#btw she counts as a Disney princess

[mushysposts]

Ibis must hate me.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Advanced Interrogation Technique: Dog

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[iamdeltas]

In light of TOH's finale actually letting its protagonists murder the big bad, I want to make a list of what kids' shows let their protagonists actively kill their big bad, which ones had the bad guys die without the protagonists' involvement, and which ones didn't have the baddies die at all.

Big Bad killed by Protagonists:

-The Owl House: Luz let him die in the boiling rain and Eda and King (and Raine though they're not a main protagonist) stomp on his goopy remains

-Amphibia: Anne vaporizes the Core and the moon it hijacked. Bonus points for pummeling Andrias even after he surrendered after having a breakdown of guilt. Brutal lmao

-The Ghost and Molly McGee: Molly murders the Chairman using the power of joy. Hell yeah.

-She Ra and the Princesses of Power: Adora expelled Horde Prime's spirit from Hordak's body.

-Gravity Falls: Stan Pines killed Bill by mind wiping himself. Also he punches Bill in his mindscape. It was dope.

-Tangled the Series: Rapunzel killed Zhan Tiri, an actual demon btw, in the finale. Queen shit right there.

-Elena of Avalor: Okay so I can't remember the exact fate of Ash or the four Big Bads who Esteban was helping, and I think Esteban was redeemed. But I do know Elena fully murdered Shuriki. She definitely belongs on the Disney Princess With A Kill Count list alongside Mulan.

Big Bad killed without Protagonists' involvement:

-Centaurworld: The Woman killed the Nightmare King iirc. And good for her!

-Legend of Korra: Amon was killed by his brother via murder-suicide, rather than by the Krew.

Big Bad not killed at all:

-Ducktales: I can't recall what happened to Lunaris. Magica de Spell just got depowered. Can't remember who ultimately did that. And Bradford was turned into a nonanthropomorphic vulture... by Magica, so this doubles as The Bad Guys Do The Dirty Work.

-Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Mandu may have tripped Dr Emilia (good for Mandu) but Kipo still tried to save Dr Emilia from falling off the cliff. Dr Emilia rejected her help though, and fell into Fun Gus, who gets to play with her forever and ever and ever.

-Avatar the Last Airbender: I mean. This has been discoursed to death, hasn't it? Pun not intended. Aang refused to kill Ozai. Lots of people in the fandom thought this was stupid, and lots of other people in the fandom thought it was fine.

-Steven Universe: This has also been discoursed to death. I don't think I need to explain but yeah, the Diamonds didn't die.

-Legend of Korra (again): Kuvira was redeemed and Zaheer was imprisoned but not killed. Unalaq was also not killed.

Unsure because I forgor 💀:

-MLP:FiM: I know Chrysalis, Cozy Glow, and Tirek were imprisoned in stone but I can't remember if it was the Mane 6 who did it.

There's definitely cartoons I'm missing.

[candichan]

More sunesty playtime co. fanon lore

This is my second time drawing bigger body sunesty this time I really like how she turned out great! I also wanted to change up her dress a bit this is also my first depiction of the children of playcare)

These are more like interesting facts for sunesty

After she became a bigger body

1. She treats all the toy and children really well however she can be pretty strict but don't worry she would never hurt them unless you are a stranger she will keep a eye on you every second and she pretty known for being easily paranoid so she can easily misunderstand what you are doing if she thinks you are doing something bad to the kids this goes for the bigger toys as well.

2. Am not sure if the park was involved in the hour of joy or not or if the park was already shut down before that special hour occurred am not sure how long sunesty or the other bigger toys were their alone in the park before the children arrived or if sunesty could hear the prototype if she did I guess she would be very grateful that whoever the prototype is that gave her the most wonderful gift she could ever ask for she wouldn't see the prototype as something bad.

3. It kinda ironic that sunesty a princess is loved by every child and everytoy just like the princess in those Disney movie were the princess is loved by the town folk and the animals of the forest specially if you are aware that every princess has a talking animal companion witch most of the talking toys are animals Btw

4. If the player never came back then idk how sunesty would be able to feed the children for any longer idk if the toy go out and steal from gas stations or if they have to if they run out of food but if food was never a issue then the park would turn into a civil town were the children would grow into adults and start having family's of their own and sunesty would be know as the mayor or continue being referred as the princess of their town.

5. Catnap originally offered to help out by using his gas to put the kids to sleep so sunesty could get some rest but she declined cuz if the children were to have a nightmare or they need the bath room she could be awake to confort them however night do get to her so every now and then catnap will come and use a little bit of his gas to put her and the kids to sleep.

6. It implied that the children of playcare are alive how many am..not sure so I'll just do a random count their are 8 toddlers 9 baby's so speaking in the present time there are 8 teens and 9 kids imagine taking care of 17 children

[marciabrady]

Hi, I loved all of the points you made with 2015 Cinderella. I haven't watched the original one in a while, but you reminded me of do many lovely things, and I completely agree with your take on her character! And I was wondering if you could write a little about all of the other live-action remakes, which one is your fave and which one is the worst (after Cinderella ofc) and why - compare the princesses' personalities a bit, and maybe say what was better than in the oryginal (if there was anything?). I'm thinking about Aladdin, Mulan, TLM and BatB - oh, and Maleficent, if you count this one :) I must say I haven't seen the new TLM yet, but Disney's remakes have been letting me down since Cinderella, so I'm in no rush and don't worry about spoilers! Love your opinions and blog in general, btw ❤

Thank you for being complimentary to one of my last posts! This question yields a lengthy response, though, so I'll try to be brief while covering all of the topics you inquired about:

In terms of favorites, I wouldn't say I'd rewatch any of these films? They're generally uninspired and bad rip-offs of a superior property that already exists. If I had to rank them though, BATB and Aladdin were the least unenjoyable to me, TLM and Maleficent really were not for me and didn't understand their source material, and Mulan was unforgivably bland.

To compare their personalities is a difficult assignment because the live actions essentially show us the same character, meaning all the live action Princesses are the same to me? They made them all display strength in the same way, made them broader/softer to appeal to more people, etc, so I wouldn't really say that Emma Watson's Belle and Lily James' Cinderella or even Halle Bailey's Ariel are different characters from one another. In the process of "fixing" the Princesses, they just stripped the characters of any individuality...but, if we're comparing the live action characters to their animated counterparts, there are quite a bit of differences.

Emma's Belle leans more into the snobbish vibe that we see from the animated Belle but also feels more vulnerable in certain moments? I've only seen this movie once, and it was six years ago, but I remember Emma's Belle having a one-off with the Beast about how the villagers think she's odd and I thought that was nice. Belle in the animated film never really questioned herself, though she did have a similar scene with her father near the beginning of the movie so...I don't know, I'm really not a good judge on Belle lol Naomi's Jasmine feels somewhat true to the animated counterpart? I think the difference here, though, is where animated Jasmine was locked away her entire life the first time we meet her, Naomi's Jasmine is someone we meet out and about the Palace grounds. So I guess Naomi's has less restrictions on her? I can't think of another difference. Halle's Ariel isn't really a character, it just feels like Halle Bailey starring in The Little Mermaid to me? That might be a marketing thing, because they pushed her pretty aggressively for years, but the best way to explain it is that she acts the way Emma Watson sings. She doesn't really emote, she sings along in Under the Sea when it doesn't make sense for her to, she just doesn't really feel fully emersed or like she's acting. And honestly it's not really fair to judge her on this factor because she's even admitted she's not an actress? So...I'd say Halle's Ariel is just a nice, agreeable girl that's generally palatable and can sing well. The original Ariel has more fire to her, a feeling of being marginalized, is definitely more flawed and nuanced, fully realized, fiery, emotional, realistic, and headstrong. Elle's Aurora and animated Aurora...whew. Elle's Aurora is a child- she's giggly and naïve and innocent and doesn't understand the world around her. She doesn't have the presence or the grace or the charm of the original Aurora, nor any of the romanticism that is so central to the character. Where, in the original, I had no doubt that Aurora was competent and essentially raised herself, I don't know how Elle's Aurora got by lol I think the original Aurora had a sense of love and duty and loyalty, where Elle's Aurora is more withdrawn generally but also blindly reactive. Mary Costa's Aurora is introspective and intelligent, with so many gears turning at all times, but also dripping with enigma and essence while Elle's Aurora is simple and assuming. The remake Mulan is written to be perfect, while the animated Mulan is loyal, persistent, determined, sometimes negative, humorous, with a hazy moral compass on a practical level but a very sound higher self that she taps into.

You mentioned what was done better...I'll challenge myself to say nice things about each, which will be easy since Lily isn't included lol it's a minor detail but I loved that Emma's Belle got the snowball thrown in her face- and I don't even mean that in a shady way. The animated Belle was beloved by everyone and the smartest and the prettiest and treated incredibly by everyone, so the fact that she also threw snowballs at the Beast while he kept missing her was too much lol the fact that the Beast was allowed to be more athletically inclined and get her back, so that they met more as equals, even in such a fleeting moment, was welcome by me. I like the inclusion of Jasmine having a female friend. The original Aladdin is down BAD for female characters, and while I would've preferred the older maid that Jasmine has in the spinoff books, the fact that we got more women in general in that universe is a win. I think it was nice that they gave Halle's Ariel more vocal screentime. In the original, there were so many moments I wish I could've heard Jodi's Ariel speak more (when Ariel doesn't have a voice), and while I think the scenes are incredibly effective in the 1989 film where she is voiceless and I support the creative decision, more Ariel is always a good thing. With Elle's Aurora...it's nice we get to see her at different ages? The live action Mulan...doesn't have Mushu? Which allows for a more grounded story??

[aroace-moron]

I have so many questions about some of your wips names but Beren is a Disney princess and Alex what is wrong with your brain really make me wonder.

Well, first of all, those are not the final names for the stories. I have been working on the Beren is a disney proncess one for so long that it doesn't really fit the title anymore but it has grown so dear to me that I haven't changed it. At first, it was about Beren being trapped by Tevildo and then rescued by Lúthien (if you've read that version of the tale, then you'll most likely see why I chose the title. Peak Cinderella behavior right there). I wrote it in about half an hour and went 'eeeeh, I can do better,' and then I changed to the version where he and Finrod (+12 other unfortunate elves that were very much harmed in the making of Tolkiens universe) are trapped in Tol in Gaurhoth. It got way more serious through that.

It's a typical Lúthien to the rescue fic, and actually really short, but I can't seem to bring myself to get it done. It was the first fic I started writing for this fandom, and I fear I have grown attached. Here's a look at it anyway!

(A little sad, btw. Lots of survivors guilt in that moment. Emotions are all over the place the entire fic)

"I will not leave him, love. I promise. But I must get you out first, to tend to your wounds –" Beren… laughs. At least she thinks that is what he is doing.

It is a choked sound, half a heart wrenching sob, and she starts at it.

"He didn't hurt me," he slurs, and she needs no explanations on who he is, "He killed everyone else, but not me, never me…"

She holds him close. He has not told her what has happened to him beyond the Girdle of her mother, before she met him, and she has never asked. She does not need to know details to know the darkened edges of his soul. She has felt them often, underneath his gentle touches and kind eyes.

Beren is sobbing into her shoulder. They sit on the cold stone floor, and she rocks him gently back and forth. "Why never me, Lú?"

Because you belong to me. And I could not bear being apart from you.

She does not say that. Though she wishes nothing more than to calm him, she does not believe those words will be particularly helpful now. Instead, she rubs soothing circles into Beren's back.

"I know not, love," she whispers, and his next sob nearly turns into a scream.

Alex what is wrong with your brain. Ah yes.

This little masterpiece was born very late at night. I was just falling asleep, when I literally sat upright in bed because I'd had an IDEA and I needed to write it down before I fell asleep. I named the thing in the morning, when I had opened my notes and found a very short ramble of a scene that is literally just this:

BASICALLY, 1. kinslaying, Maedhros thoughts, slight dissociation maybeeeee, calls himself Maitimo throughout, at the end Feanor calls him Nelyafinwe

I wrote that last word and fell back into bed. On paper, this sounds like a really cool idea, and I am sure I can make it really terrifying, like in a loss of childhood innocence way. I am sorry to disappoint, it is literally just this. I never touched that idea again. But it does count as a WIP and it has a really funny name so it's on the list.

But yeah, it's mostly named that because of circumstances.

[angelbaby-fics]

reader being in little space and being so i love with her new toy but bucky just got a fresh hair cut and new Cologne new clothes new everything and reader is so stunned she slowly walks on to him grabs his face and says something like “so pretty dada” like a disney prince and just keep staring at him for the rest of the day/week 🥺💋 (love your work btw)

Like A Prince

Summary: Bucky gets a haircut and you can't stop staring

Word count: 850

Pairing: Daddy!Bucky x Little!Reader (fem language used)

A/N: I love this request so much! I've included some pictures under the cut of how I imagined his hair looking before and after while I was writing! I"m quite partial to his tfatws look 🥰 This takes place (as all my fics do) in a universe where littles are commonplace & accepted in society! Also, I’ve taken to nicknaming Bucky “buba” when in littlespace… kind of just a baby-fied way of saying his name... Bucky Barnes, get it?? Hopefully you guys like that haha 💕

You’d been kind of clingy lately, not that Bucky minded. The weather had been yucky the past few days, your feet were always cold and your nose always stuffed, and you clung to the warmth of your daddy as much as you could. So when the morning of his hair appointment arrived and the weather (as well as your clinginess) still hadn’t let up, he knew he’d have to take you with him. You usually stayed with Steve or Uncle Thor any time your daddy went out, so you were excited to get to go someplace new. You only had one question when he told you.

“New stuffy?”

See, you’d sort of been conditioned; spoiled rotten by that softhearted daddy of yours. You didn't like the hair salon, and who could blame you? The blow dryer was too loud, the hair wash was too hot, and nobody wants a stranger coming at their head with scissors! So every time he took you to get a haircut, Bucky would buy you a new stuffie to hold in the chair and help keep you grounded. He tried to reason with you at least a little bit.

“Aw sweetie, don’t worry! You don’t need a new stuffy today, only daddy has to get a haircut!”

“But… I want one…” You looked up at him with your eyes wide and your lower lip puffed out, a face he could never say no to.

So now, bear in one hand and daddy’s in the other, you walked into the barber shop. “You wanna go play over there babydoll?” Bucky asked, pointing over to the waiting area. Big comfy chairs sat around tables with blocks and toys and books to read while you waited for him to get groomed. You held onto his fingers tighter.

“Don’t wanna leave you, buba.” You whispered, looking up at him.

“But baby, your new friend here has never seen toys like this before, don’t you wanna show him?” He asked, motioning to your bear.

You looked down at the teddy, it’s glassy eyes reflecting the lights of the hair salon almost like a wink, and you smiled.

“Yeah, ok!” You said cheerily, turning your teddy to face the toys as you walked towards them. Bucky watched you for a moment and smiled to himself before sitting down in the barber’s chair.

“Okay mister bear, this is how to make a princess castle out of blocks.” He could hear you chattering to the stuffy over the sound of the electric razor near his head.

You were deeply invested in reading your teddy a picture book that you didn’t even notice Bucky finishing up with his appointment and paying at the counter until he called out to you.

“Come on, gumdrop, let's go home! It's almost dinner time!”

You looked up at him and immediately dropped your bear. It wasn’t that much of a change, and you’d seen him get dressed up for date nights and special events, but something about him today…

His hair was shorter, cut closer to his head on the sides but still long enough on top to run your fingers through. His facial hair, which had been getting a bit unruly over the past few weeks, was now light stubble perfectly framing his face. He smelled like fruits and spices, his skin was visibly smooth and soft; even though he’d just been for a haircut and a simple facial, Bucky looked to you like he was glowing.

You stared at him with wide eyes as he bent to pick up your bear, then you, waving at the barber as he carried you out the door towards the car. You kept staring at him during the drive home, eyes fixated on the top of his head in the rearview mirror except for the moments when he looked up and caught you staring, causing you to quickly turn your gaze and blush. Bucky was relishing in this attention from you, intending to play it out a little longer and not call you out on your staring as long as he could until finally you entered your apartment together, your eyes still glued to him.

“Okay, sweets, you gotta blink sometime.” He chuckled, but you stayed staring. “Come on, babydoll, what's up?”

He bent down to match your gaze and you took this closeness as an opportunity to reach out and place a hand on either side of your daddy’s face. His stubble was slightly abrasive but the skin underneath was smooth as butter. His cheeks were so soft, almost as soft as his silky brown hair flowing perfectly from his head, a single strand hung down in front of his forehead. You leaned forward and planted a kiss on the tip of his nose, causing him to scrunch his face in a smile.

“SO pretty buba… so pretty.”

Bucky laughed.

“Oh yeah? You like the haircut, baby?”

“You look like a prince, daddy!” You cheered as he picked you up and spun you around.

“Well what a coincidence, doll, because you look like a princess.” Bucky said, returning the kiss.

Taglist: @stevebuckyplzfuckme @babybatdani @cherryynoir 

[nikrangdan]

roommate!heeseung pt. 1

pairing: roommate!heeseung x female reader

genre: mini fic(?), fluff, comedy, tiny angst(one little sad part)

warnings: cursing!!! 

word count: 4.3k

description: i guess you just didnt realize you were in love with your roommate...... who has a girlfriend

————

“ow!”

you had just hit heeseung over the head after he said he would burn all of your plushies

your Precious. Plushies

hell no you’ve been collecting these since you were 11 no way in hell heeseung would threaten ur babies

you rolled your eyes and started to walk to the kitchen to get a snack

stupid heeseung

hes always saying stupid shit🙄

before you walked out though you noticed the look on his face

like he was contemplating something

“y/n... can you do me a favor?” he nervously uttered out before you walked out his door

“....what kind..?” you furrowed your brows

why was he being so cryptic

“uhh i need you to get flowers and chocolates for me from stacys....”

STACYS?????????

stacys was this fancy store 45 MINUTES AWAY..

“ur fucking serious?” you deadpanned

this was something new

in all your 8 months of living with him he had never asked you of a favor this big

for context.., you had moved to this city apartment for college 8 months ago but you couldn’t afford it without a roommate

but luckily you overheard a certain boy praying for an apartment while you were on campus

and you guessed it!!! it was heeseung

you two clicked easily and you were very thankful he was your roommate

after 4 months of living together he told you he got a girlfriend

you didnt really know about his campus life since you didnt have classes together and you never saw him walking around

you dont know why you were surprised when he told you... i mean have u seem Him.....

but nonetheless

u were like “Omg heeseung!!! thats great<3” like the supportive friend u were

yeah and that was that

you didnt meet the girl until another month later

Now that..... that was an experience......

FLASHBACK WHOOSH

*knock knock knock*

who tha hell was knocking at 7 in the morning.........

you staggered your way over to the front door with your matching hello kitty pajamas

and u open the door to see a blonde Lady who looks around your age

Why did u forget to look thru the little peephole in the door...... ur probably just tired whatever

anyways ur like

“uhm....”

and shes like

“? who are you.?”

and ur like

??!!?[\^€]€\¥,_[+{*}*

“i live here....”

and shes like

“?...? oh sorry i thought my boyfriend lived here..”

and ur both just standing there like ;-;

shes all dressed up and u look like a childs room threw up on u

And thats when it hit u

“OH”

“are you heeseungs girlfriend?!!???” your hand raises up to point at her unconsciously

“ yes.. i am” she looked so lost it was so funny

“oh then you have the right place im sorry! hes my roommate” you scurry back into the apartment, gesturing for her to come in and close the door behind her

“what? he didnt tell me had a roommate..”

poor girl 😭😭😭

you quite literally pounce into heeseungs room and smack him while shes still standing outside awkwardly in the living room

“fucking idiot” smack to the face

“wake up” smack to the chest

“heeseung i swear to god” you shake his head

“are you fucking dead???? wake up!!!!” you pinch his ears really hard

that woke him up

“Ow ow ow ow OWWW y/n what the hell???” his eyes are forced open but theyre squinted due to the sunlight

“your girlfriend is here” you whisper-yell at him

“what???” he sat up so quickly you almost laughed

you were 90% sure she heard everything

oh well

his problem

he just stares into space for a second before his eyes go wide

ur just sitting on his bed waiting for him to do something like Uhhh

“shit i planned a date today oh my god” he jumped up from his bed and hastily told you to “stay put” before throwing on a hoodie, walking to see his girlfriend, and slamming his bedroom door leaving u sat on his bed

yes u were nosy Muahahahahah

so u pressed ur ear against the door to listen to their conversation

“sora, im so sorry i slept in late i promise ill make it up to you please baby dont be mad”

you had to stifle your laughter with your hand

God this was gold

“heeseung why didnt you tell me you lived with a girl.”

oooooooh hes in trouble you laugh to yourself

“ah about that.. im sorry i didnt tell you.. dont worry though, you know i only like you! shes just my roommate”

ouch

Why did that hurt 😪

“whatever heeseung.. ill call you later” and then you heard the door slam

already???? you were ready to get ur popcorn :///

you didnt even notice it had been a while before the door opened with you still leaning on it

boom u fell on the floor

“ow”

“shut up” he said before jumping face down on his bed

you stand up to lean against his door again, staring pitifully at the boy

“you okay?” you cross your arms

“mmm” he mumbles into his pillow

“you know i think i deserve a treat for being woken up at 7am on a sunday by your little girlfriend”

“little? shes taller than you” he turned around to lay on his back and chuckle

“oh so you’re making jokes right now when your girlfriend might break up with you?” you glare at him

“shes not gonna break up with me over something this little” he rolls his eyes and grabs his phone from his nightstand

“you know you’re a little piece of shit heeseung!” you yell out to him after you walked out of his room

“how?!” he yelled back

“treat your girlfriend better!”

he kept his mouth shut after that

yeah you two didnt talk for the rest of the day because he stayed in his room sulking or whatever

fast forward to now

Right after he asked u to get him the chocolates and flowers

“please y/n, sora is gonna be here in 2 hours and i need to get everything ready and i dont have enough time to do everything” he begged

WITH THOSE CUTE LITTLE PUPPY DOG EYES OF HIS GOD

“do you really need them from stacys though???” you whined

he just huffed and glared at you “yes! sora only likes them from there.”

“nuh uh mister dont give me that look” you narrow your eyes at him

he immediately stops his glare and tries to look neutral

it almost made you laugh

you just looked at him for a few seconds before giving up

“fine. but what am i getting in return?”

his eyes lit up and traveled up as he was in thought

“hmmm ill buy you food whenever you want for a month”

Wow

“woah thats more than i bargained for but deal!” he didnt realize that until after you shook his hand, very enthusiastically might i add

Lol

so now you were on your way home with the MASSIVE bouquet of roses and beautifully wrapped chocolates sitting nice and snug in the passenger seat of your car

these two things costed $115

oh well its heeseungs money not yours

you found it amusing because heeseung was nowhere near rich so where was he finding this money to blow

over an hour later and ur finally back home

u open the door

u struggled very much btw

almost dropped everything haha

but woah......

your eyes widened and your mouth fell open

“heeseung? you didn’t tell me you two were having the date here..”

as soon as you walked in you smelled a pretty scent and the lighting was dim

it was beautiful

there were candles lit on every surface

rose petals were scattered messily everywhere

the two seater dining table was topped with elegant decor

there was quiet jazz music playing from his speaker

the familiar aroma of your favorite food hit you

standing there in your apartment didnt feel real

it felt like you were in a dream

you couldnt believe your apartment could turn into room from a fairytale

you were never one to be into disney princesses and fantasies

but for the first time ever you almost wished for a prince charming yourself

you almost got lost in a trance

and then....

the boy himself walked out

donned in an all black suit with a sliver of the white undershirt peeking underneath and the white tie

his bangs were covering his forehead and you noticed he styled them to be wavy

he had his earrings in and rings were present on 3 of his fingers

he looked absolutely dazzling

you dont know how or why.. but your heart began to race

why did this feel like it was for you...?

you wanted to be his disney princess

staring at him wistfully, it felt like time had stopped

“oh thanks y/n, i almost thought you ditched me” he chuckled quickly

he was frantic and out of breath as he snatched the things out of your hand

“right!” he began as he sped around the room setting everything up

“im sorry but i forgot to ask if you could leave for today. im such an idiot, im sorry y/n.. you can stay at a friends house or something for the night?” he didnt even look at you as he perfected the chocolates on the counter and the plates on the table

you couldnt help but notice your heart clench and your stomach twist at his words

you were still glued to your spot infront of the door

“o-oh! yeah, okay thats fine ill get my stuff now” you scurry to your room

you speedily threw some clothes and necessities in a bag before walking back to him

“hey..”

he didnt look at you

“helloooo”

“heeseung” you poke him

he finally turned to you

“sorry what?” he gazed down at you with big eyes

“its okay.. just wanted to let you know im leaving now” you give him a small smile

“oh right! thank you y/n again” he grinned

his pretty smile

“you look great by the way... have fun” you manage to say before slipping out the door

you didnt let him reply back because if you stayed in there a second longer you think you would’ve fallen in love with him

where did these feelings come from...?

you smack yourself on your forehead as youre walking down the steps to your car

ur probably just feeling like this because no man has ever done anything like that for u

and seeing it in real life made u want a bf 😟😟

yeah... thats it

so now ur at sunoos house

a close friend from your finance class

he lives in his parents house but theyre never home so he basically owns the place and doesn’t have to pay for it

Yeah u kinda envy the boy

but you love him because hes great

“y/n ..do you like him????” sunoo gasps

you guys are watching tangled for the 10th time and you were explaining what happened back at your apartment

“what? where did you get that from?” you snort, your eyes still focused on the movie

you could literally feel his eyes piercing into your soul with that stare

“the way you were telling me that story.... you sounded a bit jealous if i do say so myself..” he raises his eyebrow and leans back into the couch

“i do not like heeseung, sunoo” your eyes roll and you turn to look at him finally

he has a little smirk as he looks at u suspiciously

“hmmm okay, i get it” he raises his arms in defense and surrenders “you don’t wanna talk about it”

you scoff and laugh at his actions “you’re so annoying”

so ..*time skip* lol

you slept at sunoos for the night

it wasnt anything new bc u used to stay at his alot while u were in the process of moving into your apartment

one of his guest rooms is practically urs bc u have some decorations and spare clothes there :P

when you woke up that sunday morning you realized you forgot to set an alarm

so now its like 11am

well its not like you needed to be home so you shrugged it off

“morning” u said to sunoo when u saw him sitting on the couch watching wreck it ralph

boy loves his movies

“when are you going home?”

“wow rude.... not even a good morning back??” you found him amusing

“sorry, good morning. when are you going home” he turned his head to look at you

it made you laugh

Sunoo is so funny u love him

“do u wanna get rid of me that bad??? i hate you”

“ni-ki and jungwon are coming over today and i dont want you smothering them like you always do” he playfully glares at you

NI-KI AND JUNGWON???!!!??!!!!!!

“MY BABIES????” you exclaim and jump on the couch next to sunoo

“yes” he exasperatingly says

“now leave before they get here”

“WHAT?? no im staying because i wanna see them”

“NO!!!! now get out of my house y/n”

“why not?!!???! sunoo please i bet they miss me so much”

“y/n please.. they do NOT miss you”

“they literally do i always make them cookies and theyre like y/n ur so cool we love you”

“u mustve been hallucinating....”

“sunoo please please please i dont wanna go home” u tried to muster up the cutest puppy dog eyes ever

he looked at your face for a moment

“no u look ugly”

“YOU’RE SO ANNOYING” you push him

“theyre coming back tomorrow you can come then! today is boys night”

“boys night?” you snort “what the fuck are u kids gonna do that i cant be around for?”

“SHUT UP Y/N get out of my house!” he just starts to drag you out of his house himself

“ow oW OKAY fine ill leave... have fun doing.. whatever you’re gonna do” you grab your bag and start to head for the door

sunoo slams the door in ur face after he says “bye dont come back please” 😭😭😭

“asshole!” u yell to him thru the door

you just huff and stand on his porch for a second

you wonder if heeseung still has his girlfriend over and decide to text him

y/n🦧: hi can i come back home

welp

now ur sitting on sunoos porch waiting for a reply

10  minutes pass while ur scrolling on your phone and still no reply

you look up when you hear the front door open

“why are you still here?” sunoo frowns at you

“heeseung didnt answer my text and i dont wanna go back if his girlfriend is still there” you reply

“go home y/n plz.... i lied jungwon and ni-ki arent coming over.. my grandparents are” he tries to shoo you away

“why would you lie about that” you laugh

“theyre really mean! but you can come back tomorrow because the boys are actually gonna be here.. now go because my grumpy grandparents are gonna be here in like 5 minutes” he guides your shoulders down his porch

“ugh.. if his girlfriend is still there its your fault” you pout

“wha- how is that my- whatever y/n go home!!!”

when you drive off you dramatically wave your hand to him trying to show how desperately you did not wanna go home

sunoo just giggles and runs back inside

you drove home extra slow Lol

and now you were at the door contemplating whether or not you just make a run for it

but u said fuck it because u missed the comforts of ur own room

well u knocked a little before unlocking the door

how embarrassing to be knocking on the door of ur own home 💀

you didnt get an immediate answer so u just stood outside in the apartment hallway....waiting....

after waiting for like 30 seconds (because ur impatient) you knock again

well i tried to be nice you thought

you finally gave up and unlocked the door with your keys, kind of slowly opening the door to peek in

hmmm.... nothing

the sun was emitting some rays of light through one of the windows but none of the lights were on

and why was there food still on the table..?

you were kind of afraid to go see heeseung 

but

you did notice one thing

there wasn’t a pair of shoes u didnt recognize sitting on the rack by the door 

so... is his girlfriend not here or did she bring her shoes to his room lol..

“hello?” you unconfidently called out to nobody in particular

no answer

you slipped your shoes off quietly and tiptoed towards the hallway that included both of your rooms across from eachother

the kitchen and living room looked untouched 

to describe u being confused would be an understatement

you set your bag down on your bed and then made your way to heeseung.. just to check on him

you were genuinely so confused rn

you thought they would be cuddling on the couch or talking in his room or something but it was dead silent throughout the house

“heeseung?” you soft knocked on the door of his bedroom

surely he couldnt still be asleep.. it was noon on a monday and heeseung would normally be up by 10 because he said he would “start being a more productive man” as he said it

you always laughed at him because he used to wake up at like 3pm on days he didnt have class

anyways you didnt get an answer which was slightly concerning because you didnt forget to take note that you saw his car in the parking garage when you arrived

“i’m coming in” you called out to him before twisting the knob and pushing the door open

you realized you might be crossing a line and he’d get upset at you for invading his privacy but you were honestly worried for your friend

at first you didn’t see him

his room was empty, not a single person in sight

that is until you further examined the big lump on his bed

“heeseung? what...” you walked over to the lump that you only knew was him because you could see a bit of his hair peeking out from the top

“um.. am i interrupting something..” you awkwardly said, debating whether or not to go closer

he wasn’t saying anything so you guessed he was sleeping

how odd for him

you wanted to just check real quick and then you’d leave his room

so your feet padded softly against his wooden floor as you made your way over to him

and you bent down a little to kind of tug the huge blanket away from his face

as you got closer you also noticed his girlfriend wasnt here

the first thing you noticed was that he was definitely not asleep

your eyes widened and your hand instinctively went to his face to cup his cheek

“are you okay?! why are you crying?” you quickly asked, your eyebrows were furrowed in worry

in your months living with him you have never seen him show any emotional feelings in front of you and it almost made you panic

his eyes locked onto yours before he looked away from you and closed his eyes

he still hasnt said anything and you really didnt know what to do in this situation

you took your hand off his cheek before sighing

now you’re just sat on the side of his bed just looking at him.. wondering what to do

you were sure he wasn’t sleeping even though his eyes were shut and he wouldnt move

but you sat there for 5 minutes and he didnt seem to mind

“sora broke up with me” 

he finally broke the silence

...

you didnt know what to say

you couldnt ask if he was okay when he obviously wasnt

“do you wanna talk about it? you looked over to heeseung to see him staring at you

“not really” he broke eye contact once again and looked up towards the ceiling

“later i will.. just not now” he breathed out

you nodded at that, understanding his situation

you felt terrible for the boy

his eyes were red and his voice was all nasally like he’d been crying

“i’ll leave you alone now..” you patted his big blanket fluff to lighten the mood and walked out his stuffy room

hours had passed while he was stuck in that room and you didnt know what to do 

it was 7pm already

you spent the day watching tv in the living room 

but it was dinner time and you made ramen (his fav!!!) in hopes that he would come out of there

“heeseung you’ve gotta eat” you knock on his door again

you had told him to eat at 2 earlier but he insisted that he wasnt hungry

you were surprised when he instantly opened the door and your hand was still in midair as you were knocking

if your hand moved an inch you wouldve been knocking on his chest which you found very funny but you didnt think this was the right time for jokes

“hi” you looked up at him

he was wearing his purple beanie with sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt

he definitely looked better than he did this morning which you thanked god for

“hey” he gave u this look :]

“you okay? i made ramen.. can you smell it” you kinda giggled

“yeah, thanks” he tried to send you a small smile which you were thankful for

“okay well come eat because i worked very hard on it” you turned on your heels and went towards the tiny kitchen island with two seats

he followed you and sat next to you as you gave him his bowl and chopsticks

“bon appetit!” you clapped your hands before digging in

you were proud of urself ngl... the ramen was smacking

“thank you y/n” he said softly

you refused to admit it but he was.. So Cute

“no problem, just eat” you grinned

and you two ate in silence for a good 15 minutes

he said he would do the dishes after you were done which was relieving because you wanted to go jump in your bed and watch tiktoks very badly

there was a slight awkwardness in the air too so you wanted to let that cool off too

so now you were cuddled up in our bed with your phone very close, almost too close, to your face

and you could hear the sink running as heeseung washed the dishes

you silently prayed he was feeling better and that he would be over it soon

the sink turned off and you could hear his footsteps coming towards the hallway

what surprised you was that you heard knocks on your bedroom door

“can i come in?” he asked

“yeah its open” you replied

u had to get out of ur blanket cocoon :///

you watched him stride over to sit next you on your bed

he even got under the covers and laid down like dang lmao u getting comfy i guess

“whats up?” you were sitting up while he was laying on your pillows

“so.. she broke up with me last night” he spoke while hugging one of your plushies

oh OHH so this is what this is about

“oh.. are you feeling better now?”

“yeah i think.. we only dated for 4 months but i really liked her....”

“did she say why she did?” you asked

“she said she found someone else. i dont know if you know this but shes a year older than me and she told me she wasnt into younger guys which doesnt even make any sense because her ex was younger than her too and-”

“okay heeseung” you laugh “people are like that, you just gotta deal with it”

“yeah yeah, i know” he sighed “i dont know.. i dont know if im sad i lost her or if im sad over the fact that i dont have a girlfriend anymore”

“was she your first girlfriend?”

“me? y/n” he laughed “ive had plenty before”

“oh” you didnt even wanna ask

“why? have you never had a boyfriend or something?” he joked

“no....” you trailed off, unable to look him in the eye out of embarrassment

you were never even embarrassed about that but for some reason admitting it to heeseung made you shy

“what?! no way” he was actually shocked

“yes way now can we change the topic this is terrible” you roll your eyes and shove a plushie in his face

“awee little y/n” he teased you

“get out” you snickered

“okay okay fine.. but yeah i think i’ll be okay. she broke up with me as soon as she got here so all of my planning was for nothing. i think that was what devastated me the most, i had no one to eat with”

you wanted to yell I LITERALLY EXIST soooo bad

Why is he so stupid....... 

“thats sad...” you said

you wanted to laugh at your reply bc what else could you say

“yeah anyways you dont have to worry about taking care of me while im sulking or whatever im cool now’

“well that was quick.. you were acting like a baby this morning now ur this tuff guy” you tease

“yeah yeah i dont even know why i was acting like that” his cheeks went pink

“im just kidding” you send a small smile his way “you know im always here for you right? dont be afraid to be a little emotional sometimes” you reach over to pat his head

“thanks y/n” he smiles “you’re a really great friend”

ouch

yeah.. friend

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

You know, I’ve been thinking abt villain/redemption discourse and I want to propose a challenge. I call it the SU Test. How many shows do you know that actually give every single character a chance to heal and be better? And I do mean everyone. No deaths. There needs to be antagonists and/or “problematic” characters. Any piece of media is fine. Anyone is welcome to play. Ready? Go! (Btw really like this blog!)

Hello!

I'm gonna give this challenge a shot! Chose animated shows and movies.

Let's see if everyone got "the Steven Universe treatment," a trope which villain-redemption haters claim is "saturating shows with redemption arcs galore." (Wut? Lol)

In Steven Universe, none of the villains were killed off nor punished through retributive means that prevented the characters from getting a second chance/improving as people.

Will this criteria apply to the shows on my list? Let's find out!

Note: I will only be mentioning villains who were punished (non-restoratively; i.e., not allowed to get better) or killed off. Even one instance of these outcomes disqualifies a story from receiving a Steven Universe star of approval. ⭐

Finally, Marvel and DC cartoons won't appear on the list. Teen Titans (2003) will be the sole exception, however. 

Major spoilers for many shows ahead!

Animation – Shows and Films

• Disney

I don't have to provide examples here. This franchise is the trope namer for the "Disney Villain Death" trope. Lol

Actually, I'll do it anyway!

Most horrific, Disney villain death: Scar

Next! 

❖

• Pixar

Most horrific, Pixar villain death: Syndrome

❖

• Pokemon

The anime and movies generally punish the villains. Some characters even died.

Notable death: Hunter J

❖

• Avatar: the Last Airbender

Notable death: Jet

I know he's anti-heroic, but he committed pretty bad crimes. It seems like the story punished him for that.

If you disagree, there's also Combustion Man's death.

❖

• The Legend of Korra

Notable death(s): Amon and Tarrlock

Fun fact: A good chunk of Korra’s enemies died. 

❖

• Code Lyoko (not counting Evolution; season 4 was the intended conclusion to the show)

Notable death: X.A.N.A.

❖

• Men in Black: The Series

Notable death: Alpha

❖

• Jackie Chan Adventures

Notable punishment: Valmont

Holy crap, villain decay hit this guy hard. His punishment? Miserable poverty.

❖

• Inuyasha

Don't need to list a notable death. All of the villains (barring Sesshomaru and Jaken) were killed off.

❖

• Rick and Morty

Antagonists die brutally in this show. Lol

❖

TW: Sexual assault mention 

• Ed, Edd n Eddy

Notable punishment: Eddy's brother got sexually assaulted by the Kanker Sisters. I know he's the worst, but damn. That is still not okay.

❖

• Adventure Time

Notable death: Lemongrab

❖

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Notable death: Savage Oppress

❖

• Star Wars: Rebels 

Notable death: Minister Maketh Tua

❖

• Voltron: Legendary Defender

Notable death: Prince Lotor

❖

• Danny Phantom

Notable punishment: Vlad Masters was exiled from Earth.

❖

• Centaurworld

Notable death: Elktaur

Recent proof that shows are not becoming more like Steven Universe with respect to letting their villains live. 

❖

• Star vs. the Forces of Evil:

Notable death: Toffee

❖

• She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

Notable death: Shadow Weaver

❖

• Gravity Falls

Notable death: Bill Cipher

❖

• Codename: Kids Next Door

Notable punishment: The Delightful Children from Down the Lane

They are KND operatives who were brainwashed into being evil. They genuinely can't cease their villainous ways. As a consequence, they will continue to be punished for actions beyond their control.

❖

• Samurai Jack

Notable deaths: The Daughters of Aku (minus Ashi)

❖

• Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles (2012)

Notable death: Shredder/Oroku Saki

❖

• The Powerpuff Girls

Notable death: Dick Hardly

Notable punishment: The villains get beaten to a pulp by our superhuman heroines on a daily basis.

❖

• Dexter's Laboratory

Notable deaths: Hookocho

❖

• Transformers: Prime

Notable death: Dreadwing

❖

• Teen Titans

Notable death: Terra

I know Terra was probably resurrected, but this doesn’t negate the fact that she underwent a redemption-by-death arc. 

❖

• Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated

Notable death: Everyone in Crystal Cove (except Mystery Incorporated) died

Notable punishment: Professor Pericles’ fate. His consciousness died due the evil entity who took over his body.

❖

• The Owl House 

Notable death: The basilisk that attacked Luz’s school

Yeah, this show is not interested in being like Steven Universe. SU would have handled the basilisk’s (a victim of Belos’ experiments) story differently. 

❖

• We Bare Bears 

Notable villain: Agent Trout 

Mentioning him because he’s a villain who lacks redeeming qualities. None of SU’s baddies were given this treatment by the writers. 

Trout was an absolute bastard. 

❖

• Over the Garden Wall 

Notable death: The Beast

❖

• Regular Show

Notable death: Malum Kranus

This show killed off a lot of its villains.

❖

• The Amazing World of Gumball

Notable death: Rob

❖

• Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Notable death: Scarlemagne/Hugo Oak

❖

• Coraline

Notable death: The Other Father

❖

• Trollhunters

Notable death: Angor Rot

❖

• Arcane

Notable death: Silco

❖

There are more shows, but I don’t think they'll be receiveng a SU star either. So I’ll stop here, for now.

Think I made my point. c:

[mysterystarz]

ok random game: cast your moots in a musical/show/movie you like 👀

oooh this sounds fun! i’ll do the moots off the top of my head, but lmk if you wanna be added!!

@animated-moon - the harry potter movies (i do not condone jk rowling’s beliefs btw) >> they would completely go bonkers with casting spells and food stuff

@oceandahlia - INCEPTION NO QUESTIONS ASKED she would be part of the gang and go get with arthur

@shoyotime - oceans 8/oceans 11 >> would totally be a plan mastermind and help with the heist (your partner is me bc novanez supremacy)

@haikyuutothetop - harry potter movies >> cel would go to town learning all this stuff and i’m sure you could find her at hogsmeade sipping some butterbeer with me :3

@horseanon--simpforall - hamilton >> rach has this quality to her that would fit well in a royal setting ;)

@ohajime - 21 >> emp would rock this card counting fast paced movie and be a great part of the team

@maizumis - the kissing booth >> it was a fluffy movie i watched when i was sad but mai would totally be the protagonist in this fun romcom

@kitacharm - stranger things >> you’re a monster nat, so you’d be good with monsters/j || no but seriously, you’d be so good in the mystery world of stranger things!

@kacchans-sparkiez - ATLA i can see you just bending the crap out of things and enjoying it (you give me earth bender vibes)

@sunamayo - miraculous ladybug (I WATCHED THIS WHEN I WAS A CHILD OKAY) >> you give me secret superhero vibes and i think it’d be very very cute

@xybi - spy kids (another childhood classic) >> you give me super spy vibes and you’re just very chill and amazing so go and save the world ;)

@knockoffsiriusblack - harry potter movies. no explanation needed.

@flushphoria - another inception >> angie here would be very good with the team and her athleticism would come in handy (EVEN IF SHES CLUMSY AND GETS HURT EVERY FIVE SECONDS)

@kobunnie - H20 just add water (another childhood show) >> mermaids seem to suit you and i can imagine you as the protagonist in this

@elektrosonix - ATLA >> sara would kickass as a bender and be badass and be the avatar probably!!

@aphrodytem - miraculous ladybug >> rory as a secret superhero would be the best thing ever i’m not even kidding

@itskierrababyy - oceans 8/oceans 11 I CAN JUST IMAGINE YOU IN A HEIST MOVIE YOU WOULD BE SO BADASS

@discountkiyoko - ATLA YOU WOULD BE A VERY COOL BENDER

@atsunjali - vampire diaries (i’m half and half on this show but watched it) >> she would be the center here and tbh it makes a lot of sense ~

@infxrity - madagascar >> LIA YOU ARE KING JULIEN EMBRACE IT

@sugurus-princess - 21 >> el gives me the vibes of someone who wouldn’t mind a bit of trouble if it means $$$ (pls this is for cinematic effect here) SO she can be part of the vegas card counting gang ;)

@happy-shadow-thoughts - the chilling adventures of sabrina >> YOU GIVE ME MAGIC VIBES SO WITCHCRAFT SOUNDS FUN

@atsuvu - bunked (another childhood show) >> WHOLESOME DISNEY WITH FUN DRAMA AND JACK = 100% watchable ;)

~send me a comment on this if you wanna be added~

[kittyking445]

Y'know what ppl got mad the last time I said this but I'll say it again. I'm saying this as an AROMANTIC LESBIAN

Stop hcing every single strong girl character as a lesbian when she points out she doesn't like romance

I can probably count on both fingers the amount of times I've watched a show/movie where there's a strong girl main character who is independent, who says how she thinks romance is gross/has no interest in a relationship/etc

Then I go into the fandoms tags 4 it and see half the fandom calling her a "lesbian icon" and shipping her w/ some other girl. There's 2 big problems this creates and y this isn't "just a hc"

A: The obvious ppl erasing an aro coded character or at least a character that can b seen as aro. Aro people get so little representation that a character gagging at the sight of kissing is the biggest rep we can get, and it's so heartbreaking when we then see ppl treating that character as if they've loved romance all along and just needed ~a beautiful girlfriend who will love her and help her heal~. It also shows aros what people think we mean when we say we're not interested in romance. I've actually been 2 school and have had long time friends tell me if I have a crush yet or that I'll get a girlfriend some day after telling them explicitly I'm aro.

B: the 2nd problem this creates is. Usually ruining the whole character. A great example is Elsa from Frozen. Now I know Disney most likely didn't purposefully hc Elsa as aro, but the thing that made Elsa popular when frozen came out was she was the first Disney princess at that time who got a happy ending w/o marrying some guy. Literally the whole point of Frozen is that family love is just as strong as romantic love. Krostoff wasn't the one that unfroze Anna w/ a magical kiss or a confession of his love, it was Elsa hugging Anna cause she loved her sister. It isn't as much shown in Frozen 2, but family love is still shown 2 b important w/ Anna and Elsas parents. And the best part is, Elsa still never gets in a relationship.

Elsas happily ever after is her understanding her powers nd finding a place where she belongs, not with a girlfriend or boyfriend or any partner. It was w/ ppl she could call family, which is so important 4 young girls 2day who r pressured 2 find someone 2 love.

And then that whole message is completely ruined w/ "Give Elsa a girlfriend" and other stuff. Ppl saw a strong girl character who was fine on her own and shows 0 interest in any romance whatsoever... And decided she only needed a girlfriend 2 actally b happy. Do allos not understand how bad that is??? Think of all the girls who see those posts abt Elsa needing a girlfriend, completely ruining the movies message that they don't, especially 4 aro kids. Hell the reason I only found out I was aro like last year was bc 4 my whole life I was told I needed a relationship 2 b happy, I needed 2 get a partner or get married or I'll b sad and alone forever. I forced myself 2 get "crushes" on just ppl i wanted 2 befriend because I thought that's how it worked

That's why making these girls who have no interest in romance get a girlfriend on ur fanfics hurts so much. They'll that characters arc or story usually, or they'll just show how much u don't care abt aro ppl. Just, let characters have friends or family. Let platonic relationships be important as romantic ones, not everything as 2 b abt romance.

Tl;dr: hcing girl characters who state they don't like romance will ruin the point of the character and shows aro ppl (esp aro kids) they won't b happy untill they get a partner.

Btw, yes allos, and non-aros in general (looking at you acespecs) you should reblog

[baebeyza]

Top 4 or 5 I dunno

Am bored so imma just list my faves for characters who have at least 4 different versions in the cartoons

(this was more than I expected, so it's under the cut-)

Shockwave!

1. TFP (Just a fucking pissy and spiteful babe with the sexiest design) 2. Energon (jerkiest jerk ever) 3. TFA 4. G1 5. Cyberverse

Soundwave!

1. TFP (My brother's favourite transformer, that gotta mean something) 2. G1 3. Cybertron (I'd love him more if he wasn't in like, 6 episodes total) 4. Headmasters 5. Cyberverse

TFA Soundwave just aint sexy, I am sorry- and neither is RID15 Soundwave after his upgrade u.u WFC Soundy just didn't do much

Prowl!

1. RiD01 (Middle child) 2. Energon (a little eager boyo) 3. TFA 4. G1 5. WFC

Only reason I chose WFC over Cyberverse here is that I fucking forgot he even was in Cyberverse, so he obviously couldn't leave a big impression on me

Ratchet!

1. TFP (Especially that german voice OuO) 2. WFC 3. TFA 4. G1 5. RiD15

Putting RiD15 Ratchet above Cyberverse Ratchet because he says "I needed that" :D Also, in Prime Wars he seems to exist because Windblade mentions him once, but we never see him

Roddy!

1. G1 (Original boi) 2. Energon 3. Prime Wars 4. Cyberverse 5. TFA

Headmasters Roddy gets no place in this for just fucking off and never coming back-

Ultra Magnus!

1. G1 (love of my life) 2. WFC 3. RiD01 (the bitch version-) 4. Headmasters 5. TFP

Fun fact: In the japanese version of Armada he exists as well, but not really as a character, just as an upgrade for Prime in the last season of the show that just existed for some reason - in the english version that upgrade is called Overload :D (but sometimes gets called Ultra Magnus too because the english script writers for the show were kinda high or something)

Oh, and in TFA I aint all that hype for him

Hot Shot!

1. Cybertron (A cutie) 2. Energon (A mature cutie) 3. Armada (I don't even care about this boi, but I can't put him below the other two) 4. RiD01 (I can't remember anything he ever did) 5. TFA (I couldn't even remember him existing)

Arcee!

1. G1 (Original girl) 2. TFP 3. Cyberverse 4. WFC 5. Energon

She's also in Headmasters as a secretary - a downgrade from G1. And in TFA she didn't leave much of an impression on me :/

Wheeljack!

1. Cyberverse (Such crazy uncle energy) 2. Energon (He's only called Wheeljack in original version - and I fucking loved the way he talked man, his voice and accent were just so damn epic) 3. TFP 4. G1 5. WFC He is in TFA, but I can't remember anything he ever said in those 3 minutes of screentime

Perceptor!

1. Prime Wars (Of course, he was so cute and funny!) 2. G1 (Cutie!) 3. Cyberverse 4. Victory (his one job of telling Ginrai he cannot be repaired was better than anything he ever did in TFA - at least he had a damn on-screen job! xD) 5. TFA

Some Minicon in Armada is called Perceptor, but bugger me if I fucking remember which one it was

Grimlock!

1. RiD15 (Fave of the whole show, such a sweetheart! <3) 2. G1 3. Prime Wars 4. Cyberverse 5. TFA

Rid01 also has a Grimlock, but he ain't even a Dino in it

Bumblebee!

1. RiD15 (A sin, I know, but I'm not hot on Bee in general and I just found this one the most appealing) 2. Cyberverse 3. TFP 4. G1 5. TFA

I know he's in RB, but I havent watched that yet so I can't talk

Sky/Jetfire!

1. Cybertron 2. Energon 3. Armada (one of the only two characters I actually liked in the whole show-) 4. G1 5. WFC

TFA version wasn't all that hot to me

Megazarak/Scorponok!

1. Energon (a goodie) 2. Headmasters 3. Beast Wars 4. WFC 5. RiD15

Bro I remember nothing about him in G1, that 4th season was so damn forgettable and weird, that even the RiD15 version stuck to me more

Fortress Maximus!

1. Headmasters (Master SWOOOORD- <3) 2. Prime Wars 3. RiD01 4. G1 (I can remember this version better than Scorponok at least)

Sideswipe!

1. RiD15 2. Armada 3. G1 4. WFC

As with Bee, can't judge his RB version

Blurr!

1. G1 (BOI) 2. TFA (handsome boi!) 3. Cyberverse (I just remember that he dies) 4. RiD15 (Just here because I liked him more than in Armada) 4. Armada (he aint even boi, but he has the name so whatever)

He's in Headmasters too and he fucks off with Roddy, so SHAME ON YOU

Cyclonus!

1. G1 (The only version I give a shit about- the others are just a contest about which I care less) 2. Energon 3. Armada 4. RiD15 5. TFA

Headmasters Cyclonus gets disqualified for the AUDACITY TO BE A WHIMP!

Galvatron! (disclaimer - versions that are really just Megatron-repaints don't count. Also for the Unicron Trilogy, I go by the japanese versions because I hate the english one when it comes to him and Megatron)

1. Energon (In japanese, its always Galvatron from the start, the character never was "Megatron" and bro do I love him!) 2. G1 (The original crazy man, you go babe! 3. Beast Wars II 4. Headmasters 5. WFC (Hope he gets to be awesome in Kingdom! ~)

Unicron!

1. Beast Wars Neo (personality babey) 2. TFP 3. Prime Wars 4. G1 5. Armada (at least he had Sideways here) I mean he is in Energon, but is barely a character...

Red Alert!

1. Cybertron 2. G1 3. Armada 4. WFC 5. TFA

Fun fact: Energon Prowl is Red Alert in japanese and Armada Red Alert is Ratchet in japanese-

Skywarp!

1. G1 (Aesthetics ~) 2. Beast Wars II (totally different character btw, but again - Aesthetics ~) 3. Cyberverse (girl Aesthetics ~) 4. WFC 5. TFA (anti-aesthetics!)

There be a lot of seekers in Prime Wars, but they all die without ever showing a robot-mode so who gives a fuck man

Thundercracker!

1. Cyberverse (It's the moe-effect) 2. Cybertron 3. G1 4. TFA 5. WFC

Thrust!

1. Beast Machines 2. Beast Wars II 3. Armada 4. G1 5. Cyberverse (Couldn't remember him in this thing either)

The Quintessons!

1. Energon (Alpha Q Disney Princess) 2. G1 3. WFC 4. Cyberverse

Alpha Trion!

1. G1 (This is the only version I have spent any thoughts on-) 2. TFA 3. Cyberverse 4. WFC 5. Headmasters

Man, at least in Headmasters he had a body compared to TFP-

Metroplex!

1. Cybertron 2. Headmasters (just for that one scene in which he says that Magnus would have wanted to be buried on Earth) 3. Prime Wars 4. G1

Jazz!

1. G1 2. TFA 3. RiD15 4. Headmasters (mah man Marshall, eh?)

Scourge!

1. Cybertron 2. RiD01 3. G1 4. Headmasters

Cliffjumper!

1. Energon (Character is called Overdrive in japanese but whatever) 2. TFP 3. G1 4. TFA 5. WFC (forgot he was in it)

Ironhide!

1. Energon (The boi) 2. G1 3. RiD01 4. TFA 5. WFC (5 seconds or something)

Omega Supreme!

1. Energon 2. G1 3. TFA 4. WFC

Laserbeak!

1. TFP (Of course-) 2. G1 3. Cyberverse 4. RiD01 5. Cybertron

Sorry, WFC Laserbeak u.u And who cares for Armada Laserbeak-

Mirage!

1. Energon (the Decepticon who is IN LOVE WITH MEGS/GALVS, what more do you want! Also he cute-) 2. RiD01 3. G1 4. WFC

Chromia!

1. Cybertron (In japanese Thunderblast's name is Chromia- forgive me not sticking to one language here x'D) 2. WFC 3. G1 4. Cyberverse

Menasor!

1. RiD15 2. Prime Wars 3. G1 4. Cybertron

Bulkhead!

1. TFA 2. TFP 3. Energon (Sprung in japanese) 4. RiD15

[authenticcadence18]

Top Favorite Characters

Rules: List your favorite character from 10 Different Fandom’s and tag 10 people 

Thanks sm for the tag, @inkjackets!! If there’s one thing I love, it’s rambling about my favorite characters!!! ☺️

1.) Isabella Garcia-Shapiro from Phineas and Ferb (Phineas is a close second here because he’s wonderful—and because Phinabella is my OTP😂—but Isabella is definitely my favorite!)

2.) Rapunzel from Tangled/Tangled the Series (Eugene is also amazing and my favorite Disney prince, btw)

3.) Star Butterfly from Star vs the Forces of Evil (Marco Diaz deserves a mention here too....I’m beginning to detect a pattern here🤣)

4.) Marinette Dupain Cheng from Miraculous Ladybug (Marinette’s amazing. That is all. ....plus she kinda reminds me of isabella in a way, which could be why she’s my favorite!)

5.) Becky Botsford/WordGirl from WordGirl (WordGirl was my FAVORITE show growing up....honestly, it’s is a GOLD-MINE of great characters so choosing just one is hard!)

6.) Katara from ATLA (I love love LOVE KATARA. SHE’S AMAZING.)

7.) Sara from Milo Murphy’s Law (she’s a fangirl and a dedicated older sister! what’s not to love?)

8.) Erika from The Princess and the Pauper (i mean, I love Anneliese too...but I think we can all agree that Erika is just. so good. also I guess this isn’t really a fandom, per say, but I think it counts!)

9.) Charlie Brown from Peanuts (Charlie Brown is just the biggest mood. 😅)

10.) Webby from Ducktales 2017 (all of the characters in this show are golden but I think Webby is my fave! ...i really need to catch up on this one, lol)

Thanks again for the tag, @inkjackets! This was fun!!

I’ll tag @macaronsforchat @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal @kittinoir @gryffindorcls @flashflashitsash @marshmeowllowmuffins, aaaand YOU!! if you see this, consider yourself tagged!!!!!

[arlakos]

The problem I realized with Adrien Agreste (and many of the other miraculous characters)

Ok, let me just put a disclaimer here.

I love all the characters in miraculous Ladybug, I really do. I mean, aside from Lila and Gabriel, but really who doesn’t? I think all the characters are cool from both design and initial character standpoints and made you wish we see more of them. 

But just like most of my other posts, I see both good and bad in the show and acknowledge all of it. I like the concepts, but I don’t have to necessarily like all the executions of said concepts.

I’ve been holding off this post for a while due to me wanting to take some time to review the show first and see if there was anything that would have made me change my mind on my newfound stance. But surprisingly, there really wasn’t.

So let me get to the point

Adrien Agreste...Is one of the blandest characters I have ever seen in a show

As with most to all the other characters in the show as well.

(Cue sounds of  betrayal)

“But Arlakos!” you might say, “Why would you think this way? You love Adrien! He has a great personality!”

Yeah, I love him. I love his initial character and I think he as Chat Noir is just amazing. But having watched three seasons of a single show, as well as comparing Miraculous to ANOTHER similar show, I have to address this issue and how it affects all the characters.

So first, let's talk about the show

Spanning three seasons, Miraculous Ladybug, as of this moment has released 78 episodes of this show (also including the Christmas special). In comparison, the show I'm using has released 87 episodes, so I feel that after this long, its fair to now compare the two shows, even with the 9 episode difference.

After watching Miraculous Ladybug for so long, I realized by this point that a lot of episodes in the series are pretty much flash and no substance, along with some ship teasing. I would call it filler, but that's under the implication that there was any plot they were following, to begin with. With each of the episodes bottled into one standalone story, most of the episodes have no impact to each other aside from a few rare few. Season 1 was chock full of this, but it was ok for the time being as Season 1 was used to introduce most of the characters in the show and the world itself. But that has also been the basis for the other two seasons as well, especially those that promised to expand the story of the show. 

But it didn’t. Each of the episodes would occur, their story would end, and any important lessons the characters would learn would be forgotten by the end. The episode and its story would never be brought up again, aside from the Akuma if the person in question was to be re-akumatized again. Maybe it would be brought up in passing, such as Kim and Ondine’s relationship, but truth be told, none of the episodes mattered to the lore or plot of the show. You could feasibly cut out most of the episodes, aside from episodes introducing a new hero, the finales and the first episode of each new season and the show would still work plot-wise.

Because of this format of the show, the characters have undoubtedly suffered a lot development-wise, due to character resets cause of the nature of standalone episodes, most characters not being utilized in most episodes unless its for setting up an akuma, and the overall Marinette focused nature of the show not allowing any other characters to have focus.

And nobody has really suffered more, that the Big Cat himself, Adrien Agreste.

But why though?

To understand this, let's go over his initial character traits

He’s Kind

He’s willing to see the good in people

He’s Lonely and has no friends

He’s a model

He loves Ladybug.

He makes puns (as Chat Noir)

He’s flirty with Ladybug (as Chat Noir)

As you can see, most to all of these character traits are pretty much all the traits  Adrien has shown in season 1. Actually, all of these traits were shown in just the Origins itself which, being the first chronological show in the series, does a pretty good job of setting up Adrien's initial character.

(Also just a quick mid note here, I just realized why the show produced this episode last compared to the others. If this was the episode that came out first, most to all of the other episodes in comparison would just be seen as boring. With the origins being both action-packed and plot rich with its main cast, most of the other episodes would be seen as filler if they came out after this banger of a season finale.)

But going on the topic of later seasons, ask yourself:

What have you learned about Adrien's Character in season 2 and 3?

And when I say character, i mean actual stuff about him. What other stuff does he like? What does he want to do in the future? What does he do when he spends time with Nino? What does he think of other people (aside from Lila)?

Chances are, that unless the stuff you’re pulling at might be from a headcanon in whatever fanfic you are writing, most of you will answer nothing. I mean, sure some people may say that he’s likes games as made evident from Gamer, but that is probably the only moment where we see a bit more of Adrien's character, and again we are talking about season 1, so it doesn't really count

Some people may say that Gorizilla was an episode that explored Adrien's character. While I do agree that it was more Adrien focused than others, and easily one of the best episodes in the show, looking back on the episode, I realized that more or less all it does is show how Adrien is pretty much a Disney Princess more helpless than Snow White. He’s trapped in the house, unable to escape, waiting for a hero in spots to ‘save him’ from his loneliness. Also, it had some Adrienette in it, but again it was just teasing.

(Note: I just gotta say though that Wayhem’s character and growth were just the best. Being just another fanboy at first, he realized his mistake and even stood up to an Akuma to save Adrien, then apologized at the end even though he would pretty much get no reward for his action, becoming an actual character in the process rather than just a background one. The fact that Adrien became friends with Wayhem was just heartwarming for a background character. Despite Roi Singe being a blast, I’m really sorry that they restricted Wayhems character to just being another Akuma in Party Crasher, it would have been nice for Wayhem to be an actual Friend Adrien could talk to outside of school and add more development into the show.)

So back on the Topic of Adrien, we haven’t really learned much about Adrien's character or see him develop in any meaningful way. The only thing we ever see him really do outside of being part of the Squad (Alya, Nino, Adrien, Marinette) is just either pine for Ladybug in his spare time, or complaining about not being able to spend time with his dad. No seriously, look at most episodes where Adrien's at home and that's all he does!

But now for the topic of Chat Noir. I mean, Adrien is trapped as a normal boy, so it would make sense that Chat Noir would be able to develop as a character and show the world he is more than just a sidekick right?

Unfortunately, Chat Noir, just like his civilian counterpart, also suffers from a lack of any meaningful character growth. Shorts vids on youtube aside (which btw should never be used to develop the main characters, otherwise what is the point of the show), we never see him talk to Ladybug in any meaningful way (I mean he does try, but chances are Ladybug shuts him up because (a) she wants to leave and (b) blah blah secret identity)

Basically, he has three different moods.

He flirts with Ladybug, often using puns to do so. 

He’s a suicidal mofo who takes hits for Ladybug, saying its because she's the only one who can save the day (Hot take though, I just think Chat Noir is just the persona of Tumblr that wants to die)

He worships Ladybug and thinks shes amazing, complimenting her on the daily, as well as comforting her and giving her pep talks when shes low.

Other than that, he’s written as basically useless. Don’t expect him to come up with any plans and if he does, expect them to fail (Reflekdoll). Don't expect him to actually help Ladybug and for Ladybug to always say him. If Ladybug is in any way made useless or incapacitated, be sure that Chat will in no way be able to help Ladybug as he will be made to be more useless than Ladybug so that Ladybug has to take care of him (Reverser). Also Chat will flirt at the worst times to show Ladybug is better and more ‘professional’ at being a hero (Prime Queen)

Also Chat Missile

WARNING: Not suitable for anyone under 13 years old. Only use if your a superhero with increased Strength, otherwise it may hurt your back.

These are all the same traits we see in every episode, without change without fail. I mean, in Glacitator Chat promised to stop flirting with Ladybug because she likes another boy, but since characters reset after every episode he went back to flirting the next episode. So yeah, that's it. Next episode

Aside from that, we never see him do anything else, nor have anything as a hero impact him in any way. The only times I have ever seen him be impacted as a hero was 

Syren, where he was tired his partner kept hiding secrets from him (as HE SHOULD), and was about to quit, but reconsidered once Fu arrived and explained some stuff, which bascially set him back to normal, which i guess its fine, but i wish the episode had more of an impact on Chat’s character.

Frozer (where Astruc was making Adrien salt cause Luka)

The Ladybug episode, where he saw a living, thinking duplicate of Ladybug, who had just become free from Mayura and became a hero, killed by said villain, and was just about to have a heroic breakdown and attack Mayura. However, this one was cut off due to Hawkmoth, resulting in Chat going from Heroic breakdown to making puns about Hawkmoths age. Really?

However, despite all that I have said, some of you may still think I am wrong. You may think that Adrien does show more character and that I'm just pulling facts out of my ass. You may think he does show character because of that one ship tease moment that you think qualifies at plot development.

But some of you may also think, why does this even matter? Its called Miraculous Ladybug, the show is about Marinette and Ladybug. Its all about her. Who cares about the other characters? Who cares about Adrien? He doesn’t need character development, we need to focus on Marinette and her making Adrien's birthday gifts for his next 35 birthdays. We should all just stop worrying about Adrien's character. All he should be is just a kind pretty boy for Marinette to idolize and have as a prize at the finale, and for Chat Noir to be useless comic relief while Ladybug saves the day, because she is juuuust that amaziiiiing.

Well first of all 

It’s called Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Miraculous Ladybug is just a nickname used by fans and writers to simplify the name. The name implies that there is another main character, known as... Chat Noir. It's not called tales of Ladybug and Marinette, get with the program.

The show can still focus on one main character but still develop other characters as well. If anyone thinks otherwise, they either have a character bias or don't realize how to make a good show.

If anyone actually thinks this way, well then screw you. Developing a character should not be made at the expense of another character. Chat Noir should not have to be made to be comic relief just because Ladybug is the only one who can purify Akumas.

Secondly (yes I realized that I used 3 points but IDC) there’s another show that is very similar to Ladybug that also focuses on a school girl saving the world with the help of her sidekick male character.

That’s right, I’m talking about ... KIM POSSIBLE!

But to be more precise, I’m talking about its secondary hero... Ron Stoppable.

This guy right here, just in case any of you thought I was talking about the kung fu naked mole-rat.

But in all seriousness though, let's talk about him.

In the series, Ron Stoppable is the partner of the teenage heroine Kim Possible. Just like Chat Noir, he helps KP on her missions, and unlike Chat, is actually seen as a sidekick by the world, including KP.

Then why is it that I think he’s a better Character than Chat?

Well, the thing is unlike Miraculous, the show has a good job of integrating its school and hero stories together, and it helped to explore Ron’s character as well. Sure, he was a clumsy dude who got scared a lot and had an unhealthy obsession with Mexican fast food, but we still got to explore his character.

Just a few small examples:

Most episodes in KP had the fine job of adding stuff to Ron’s Character. Small stuff, but it fleshed him out over time He shows in one episode that despite being clumsy in the hero business, he can cook pretty well! In another episode, he learns he is pretty good at running and becomes a back runner for the football team at his school.

He also gets to have a few episodes where he and his buddy Rufus (the naked mole rat) get to shine despite being a secondary character. He becomes the second incarnation of the fearless ferret (an in show super hero), visits Japan where he gets to learn some monkey Kung Fu, and often times fights villains himself, though this is usually in one of the situations where he gets a one time power up or Kim Possible is not available, but it still showed that Ron could be a hero as well. Hell in the finale, he actually helped Kim Possible as a partner rather than a sidekick.

Now I get that Miraculous and KP are two radically different shows. Secret Identities aside, Kim Possible has a large variety of villains, while Miraculous only has the One big villain, so it's very difficult to have Chat be able to stand on his own two feet while the only thing they are fighting is something only Ladybug can fix. 

But in that regard, this also shows the importance of Miraculous needing more plot progressed the story. Unlike Kim Possible, who’s many villains and overall lack of an ‘ending villain’ can allow for one-off episodes involving Ron and some villains, Miraculous only has the one. Once Hawkmoth is defeated, the show technically ends (future version not counting), so It would make sense that the characters should develop over time as the show gets closer to that finale. 

So in that Regard, what could I do to make Chat Noir more fleshed out?

Honestly, you could add in some moments in the show where Chat noir interacts with Paris. Like maybe in one episode Chat rescues lost cats and takes them to the shelter, or perhaps he works at a cat shelter in his spare hero time.

Perhaps have an episode or two where Chat saves the day on his own while Ladybug is busy or oblivious to the trouble in Paris. Regarding Akuma, I have often considered Chat should have an ‘ability’ similar to Ladybugs that allows him to ‘purify’ the Akuma by disrupting the magic inside the Akuma (the ability being called Disruption), but can’t use it too often without proper training due to the dark energies in the Akuma being too harmful to Chat to use often. That way Chat can occasionally take on a few Akuma by himself.

Have a few episodes where something happens which allows the audience to learn what Adrien/Chat likes. Maybe there’s an episode where he learns to cook desserts, and finds out he’s actually pretty good at it!

I feel the need to add some ideas in because in the end I still love Chat Noir and consider him my favorite character. But I also have to acknowledge this problem because it ruins the quality of the show.

In fact, I think that Adrien's problem isn’t just limited to him, but also to every other character in the show, and even Marinette to an extent.

Going back to the show and looking at all the side characters, it's obvious that looking at them, a lot of them are very one dimensional in their character. We don't learn much about them or their personality, and even when we do, we only learn about them when it's their turn to be akumatized, or if the akumatized person is related to them in some way like in Markov. Once they usually are done, we don't get to see the characters much, unless there is a second akumatization. 

Juleka only became important when she got akumatized twice and aside from that, we don't get to see her much or learn about her. Ivan and Mylene were basically forgotten after they became akumatized. Pretty much no one is affected post akumatization with any sort of trauma or worry, so nothing about the characters actually changes as a result of events in the show.

Even those that do become heroes don’t really get any character growth, they are just considered to be worthy to be heroes because they are good people, but considering the qualifications of good in the show are determined by if you like Marinette, that means pretty much everyone in Marinette’s class could be a hero, aside from Chloe because HEY! SHE DOESN’T LIKE MARINETTE THEREFORE SHE’S VILLAIN!

(God I hate Miracle Queen)

Also, these problems pretty much apply to Marinette as well.

I mean, all the things she does in the show basically comes back to the same simple fact that ‘Marinette is kind and helpful’. That's it.

She helps Jagged getting some glasses, its because she is kind and helpful. Helping her classmates? Kind and Helpful? Helping Kitty Section with Costumes? Kind and Helpful? Helping Adrien? She wants to get into his pants.

(Also because she’s kind and helpful.)

Like, this isn’t bad, but nothing seems to change about her, she goes and helps people as Marinette, helps people as Ladybug, and despite this, is unaffected by the school or her life. What is she going to do post Lycee? How is she going to become a fashion designer? Work as an intern at a fashion company. Work at Gabriel Agreste’s company? Startup her own local business? The show refuses to acknowledge any of these things, despite her being a schoolgirl, because she has more important things to worry about than school. Such as being a Guardian for a box magically bound to her that will take away her memories if she tries to get rid of it.

(God Miracle Queen was a mistake, she didn’t even learn how to be a Guardian yet! )

To close things up, most of the characters in the show lack any meaningful character development, which i can safely say is due to the structure of single-story episodes in a show that has a defined ending (and therefore doesn't work) lack of care for writing these amazing characters, and just the writing in general.

Despite what some people may say about Astruc, it's clear that beyond all that, he’s not good at writing stories and characters beyond initial design, he’d rather go making one-dimensional characters and show off how amazing Marinette is, rather than allowing them to develop in any logical and meaningful way that shows the distinction between earlier and later seasons

Here’s to hoping these characters get some character development in season 4. Even if all we get is Plagg learning he likes milk.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. As always, thanks to the amazing @twin-books​ for talking to me and helping to refine my views on the characters and the show!

[jbuffyangel]

Strength: Arrow 8x05 Review (Prochnost)

We’re headed back to Russia for some Queen family vacation fun, except their version of “fun” is kidnappings and fight clubs.

Let’s dig in…

Oliver, Mia and William

Do you remember how we used to pray for a scene of Oliver teaching Felicity the bow and arrow? 

The scenes with Helena fueled my hate fire for years. The closest we ever came to Olicity “training” was Oliver offering Felicity a few punching pointers

and the glorious salmon-ladder-leads-to-sex scene.

I’m not complaining! All I’m saying is we could’ve had a bow-and-arrow-training-leads-to-sex scene too. I have several insert-scenario-here-leads-to-sex scene ideas this show has yet to explore.

Anyway, if we can’t have Felicity training with Oliver then second best is their daughter training with Oliver. The intro to “Prochnost” is almost three minutes long and it’s pure fan fiction from start to finish.  

Source: felicitysmoakgifs 

Oliver teaches Mia how to tennis ball and uses cooking as analogy before he remembers she’s 50% Smoak.

It is clear Mia still has a lot to learn not only from a vigilante perspective, but also in terms of her archer skills.  

When we met Oliver Queen in the pilot his skill set was perfected. He was a fully formed bad ass. 

We haven’t seen Mia train other than a montage with Nyssa Al Ghul in 7x16 and I am thoroughly enjoying there’s still a lot she can learn from her father.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

Oliver reviews all of his trick arrows with Mia, but doesn’t want them to become a crutch. 

Source: lucyyh 

What he doesn’t say is trick arrows became more of a necessity in disabling criminals after killing them was no longer an option. We’ve come a long way with Oliver Queen. If you had told me father/daughter training sessions were in our future when I watched the pilot then I would’ve laughed you out of the room because that’s a special brand of CRAZY.

Of course, a training scene without the stick thingies wouldn’t be a training scene on Arrow. 

Source: miasmoakdaily

Yes, I know there’s a technical term for the stick thingies, but if I haven’t learned it by now do you think I ever will? No is the right answer.

Oliver: Nyssa taught you well.

Mia: Mom made sure of it.

I think Arrow makes an important point during this scene. Nyssa Al Ghul is good, but she’s no Oliver Queen. There’s been many seasons where it feels like the writers down played Oliver’s skills to give the other team members something to do *cough*L*urelLance*cough*. 

However, the writers seem particularly focused on showing how Oliver’s skills are a whole other level now. Remember, he’s the guy who killed Ra’s Al Ghul – probably the greatest fighter of all time. It’s why Riccardo Diaz being a formidable threat was so laughable. When Felicity reached out to Nyssa she was asking the best for help, but there truly is no substitute for Oliver Queen.

Source: miasmoakdaily 

Mia “The Machine” Smoak-Queen (her official title btw) doesn’t need a break, but I love how Oliver worries about her nonetheless. DADDY OLIVER IS SO SOFT.

Source: amunetblack

Mia gently reins in William’s ramble and this is the brother/sister banter I am here for. Look, I know we’ve clocked a season and a half with these kids and I should be used to moments where they remind me of Oliver and Felicity, BUT I CAN’T GET USED TO IT. It still fills me with absolute glee anytime it happens.

Children are individuals with unique personalities, but one of the more fun aspects of parenting is seeing traits of other family members, or maybe even yourself, emerge in the child you’re raising. I feel the same glee when my daughter reminds me of my husband or mother. And since William and Mia are my fictional TV children why should I be any different?

There’s a Curtis reference in this scene, so naturally I doze off when that happens, but the cliff notes version is the energy wave that destroyed Earth 2 can be recreated. There’s a Russian general trying to replicate it via pulse wave generator weapon and Team Arrow needs to get the plans.

I think. Plus they need plutonium which Diggle volunteers to get.

Oliver invites the kids to Russia with him and they are equally as shocked as I am. 

Really? We’re going to Russia? I mean, I know we’re going to Russia, but Oliver’s casual invitation makes this trip sound like the equivalent of a grocery store run. The kids are so excited to be invited they think they’re going to Disney World with Dad.

This is so not going to be Disney World. TELL THEM THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE DISNEY WORLD OLIVER.

Oliver: I’m a better man. Different man. I think I can teach them the good without showing them the bad.

Oliver thinks this is going to be Disney World. 

Diggle accurately points out visiting the place which was home to the darkest point of his life may not be as simple as Oliver would like it to be. His answer is equally wonderful and sooooo WRONG. It’s WONDERFUL Oliver believes he’s a better man. It took us 8 long years to get here and his statement is no small thing. Round of applause for our boy.

Unfortunately, this is where the wonderful ends. Oliver is determined to only show his children the good. I guess it sounds ok when he says it, but upon closer examination it misses the forest through the trees. Everything that happened to Oliver Queen, good and bad, has formed the person he is. He cannot extricate the bad from this story anymore than he can the good. They are a sticky wicket forever entwined together. Take out one and you don’t get the full picture. And what his children need and deserve is the full picture.

That’s not to say Oliver’s filter is entirely wrong. There are certainly topics and information children are not ready to hear, can’t understand, or wouldn’t be appropriate to tell them. Every parent has some kind of filter when raising their children because that’s what good parenting requires.

This is appropriate when children are small. As your child grows into an adult then your relationship with them must become more adult, which requires more transparency. This is the problem between Oliver and his children. He is parenting like William and Mia are still little. And they are not.

If plans for a pulse generator sound like a flimsy excuse to go to Russia then you’d be right. The real reason we’re going to Russia isn’t because of some rando general. It’s to say goodbye to one of Arrow’s greatest supporting characters - Anatoly Knyazev

“My brother.”

I block out most of Season 6 because half of it was a walking horror show, so I don’t remember where Oliver and Anatoly left things after he joined and then betrayed Team Bad Guy. 

I guess their cool now? I don’t really want to spend all kinds of time on Oliver and Anatoly hashing out their issues, so if a hug gets the job done then I’m good. Also William speaks Russian. Queen men speaking foreign languages is hot.

A+ reaction Steve. 

Source: arrowdaily 

Anatoly was bored in the Maldives, now owns a bar and has a delicious pina colada recipe so that pretty much catches us up on him. He offers to help find Burov, but Oliver doesn’t want Anatoly’s “friends” involved because they are Bratva and he’s not discussing the bad parts of Russia with his children. I think the good parts of Russia ended at pina colada, Oliver. See how this is going to be a problem?

The best place to meet up with Burov is a local fight club. This prompts William to share where he met his baby sister and gives us Oliver’s best dad reaction to date. 

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 

Bless you William. You do God’s work my boy.

Mia: Why did you bring us on this mission if you aren’t going to let us help?

Oliver: This is the Bratva. They are terrible people and you guys are my kids.

Mia: Yes, but we’re not children.

Oliver: Well you are when I look at you.

Aww… my sweet, lovable, wonderful Oliver. 

Do we ever stop looking at our children as children? Probably not. I know I will always be my parents’ baby girl and my daughter will always be mine. It is difficult to fully accept a human being as an adult when you’ve changed their diapers. And in Oliver’s defense he changed Mia’s diaper about five minutes ago in the present timeline, regardless of the future adults standing before him. We must give him some time to… adjust.

But Mia is Mia and doesn’t listen to anyone, other than William (SOUND FAMILIAR?) and he’s firmly on her team this week, so they go to the fight club and watch Dad in action. Mia has heard the stories of her father all her life but seeing him in action is an eye-opening experience. She is difficult to impress, but her dad is AWESOME. Yeah, we think so too honey. Welcome to stanning Oliver Queen.

Source: olivergifs

Unfortunately, the Bratva aren’t cool with the deal Oliver made with Burov and kidnap him along with Mia. Her Spidey sense was tingling, so she went to check on dad. Oops.

Source: feilcityqueen 

If there is one lesson the Arrow villains consistently fail to learn it’s DO NOT MESS WITH PEOPLE OLIVER QUEEN LOVES. He gets very angry and wildly unpleasant, which leads to many broken bones and occasionally murder. You put hands on Felicity Smoak and even I’m down with Oliver ripping off your head.

Of course, Oliver wakes from unconsciousness and his immediate question is if Mia is okay. Can’t-Admit-I’m-In-Love-With-You Oliver, 

Boyfriend Oliver,

Fiance Oliver, 

Ex-boyfriend Oliver, 

Husband Oliver, 

and Dad Oliver  are all the same Olivers.

Mia doesn’t understand why everyone in Russia knows who Oliver is and quickly deduces Dad was Bratva. Our princess is a smart cookie! Oliver is ticked Mia didn’t listen to him and there is truly no greater justice in the world than God creating a child who is exactly like you. Robert and Moira are having themselves a nice little chuckle.

Source: lucyyh 

The Bratva threatens to torture Mia if Oliver doesn’t tell them what’s on the zip drive. Mia is very brave and tells Daddy not to say anything. Pfft. Not likely Little Miss Square Bear. He points a gun at Oliver’s precious girl and counts down from five. The Green Arrow breaks like a pretzel. Honestly, I’m shocked Oliver didn’t give the guy the whole store after four.

Source: olicitygifs 

Unfortunately, nobody believes Oliver is telling the full story and a very large knife is brandished in Mia’s direction. Seriously? The one-time Oliver tells the truth he’s accused of lying. How ironic is that? The goon was at least 20 feet away from Mia, but Daddy was ready to flay him alive seven different ways. 

Oh. He was only cutting the restraints. Okay, we’ll knock down the flaying to five different ways.

The Bratva force Mia to play the Ring the Bell game. I don’t know if that’s what it’s called, but it works for my purposes. Oliver is very much HELL NO CHILD, but really her only other option is death. Of course, if she doesn’t ring the bell she dies too. ISN’T RUSSIA FUN? 

Mia kicks major ass, but is unable to ring the bell in under 60 seconds. This might have something to do with her wasting time to look back at the clock and then waiting an additional 3 seconds to reach for the friggin bell, but that’s just details. Be less stupid Arrow.

The Bratva don’t shoot her because… they’re nice gang of Russian mobsters now? 

Source: arrowdaily

This made very little sense other than Arrow doesn’t want to shoot the female lead of their new television show. On second thought, good enough for me. Oliver shoots death daggers at the man who scared the friggin bejesus out of him and it’s pretty much a certainty he will be flayed eight different ways.

William has a full-on panic attack over his father and sister’s kidnapping and it’s pretty much the cutest thing ever.  Then L*urel actually provides some necessary and helpful information. Is that the second week in a row this happened? I’m scared fandom. Hold me.

L*urel: Aren’t the people in your family constantly injecting each other with tracking devices?

William: Normally I would say God I hope not, but now I guess I can see the advantages.

He’s able to track them down, but L*urel and Anatoly show up right after Oliver has already freed himself by dislocating his thumbs. I love that trick. Mia’s reaction is the perfect combination of horrified and impressed. She really wants that trick to be on the next lesson plan.

Mia is bumming hard over not ringing the bell and boozes it up with some scotch. THY NAME IS GENETICS.

Oliver has had enough of his kids almost dying and is putting their asses on a plane back home BECAUSE THIS ISN’T DISNEY WORLD. 

William jumps firmly on Team Mia and reminds their father he’d be dead without them. Oliver has been dislocating his thumbs on his own for awhile now children. I think he’d survive without your help.

It’s time to set these kiddies straight.

Source:  oliverxfelicity

Mia tries to argue the whole adults saving the city angle, but that’s not going to fly in this timeline cupcake. 

In this timeline, Oliver smooshed those perfect chubby cheeks one more time before he left to save the universe 

Source:  oliverxfelicity 

and his rebelling teenage son, who was ousted from the present storyline to make a ridiculous plot point work in the future storyline, ignored his phone calls. (I’m never getting over the whole William never moves in with Mia and Felicity thing. NEVER.)

So, all of his children can take several seats and do what they’re told or they will be grounded! That includes no computer for you, William and Oliver will be taking that bow and arrow back little miss Mia.

Side note: This was a perfect time for William to explain WHY he didn’t return any of Oliver’s calls or if he even received them, but NOPE. Why would these writers attempt to clean up this mess of a storyline with reasonable explanations? Better to just ignore the Grand Canyon sized plot holes and keep driving through. 

Stephen Amell does a wonderful job in this scene as Oliver’s voice quivers with emotion. He’s skating the edge of keeping his composure and losing it all together perfectly this season. Neither Mia nor William have offered much understanding for where Oliver is coming from. Yes, they are adults but 1) No matter how old they get they will always be Oliver’s children and 2) HE MISSED TWENTY YEARS.  

Oliver has been very clear this was not a choice he wanted to make. Mia and William are not the only ones who lost something precious. Oliver lost a lot too. Part of being an adult is letting go of the natural narcissism we all have as children. So, if Mia and William want to put on their big boy and big girl pants then they need to show their father a little understanding and compassion.

Mia: And because you made the choice to protect us I had to spend my whole life alone. I didn’t have a chance to get to know my brother to get to know you.

Mia is not ready to do that yet. She throws Oliver’s choices in his face once again. He is still the one she wants to blame. If this reaction frustrates you then that’s understandable because Mia is supposed to be frustrating right now. It’s odd for us to be identifying through Oliver, but that’s what happens when the hero becomes fully evolved. This entire episode is about showing how much Mia still has to learn not only physically, but emotionally too.  

Source: oliverxfelicity

Oliver is getting used to Mia’s blame by now and it doesn’t really change his opinion on this situation. The worst part of this argument is Oliver believing his children hate him. His worst nightmare was Mia and William not understanding his choices and resenting him for it. Oliver’s greatest fear isn’t death. It is his children believing he abandoned them.

Mia being angry at Oliver over not growing up with William is really not his fault and it’s bizarre how the writers are insistent on lumping that in with everything else she’s ticked about. I did a deep dive on Mia’s emotional and psychological viewpoint last week and I won’t repeat it here because everything still stands. But how is Felicity never going back for William Oliver’s fault?

I’m not putting the blame on Felicity here either. It’s a ludicrous plot point that makes absolutely no sense, so it’s pointless to even try to argue the logic. And yet, that’s exactly what the writers keep trying to do. But it merely shines a brighter spotlight on their illogical reasoning behind the decision.

We are already sympathizing with Oliver because we know how heartbroken he was to leave his children. We know he sacrificed everything for a bunch of ungrateful twats who caught a lucky break for existing in the universe. But forcing Mia’s character to continually blame Oliver for EVERYTHING can rapidly make this character unlikeable. Particularly since her father left to SAVE THE UNIVERSE. The writers need to tread carefully. This has the same nonsensical threads of the Season 4 break up. Or, even worse, Mia channeling the same the anger/blame/bitterness of Season 1 & 2 L*urel Lance. Nobody wants a repeat of those hot messes.

Oliver is floundering. He missed twenty years of his children’s lives. They’ve arrived from a different time as adults. Oliver was still learning how to be a parent and then the universe flipped the board. He has no idea how to do this and the one person who can help him isn’t here. If there was ever a time Oliver needed his Felicity this is it.

So, the only guiding light Oliver has right now is the promise he made his wife and mother of his children. 

Source: oliverxfelicity 

Not to get too nitpicky on the details Oliver, but as @callistawolf​ pointed out in our Watchover episode of 8x05, we never heard him make any promises to Felicity about the children. 

In their final goodbye, it was Felicity promising Oliver to do whatever was necessary to keep their children safe (re: Nyssa Al Ghul). So, let’s just create our own head canon there was some Olicity discussion about the future kids being in present day off screen and he made the promise to her then. Cool? Cool.

OR Oliver is merely trying to score points in an argument via emotional manipulation, which hey man. More power to you. Whatever it takes to keep kiddos safe, I guess. I did have to chuckle about Oliver keeping his promises to Felicity NOW that she’s off the show. Where was this guy in 6x23? Or maybe I sobbed quietly. Probably a little of both. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s an EPIC speech. Dad for the win.

Oliver decides it’s time to get boozy. Amen brother. Pass the scotch. 

Anatoly is no Felicity Smoak, but in the ever-spinning weekly wheel of characters trying to fill her role, he asks the obvious question. Is Oliver sending his children home because he believes they cannot handle Russia/vigilantism/life?

Of course, the answer has been obvious from the moment Oliver decided to only share the good. It’s not about what his children can handle. This is about what Oliver can handle.

Anatoly: That is understandable. You’re ashamed. You have truly done some terrible things.

Oliver: Thank you for the reminder.

Anatoly: But you also have done some good things. It’s important that the kids see both.

Can’t you just hear Felicity Smoak saying these lines? Only in an adorable ramble and less booze? I miss her. Just leaving this here.

I absolutely understand Oliver’s refusal to share the darkest moments of his past. It’s not like my dad has gone chapter and verse into his Vietnam experiences. But I know he was there. I know some of the stories. Maybe Oliver doesn’t need to go into detail about the time he skinned a guy, but he can be honest with his children about being in the Bratva.

Anatoly: That’s the thing about teaching. It’s not about what you want to say. It’s about what they need to hear.”

This part of the speech is all Anatoly. 

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 

He taught Oliver living was not for the weak because this was the lesson Oliver needed to hear.  Maybe he missed out on teaching William and Mia how to tie their shoes or ride a bike, but nobody understands what it means to be a hero better than Oliver Queen. The Crisis is coming and if Oliver is marching slowly but steadily to his death then he must pass on all he’s learned. There is still so much to teach Mia and William about Oliver’s life and who he is. Those lessons can only come from their father.  What William and Mia need to hear is the truth.

“You were so little. I think that’s what I’ve always wanted all these years. Is for you just to stay little, quiet and safe. But you’re not any of those things. You’re loud and fearless and it scares the crap out of me.” Derek Shepherd, Grey’s Anatomy

His children are loud and fearless and it scares the crap out of Oliver Queen. But there’s a deeper fear driving his hesitation. Oliver is afraid that if he tells Mia and William the truth about his past then they’ll only hate him more. He is constantly afraid of losing his children’s love.

But truth is the path to understanding. Anatoly is right. Oliver must give Mia and William a chance. The real truth is there’s nothing he has done or will ever do that will make his children stop loving him. Sure, Mia is angry at Oliver, but she’s only angry because she loves him. She craves her father’s approval more than anything.

Oliver changes his parenting tactic. He cannot shield his children from the very life they have chosen for themselves. He asks Mia to fight in the ring with him and William to help get them in. Oliver treats his children like they are part of the team – like partners.

Mia has been trying to show her father what she’s capable of since the moment she came to the present. Underneath all that anger and blame, is a little girl who just wants to make her daddy proud. What Mia needs to realize is she already makes Oliver proud merely by existing. However, he offers her the support and belief she’s been craving as they enter the ring together. 

Source: oliverxfelicity

The look on her face says everything about how Mia truly feels about her dad.

Source: arrowdaily

FATHER DAUGHTER FIGHT CLUB. From the moment, we met Blackstar in the ring I hoped she was Olicity’s daughter and we would somehow, someway get a scene of Oliver and Mia teaming up. But I never imagined these circumstances. It’s awesome.

After kicking butt as a team and a family, Oliver opens the door to his past and lets his children walk through. And what better place to start than the beginning?

Source: olivergifs

The truth is a tie that binds and it will be the foundation of Oliver’s relationship with his children. Something he never had with his parents until it was too late.

And did William and Mia stop loving Oliver after they heard the truth? No. They understand him better and love him all the more for what he’s survived. 

Mia: Don’t forget to send me that picture of my dad with that haircut.

Anatoly: Don’t forget to ask about Bratva tattoo. We have matching.

Oliver: Used to. Used to actually.

William: Oh I’m gonna need to hear that story immediately.

Well... son this raving loony burned my tattoo off my chest after several hours of torture. 

The warm banter of this scene isn’t to make light of what Oliver Queen suffered. It’s to show the power of telling our stories. Pain and fear lose control over us, bit by bit, the more we talk about it and share with our loved ones. We let them inside the good and bad, so we don’t have to carry it by ourselves anymore. Overtime, we begin to see our suffering for what it is - something we survived. Children, in particular, have an ability to find the light in the dark. We can see our life through their eyes and remarkably, yes even find the humor in what was once unspeakable pain. And come on - Oliver’s flashback hair is always funny.

Family is the source of Oliver’s strength. It always has been. It’s what helped him survive the unsurvivable.

He can only become his children’s strength by teaching them how he became a better man. William and Mia can only understand who their father is, and how to be heroes, by knowing the good and the bad. Hiding either tarnishes the beauty of his story. Oliver is finally strong enough to tell it and his children are strong enough to hear it. And that’s how the past, present and future will find harmony, acceptance, forgiveness and love.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Diggle and Roy

John enlists Roy’s help obtaining the plutonium.

 Source: thistributeisonfire

We’re going to run through this pretty quick because this storyline is all about getting Colton Haynes back on Team Arrow for the final episodes. 

Diggle tells Roy what happens to him in the future. The cure for Roy’s bloodlust wasn’t hiding out on Lian Yu for 20 years. It was rejoining the team and fighting for the city again.

Diggle: Maybe this time you don’t have to wait that long.

Diggle’s ENTIRE motivation is to change Roy’s future and it’s not difficult to figure out why. Obviously John cares about Roy and wants to help him. However, Roy also makes a very good test case. Diggle is also desperate to change Connor, JJ and Zoe’s future as well. If they can make their own hope in the present then maybe things can be different for his children in the future.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer

We all need love and support. None of us can truly survive on our own - particularly when we are suffering. Roy fights John at first, but eventually he comes to realize he’s right. Roy found purpose and family when he met Oliver so it makes sense to him they are the reason he gets better. So why wait? He comes home and begins the path to healing twenty years earlier. And thus, a major storyline from Season 7 flash forwards begins to change.

ROY MADE SENSE Y’ALL!!! 

L*urel L*nce

I truly could not figure out why L*urel was in Russia. I guess to help Oliver track down these plans, but she spent the better part of the episode staring at her fingernails. That’s not even an exaggeration. KC stared at her fingernails for an entire scene.

Source: thistributeisonfire 

Her interactions with Oliver are even more bizarre.

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 

I’m sorry, but does L*urel go here? Bl*ck S*ren has been on the show since Season 5. You’d think at this point she’d know Oliver Queen can easily handle one guy twice his size. I’m chalking up this stupidity to the acting version of a layup, so Stephen Amell can spike it with the epic comeback of, “I’ll give him half a chance.”

I guess L*urel is primarily in Russia to betray Oliver Queen and steal the plans or something, per Lyla’s instructions.

LL: And here I thought I was supposed to be the bad guy.

At last count Lyla never murdered innocent people, so I think she's still ahead by the numbers Bl*ck S*ren.  This is the problem with L*urel’s character this year. The comparisons her character makes this season are INSANE. Putting on a new suit and calling yourself Bl*ck C*nary doesn’t automatically make you morally superior to everyone.

At least when Season 7 L*urel was playing attorney she had a healthy perspective on herself.  I was a big fan of the snark last season and found her character to be refreshingly amusing in her biting honesty, but this year the writers lost the snarky humor and have gone straight to obnoxious hypocrisy and judgment.  Sometimes she’s just downright mean in a way none of the other characters deserve. Yes, Lyla is being shady, but this in no way erases the horrors of your past L*urel. 

L*urel: If saving it means going back to the person I used to be then what the hell is the point?

We all know this whole betray Oliver thing the Monitor is playing at with L*urel is a trick. She’s not going to betray Oliver and prove herself a worthy and useful hero.  Ok. Whatever. I know I’m supposed to get excited about her big speech, but this line kind of gnawed at me. 

L*urel is unwilling to save an ENTIRE EARTH because she’d have to do something shady. She’s not willing to do any dirty work if it sullies her good name. So, Earth 2 only matters as long as L*urel gets to be a hero on it? I guess I should be happy L*urel is holding onto her moral center, but if there’s anything Oliver Queen’s story has taught us sometimes heroism requires doing unpleasant things for the greater good.

Take Lyla for example – a person L*urel feels quite comfortable judging. Lyla has been lying to her husband, something she does not want to do, for the greater good. I think we know enough about Lyla’s character by now that even though her actions are hurtful we can trust her reasons. 

LL’s primary function this week it seems is to rat Lyla out to Diggle and Oliver.

Source: stevesrogered

I guess we’re supposed to rejoice there’s no price L*urel is willing to pay for her morality, but this is still the same person who has yet to take any responsibility for the people she’s murdered. The line just sounded so arrogant and self serving to me. I don’t know. Maybe it was just KC’s delivery.

It’s been difficult for me to imagine what role either L*urel or Dinah will play in the spin off and seeing as how the writers are struggling to find a purpose for their characters in the final season of Arrow I am not encouraged. That said, L*urel’s scene with Mia was one of the few bright spots for her character in this week’s episode.  Mia believes she’s not cut out to be a hero because she failed to ring the bell like her father and Zoe’s death still weighs heavily on her conscious.

Mia: Every time I try and live up to my dad or to prove I can do what it is you all do. I fail.

L*urel: If you’re trying to live up to us, don’t. We are just as flawed as anyone. Especially me. All you can do is live up to yourself.

Damn L*urel. That was really good advice and a truthful reflection of the person you are. CAN WE HAVE THIS ATTITUDE CONSISTENTLY WEEK TO WEEK PLEASE WRITERS? This is the first time I can see a version of L*urel working in the spin off, but that’s always the problem with the writing of her character. We never know which version we’re going to get.

Season 8 is slipping back into very bad Season 1 habits. There’s a lack of cohesiveness with L*urel and they really need to get this sorted out before the new show hits the air. Otherwise, we’re going to have the same problem we’ve always had with her character. No matter how many versions of L*urel’s character these writers create they never figure out who she truly is because they don’t want to devote the necessary screen time. This leaves us with a half baked canary every single time.

If L*urel is going to play Rupert Giles to Mia’s Buffy in the spin off then this scene is a good indication of how it could work, but that’s only if this path stays on track which seldom happens with this character. The key to LL is a very specific supporting role. She worked great in Season 7 because her focus was getting Oliver Queen out of jail. Then,it was about fleshing out her redemption and shipping her back to E2 to make amends.

L*urel lacks a concrete To Do list this year. They toss her into scenes and she takes up space looking at her fingernails. Or she arrives a few minutes after Oliver frees himself to scream down a door he could have easily opened. Or she says something hypocritical and nasty. REALLY? This is the best these writers can come up with? Sadly, history points to yes.

Keep her scenes short. Keep her scenes specific. Keep her scenes supporting. That’s the only way this character works. And believe me I wish it was different, but there doesn’t seem to be any version of L*urel L*nce these writers can keep a handle on.

You know what I appreciate about this scene between Anatoly and William though? Anatoly addresses his less than honorable past and apologizes. I can’t fully remember what Anatoly did to William - I think it might have been related to kidnapping or a bomb or a nuke or all three. See? I told you I don’t remember S6. My point is - can we expect an apology from L*urel for being an accessory to William’s mother’s murder? I won’t hold my breath. It would be extremely helpful if they addressed LL’s past in an honest way and actually had her show remorse to one of her victims, but again that requires more screen time and effort than this show is ever will to give her character.

SO WHY DO THEY KEEP HER AROUND?

Stray Thoughts

Connor isn’t in this week’s episode because he’s checking in on Sandra. Soooo… Connor can visit his mother but Mia and William can’t visit theirs? I know this is yet another EBR plot hole, but find a better reason for Connor to be MIA writers. It just makes the Smoak-Queen family look uncaring, which we know they are not. And if Connor can get an off camera mother moment mention then why can’t Mia and William? THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT ANNOY ME.

“Has anyone fought six men before?” Mia and Oliver’s side eye is hilarious, but didn’t Mia fight six goons by herself? And we’ve watched Oliver take down twenty without breaking a sweat. Raise the number in the ring a little if you want me to take their hesitation seriously.

Diggle is absolutely horrified to find out Lyla is working against the team with The Monitor. “I didn’t want to believe it was true.” Boy, really? Who are you kidding? This is Lyla Michaels, super spy. She’s been lying and doing shady things from minute one. She’s the Oliver to your Felicity. Get out of here with that nonsense. This is totally something she would do and you know it. Lol

William doesn’t like the field, but the allure of beautiful couture convinces him otherwise. At least he didn’t have to go on a skeevy date with Ray Palmer to wear it. Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

William’s “Wrap it up” sign while Mia was fighting was such a funny and wonderful way of showing their team within a team.

“I can be the fun uncle.” Raise your hand if you want Anatoly as a fun uncle. 

He was a complicated, but ultimately wonderful character who made Arrow a better show. 

Goodbye Anatoly. I will miss you. source:  oliverxfelicity

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 8x05 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

[etherealellaelf]

Disney Remakes: they’re not all bad.

I submit that some of the disney live action remakes are, regrettably, a bit off. But not all of them. A lot of them are really good. Here’s why.

-Lion King did really put me off with the lack of expressions. I’m not sure if I have much to say about it, lol I’ll have to see it and let you know. Honestly though I don’t think I can because I love the original Lion King so flipping much, it’s a masterful movie and part of its mastery is the beautiful hand drawn animation and its expressive characters. I can’t think I can watch a bunch of real lions just talking. Who knows? I’ll keep you posted.

-Alice in Wonderland, one of the first of them, had some really good feminist moments. I love the Hatter and Alice’s love for each other, I guess he’s like the only human in Wonderland so it makes sense. But I get some weird ideas because the denizens of Wonderland are supposed to mirror the characters in Alice’s real life, and since the only redhead in Alice’s life is Hamish, that weirdo who asks her to marry him and he’s a total jerk.... and the Hatter is a redhead too.... idk it’s weird. Also it’s weird if he represents her dad because number one he’s dead and number two it’s incest, but the Hatter does say a few things that her dad said at the beginning....hmmm... fishy. However I feel like I can rest assured because this might just be the case of “Johnny Depp came to shoot today in a homemade cosplay and nobody can stop him because he’s just a mad genius”, in which case why do they keep letting him do that??? I don’t mind the hatter’s design, but can you imagine Just Plain Old Johnny Depp In All His Sexy Glory as a mad hatter? It would have been fine. They had to give him a gap between his teeth, CGI enlarged eyes, crazy red hair, white and pink makeup... oh well, whatever, it’s fine. I like how Underland looks a bit more like Narnia than like a Tim Burton land; I honestly don’t know if they gave him complete creative control when it came to the CGI set design. It might’ve been cool to see that.

-Cinderella was wonderful, I thought. I really love how Cinderella and the Prince interacted a lot more, falling in love over a long period of time. In fact, I feel like it was a spiritual remake of Ella Enchanted(which, in my opinion, Disney really botched up because the book was just so amazing), so they did really good in my book. My brother, however, hates that at the end she just twirls in her tower and doesn’t do anything to save herself, when in the original she tried to escape. He thinks it’s really unfeminist and he doesn’t want his daughter to act like that. I agree on that mark, but I’ll let everyone watch it. Also they threw a little bit of the Beauty and the Beast original fairy tale in there when her dad, a merchant, asks what she wants and Cinderella asks for the branch that brushes his arm or whatever; similar to a single rose, when her sisters ask for riches. I also liked the handling of Lady Tremaine; it really humanized her and I felt for her. The stepsisters were silly as per the usual. The King went from a bumbling psychopath(the cartoon) to a very melancholy, concerned father, and I cried at his death scene. Bravo, Kenneth Branagh, bravo.

-I really like all of Beauty and the Beast, although I do think that they made Lumiere & friends a little bit too important in this movie. I needed more moments between Belle and the Beast that were in the animation! Evermore was breathtaking though, let’s be honest. Although let’s be honest, I REALLY REALLY wanted to see a shirtless Dan Stevens emerge from a wall of rose petals because that sounds absolutely magical and super HOT. I’m so mad they had to redo it. Also I like the subtle crush Lefou has on Gaston; I’ve always wondered if he liked him. I do wish that Josh Gad had toned it down with his fabulousness though, because although I love fabulousness I wonder if it was slightly offensive. I really liked Gaston, and I feel like he could have gone a little bigger and with more bravado, could have been from slightly comedic to VERY comedic, but I think that’s alright. He did a great job. And as for everyone complaining about the villagers being really nasty and openly evil towards Belle, I actually liked it. It’s clear in the cartoon that the villagers whisper behind Belle’s back, but I feel like she just has a small smidgeon of an idea that they think she’s weird. In this, they freaking ATTACK her. They’re like ‘We can’t have smart bicc’s in our town! Get out me town!” It is a bit on the nose sometimes but I think it works because it helps Beast and her relate to feeling like outsiders. I do think the Beast knowing how to read kind of gave them something in common as well, but I disliked how he scoffed at her favorite book, Romeo and Juliet. I wish he had been more understanding like, “There’s this poor girl whose library is like, seven books, and amongst those seven books, one of which is probably the freaking bible because they belong to a pastor, her favorite is basically a romance. She’s not well read; I’m going to show her the classics.” Which back then was probably, like, idk, Voltaire? Too soon? Eh I’m not sure when it takes place. I do wish he’d gifted the library to her though, that was a nice gift for her in the previous movie. (Here’s the thing; the Beauty and the Beast cartoon is basically a perfect movie and I don’t think anything can live up to it, but this one was good too. It wasn’t better, but nothing can be better than that movie. Except maybe the Princess Bride or the first Pirates of the Caribbean or the stage production of Phantom of the Opera. No, not even then.)

-Dumbo? I haven’t seen it yet, I’ll have to and update this.

-Okay so Aladdin is really good. I entered the film with the meme cringe in my mind, totally expecting it to look weird and bad, but honestly Will Smith was such a great actor! And I actually freaking cried so many times because number one: the genie was aladdin’s father figure that he never had! He taught him how to date! Number two: the genie got his true love as well, and you see her and their kids at the beginning of the movie! SPOILERS btw. Sorry. Also Number three: they picked Will Smith to play the genie because he’s HITCH of course! The matchmaker extraordinaire! (I just love Will Smith. I wish he would run for president; it wouldn’t be the first time we had an actor in the white house. Just kidding, I don’t want to burden him that way, and there are really smart candidates this year to choose from. I just am urging everyone to go vote, and no more harambe crap!!!!) Also Jasmine had a nice new empowering role in this movie. I just sort of wish Jafar had been more menacing and villainous. But his actor was fine, just a bit soft-spoken.

-Lady and the Tramp- I started it on Disney+, I need to finish it. I’m halfway there. 

-Christopher Robin is a gift; it’s both simple and complex. It has a lot of nice metaphors and I could feel my heart hurting for much of the film. Seriously good aesthetics as well, Director of Photography!!! 

-The Jungle Book is a really good remake! So much excitement, and I could totally see Bill Murray in Baloo. (I think it’s equal in terms of story to the movie Mowgli, although Mowgli had that nasty little surprise at the end, I’m still hurt about it.)(also in comparing, the CGI is similarly good, but Mowgli wanted to do a really ambitious face capture thingy and I’m not sure if it worked,(uncanny) but it was interesting! It was also a lot darker. I think they’re both good.) Ben Kingsley was superb, of course, as Bagheera, as always, and he has a really fatherly voice(I thought Christian Bale did well as Bagheera as well, but he was more of an action figure in that movie, less of a father/teacher figure). And John Favreau, as always, went the extra mile to bring the action, the writing, and the moral through, and made it super good for children at the same time!(the same cannot be said about Mowgli, as there were some violence/action things that go beyond ‘peril’, hence it’s PG-13 rating) My one discrepancy was the voice of Kaa. Scarlet did fine, but I always thought of Kaa as a boy. I think they could have found a slithery voice actor for Kaa. Benedict Cumberbatch did really well as Smaug, hissing and growling, and he could have done well. I also think that Tom Hiddleston could have done a great job; he has a really gentle and pliant voice that can turn menacing in the matter of seconds, and if it’s about the snake being sexy as Scarlet Johanssen(haha what??), I think that Hiddles can bring it.(I’m not quite sure what I’m talking about at this point so I’ll shut up now.) I do feel like Mowgli started shooting way before The Jungle Book was even a glimmer in John Favreau’s eye, and that kind of makes me want to root for Mowgli because I’m sure that different movie houses have people working in both, probably swapping stories with their friends, and I’m sure it wasn’t an exact copy, but I can totally see Bill Murray in Baloo’s face and that can’t be by accident. Just saying. Not calling Disney out or anything, but I’m sure they can take it, they have like a trillion dollars. Anyway. Still a good one.

-Haven’t seen Pete’s Dragon.

-101 Dalmations, I know this shouldn’t count but it just does. I loved watching this as a child. I’m so happy they didn’t make the dogs talk? Haha it usually works when they do, but it gave a lot of room for Doctor House and Mister Weasley to interact. Also Glenn Close is great. I think this movie’s a good example of a career woman who decides to get domesticated and her sista is like, “Girl, you can’t do this! We have to be strong women! You have to come back to work!” But Anita is all, “Girl, respect my decisions! Feminism isn’t forcing your girl to be exactly like you, it’s giving me the respect to make my own decisions. If I want to have a baby with my husband, that’s fine. I want to be a mom!” I feel like the “new” 101 dalmatians remake they’re gonna make, will have a different opinion. Similar to wicked and maleficent, it’s going to humanize Cruella, but I just hope that they’re nice to Anita. She’s such a smol soft bird and if she wants 2 billion dogs and one baby, that’s fine... ugh, that’s gotta be like so much dog poop in her house... anita what are you doing...

-Maleficent. Obviously I love it. I love how those arguing fairies are super incompetent at raising Aurora because they’re too busy fighting, so Maleficent has to swoop in and rescue the princess. I like how Maleficent is a fae and it’s so sad how there’s like this rape metaphor when Stefan cuts off her wings, and that would be reason to curse his baby, especially because they were in love and he betrayed her! Stole her wings! Married someone else! T^T Maleficent, you poor misunderstood fairy! I love her motherly relationship with Aurora. I love that she’s the one who kisses her forehead to wake her up because Philip met her just that day. However, I don’t like how they just shove Philip out of the way, because Sleeping Beauty is honestly so romantic, and I love how they dance together and everything. I also like the raven boi. I ship him and Maleficent so hard and I hope he doesn’t die in the sequel, I haven’t seen it yet.

-So technically the Parent Trap is a remake. It’s awesome. It gave my childhood so much romance and prank ideas. It’s much better than its predecessor, especially because the mom in the old one is, like, urged to look prettier by her butler(wtf?!?! YOu’re FIrEd?!?). I’m so glad we’ve come so far.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Are the remakes better? In some cases they are. I think Cinderella is better than its predecessor. I think the original Alice is very good, as a nonsense movie, and I feel like the remake is equally good, but they’re different movies with different motives and plots. The original Beauty and the Beast is my favorite and it’s perfect, so the new one isn’t better, but it is really great and I love it, too. Anyway, that’s all.