing with their faves forever!), but it also introduced a METRIC TON of new mechanics, some of which we no longer get to use (Rotation Battles? Game Freak doesn’t know her). Who knows what exactly Game Freak did with that extra year, but it was clearly a lot of work given how wonderful the games were in Gen IV and Gen V. The extra dev time showed.By contrast, Gen VII got 2.5 years (or 3 if you’re being generous). Every single game released during this gen had massive content cuts, even when comparing to Gen VI, which also had massive content cuts. Mechanics were stripped away, and Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon technically didn’t have a NatDex either, but at least you could still have all of your ‘mon in them at a later date if you wanted to. Now with Sword & Shield, we don’t even have that, despite the Switch being far more powerful than the 3DS. (We also don’t have Mega Evolution for whatever godforsaken reason, even though the Kanto Mega Evolutions at the very least were already used in Let’s Go, the fuck, Game Freak). Pokémon games print money and always have, and Game Freak has taken this and their lack of interest in the series to the depressing but I suppose logical extreme of “do whatever and they’ll buy it anyway.” There’s no love here, there’s no respect here. They just don’t care anymore, and as someone who does care an awful lot, it’s super upsetting to me.

And while people have tried to argue that the games can’t be delayed because of the anime or the card game or whatever else:

The games come first. They’ve always come first. I know some people mistakenly think that the anime came first and that the games were created later, but that is 100% false. Pokémon started as a game series and the anime was created to advertise the games, straight up.

Filler episodes exist, and the PokéAni is no stranger to them. The Orange Islands arc was an entire arc of filler created to pad time between Gens I and II. The Delacora Islands (or whatever they were called) was a filler arc meant to pad time between Gens V and VI. Arguably the majority of the Sun & Moon anime was filler, given its slice-of-life genre, meaning the anime was even less of an excuse not to delay Sword & Shield. You can’t tell me people wouldn’t have been happy with another year of the Alola crew running around getting into random adventures. People would have eaten that up and loved it. We could have had it all.

I’m not even going to dignify “but the card game” with a response lmao. This isn’t Yu-Gi-Oh!. Sure, the card game makes money, and probably a decent amount of it (merch sales probably make up the franchise’s greatest source of income, and as someone who easily spent several hundred dollars in two weeks at the PokéCenters in Japan---including over $100 in one trip to a PokéCenter while I was there, and we went multiple times---I am a big part of that), but they come up with bullshit new expansions all the time and could easily keep doing it. Again, not a reason to delay the games if the games need more time in development.

So all in all, at the end of the day, Game Freak is no longer treating these games with love and respect, which makes them an awful lot like the villains in the games they create. The Let’s Go games were harbingers of disaster for the games, and we were told this very plainly, and just about no one listened. In fact, I legitimately lost friendships with people who got mad at me for making Facebook statuses about how they should buy Let’s Go used if they absolutely had to have them because how DARE I believe Ishihara when he said that Let’s Go were considered core titles, and how DARE I believe Masuda when he said that Let’s Go would usher in the last twenty years of the franchise. Clearly, I was just being an ugly bitch. (I wish I was exaggerating, but this actually happened, I got blocked over it, it was ridiculous.) And now here we are as a result, with no hope of things getting better unless Nintendo forcibly rips Pokémon out of Game Freak’s hands, which I don’t even think they can legally do given that they only own 1/3rd of the IP. (The other 2/3rds belong to Game Freak and Creatures Inc., as I understand it.) 

TL;DR:

Pokémon is still my favorite fictional fantasy world, but as someone who has always loved the games first and foremost, the current state of it depresses me to no end.

[homesteadchronicles]

It’s not Thursday, but I feel that I must ask a question. Perhaps multiple. I have been devouring your Kingdom Come posts, and have a strong urge to add my illustration skills (slim as they are) to your beautiful world. What do your favorites look like? What do they wear? What lovely sun-bathed situation are we likely to find them in?

First off, please always feel complete freedom to ask questions any day of the week! I, unfortunately, only have times to answer them on Thursdays more often than not. But anyone can shoot me an ask or a message whenever they want to!

Secondly, oh my goodness yes please that would make my entire life!!! Seriously, I saw this message after a very overwhelming day and the thought that someone would want to make art for something I’ve written about? That’s a dream come true, and it couldn’t have been a more timely encouragement to me. So thank you, thank you, thank you for even considering doing so! I’m beyond grateful that you’ve been enjoying all that I’ve been releasing about Kingdom Come, and even more thankful that you’d wish to bring it to life.

Full disclosure: I…kind of suck at character descriptions. Weird, right? For whatever reason, I just am not good at designing what a character looks like, despite my own love of fashion. I spent the night you sent me this making an (admittedly jumbled) list of ideas I had for five out of my seven protagonists, since those were the ones I had the clearest vision on. Feel free to include or exclude whatever details you so choose! I don’t mind you taking any artistic liberties you feel so inclined to take. Draw whatever, whoever and however you like!

Royan: Being born and raised in the frigid North, he has pale skin, often chapped or calloused from spending days outside in training or on missions. Royan might be reluctant to admit it, but Oeden’s all too eager to out Royan as a pretty boy. Thus, he spends a good chunk of time every morning fluffing his hair, golden blonde like his mother. It’s about medium-length, often brushed back - you know, typical male model style. As the temperatures in Aeonor are oftentimes below freezing, he has to bundle up. Probably a fancy tunic, a fur cape (a trophy from the first hunt he and his father, Kaiser Magnus, went on together - sewn from the hide of his prize, by the hands of his sister, Eirys), with a brooch clasping it together in the shape of a wolf. He’s a little lanky, still fully growing into the form of a man, but starting to at least work out with his muscles - mostly to impress people. Lightly toned muscularly, generally skinny, with soft, rounded features. Always wearing a goofy smile. Keeps his longsword at his side more often than not, but conveniently “forgets” to wear his crown - a silver circlet than encircles his head (and makes his head itch). His color scheme primarily sticks with grey bases and accents of purple and blue. On his right hand is the symbol of life.

Medea: Medea has surprisingly strong facial features. She has a pronounced chin, full lips, and, while not chubby by any means, has a healthy amount of meat on her bones. She has a full head of wavy black hair that falls to her chest, often adorned with a golden crown. As is customary for the Al-Hassian people, she has dark skin, burnt by the desert (think more Arabian, not African). Medea’s primary colors are ruby red and gold. Her most iconic outfit would be the red ballroom gown she wears to the Feast of the Five Kings, complete with a chunky golden necklace featuring a set of rubies in the center. She wears a more casual version of this outfit with a flowign red robe under a black undershirt and pants, and a golden sash. For shoes, she prefers heels, but can be found in cozy yellow slippers when lounging about, too. When showing off or in combat, Medea wears a golden gauntlet with a pauldron like a roaring lion at the left shoulder. On her left hand is the symbol of death. Often wearing an obnoxious amount of bangles and rings. Not for any magical purpose, just because she’s gaudy and likes everyone to know it.

Kasumi: Somehow, Kasumi manages to be even paler than Royan. Although her nation’s people can range from light-skinned to lightly-tanned, her time spent almost exclusively in the shadows has made her seem viable to disappear at any moment. Kasumi has not cut her hair in years, leaving it floor-length when not tied back. Her hair, however, is incurably straight and a bit frizzy. Kasumi keeps her hair up in a bun or in braids when working, but lets her hair down when she’s comfortable…which is only when she’s alone in her room. On the job, Kasumi wears a mask, as is customary for the Shadows. Her mask takes the form of a butterfly (akin to Lucina’s from Fire Emblem Awakening), but outlined in gold and the metal is painted in hues of violet, lavender, etc. She is almost always seen wearing her work uniform (think typical espionage-esque clothing). She feels horribly uncomfortable in the patterned dresses she needs to wear to formal events when she is a royal instead of a soldier. She is shockingly muscular underneath all of her armor, but most people wouldn’t see it, and rather flat-chested (…is that weird for me to say?). The most striking feature about her would be the litany of runic tattoos running up her right arm - both alphabetical symbols and images.

Oeden: Unlike Royan, Oeden does not feel the need to be noticeable. He feels as though he attracts enough attention with the rumors circulating around the castle about him, and as such, prefers to remain as invisible as possible. The first thing he puts on every morning is a set of leather gloves - a gift from his father, Knight Commander Elyk - to protect against accidental prophecies from making contact with people. He wears a simple tunic and trousers along with boots that are always laced loosely (he wishes he could wear sandals, but it’s not worth the frostbite). Having been born with vitiligo, he hides a majority of his skin with a cloak around his body. He used to wear a poorly-sewn grey one, but he alternates between a golden one sewn by Eirys for his birthday or a fur robe his mother, Nadielle, bought for him. His color scheme consists of more neutral colors, primarily white, with earthy accents like brown and gold. Being the offspring of a Northern man and a Southern woman, Oeden bears a mixture of their unique features. He has his mother’s sharp bone structure, but inherited his hair from his father’s genes. Thus, the curly orange mop. He doesn’t bother styling it unless it interferes with his sight - who does he have to impress? Can be seen accessorizing only with a number of lucky charms handcrafted by his mother, a surprisingly superstitious woman. The only other thing to note are the shackles eternally wound round his ankles - a symbol of the sacrifice of his freedom to the Sealed God. The sound of the chains rattling against the cathedral’s stone floors precedes his entrance.

Carmila: Here’s the thing with Carmila: she would want to dress differently than how she does now. She wants to look like all those highfalutin nobles, when in actuality, she’s stuck trekking through the mud like a hot mess of poverty and ill-begotten bullheadedness. I’ve always envisioned her in heeled boots, ones she would helplessly attempt to scrape the mud of the swamps off of day and night. She typically wears a brown bodice with a puffy white undershirt, complimented by a faded pink peasant skirt. The jewelry she wears is all fake - fool’s gold necklace, lapis lazuli instead of sapphires in her earrings, etc. She’s a little on the chubbier side (a fact which the noble girls make fun of her for, and her fiancee loves her for), having big-bonedness run in the family. She has dark brown hair tied in a ponytail at the side. She almost never lets her hair down. Her natural hair is curly, but she straightens it to match the Southern noble style, much to Emerico’s dismay.

There you have it! I hope that all made sense? Feel free to ask for any further clarification - I know my late night thoughts were jumbled. I hope that’s enough to work with!

Also, if by “sun-bathed situation”, you mean “can I draw them as if the cast went to on a trip in some sort of anime filler episode to the beach?” then the answer is heck yes you can! There’s a whole lot of beaches in Via Evelis to choose from where they could kick back and relax together in some alternate, probably happier, universe. Just, y’know…keep it classy. I got a family-friendly blog to run here LOL

[mtvswatches]

Jane the Virgin 1x11 Chapter Eleven

Spoilers disclaimer (please read before sending messages or writing comments.)

Stray thoughts

1) I get that Young Jane’s heart was in the right place, but by writing that letter she was deceiving both her mother and her grandmother and robbing them of the change to work things out on their own. They really needed to talk it out.

2) Oh, wow, Xiomara was on point, she knows her daughter too well…

XIOMARA: I don't want the fact that you didn't have this textbook family to make you go after something that maybe isn't right.

3) And it feels Jane is going to approach the dinner with Rafael and her mom in the same way… She’s going to coach Rafael into acting in a way that would satisfy her mother, right? Instead of letting them actually get to know each other and hope her mom comes around…

4) Of all the things going on in this show, this is by far the most unbelievable…

NUN: This is because I'd like to offer you a permanent job.

JANE: What?

NUN: Another teacher is pregnant. We thought you could trail her until you graduate and then cover her maternity leave. Then when she comes back, you can take yours with the promise of a permanent position in our Middle School when you return.

JANE: Wait, is-is this about the Jane the Virgin coins?

NUN: No, Ms. Villanueva. This is because the students gave you the highest score on your teacher evaluations.

I’m sorry, but this so far-fetched! I am a teacher, okay? Jane was doing her teaching residency, she hasn’t even graduated yet, right? On top of that, she has a full-time job, she’s pregnant, and she has all this personal drama going on which keeps her busy most of the time. It’s surprising she even managed to get through the student teaching assignment without failing spectacularly – there’s a lot of lesson-planning to do, materials to be prepared, notes to read, reports to write, and so on.

Moreover, the fact that you’re likable doesn’t mean you’re a great teacher. I don’t care how talented you are and how hard you study, you only learn how to be a good teacher in the classroom, and it takes YEARS. Jane is hardly there yet.

5) So, Jane is getting not only one but TWO amazing job opportunities she didn’t ask for and she hasn’t earned… Color me skeptical.

6) And now she’s being welcomed into the writers’ room? And they’re asking her for ideas? And they write her ideas into the show immediately? And she’s gullible enough to believe all of that could actually happen?

7)

8) And the second Rafael goes off script, he fucks it up.

9) Oh, I wish Xiomara’s dislike of Rafael wasn’t made to do with the fact that Michael confessed he still loves Jane. There are plenty of other reasons that justify why she’s entitled to feel iffy about their relationship, you know?

10) Petra opened up to Lachlan, but I’m not sure he’ll help her?

11) Why exactly did Xiomara go see Rafael? Just to tell him how much she doesn’t like him? It doesn’t seem fair. I have to admit, though, that even if she does seem a bit irrational I’m siding with her. He makes a good point when he says that Xiomara doesn’t really know him. But Jane doesn’t really know him either, and that’s the point.

12) Look, I love Rogelio, but he really needs to stop with these schemes…

JANE: Did you tell the writers to act like they liked my idea?

ROGELIO: Uh are you enjoying your new job?

JANE: Rogelio, did you?

ROGELIO: Yes, I did. But it was to give you confidence. You said you didn't know if you'd be any good at writing. And believing in yourself is the hardest part.

13) So, this is Xiomara’s strategy to prevent Rogelio from wanting to bone her…

But it didn’t work…

14) Now, that’s a turn-off…

I’d also go celibate after that.

15) Magda doesn’t trust Lachlan, and at first, I was like “yes, Magda, me neither!”, but then I remembered what Magda has done and maybe I should trust Lachlan if she doesn’t? I’m confused!

16) And this, among other things, is why Rogelio is my favorite character…

ROGELIO: I don't like it.

JANE: What?

ROGELIO: Well, I'm sorry. You asked me to be honest. You said it was important.

JANE: Yeah, yeah. It is, but what did you not like about it exactly?

ROGELIO: Well, a pirate would never say these things.

JANE: Oh, okay. I mean, do you know a lot of pirates or… ?

ROGELIO: And second and most importantly, telenovelas are all about drama. You know yelling, crying, scheming. And there's none of that in here. I'm sorry. Are you angry?

JANE: No. I mean, it stings, but I wanted you to tell me the truth. I have to make a decision. I just really loved writing it. I mean, I got butterflies.

ROGELIO: Well, that is important. You know, passion is important.

JANE: Yeah, but if I'm not talented –

ROGELIO: Oh, stop. Every new skill takes time. You can't expect to be an expert overnight.

I think he taught her a very valuable lesson. She was asking for his honesty but she was secretly hoping she would only get praise. Not only that, but he also gave her valuable feedback – she was clearly not writing in a style suitable for the genre, telenovelas. But the most valuable advice is what he tells her last – you can’t expect to be an expert overnight. She didn’t get it right the first time, so what? Now she knows what she needs to improve to make her piece better.

17) Oh, Michael completely misread the situation and now he actually has incriminating evidence to frame Rafael…

18) Uh-oh, Jane fell asleep while driving…

19) Awww, the butterflies she felt were the baby kicking!!! That’s so sweet!

20) So, Xiomara told Rogelio about the chastity vow, and OF COURSE, he was totally supportive. But she didn’t mention the fact that she’s remaining celibate UNTIL she gets married. I’m sure Rogelio would’ve dropped to his knees and proposed right there.

21) Uh-oh…

I’ll guess we’ll meet Milos soon.

Oh! On second thought, I’m thinking Lachlan left Petra the tulips, right? So that he can manipulate her and make himself the hero?

22) I actually felt kind of sorry for Michael, and also kind of agreed with him?

MICHAEL: Seems kind of like a sign, you know? You and me in the same hospital. At the same time.

NARRATOR: It felt like a sign to Jane as well. Only, a different one.

JANE: Michael, you're not waiting for me, are you? For us?

MICHAEL: Of course I am. I love you, Jane. I love you now, and I'll love you forever. And whatever's going on with you and Rafael, it's not gonna last.

JANE: You're wrong.

MICHAEL: Really? So you're trying to tell me that, at the end of the day, that's who you see yourself with? Rafael?

JANE: Yes, that's who I see myself with.

23) Oh, Nadine, that’s cold and mean! Turning in your partner just because you think he’s in love with something else and not you?

24) Alba came clean about pretending to be unconscious while Xiomara prayed, and it all led to them finding out Jane had been written “apology letters” in Xiomara’s name all her life, apparently. But there’s no confrontation about this?

25) Also, Jane chose the teaching job, but I hope that doesn’t mean she’s giving up writing just yet. The fact that she’s not talented at writing telenovelas doesn’t mean that she’s talented at writing, you know? She just needs to find what she’s good at.

26) Oh, that’s nice! They had the head writer encourage Jane, even if they didn’t keep her scene in the show.

27) YES! I WAS RIGHT!

28) I love jokes about my profession…

29) So she finally decided to take the internship because Dina complimented her writing.

30) What are these two up to? Why were they interested in keeping Jane around and why does Nicholas want to ruin Rogelio? I mean, I’m guessing that’s what he means when he says “Rogelio won’t know what hit him”. And how are they going to use Jane against him?

I agree, Rogelio.

Also, I’m disappointed in myself because I bought the good guy routine Nicholas put on? I actually thought for one second that Jane and him would make a nice couple? 

31) So… this was an episode, I guess? It was okay-ish, but I don’t feel it really moved the stories forward in any significant way, apart from the cliff hanger at the end, maybe? It felt kind of filler-ish, you know?

32) Hope you enjoyed my recap, and, as usual, if you’ve got this far, thank you for reading! If you enjoy my recaps and my blog, please consider supporting it on ko-fi.Thanks!

[kalico-to-the-letter]

REVIEW // RWBY | 6.2 | “UNCOVERED”

AKA the moment when all the slashfic writers remember that these girls are still only in their mid-to-late teens. Awkward.

Welcome in to my review of Volume 6, Chapter 2, entitled “Uncovered”. 

In this episode: Confirmation for the great sages of the fandom who’ve seen promotional material, Why the magic lamp is a magic lamp, and A stupid new character.

Ah, this was fun. See, if this were my show, I would be digging deep into the “female who is mostly attracted to women” bag to write a scene like this. But it holds up on its own, I think.

SOME BIG THINGS BEING UNCOVERED, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN … SORRY

When was the last time any singular episode of RWBY posed so many questions of its primary narrative without a whole lot happening? Maybe at some point in Volume 4, but the show now is in a very different place compared to those days.

I would have to estimate that about eighty percent of this episode is spent on providing exposition for the heroes’ story, whether it be on what our crew of protagonists are attempting to do by taking the Relic (of Knowledge) to Atlas, what the Relic (of Knowledge) even does, or why everyone agrees this is a good idea. My initial thought is: “Gee, it would have been nice to have had this information earlier, and delivered in a smoother way than just heaping it on my plate”.

It’s not a negative though, not entirely. Yes, the delivery of information in this episode could have been better, but everything makes sense, for the most part. And even though, as always, it hinges on “let’s do this because Oz says we should”, this episode progresses in a way which cements Oz as the self-righteous, holier-than-thou dick I personally have come to see him as, ever since he inhabited the body of Oscar.

Not even a year ago, this show was constantly excusing Oz’s mystery and complete lack of transparency as just being a necessary thing – part of the deal. That way when he did engage and share with us, it made him seem like he wasn’t just navel-gazing, but actually digging deep. So it makes me satisfied to see that the show – and Team RWBY – are finally having enough of his bullshit. Bonus points to Ruby, for planting her flag and being decisive in this situation as well.

It is through this continued attachment and dedication to character that RWBY gets away with quite a lot, in fact. Exposition is far more interesting when it is tied to potentially conflicting character dynamics, and setting Team RWBY against bullshitting allies like Oz, who claim that they know what is best without actually contributing the depth of that knowledge, is an underrated way to define the collective personality and identity of the newly-reunited team.

The other twenty percent of this episode is spent on Cinder.

Yes, I know we saw her silhouette in the season poster, and we’ve seen her traipsing around streets as a mysterious, unidentified figure in the opening, but understand that there are so many ways to handle the non-death and return of a fairly major character. And the fact of the matter is that while yes, it was fairly obvious to everyone that has seen the promotional material, this is – for the most part – one of the better ways to bring her back into the fold.

What would you rather have? Her showing up as a complete anticlimax twist near the endgame of the season all of a sudden? Or would you rather have an actual story?

If your answer is a story, then this is one way you do it: bring her back early.

And consider this: Rooster Teeth know that we would have seen through the silhouettes and the hooded cloaks – it is the easiest thing to connect that mystery to Cinder, and it’s one they would have thought about. Otherwise, why even put the silhouette in the poster, or the mystery figure in the opening? They didn’t have to do any of that, and who knows? We might have asked the question if Cinder could come back, but none of us “figured it out” until we saw these promo materials, and then people started acting like they knew for certain, all along. But Rooster Teeth did make those choices, and it’s worth thinking about what that could mean. Why put her in shadow? Why have her walking around in a cloak?

Easy answer: Because (hopefully) it’s not the same old Cinder.

If you’re a long-time reader of these reviews (and bless you if you are), then you know that for the longest time, I was on Cinder Will Turn Good Island. I finally set sail from that island toward the end of last season, when she revealed her lovely Grimm-infused arm. I figured that was it for my idea, and I didn’t really consider it again until this episode.

And I’m not going back to that idea of a Zuko-esque hero turn, necessarily. At the core of their respective characters, the parallel doesn’t fit. But I am considering going back to the crux of that idea, which was of Cinder’s potential as a general wildcard. What if she split from Salem, and not to join the heroes, but to walk a new road as an anomalous, morally grey character?

That idea on its own is kind of what I had hoped for Raven last season, until she turned out to be the most blah and boring “important” character in the show’s history.

But with Cinder, someone who we’ve seen since Day One, I still think it has legs. During that time, she has become more and more of an antagonist, more crazed and sinking – until she literally was sunk. And this episode doesn’t cast her off the bat as anyone different than what we remember. She still (presumably) kills an innocent woman for her clothes, and still seems to be on the hunt for Starship Hero.

But like I said. You bring her back early, and you get the chance to see her story in full. I have great interest in how they handle this.

OBSERVATIONS:

I’ve seen her referred to as Steampunk Granny, but she now has a name: Maria. Let’s see if this character is any good or not.

Hey, remember that blonde lady from the new opening? Yep, hello, Salem. Just from how this ending came together, you know that Oz is going to get it in very short order. And hopefully that drives him to be better, because he is still important to the cause. 

A mystical entity springing from a Magical Lamp has the name of “Jinn”? This show is the opposite of slick with some of these names.

I cannot be the only one who thinks “Lil’ Miss Malachite” is already a terrible character. For one thing, she already comes off as such a blatant rip-off of Game of Thrones’s Varys that it’s laughable. Spiders, really? 

Beyond the mismanagement of Cinder herself, this element could threaten all the good stuff I wrote about above. When you put a character like Cinder in this position, separating her from her past tethers, you don’t need to introduce artificial stakes to make her story interesting – it becomes interesting on its own. It’s what’s called a “burgeoning subjectivity”, and it’s essentially when the focal character puts herself in positions to reflect and grow as a result of how she interacts with others and the world around her. Organic, reflexive development. But this Malachite woman already has all the red flags of being a hammy, cartoonish chess master with hammy, cartoonish goons, brought in just so that Cinder has some kind of foil to go up against. I know that a writer thought this direction would be a good idea, but that’s just what this character comes off as: a writer’s C-grade, clumsily-written pawn, here to threaten something that could be really good for Cinder’s development. If it ends up that I’m jumping out the window on this, then I’ll hold my hands up. But I’ve seen (and done) enough bad, bald-faced writing to know when it’s rearing its head. Consider yourself warned.

It’s weird, isn’t it, to actually see the Team RWBY girls confronted with such a … figure … as Jinn. And I know, part of their shock comes from seeing such a magic entity appear before them … but these girls in the show are old enough to understand what Jinn, just visually, represents. And if you don’t believe me, then just look at how that scene is cut together – close-ups of big-blue body parts cut against their reaction faces … mm-hm. You don’t have to be a film student to see the connotations in practice.

GRADE: C+

“Uncovered” is the heaviest episode of RWBY – in terms of delivering exposition and driving the overarching plot – in quite some time. But if last week’s premiere was “all-killer, no-filler”, this is very much the other side of the spectrum, as we learned a fair amount, but didn’t really go anywhere. Still, there are a number of bright spots, such as Oz being exposed in the eyes of Team RWBY, and the return and potential solo storyline of Cinder. All in all, there are enough character hooks to stay intrigued, but right now the bones and mechanics of the writing are too visible to be entirely comfortable. – KALLIE

[thelostcatpodcast]

THE LOST CAT PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS: SEASON 4: THE HOLLOW CITY: EPISODE 10 pt 1

SEASON 4: THE HOLLOW CITY: EPISODE 10 pt 1

Episode released 14th December 2018

http://thelostcat.libsyn.com/season-4-the-hollow-city-episode-10-pt-1

Let us get up to date with what is going on. 

We have: the great destruction of the concrete tower tumbling in to the Bottomless Lake. The Bottomless Lake collapsing into the Hollow Palace that lay below it. The crashing of waves upon the palace towers as the huge body of water swirled around, looking for a way out. The heavy gates of the palace, groaning at the pressure but holding steady yet. 

And, finally, the tiny figure standing on the edge of the chasm, masked, running their finger tip from their forehead down their nose, and then leaping in.

There, I think that is everything. 

Now: let us begin.

THE LOST CAT PODCAST BY A P CLARKE: SEASON 4: THE HOLLOW CITY: EPISODE 10 pt 1

Down in the city fear was starting to rise.

The Hollow People heard the booms of the explosions, they felt the great shaking of the earth. Some ran to the exits, but they were blocked by fleets of Filler vans, assembling for a final attack. So they gathered on the central concourse, all of them, for the leaders would know what to do. 

But the leaders did not appear, no-one appeared at all.

“What’s happening in there?” they asked. 

What was happening in there was Lisica.

She leapt from the lip of the lake, down in to the swirling waters below, past the grinding, shattering wreckage of the tower as it continued its slow collapse down in to the palace.

Inside the palace grounds was dark and loud – the high susurrations of breaking glass both close and far away, and the deep rumbles of foundational trauma. The water was twenty  feet high already, drowning much of the lower floors. 

Lisica swam unnoticed in the tumult, heading to the far left tower. She ducked in through a half-submerged window and found the Barnaban living quarters, filled with velvet drapes, chests overflowing with clothes and all manner of luxuries now strewn about.

In another room she could hear the bangs and hurrumphs of a huge man, bungling about in the dark, and the strained yelps of his many aides, trying to help.

She found it, a huge refrigeration unit, still humming on its own batteries because Dr Uremides took no chances. Inside were jars and jars of what the Bone Sisters took from the fallen Wholes – organs and meat. And Dr Uremides would fill Barnabus up with those organs to give him what he lacked and to fill him with a sense of hearty confidence and self-belief.

No wonder he had seemed so exhausted when they had first met: the organs had been getting old, grey. They had probably started to rot, there in the great cavity of his gut.

No wonder he had seemed so full of energy on the balcony the day before: nice fresh organs inside him then.

And here they rested, refrigerated at night to keep them fresh.

And Lisica took those organs, and replaced them with the organs that had been stolen from butchers across the city the day before: pig meat. Very fresh.

Then she heard Dr Uremides approaching with some guards on some jerry-rigged boats and rafts.

“Barnabus? Great leader?”

And there was much roaring from the other room.1

“It is I, your Dr Uremides, and the people have need of you. Time to fill you up”

Lisica left the way she came, throwing the human organs in to the water as she went. The doctor would be filling Barnabus up with her organs even as she swam away, towards the far right tower and Xavier’s living chambers.

Cold and sparse, Xavier’s chambers were, with bare, clean walls and neat shelves of books. The chambers were silent. One such as Xavier had no need of anyone else, when he had himself. There were no decorations but a huge mirror on one wall, bounded by small statues of himself on either side.

And she found him, to her surprise, peacefully asleep in his bed.

Someone such as he would rise only when he chose, and would happily ignore the concerns of others until then. Impressive, to be so self-content. 

She looked him carefully over. And there were the stitches that ran right up his side, and there, if you listened very closely, underneath Xavier’s steady breathing, a second, shallower breath of the small child he had within him.

No wonder he had seemed so listless when first they met, for he had almost entirely used up the previous child, who now no doubt lay discarded somewhere secret by Dr Uremides.

But now, with the child of the organisation’s leader inside him, he was entirely in control of things.

She oh so gently put a drugged cloth over his mouth, just enough to keep him asleep while she worked.

Then expertly she unpicked the stitches and so carefully she pulled the sleeping child from his hollow body. She was about to stitch him back up but then paused, having an idea, and then, with a small smile, replaced the child with one of the small statues of Xavier from next to the mirror.

Carrying the child so gently, she left, even as she heard the boats of Dr Uremides arrive at the tower

“Oh great and wise Xavier! It is I your humble Uremides. Rise! For there is an urgent matter only you can solve!”

The drugs had worn off, and Xavier was up and looking at himself in the mirror. He did so with a somewhat confused expression

“Are you alright, oh masterful Xavier?”

“I am...not sure,” he said.

Outside the palace walls, the crowd of all the Hollow people filled the concourse.

“What do we do? What do we do?”

The Feral Children moved all through the crowd shouting, “follow us! Follow us! We know a way out!”

But the Hollow People, all dressed in yellows and greens all kept staring at the empty palace balcony saying “what do we do?” still looking for their leaders. Still looking for their leadership.

And then the signal went up, the lights turned on, and everyone cheered as the great figures of Barnabus and Xavier emerged, waving to their crowds in their shining raiments of yellows and greens. Behind them, in the shadows, Uremides looked on.

Barnabus stepped forwards, and raised his arms up to greet the crowd. The crowd cheered. He took a deep breath, ready to speak… and then roared. Deafeningly, but without control, all vowels and spit.

With a frustrated look on his face, he breathed in a massive lungful to bellow anew but all that came out was a great honking squeal.

Barnabus collapsed, slobbering to himself. He may have been trying to speak, but all that came out were whinnies and oinks. He trotted off inside on all fours.

Uremides pushed a clearly perturbed Xavier forwards.

He raised his hands towards the crowd, smiling a little tentatively.

“Good people!” he said, then paused. He turned and whispered to Uremides. “Why am I here?”

“You are Xavier. You are Xavier!”

He turned back to the Hollow People and said: “I am Xavier. I am Xavier!”

And he smiled beatifically down on all of them.

They cried, “what should we do?”

And his face was as blank a mirror. “I don’t know,” he said. “What should we do?”

And at that moment the Feral Childrens stood up on barrels and stalls and yelled “come with us! Come with us! We know a way! Everything will be fine! Come with us!”

And it happened like that, in that instant. And afterwards everything was different. The crowd turned away from the light of the leaders.

“Yes!” yelled Bowen. “Go with the children. Your soldiers will protect you!”

And that was it.  No longer were they looking for guidance from the great leaders, and instead they looked to themselves.

The children led them down far tunnels, while Xavier waved weakly for them to return. He turned around to Uremides for guidance. But Uremides was long gone.

Now please do not think too little of the Hollow People here, if you felt they were fickle, or gullible or foolish. It is in their nature to trust, and their curse to be too easily tricked – they were not just blindly following. They needed safety, and they needed organisation, just as we do, from time to time. Do not think too little of them, lest we start to think of all the times we have been fooled, and we have needed some help.

The Feral Children led the Hollow People down, past the old sewers to a collapsed and forgotten exit. A little explosive on the collapsed part opened up the path, and put huge smiles on the faces of the Feral Children as they lit the fuses.

Back in the city, Bowen corralled the guards around him at the barricade as they waited for the Fillers. And from the depths of the corridor beyond they heard a hiss-whistle sound, and then one of the soldiers was whipped back, sliced almost entirely in two by a spinning, bladed disc that was now embedded in the wall behind them.

This was the Fillers’ new weapon.

And then hiss-whistles sounded out all around them.

The final attack on the Hollow City had begun. 

Back in the flooded palace, Lisica swam between buildings and great chunks of falling masonry with the barely conscious Jeremy towards the balcony entrance when, all around her slim shapes flashed down from above in to the water with barely a splash. 

Vampires were raining down, darting in to the water with the practiced grace of kingfishers after minnows.

Lisica pulled Jeremy out of the water on to a demolished attic, the closest remaining building to them, still many yards from the balcony.

Pale fish circled them in the depths.

Lisica was cold, and she shook with effort, but still she helped the boy along the rickety, groaning boards of the attic. Then a figure lit down upon the boards so gently they did not even sigh. Zubi landed in front of them, blocking their escape.

Cruel and imperious, the rain ran down her perfect face. “My poor dear, you seem like a drowned rat.”

Lisica said nothing, but pushed Jeremy further back in to the joists and broken woodwork, away from the Vampire.

“Your make-up runs, and we see who you are. You are but a girl left alone at the dance. Cry for me.”

They were backed up right in the corner of the ruined attic now. There was no way to get them but through the forest of joists, but also there was no way out but through the Vampires. Zubi stood on the boards, and swimming vampires patrolled in the water all around. Lisica pointed her sword out, and waited.

Outside the palace walls, Bowen, the Ghost, and the few last soldiers were being beaten back through the tunnels. Everywhere the hiss-whistle sounds echoed, and all around them lay their comrades.

“We can’t do any more,” said Bowen. “This is all the time we can give them.”

“Retreat to the central concourse,” cried The Ghost.

The Hollows ran deeper in to the city, and the hordes of Fillers ran after.

Meanwhile, inside the palace, Dr Uremides drew up to the attic in his boat. He had his hands up to the gap in his head, increasingly distressed at the frothing water around him.

“Lady Zubi, the city is lost! But with that child I can still wield power. Zubi! Get him!”

“Come on,” teased Lisica. “Do your master’s bidding.”

And the Vampire roared with frustration.

Outside, the Fillers emerged from every tributary tunnel in to the central concourse. All of them gathered in that space. 

Of Bowen and The Ghost and the Hollow soldiers, there was no trace.

“Secure this area,” said the leader.  “Gather everyone. This will be our base for further searches.”

“Yes sir,” came the reply.

Inside, As a great chunk of the tower fell only a dozen yards off to their right, Zubi stepped up. “I grow bored of this.”

Dr Uremides spoke in to the tangle of joists at the far end of the attic.

“We will give you a count of three, and then the good lady Zubi will order the entire building torn apart, and you with it. You still have a chance. Just give the boy up. Shall we begin? 3… ”

And nothing moved behind the tangle.

“2… ”

The Vampires started swarming in the water around them.

“1… ” 

And then Lisica threw the sword out, then emerged, holding her rucksack out in her spread wide arms.

“Drop the bag too.”

And Lisica dropped the rucksack, but it fell in to the water and sunk in to the darkness near to the balcony entrance.

“Oh dear,” said Dr Uremides. “I hope it was nothing important.”

And Lisica said, “3,2,1,”.

And then, deep under the water, right up against the sturdy gates, the rucksack, exploded.

The blast from the explosion surged through the water and splintered the main gates as if they were match wood. The Fillers had just enough time to look up to see the wall of water hit them. If you hit water after falling from high enough it will feel exactly like hitting concrete. Now imagine if it hit you.

The vampires swimming in the water had no chance either. They were swept away and drowned or dashed against the walls.

The surrounding rock groaned so low it made the water fizz.

The great flood of water swept through the tunnels of The Hollow City, taking everything with it, scouring everything clean.

Lisica grabbed Jeremy and looked up as the final explosion acted as a signal for Cyraliene and the Blood Sisters to fly down in to the abyss of the palace. They picked the two humans up and then leapt up and out. They danced upon the falling masonry, using the concrete as leverage for their next leap out.

Zubi cried, “Sister Cyra! What are you doing?”

“The Blood Sisters have made their choice,” Cyraliene cried down. “Who makes yours?”

Zubi become apocalyptic in rage. The sharp and perfect lines of her face turned in to knives of rage and she screamed. 

She picked up a cowering Uremides, and gathered her surviving sisters to her. And cried: “Get them!”

And the Bone Sisters all leapt up after the Bloods in to the night, as the attic, and the hall and the towers of the palace all collapsed in to the great tumult of the water beneath them.

And that was the end of The Hollow City.

But, above, the battle raged on...

THIS HAS BEEN THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE OF THE HOLLOW CITY, THE FOURTH SEASON OF THE LOST CAT PODCAST, WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY A P CLARKE. COPYRIGHT 2018.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING.

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