#btw why no one else made gifs with this scene literally the only moment I didn't cringe at this movie

[synintheraven]

Arnas Fedaravičius as Kolyma - Siberian Education 

[papakhan]

Episode 1

Fuck it, I'm gonna do it anyway. Here's all the notes I took when watching episode 1 of the godawful fallout tv show. enjoy. I'm gonna run through this with notes I made while I watched the show so formatting might be kinda weird, I haven't done anything like this before so bare with me. I will try to explain things as if you the reader have not seen the show. This is gonna be very long and heavy on the hate and the spoilers.

Content warnings:

rape

incest

gif of the fight scene violence

self harming

Things I liked:

Vault Dwellers reusing the same wedding dress and everyone who'd worn it writing their names on the inside. that's sweet

"don't lose your head" vault poster during a firefight

Johnny Cash

I like Brotherhood Clerics but they totally fucked up the ranking system

The vault dwellers just painting over the blood on the walls

Horses are canon now

Goofy wasteland urban legends like "a feral ghoul does not abide a chicken"

That's literally it. Now it's time for everything else. I'll break it down into character bits since that's what the show does

Cooper

So Cooper Cowboy ghoul man is divorced and he's at this birthday party in I'm guessing Hollywood overlooking LA. It's a beautiful sunny day :) Bare in mind that in this scene the nukes drop so Bethesda has already fucked their own lore of the nukes dropping at 9:40am in Boston would mean that it should be 6:40am in California. Sunrise in California in October is 7am, btw. So already we're fucked. Real "design documents are a waste of time" behaviour on display here.

Anyway, nuke goes off. Now let me ask you something. What's one of the most infamous things about nuclear bombs? The flash, right? A nuclear explosion is bright enough to blind a person. Fallout 4 understood this, at least a little, where the flash of light from the bomb would fill your screen even if you weren't facing it, which is how nukes work. Closing your eyes in the face of a nuke would be pointless because the light would pass through your eyelids. There's even reports of people who held up their hands to shield the light and could see THEIR BONES THROUGH THEIR HANDS. That's how bright they are. They are horrifying weapons of mass destruction.

The nuke that hits LA is not a nuke, the flash of light on Janey's face (cooper's kid and the ONE SINGLE PERSON who notices a NUCLEAR FUCKING BOMB) is more akin to a camera flash. again. she is the only fucking person who notices a nuclear bomb go off, everyone else at the party is distracted by a TV of all things.

In the time between the ""flash"" of the bomb here's everything that happens before Cooper and co feel the shockwave

Janey notices the pathetic flash and looks up.

She holds up her thumb in the "vault boy" way

Cooper comes out of the house and walks over to Janey

He crouches down beside her and says some bullshit along the lines of "i got some cake for my favourite cowgirl"

Janey says "was it your thumb or my thumb?"

Cooper looks towards the source of the nuke and slowly stands up, watching it for a moment

He says "that's just a fire janey" as the smoke unfurls into a very obvious mushroom cloud

He realises that it was not. just a fire

then they get hit by a shockwave

This takes almost a full minute and none of the segments is supposed to be slow motion. Listen I know that light moves faster than sound and heat but come on. It's way too slow and also. dead fucking silent. also the shockwave comes before the mushroom cloud but who cares.

Anyway cooper gets on a horse with the girl and rides off down the road in the direction of LA. good job dude.

I've already read up about yknow who it was who wanted the nukes fired and I know that it was Barb who wanted the nukes dropped on America for?? vault tec profit??? so uh. why did she let Janey go to a birthday party with Cooper?

Lucy

x3 Incest jokes may not seem like a lot but it was 3 too many for me. I hate the "good karma" noise that played when Lucy got arranged married. I said I liked the vault poster of "don't lose your head" but I hate the way Lucy keeps getting her inspiration from Vault Boy I'm sorry but its annoying and dumb to me. Interconnected vaults in LA is also. dumb. you're telling me The Master didn't notice these fucking things? you're kidding. Look at it, it's not even hidden in a cave or anything its just out in the open.

Way to retroactively make the Master look like a moron, though I know they do this to Mr House later on. ugh.

Her intro makes it sound like she's supposed to have Tagged Skills in repair, speech and science but she displays none of this in the later episodes I have seen, in fact her speech seems like utter dogshit so what was the point in introducing her in a "game protag" way if none of that was gonna get used later?

Anyway, lets get onto the raiders. If you know me, you know I love raiders. They're a cool and interesting critique of individualism and "might makes right" and also aesthetically just kind of fuck.

Now, knowing what I know about Moldaver and her being the current ?leader of the NCR remnants, that implies that the people she has led into Vault 33 are former NCR citizens or soldiers, right? right?

So the ""fall of shady sands"" according to the show is 2277 and yeah sure okay that's during new vegas' time and sure okay right todd howard promised that this didn't de-canonise fallout new vegas. however. it's 2296 meaning it's been 19 years since Shady Sand's.......decline. and 15 years since New Vegas where we last saw the NCR. And i know that the NCR aren't exactly the good guys To suggest that in less than 20 years the citizens of shady sands have been reduced to Bethesda-style raiders who:

Are unable to use utensils such as knives and forks

Can't grow crops

Don't know how to use cups

Will rape a woman, wipe his dick on a curtain, and then try to murder said woman

Shoveling fistfuls of cake into their mouth during a firefight

Threatening a pregnant woman

In another episode one of these guys is interrogated/interviews and shows their asshole to the guy talking to him.

is fucking ludicrous

Anyway Monty looks like Jerma

RIP

Anywayyyy how come only Lucy's pipboy picked up on the radiation from these outsiders huh? everyone else was wearing a pipboy during the wedding, they sat next to each other, those geigar counters would have been going off. what? they had them on silent out of respect of a good Christian wedding? if you try to convince me that's the explanation I will eat your liver. Bethesda raider style

anyway no.2 girlypop (lucy) straight up pulls a knife out of her wound which is medical petpeeve no.9394328 for me but then its immediately resolved by a stimpak. I hate how stimpaks in the show are used exactly how they are in the game. I was under the impression that it was a video game mechanic and not how it actually worked in the narrative. What's next? Jet gives me extra action points or some shit? I'm so tired

the fight scene sucked. the choreography of the raider guy shooting a vault dweller through the head of another vault dweller just kind of looked like shit and seemed impractical, clearly just there to be like WOAH THATS COOL it wasn't cool it looked clunky and weird. do not fucking tell me that fallout is supposed to be clunky and weird I will kill you.

the doors cutting the raider in half was also dumb since its been routinely established that the dull and ominous "thunk. thunk. thunk" heard deep in the bowels of a vault is a door that's trying to close but there's something stuck under it, if they could just slice a whole man in half then they could cut through a table or skeleton in game. Also irl I'm a health and safety officer and that moment made my toes curl. lol

It jumps from Lucy to Max and then back to lucy but I'm just gonna continue talking about her shit here. quick fire round because I've been yapping too long already

Her little brother looks way too old to be acting like a teenager this much.

Chet (Lucy's cousin and ex boyfriend. gross) wants to come with her thank god he doesn't

why doesn't she give a shit about the sky

Why doesn't she give a shit about the ocean

Maximus

"stupid blimp is back" is at the very top of my notes, lol. anyway I still don't understand where they got this thing from

Latrines made out of stacks of tires is so dumb. like I cant even explain how dumb that is. surely rubber has better use for that. surely. just shit in a hole in the ground like everyone else please for the love of god

I know the twist with Daine and let it be said, having your first on screen transgender character cut themselves with razors to get out of the military is not, in fact, Bethesda trying to be on the side of transgender people, it is in fact them making fun of us, okay? do we understand?

hiding baby max is a fridge made me so angry I blacked out. do not remind me of "kid in a fridge" ever again.

Anyway Bethesda finds it so difficult to keep the BOS consistent to the point that they are all so different from each other with little to no explanation as to why they've changed so much. In fact it feels like to me that at some point between fallout 3 and fallout 4 Bethesda has totally mixed up the BOS and the Enclave, since now the BOS hate ghouls for no reason and want to colonise the wasteland. This is just that again. Once more, no design doc behaviour.

Quotes from the BOS i think suck ass

"Duty of the Brotherhood of Steel is to secure the wasteland"

"Flesh is weak by steel endures"

"Violence is a tool we use it to bring order to the wasteland"

When Max is getting interrogated for being a suspect for cutting Daine with razors, mentions "send me to Eden or wherever" and it confused me so much. The only Eden I knew about was John Henry Eden from Fallout 3. Turns out I think what they're trying to reference is New Eden a BOS base from. Fallout Brotherhood of Steel 2?? of all fucking things?? really strange I can't imagine what else he could possibly be referencing though. This is literally just thrown in for the loreheads and I hate it.

Anyway after being a suspect for cutting Daine with razors and also failing his classes Max gets a promotion! this is not explained. They also brand him which people a lot smarter than me have discussed at length about why branding a black guy on screen in your fallout show is a bad idea. Read it here.

I don't really understand why the BOS all do shit in latin now, I know some of them had latin names in fo1 but IIRC Frank Horrigan of the Enclave was the only person in the og games who spoke latin. it feels like Bethesda wanting to capture the interest of people who liked the Legion. maybe that's a reach but given how much right wing propaganda is in the coming episodes I wouldn't put it past them.

Cooper again

I am not calling this idiot The Ghoul that's fucking dumb. what like he's the only one? ever? dumb. whats up with him being buried huh? did Todd not want to tell Nolan that ghouls arent actually zombies and arent actually undead? that just wanted him to jump out a coffin because oooh spooky zombie. honestly just kill me.

My notes: "Don't tell me the ghoul is in that grave I can't take it"

this guy gets dug up once a year and gets pieces of him cut off and put back?? why? for what purpose? how is he down there without eating or drinking? is it a kid in a fridge moment where ghouls don't need to eat or drink, well he drinks a whole lot of water in episode 3 so that's afucking lie. get real. the glowing IV? what is that??

the yodelling is really gonna piss me off, isn't it.

Not him ending the episode on the same quote he said to his daughter. whatever.

Rating: 3/10

[janeacular]

Why Mother Gothel Should've Been Dark Blonde - an essay, a rant, an obsessive think piece (Part 3)

Part 3 - Deprogramming your biases, de-centering traditional beauty, symbolism and the message behind Rapunzel's happy ending. -------------------------- Keeping in mind the possibility of gothel using her dark blonde hair to reinforce her related-ness to rapunzel, while also putting emphasis on the brightness of it being beautiful and worthy of preservation just as much as it's magic. Both youth and blonde-ness rubbing off on gothel when she uses the healing incantation. Suddenly, her hair becomes a symbol of her connection to mother gothel and her time in the tower. And it makes it that much more obvious that cutting it is the only way to free her. Once she's freed, and her hair turns brown, and it's short, I could see how she may still have the remnants of conditioning in the back of her mind. She may have even felt ugly secretly. But then imagine how it all changes as she sees queen arianna come into view. and she's brunette.

Suddenly every insecurity over her own dark hair, every snide comment from gothel about brunette being unfavorable and ugly. It becomes not just about rapunzel, but about her beautiful mother. her father. Her boyfriend. Beauty stops becoming something to strive for and protect, and starts becoming the symbols of her loved ones.

Then the lock of brown hair in the back of her head retroactively becomes a piece of her true loving parents that stayed with her through everything. not something to hide and be ashamed of.

And now gothel can't villainize what rapunzel looks like naturally. or make her feel embarrassed for it. Traditional gothel-ideas of beauty don't matter anymore. Brunette is beautiful because her real parents are brunette. Short is beautiful because her boyfriend used his dying breath to cut it so that she can be free if nothing else.

Although myself and a lot of others already see this in the original movie, no blonde gothel required, I still think it would've made the point more obvious (Among other reasons the blonde could've been better). And I think that it's important that it is as obvious as humanly possible.

The long blonde hair-worship is riddled throughout society so heavily, that even fans of tangled feel brave enough to prioritize her hair over what is best for her. Reflect for just a moment, if you reacted to the hair cut scene the same way gothel did, you may have some unpacking to do.

And maybe instead of that message flying over some people's heads, blonde gothel would've been an extra nudge in that direction. With the bonus of not being antsemetic. Literally what more could you ask for!

Thank you for reading what I've carved into the walls of my enclosure btw, I know this was a lot and it got a lil less formal by the end. I got passionate ! I love this movie more than anything and I couldn't stop thinking about how perfect blonde gothel would've been

[munmunx5]

Thoughts on Sex Ed S3

It’s been over a week since Season 3 of Sex Education and here are some of my thoughts since it’s not considered as “spoilery” now.

I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I did on the show than when I was watching Episode 3x08. They hit the feels in all the right directions. I am not the biggest fan of Adam but bravo on the writers for making him so vulnerable this season that I couldn’t help but emphasize with him.

I’m all for seeing the Adam/Rahim dynamic developing more next season. Adam’s surprising Rahim time and time again this season, proving him wrong in his preconceived prejudices towards him. So much potential there. I also knew Adam/Eric weren’t going to work (sorry!). They were/are on different wavelengths. Let’s not forget that Adam bullied Eric for years... it’s just not a healthy set-up for a end-game relationship. I’ll talk more about that later.

The theme of this season? ACCEPTANCE.

- Hope’s lack of acceptance into her situation and narrow-mindedness worldview made her into an unhappy and ruthless Headmaster

- Moordale Secondary finally embracing and accepting their sexuality

- Eric finally completely accepting who he is and what he wants.

- Maureen and Aimee accepting that it is okay to be alone and that is what they need right now.

S3 was also about seeing these teenagers grow up and learn to accept the harsh realities of life.

I think people forget that these characters are only 17 years old (Maeve literally said it multiple times this season, the writers’ reminder to the viewers perhaps?!). I get so peeved when I see people saying anti-Otis, anti-Maeve sentiments. Teenagers make mistakes, they do stupid things, they regret doing these said stupid things, they break up with each other, they mend, and they fall IN LOVE (constantly). If you’ve been a teenager, you know... the angst is real. What makes this show so fun to watch is that we get to follow the lives of very flawed teenagers portrayed in a realistic and emotional way, without being overtly bashing, stereotypical or corny (like most teen dramas).

A big majority of the fandom are talking about Ruby/Otis being so amazing and end-game. That’s bullocks. It was clearly set up to be a one-time thing. It was a growing up moment for the both of them. Otis is finally embracing his own sexuality. Ruby is now finally learning how to love someone else besides her parents and herself. She was a complete arsehole and bully to everyone in Season 1 (even to her own friends). You can’t give her a free pass for all her misgivings just because she looks good with Otis or because she takes care of her sick father (btw, wouldn’t we all?). She was ashamed of her home life. She was ashamed of Otis. She was trying to control everything about Otis when they were together, to the point where he couldn’t chew his food in front of her. TOXIC relationship at it’s best. It’s real sad to me that people are obsessed with them. It just doesn’t make sense. Also, I didn’t see the chemistry. It was just teenage lust, and that was how Asa played it. There was no love on Otis’ part. Why ship a one-sided relationship?

Now, on to the foundation of the show: Otis and Maeve.

Everything falls back on them. Two words. SEX CLINIC.

They are the main reason Moordale turned into the “sex school” and the basis of the show (Eric clearly acknowledged this.) They have literally brought out the best in each other. Meave made Otis realize that he has a knack for talking to people and helping them (btw, his scene with Hope was beautiful, and I cried when I saw Jean listening on). Maeve brought him out of his shy “wallflower” bubble and into a person that people are drawn towards for advice. (Otis and Maeve both speaking up to everyone during the new SRE lectures and respectively getting kicked out was brilliant to see). Otis constantly encouraged Maeve to be the best that she could be academically and helped her to acknowledge her own brilliance (trophy from S1, anyone?). Yes, they have been selfish and have let jealously get the best of them (house party speech in S2, Maeve telling Ola that Otis is a virgin in S1...) . But that’s only human, isn’t it? Also, like most things in real life, they experienced a-many missed opportunities and bad timing with each other.

And their last scene with each other (fitting that it’s the final scene of S3):

“We have to see where we’re at when I get back.”

“So this is goodbye?”

“No, no... it’s see you soon.”

It’s left open-ended and there is no finality for the viewers. But we all know that they are meant to be. It is not yet the right timing yet for them to be together, but Maeve is emotionally strong enough to accept that, and now so is Otis.

Nothing screams endgame on the show than Otis and Maeve. The show revolves around them. I would’ve liked to see more scenes between Asa and Emma together because they have incredible chemistry but I think the writers wanted to focus on their other relationships more (and also a lot more time were spent with side characters this season). The writers also never forgot about them. We always saw the longing glances, the almost text messages/phone calls, and the conversations they have with other people about each other. Their romantic scenes were thoughtfully crafted. They made Eric (his speechlessness when Otis told him they kissed was PRICELESS) and Aimee their biggest shippers ever, which makes complete sense since they are the two people that know Otis and Maeve the best. 

Judging by Emma’s latest interview about wanting to have a scene with Gillian next season (if it happens), we know there’s a chance she’s coming back on for Season 4.

One final comment, I absolutely LOVE Miss Sands. 

[captnjacksparrow]

if you had to rank your fav naruto characters how would it go? love your blog btw!!

Hmmm... Complicated ask, anon.😂

[My personal life would be splashed here and there. Please bear with me]

Before 5 months, if you asked me about Naruto, my response would be ‘What the fuck is that?’. I absolutely had no idea such a treasure existed. For me, it started out like a blockbuster movie for the sheer variety of fights and the resulting emotions it brought within me. 

However, there was a point I stopped and thought, ‘Wait a fucking second. This resembles my family dynamics. This person is speaking the exact same lines I spoke to my parents few years ago. This person’s situation resembles mine. Did this creator a time traveler?’. Naruto is the only piece of media that gave me such feel. Am not even exaggerating, believe me. 

I really liked so many characters very much but am going to try my best to list just 10. 

The only characters I hate in this series are Danzo, Sakura and Hinata in no particular order. Meaning, I absolutely cannot see any positives in them. They are crassy, cringey and completely detestable.

FAVOURITE NARUTO CHARACTERS

10. Killer Bee

HaHaHa :-) Just seeing this character makes me smile and light-hearted.

It’s a pity that he is the only character who don’t belong to Konoha in my Top 10 rankings who was developed well apart from Gaara.

I loved him from Frame 1 onwards and I sincerely wished Team Taka should be packed up with their ass beaten up mercilessly. And that’s what happened.

Despite being a Jinchurikki, he never bothered to mind his surroundings and filled his heart with love from his over protective Brother alone was nice to watch.

He makes a great Tag Partner with Naruto next to Sasuke. No doubt.

The way Killer Bee treated Team Taka like some annoying flies and his cool and don’t care attitude was top notch. It’s not just with Sasuke, Bee treated Naruto with the same IDGAF attitude at first.

Best Moments:

Lariat punch to Sasuke (TBH, Sasuke deserved it. LOL)

Blasted off every member of Team Taka like a doll

His entire conversation and fight sequence with Kisame (Their banters and exchanges are way too hilarious)

His dynamics with his Elder Brother (God!!!! Whenever Raikage gives him an Iron Claw.... What a hilarious duo!!!!)

9. Hatake Kakashi

Kakashi was my most favourite character when I started the series for simply being ultra-cool with the way he conducted the Bell-Test and taught a valuable lesson for those bratty kids in Team 7 called ‘Team Work’. 

Best Moments:

Kakashi vs Obito Hand-to-Hand Combat (the best in the series)

Kakashi in the Gaara retrieval arc (His fight with Itachi & Deidara gave a good start to the shippuden series. His Mangekyou reveal was surprising).

Kakashi & Guy teaming up with Naruto to reveal Obito in a twisty and tragic way. (Kakashi couldn’t handle the truth at all and neither did I)

Kakashi vs Zabuza (That’s when I realized that the series was getting real serious)

8. Jiraiya

Jiraiya was my next favourite to Kakashi during my Part 1 days. His open perversion and his entire dynamics with Naruto was one of the best things during the Chunin Exams arc. Taught Naruto about Chakra Control and about the way of a shinobi by just enduring. Naruto follows this even today.

Best Moments: 

Kuchiyose No Jutsu training (Man, I never expected him to push Naruto off the cliff)

Rasengan Training (One of the best arcs in part 1 and it was soo satisfying to see Naruto punching his first Rasengan on Kabuto, He also acted like a quasi parent to Naruto... heartwarming)

Jiraiya Vs Six paths of Pain ( 6 vs 1 was always doomed but still he had the guts of a shinobi and plunged ahead)

7. Uchiha Madara

Geez. What is there to not like him?? 

Everything he did was absolutely wrong ever since he broke up with Hashirama in a romantic way much similar to how couples break up in my country.

I am an Uchiha. You are a Senju. I wish it had been different.

This roughly translates to how 75% of lovers break up and marry someone else from their own clan in my state. (Duh!!!)

I am from XXX clan, you are from XXX clan. So we can’t love each other and my parents won’t accept this relationship. So let’s break up.

Alright, my first shipping couple in this series is HashiMada for this exact reason. (I started shipping SNS only after episode 478). 

Just like Hashirama, Madara had an extensive build up right from episode 1 where Kurama compares Sasuke with Madara. And flashbacks from Itachi and Tobi spiked my curiosity and I wanted to see his face so badly ever since.

But the moment he landed gracefully like a diva in episode 321.... Woaahhhh!!!! He literally danced in the battlefield and ate up 100′s of guys with just a fucking Sharingan. 

Best Moments:

Going Shirtless before 1000′s of people with Hashirama’s face, no less (Well, I literally went heart-eyed for 5 minutes. Sorry Sasuke, your ancester was way much sexier than you in the Orochimaru hideout and beats you by a million points).

Screaming Hashirama’s name like a cockatoo for 300 times even till the very end (Sorry Naruto, your obsession towards Sasuke for about 6 arcs is pale in comparison to Madara’s obsession which was established in just 6 or 7 episodes.)

I have 25 clones now. Do you want me to put Susanoo or not? You can’t answer. The answer is yes. (Man, his I don’t give a fuck attitude is just an alien level thing)

Openly admitting Only Hashirama Can Beat Me (Say what you will about Sasuke, Madara has no qualms about accepting his inferiority in terms of power. An absolute Straight Forward diva-queen)

Awakening Sharingan for breaking up with his ‘friend’ rather than for his 3 dead brothers. (Geez, Poor Soul. He is the forefather of a Romantic Uchiha. That romantic blood still flows in Sasuke)

6. Senju Hashirama

Man, I would have placed him somewhere in top 5 if only he was introduced early or had more scenes. I started watching Naruto only because of this very name. There is a local podcaster in my state who goes under the alias of Senju Hashirama and in his podcasts, he hinted about this character and how he was inspired by his ideals. I just googled and saw that this character belonged to Naruto series and I considered watching it. Here I am, making analysis on that very series.

There was this excellent build up for him right when we got introduced to Captain Yamato. He was constantly referred in flashbacks from Itachi and Tobi especially.

But the moment he was reanimated again..... Geez..... It was an hilarious ride all throughout. Out of all the flashbacks we got from this series, Founders Era flashback was my absolute favourite.

From where I come from, we are still under the stupid influence of Clan infrastructure and are not growing up in many aspects like people in western countries do. For me, I hope, one day, someone like Senju Hashirama appears in our state and change our lives for better by uniting all clans as one and treats everyone equally without the shitty favouritism for their own children, friends, parents, siblings.

That’s why this dialogue struck a thunder in my heart

“Be they a friend.... Be they a sibling.... Be it even my own child. I will not forgive anyone who threatens the village.”

Because the clan leaders in our place are absolutely selfish, trash bastards who serves their own needs with no regards for other people from other clans. For a person like me, Hashirama is not just a fictional hero, he is someone who many aspires to become. No wonder that podcaster chose this name as his alias.

He rightfully deserved the title ‘God of Shinobi’. And no one can surpass him, not even Naruto.

Best Moments:

Wood Style vs Eternal Mangekyou sharingan + Kurama powered Madara (He just beats Madara’s ass by a wide margin. This shows he was a whole fucking different level than Naruto + Sasuke combined. In terms of strength, nobody surpassed him YET. Sorry Naruto and Sasuke, you guys are no match even now with your Rinnegan and Kurama lost forever).

His entire banters with Madara (ROFLLLL. Without him, it would have been just another lifeless arc.)

5. Senju Tobirama

Hmmm, let me tell you something about him.

First off, he is not a racist or fascist as many hardcore Sasuke fanatics claims. He is one of the best hokages according to me. He is abso-fucking-lutely practical, rational, logical and holds no grudge. And Sasuke resembles Tobirama with all these characteristics as compared to soft and naive Naruto. If only he had more screen time, he would be easily in my top 3. 

Just because he didn’t lick the boots of Uchiha (many people’s favorite clan or may I say the only clan that was given any shit about in this series), it doesn’t make him a racist or fascist.

No, he never persecuted the Uchihas. Danzo, the crass bastard, driven off the Uchihas only after the Kyuubi incident. It was explicitly mentioned in the databook and was clearly explained in the series. 

He literally gave the highest position in the village for the entire clan. That is, a military power inside a military village. ‘Shinobi who can cause crimes can only be stopped by shinobi who are even better’. In my state, if a powerful clan decided to persecute another clan, they simply start by cutting off basic amenities like Water and Electricity. Compared to what I’ve seen, Tobirama did nothing but given the Uchihas, the highest position in their village. 

Orochimaru only said giving such a power made them conceited (arrogant). Tobirama had a trusted subordinate called Kagami, an Uchiha in his team. He suggested Kabuto to help Sasuke and even teleported him on his request. He even spited Madara for killing Sasuke, an Uchiha. He openly claimed Uchiha clan exceeds Senju in terms of Love. He openly appreciated Itachi and Kagami as someone who sees beyond their clan. In what world, would a racist or fascist do all this for a clan he hates??? 

Yes, he was cautious of Sasuke at first because he saw him with Orochimaru and even went full-on battle mode because of Sasuke’s carefree threat to destroy the village. But once he decided to go to the battlefield to fight Madara, he simply forgot everything that happened before and started to work with him as a comrade, and even helped him twice. In which world, a racist or fascist behave this way?

Believe me, a person like me who was grown with these clan politics surely can say who is a fascist. He was not. He was just cautious of them because of their ability to attain superpowers with just emotions alone. Let me ask you all this, ‘Would you be okay with people getting crazy powers whenever they are depressed?’. Being cautious is not racism. It really disrespects people who faced real oppression under fascism.

What Madara and Danzo did was a classical example of fascism. 

And No, Izuna didn’t die only because of Tobirama. He died because Madara was too arrogant to instigate war with Senju clan. And this was way before forming Konoha. If Tobirama killed Izuna after the alliance between Uchiha and Senju, I would agree that he was a racist. Izuna lost his life just like any other Uchiha and Senju soldiers in that battlefield. 

Just because he shitted your beloved ‘Sasuke-Kun’ doesn’t mean he is a racist too. Tobirama saw Sasuke along with that scoundrel Orochimaru who once used this very two hokages to destroy the very village they strived hard to create and protect. What will you do, if you were in his place?? Please don’t lie and say ‘I wouldn’t be judgemental’. 

And Imagine you are Tobirama, Sasuke is threatening to commit genocide against the entire village who had no idea about this coup detat instead of going against those old hags. Will you sit quiet as a Hokage?? 

He was the first person to suggest his brother, Itama, that Revenge against Uchihas are futile. All we need is an agreement to make truce. That gave the idea for Hashirama to pursue his dream. And Tobirama was happy to follow that dream and very supportive. 

It’s because of all these reasons I placed him above Senju Hashirama.

Best Moments:

Amazing power display against Sasuke & Co with just an index finger (It was a pleasure to see everyone’s face trembling with mild sweat including Sasuke).

Acted as a decoy to save his young subordinates. (The way he sacrificed his life saying young wills of fire must be protected is just Woow!! I wish his subordinates listened to his words and passed the mantle to the younger ones rather than playing game at such an old age and screwed up many lives. Pfft!!!)

Any time he says ‘Shut Up’ to Hashirama (ROFL)

His absolute ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude to Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, Minato and Madara (He trolled them all mercilessly and I love it)

4. Senju Tsunade

It hurts me to say that Tsunade is the only female character in my list because every other female characters were written in a much more piss poorly way. Only Konan came close to Tsunade but her role was very short. 

Despite her character’s purpose revolved around another male character (Dan) and a blatant objectification of her breasts, I liked everything about her other than those mentioned above. 

She is the Second Best Hokage who took Konoha right after the destruction made by Orochimaru, excellently handled the aftermath by making friendly relations with Suna (Sand village), provided her best medical support to Konoha in the Pain Arc and successfully handled the fourth Shinobi world war. 

She is such a badass who developed her own original jutsu called Byakugou no Jutsu, which can heal herself. 

She is just way too amazing and it’s a pity that we got very less scenes in Shippuden.

Best Moments:

Took 25+ stabs from Madara’s Susanoo like a piece of cake (Man, I simply couldn’t describe that scene. All the other Kages were shocked and even Madara too)

Lifted her advisors like a cabbage sack (Those fucking old hags deserved it. Those shits should’ve died)

Her index finger flick assault on Naruto (Aww, Naruto was definitely bratty in his first meeting and Tsunade didn’t hold back at all)

Played Orochimaru like a basketball (In that same arc, she fought Orochimaru mercilessly like a devil left and right. Someone who claimed to have surpassed Tsunade never even dared to fight Orochimaru’s student and crying for his attention after just receiving one stab from Madara. Just saying)

3. Uzumaki Naruto

Naruto is the titular character and your emotions evolve along with him. He surely deserves a spot in Top 3. The only reason I didn’t place Naruto even more higher is because he didn’t experience something very important which many characters in this list faced. That is, Losing a loved one before his eyes. Every villain in this series became what they are because they lost someone important before their eyes like Nagato, Obito. (Nope, I don’t count Neji as his loved one). I think this tests the mettle of any character and Naruto failed to experience this. The only person he ever lost was Jiraiya and that too from off-screen. That’s why I felt his journey to his dreams seemed little easier compared to the rest of the characters.

His best block of episodes will always be the part 1 Episode 1, 2, 3. Episode 1 is the character defining episode for Naruto and what he learned there will be applied everywhere till the very end of the series. He learned 3 things

Forgiveness, Empathy and Acceptance

Talk-No-Jutsu

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu

From then on, this boy wins many friends to his side, not only from Konoha but from other villages too and even made them to acknowledge his strength only through his sheer hard work. 

However, there is this person, whose acknowledgement he wants the most.  That person is his most important bond along with Iruka Sensei. He is none other than Sasuke. One day, Sasuke left him alone for some unavoidable reason at the end of part 1 which left a huge scar in him and he vows to bring him back to the place where he belongs. That becomes his ultimate goal rather than becoming an Hokage.

The way he goes to any extent to protect the people he cares about is just simply entertaining to watch.

Every time he makes an heroic entry to save the day was never boring, not once. 

Best Moments:

Sobbing from his heart after hearing Iruka Sensei acknowledging him (It just makes me feel heavy for no reason. The anime team did an awesome job to capture his emotions convincingly)

Awakening Kyuubi Mode for the first time after seeing Sasuke die in his arms (Man, out of all the collective hatred he got from the villagers, this moment affected him a lot speaks volumes)

Punching Neji from the underground to win the Chunin exams (God, I honestly believed Naruto lost but he just surprised us heavily from nowhere. And that failure speech was just pure bliss to watch even today)

Pain Vs Naruto (One of the best arc for Naruto. Because unlike other arcs, where Naruto fought with a team, this arc he was all alone fighting a person with Rinnegan. Be it the exuberant landing from the frogs with a dramatic kabuki music, creating multi-step attacks, coming up with novel solution in that difficult situation, finally ending the conflict without killing the enemy, becoming an hero. Superb journey. The only thing I didn’t like in that arc is some shitty selfish proposal. PUKE!!)

Bearing the burdens of his most important person and die along with him (This boy always shouts he will never die until he becomes an Hokage. But for Sasuke, he was ready to die along with him in order to not leave him alone proves how much he loves him. This shows his emotional maturity rather than shouting at Sasuke like he always did before which never reached his ears. This time it did)

Final Good Bye to Minato (Honestly, I was bawling just like Naruto in that scene no matter how many times I watch it. It started out slow but as he speaks more and more, he simply couldn’t hold back and wept a sea of tears 😭😭😭)

2. Uchiha Sasuke

One of the well written characters in this series, with all the flaws and positive stuffs which makes him more of an Anti-Hero. He always subverts my preformed opinions and never ceased to surprise me.

Despite being aloof and cold, his warmer side will always be exposed towards Naruto. This is evident by many things he had done for Naruto which he don’t have to or no reason to. Starting right from roasting Sakura, offering lunch, asking for tips, enquiring about breakfast, protecting him many times and dying for Naruto. 

Why I placed him above Naruto is because of his unavoidable decision to tread in a complicated dark path primarily due to the trauma he carried and was stirred up again by collective factors such as Orochimaru’s cursed seal, Itachi’s arrival and Naruto’s growth. Compared to Sasuke, Naruto had an easier path because he never saw anyone die before his eyes and hence he don’t carry any trauma which can divert his path.

Even after watching his entire clan and family members murdered before his eyes at an age 8, he managed to pull himself and never snapped out like many other good characters does. But the moment when he found out that Itachi was good all along, he simply couldn’t tolerate the truth and gave himself to Vengeance. Because, he loved his brother more than he hated him all these years. This shows he loved his brother more than his parents. His resolve to destroy Konoha was perfectly understandable. But is it good? Nope. He can kill Danzo and those old hags but killing other people was never justifiable.

But still, his resolve to have his vengeance was diverted by Naruto and weakened by Itachi, at some point. So, he decided to know the truth and when he heard it, he understood the Hokages also sacrificed many precious things to protect this village just like his Brother Itachi. He understood the mistakes of his clan and decided to protect the village which he swore to destroy. [Many Sasuke fanatics think that he succumbed to the Government and Kishi wrote Sasuke to bootlick them. Their idea was to tackle genocide with another genocide. What a stupid idea!!!!]

And No, I don’t consider him trying to kill Sakura, Karin and Kakashi as his bad moments (though I feel bad for Karin). For the simple reason being, he became a monster by losing himself in the darkness who lost the rationality to differentiate friends from foes. Much similar to how Naruto lost himself to Kyuubi’s hatred against Orochimaru and in Pain Arc. It’s so hypocritical to ignore Naruto and accuse Sasuke here. Plus, Sakura had no business to be there otherwise Sasuke would not have tried to kill her. 

But does it mean Sasuke did nothing wrong???

Nope.

He definitely shouldn’t have joined Akatsuki and hunted Killer Bee like an animal. Because, he knew that Tobi was the one who helped Itachi massacre the clan. When fighting Itachi he specifically vowed to kill Madara (Tobi). On top of that, Itachi passed on Amaterasu in his eyes specifically to stay away from Tobi. Why did he ally with him? Plus, Sasuke was one of the few characters who was exposed to the name ‘Akatsuki’ in part 1 itself. He clearly knew that this organization targets Naruto, his closest bond. Why did he join there? This is where the stupid part of Sasuke came out. I was grunting... ‘Oii Where did that clever Sasuke, who faced 1000 soldiers without killing any of them, went??’. 

And his plan for Revolution???? I thought it would be reasonable. But his vision was eerily similar to Danzo’s vision. Grrr..... Danzo also wanted to create his ideal village by destroying the current Hokage. He wanted to unite the Five Village and put himself on top of everyone as evident from the Kage Summit arc. 

I appreciate him that he finally adopted the Will of Fire, by wanting to protect the village at all costs just like Itachi and Hashirama did. But his methods are not very democratic. Plus, he wanted to do it alone. I was screaming at him... ‘Grrr, Sasuke, did you listen to Itachi at all???. He failed because he did everything alone. Why can’t you understand????’ This is also another instance, Sasuke’s stupidity glanced out.

I am happy Naruto knocked some sense into him by telling him not to do it alone but together.

Many fanatics also ask, ‘What did Sasuke do wrong to atone for his sins at the end?’.

I was like ‘Reallly????’

He joined Akatsuki, an organization which terrorized all the 5 villages and he hunted someone like an international criminal.

He spoiled the Kage Summit and attacked Raikage who lost his arm because of him. I know what happened over there is not Sasuke’s fault. But these are the kages who was loved by many people in their own villages. How can the world forget it and simply let him go?

It’s exactly because of all those lovely stuffs he did in Part 1 and all these mistakes he did in Part 2 but willing to correct his mistakes by sharing the burdens of his other half in the end made him more interesting, complicated and exciting and that’s why I love this character.

I also have a personal bias to love this character sooo much because of the character on top of my list.

Best Moments:

Defending Naruto before Sakura (Awww!!! Such a good boy he was. Eventhough I thought he was a typical arrogant K-Drama hero, he just subverted my opinion in that one scene. I always have a thing for people who stands up for someone even though they don’t have to. This is where I started to like Sasuke)

My body moved on its own. (Is there anything that trumps this scene in terms of emotions and love in this series?. This moment is where I understood the depth of Sasuke’s emotions towards Naruto).

What is a Clan? What is a Village? What is a Shinobi? (I was really hoping for Sasuke to question himself something similar to this. Because he was so self-absorbed in his hatred and failed to look outside him ever since he left the village. It was so gratifying that he did that)

Killing Orochimaru (I always thought Sasuke will kill him only after he tries to take over the body. Never imagined that he will strike the snake first)

Killing Danzo (Man, what an amazing battle!!!. It was so gratifying to see such a crass bastard die many times over and over).

His dramatic confession through his monologue (After the mystery of Who is this Tobi, Sasuke’s obsession towards Naruto remained a mystery for me. Why did he listen to Naruto under the bridge? Why did he protected Naruto in the War? I got the answer only after this confession. It was so heartwarming to see this mellow side of Sasuke)

1. Uchiha Itachi

I could write pages about him. The foremost reason I like Itachi and earns the top spot in my rankings is because he shockingly resembled me in many ways. As I already said, I come from a place where clan politics plays a major role and when I see Sasuke’s flashback in part 1, I was simply dumbstruck by such a detailed similarities.

Elder child of the family - ✅

Have an adorable younger sister who loves me more than my parents - ✅

Same age gap (5 years) with my sister as Itachi and Sasuke - ✅

Parents paying total attention on me while ignoring my sister completely - ✅

Parents constantly comparing my achievements with my sister - ✅

A sister who bear hugged me every time I entered the home after returning from my school - ✅

Despite my mom being a teacher, my sister always prefers me to teach her stuffs as she considers me to be way too better than my mom -  ✅

Love my sister more than my parents - ✅

Clan-Obsessed parents - ✅

Used me as a tool for the benefit of the clan - ✅

Sending another person from my clan to spy on me - ✅

Strained relationship with my parents - ✅

Disgusted with my clan - ✅

Most importantly, this dialogue from part 1 episode 129,

Clan? Clan?

Obsessed with the organization, Obsessed with the clan, Obsessed with the name, that’s merely the detestable action that restrict yourself.

I have given up all hope in this worthless clan

Because, people obsess themselves to their clan, a thing so petty, they lose sight of the things that are truly important.

A real change cannot occur under restraints and controls

I confronted my parents with the exact same dialogue (almost 98% similar) in my own native language some years ago. 

I didn’t even know the existence of Naruto series at that time. I was simply shell-shocked by all these similarities with this character. 

And Yes, The moment I heard these dialogues, I knew Itachi, was a good guy, who had a very strong reason for his actions and I instantly knew Sasuke’s revenge will not bear him any happiness. 

It is exactly because of all these striking similarities of myself with Itachi, and my lil’l sister with Sasuke, my family dynamics with the Uchiha family.... I could understand the magnitude of Sasuke’s love towards Itachi. 

And precisely because of that, I could understand Sasuke’s love towards Naruto is not fucking ‘brotherly’ one but something that leans towards Attraction. 

No wonder, Itachi left Sasuke in Naruto’s care. 

Anyways to speak objectively, 

Itachi is an extremely self-sacrificial person whose life is full of pain and miseries but never blames it on the world unlike other Uchiha members like Madara, Obito and Sasuke to an extent.

He did things considering the bigger picture which never benefitted himself in anyway and was willing to go to any extent even at the expense of his own family and his brother’s happiness. That is, Uchiha Clan Massacre and Joining Akatsuki. None of this benefitted him in anyways but he did it anyway, for the village of Konoha. 

His ideals are shockingly similar to Hashirama, Which Sasuke pointed this out and Hashirama acknowledged that Itachi was a better shinobi than he was. ❤️❤️❤️

Now, does this means I support Uchiha clan massacre?

No way. Even Itachi didn’t.

This massacre happened because of the huge clusterfuck from Hiruzen’s incompetence, Danzo’s paranoid arrogance, Uchiha clan’s devious plan to over throw the government by force rather than approaching it in a peaceful way, say, a peace talk or a protest. 

All these people acted on their own self-interest. Itachi and Shisui caught in their whirlpool, bear their burdens and paid for it with their life. Sasuke suffered for it.

But, it’s not the only reason I love this character. It’s because, the moment he decided to massacre everyone, he marked his own death by the hands of his beloved brother. I love people who owns up their mistakes and face the consequences rather than making excuses (even though it’s not entirely his mistake).

Itachi is also the only character in this series who realized his failures on his own without anyone’s interference or Naruto’s Talk-No-Jutsu. 

And he apologized for everything he did to Sasuke.

Again, some hardcore Sasuke fanatics criticize/hate him for torturing their poor ‘Sasuke-Kun’ with his Tsukuyomi. I was like ‘Hmmm...What?’. 

First off, Itachi apologized to Sasuke for not thinking out from his point of view and also for not telling him the truth earlier.

Second off, Sasuke never even blamed Itachi for anything (even he didn’t hold him for killing their parents). If Sasuke himself, forgiven Itachi... Why are his fans being so rabid?

Third off, for all of his supposed ‘crimes’, he paid for it by dying as a disgraceful Madman rather than a Hero who really saved the village. He is someone who should be celebrated like Naruto but instead died proudly as a Traitor of Konoha.

All in all, One of the wonderfully written character I have ever seen in the media. 

Best Moments:

Itachi vs Sasuke (That battle was a pure brilliance and highly emotional especially after knowing the truth. When Sasuke released his Kirin, Itachi showed off his ultimate armour Susanoo like a badass. Seeing Susanoo for the first time gave me chills. No, Sasuke didn’t kill him. Itachi died on his own)

Itachi vs Orochimaru (Man, Itachi may look mellow but when it comes to Orochimaru he is a pure Sass. He screwed that snake up both the times by a wide margin. It seems Uchiha brothers like to fuck up Orochimaru, LOL)

Talk-No-Jutsu’ing Naruto (Geez, Naruto was being completely bratty and was full of saviour complex like he was going to bear everyone’s hatred by himself. I was almost annoyed. Thanks to Itachi, he realised. Probably he is the only character to shut Naruto using his own jutsu)

Izanami’ing Kabuto (Other than Naruto, he is the only character to go out of his way to empathize with a villain and put extreme effort to change him. I think this is why Sasuke loves Naruto, for seeing these similarities??? ).

Goodbye to Sasuke (The first time when he said ‘Forgive me, Sasuke. This is the last’ by poking his forehead and finally closing the distance by butting with Sasuke’s head softly saying ‘I will love you always’.... It always evokes uncontrollable tears in me, no matter how many times I watch it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭)

HONOURABLE MENTION

Uchiha Obito

God, Am such a sucker for Uchiha guys individually, though collectively as a clan they fucked up big time. I simply couldn’t find the place for him in the top 10. He is a classic example of What Naruto will be like if he becomes a villain?

However, all those horrible stuffs he did just for a girl whom he had a crush on which was never reciprocated seems childish. That’s why I couldn’t put him in Top 10.

And his understandable but weird obsession on Naruto was always enjoyable to watch. 

One cute thing I liked about him was, whatever criminal stuffs he may have done, he was never a cheapskate though. He had every chance to take back Kakashi’s Sharingan to activate his own Susanoo. But he never even thought of such an idea. He was a bad guy. But a good friend, no matter what. 

Pure Baby!!! But lost his way!!!

Best Moments:

Importance of Team Work (’In the ninja world, Those who break the rules are  scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum’. This very legacy he left to Kakashi came to defeat him later. And Naruto follows this motto even today)

Sacrificing his Sharingan (’I am giving you my Sharingan. No matter what the villagers say, you are a great Jonin. Please take it’. Awww!!! Obito. He left his Sharingan which helped Kakashi to complete a jutsu called ‘Chidori’, which is a go-to jutsu of Sasuke)

Thanks for the ask, anon. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this. ❤️

[inessencedevided]

The Untamed, episode 42 - watching notes

I was up playing partygames over discord until 3 am yesterday, so I didn't get to watch another episode. I complained about it to my friends, which in turn made them complain that I sounded like I would rather watch my "gay chinese fantasy show" than spent time with them. I contemplated saying yes, but decided to keep my friend instead :D

And we were currently in the middle of a confrontation with Jiggy (as I've been informed he's called ... what? ^^) who apparently murdered his son to keep some secret, which with how this shows is going, I wouldn't be surprised is them going full game of thrones and ... you know what I'm talking about

Oh right, Su She is there

He's the Jin Zixun to my wei Wuxian. As in, I can never remember his name or why I should care 🤷‍♀️

(But thus time I DO remember who he is. That is, after lwj said his name ^^)

I'm so sure that jgy hit all evidence by now, btw

Okay, no. his wife is still there

Su She might be an asshole but his hair piece is gorgeous :D

What does it say about me that my first thought about that dagger was COOL!!! 😱😱😱

How dare you take Wen Qing's name in vain! 🤬

😱

I thought she'd stab him!!! Not herself :'(

I'm a bit surprised that with 5 cultivators in the room, no one does more to save her

Oh, JGY is a damn good actor!! I mean we knew that before, but now his apparent confusion and grieve for his wife seems even more (dare I quote lwj?) shameless

Lan Xichen, i know you love him but ...

Fun fact: In German, we call fake tears "Krokodilstränen". Literal translation: "crocodile tears"

That's what this is 😐

Especially about the nie Mingjue

Poor Nie Huaisang 💔💔💔

"Taking the head. Who in the world would have done such an insane act?" GEE, I WONDER ...

Sorry, I still find jgy fascinating, but this is so uncomfortable to watch, knowing at least part of what really happened 🙈

Lord, give me the power to murder people with one gaze like Lan Wangji 🙏

This whole conversation is so supremely uncomfortable

I'm still unsure if Jin Guangyao really doesn't suspect that "Mo Xuanyu" isn't who he says he is or if it's just a very convincing act 🤨

Favourite trope: Hanguang Jun, Yiling Laozou's knight in shining armour

First of all: Hot

Second of all: Lwj internally: DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING TOUCH HIM I ONLY JUST GOT HIM BACK AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN MADE OUT YET

probably

Also, for a split second there, you saw Jiang Cheng leap forward with a real look of concern on his face, like his first instinct was to help wwx himself 🥺🥺🥺

HE'S USING SUIBIAN AGAIN!!!

This feels so huge! 😱

I'm weirdly emo about a sword rn :')

His cover is blown of course

And him and Jin ling just had a good relationship :(

NHS, JL and JGY: How could it BE that this is Yiling Laozou???

Meanwhile Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng

"With the right kind of sacrifice, it can safe one who was seriously injured." Is this another instance of "we can't say this it's necromancy because censors, but y'all damn well know this is necromancy because no one falls down a cliff and then lies there "seriously injured" for goddam 16 years"?

I'm all teary eyed at lwj not even hesitating to flee with wwx :')

Jin Ling 💔🥺

Fuck you Jin Guangyao for playing at his pain!!!

Omg they're as good as holding hands!!! 😭😭😭

Of course, wax is pushing lwj away, OF COURSE. Self-sacrificing idiot!

That mask reveal was *chef's kiss* the drama! The gasps! The ... long-suffering "here we go again look" from lan Xichen :D

I LOVE IT WHEN LWJ SPEAKS UP!!

"You're wrong."

So simple. Yet saying so much: "I kniw him. I trust him. I chose this."

And OF COURSE Wei Wuxian gives him another way out

BUT THESE TWO FINALLY GET THEIR SHIT TOGETHER AND COMMUNICATE THEIR THOUGHTS! FINALLY!

"Did you believe in me back then?" YES, I WAS JUST TOO AFRAID TO SAY IT,SO MY CONCERN CAME OUT AS ANGER 😭😭😭

And the single logged bridge again 😭😭😭 I adore that metaphor! And I love that they chose to show us the flashback. Because last time, wwx and lwj parted, took different roads so to speak, one the one of defiance, the other the one of orthodoxy. Neither wanted to part ways, but neither probably thought that they had much of a choice. But they did have a choice and they made it. And lwj has already expressed his regret over that. So here he is again, using his second chance without a thought.

Because lwj believes that wwx is right, MORALLY, so he will go against his clan, reputation be damned, and stand with the man he loves ... finally. He'll choose what they both believe to be right and walk with him "until it's dark" :')

And THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS SO MUCH!! It's not just that "oh they're so cute and they compliment each other so well, they must be soulmates uwu". Most of all they share a common morality!!!

I'm so goddamn amazed at this ship! This is not I was thought I was getting when I boarded it, but goddamn it I'm loving the ride! 😭😭😭

And .. just, the look in Lan Wangji's eyes ... they have 50 swords drawn on them, but guessing from the look on his face and the softness of his gaze they might as well be at their wedding 😭😭😭

He looks like a man entirely at peace with his decision :')

Just ...

Look

At

THEM!!!

They're holding hands in that last shot!!!! 😭😭😭

I'm absolutely floored at how utterly beautiful this scene is! "Romantic" seems too insignificant to describe it. It feels more like 42 episodes worth of love and pining and misunderstandings coming to their natural conclusion

My heart is so full right now guys :')

Very nice of these 50 people to wait for their moment to pass before attacking. Very considerate 😁

"Are we going to fight or not." "Too much talking" I WANT 50 EPISODES OF THESE TWO BICKERING!!! 😭😭😭

Jin Ling :'(

Noooo

No

Noooo

I don't know who my heart is bleeding for more here

Jin ling doesn't deserve to have to shoulder his parent's and uncle's pain :'((

All this supporting each other when injured? That's the good stuff

And those flashbacks ... wwx finally FINALLY realizes that lwj never hated him for his actions, he was afraid for him :')

Tbf,the guy has a sliiiight communication issue 😐

That quote about how lwj is at his side now that everyone else despices him!! That's it THAT'S THE SHIP!!😭😭😭

Oh, lwj took him back to cloud recess

I'm surprised he was allowed to, tbh

Ooh, so Mo Xuanyu knew something!

And... someone else must now know about him?

Also, I didn't realise that wwx still had a cut from the curse

I gotta take a moment to scream about HOW UTTERLY DOMESTIC AND AT EAS THESE TWO NOW ARE WITH EACH OTHER!!! 😭

XICHEN!!!

I should have known that the OG wangxian shipper would support them

But he still trusts Jin Guangyao. Not that I'm surprised

It's so weird to see anyone on this show in trousers btw 😅

"You're more than I can handle." Lol ^^

"You trust Master Wei, while I trust Jin Guangyao." Oh boy ...

I feel like this might be more of a confrontation than these two brothers had in their entire lives

Love me some detective-wwx

Poor Xichen 😔 he doesn't want to believe it

Somehow, wwx with a white underrobe makes me think "that's what he looks like when he and lwj accidentally swab robes" :D

Uuuh! The restricted section forbidden chamber!

So ... jin Guangyao somehow got this piece of music from the lan library?

But he's good! He's really good! He consistently uses others weaknesses and prays on them so that they act in a more extreme manner, but not so much that others would suspect foulplay. Case in point: nie Mingjue's death by anger and (more recently) the way he played towards Jin ling's feelings.

Aaaand another rather abrupt end in the middle of a conversation. That's one thing this show does not do well 😅

Anyway, I'm not complaining this episode send my shipper heart (BECAUSE I'M SO DWEP DOWN THIS RABBIT HOLE AT THIS POINT) fly with joy!!

@sweetlittlevampire @fandom-glazed @elenirlachlagos @allhailthedramallama @luckymoony @kyrrahbird @i-love-him-on-purpose 🖤💙🖤💙

[espejonight28738]

15×09 "The Trap" Meta

Warning: As always, Destiel and Saileen positive so don't like don't read.

OMG guys I can't even this episode was something else. Like, for real.

First of all, it looks like I was right about Eileen being part of Chuck's plan.

"I helping to Sam the Bunker. To Sam. To Romance." Thanks Chuck for proving me right, but if you could please not hurt my baby Eileen and Sam while you do it would be awesome ;-;

Now if only I could be in the right about the happy ending...

But whatever. Let's talk about the prayer first, because I could talk about it for hours. Everything was so wonderful.

First, when Dean looks he only have 29 minutes left to find Cas, you could see all the trauma resourfaced. You could see how he was imagining ending up without Cas again. Having to go back home (although he didn't seem to be going to the portal when right before he found Cas, but I have no certainty about it) and leave Cas behind, and he imagined himself reliving the guilt and the hallucinations and the hopelessness.

[Gif by the amazing @agusvedder because I want you to look at him and tell me that ain't the look of a man who just imagined losing the love of his life again]

And, above all, Dean imagined having to live through it all knowing he never fixed their relationship. Rowena's words about not waiting until it was too late must have been ringing in his ears. And he knows that he needs Cas to know.

Purgatory's pureness gave him a new understanding of his emotions, and I'm not talking about the anger (it's obvious Dean already knew he had that problem), but the need for Cas.

"Cas, buddy, I need you." That same need, mixed with the possibility of losing Cas yet once again was enough for Dean to just break down in the middle of a land of abominations.

And the first thing he says. "I should've stopped you." Can you see how he is telling us we were right all along? Cas said "I left but you didn't stop me." And now Dean knows he could have.

If he had tried to talk, if he had asked Cas to stay, maybe he wouldn't have left. Dean put himself through that depression (the even heavier drinking, comfort food, the coldness) .

[And as an author note. How was that real? "You didn't stop me/I should've stop you" The Brontë sisters WISH they could write that levels of angsty romance.]

And, having Dean finally admitting to his very real anger issues gives me very high hopes for everything else. It's not like his problem will disappear, it does was kinda beaten into him, but having him admitting it is recognizing it as a standing problem between Dean and a Happy Future, so we can assume that will be another one of the problem they'll tackle in the rest of the season.

(Or maybe they'll forget about it. But s15 has been so good until now that I'm hoping they won't ignore it.)

And Dean calling Cas his best friends. Holy mother of God. I know I made several jokes about it, but it truly is so significant. Because words like "Family" and "Brother (and sister for Charlie)" are ones Dean had given other people. But Best Friend is only for Cas, it puts him in a special place in Dean's live no one else shares.

Maybe it's not exactly the place we want him to be in (yet), but the fact alone that they recognize once again how Dean and Cas' relationship is different to the one they have with anyone else.

So when did found Cas and said "Okay, Cas, I need to say something", I agree we wasn't about to repeat his prayer.

The Prayer (the fact that Dean got on his damn knees, for god's sake) was a moment of absolute vulnerability and emotion. Dean grew up in with a "no emotions" mentality tought to him by John, and so we seldom see him show this kind of raw vulnerability by choice. Considering that the Winchesters (as always, I include Jack and Cas in there) are an experts in 'I screw up and you got angry but then we had a bigger problem so we kinda left it behind us bc we are family and I love you anyway, or we just move on without never really discussing it' but not in actually apologizing, I would go as far as to say this was probably the most heartfelt apologize we've seen in the series.

I've watched the scene like a million times, and he just carries an attitude of doing something big. Like a big reveal, not like repiting himself.

Because he knew Cas heard him. The reason he said "I hope you can here me, that wherever you are, it's not too late" it's 'cause he was afraid Cas had died. That is was really too late. Once he saw Cas was alive? I don't think Dean doubted for a second Cas had heard him. He was hoing to say something else.

Cas clearly didn't want to take the risk of Dean telling him what he truly wanted to hear- what he had wanted for years. The risk of his deal with the Empty hovering behind hime. He couldn't be so selfish as allowing himself to hear it, just to abandon Dean right after.

Then Cas interrupted him.

Or abandoning Sam when he was at God's mercy, or leaving the World SavingTM to them. He couldn't. Dean doesn't even now about the deal.

I cannot tell you how much I loved it. Not in a "I want this to happen" way, of course not, but in what it means.

That's why Dabb said this episode wasn't the resolution. There's still much unsaid between them, if you believe there is an 'I love you' somewhere there. I think that's what has my hopes the highest. Because if they are only bff, then why didn't this solve everything? What is left hanging? I don't want to clown but it's literally the only thing that makes sense in my opinion.

And now, let's talk about the future Sam saw.

Sam and Dean don't need only each other to be happy, they need other people. That's basically what that future said.

"What's happened to you Dean? Ever since..."

"Ever since what? We lost pretty much everyone we ever cared about?"

[There is like a 2 second pause here that I feel very important andd significant. The separation between what 'everyone' and 'Cas']

"Ever since the Mark made Cas go crazy? Ever since I had to bury him in Ma'lak box? Ever since then? Yeah." [Jfc you can hear it pains him to say Cas' name]

"Bobby had a death wish and you know it. And Jody? Ever since what happened to Donna and the girls, she does too.

And after Eileen? So do you."

He's acknowledging everyone's breaking point. Jody's was Donna and the girls (we don't know exactly which one was the last straw, as we know that at least in Claire's case they died at different times). Sam's was Eileen. His was Cas.

And he is very clear in that. We can't know what happened first, but we know that Sam asks what happened to *him* and he says it was Cas going crazy. It was having to bury Cas alive what made him lose all hope. Because at least he can hope they ones dead can find pace, but Cas? Dean, and for how he said it he probably did it alone, had to bury Cas knowing he was going to be there for the rest of the time. Suffering alone. Dean knows how it's like to have the Mark.

That broke Dean. And having Sam wasn't enough to put him back together.

And after Eileen somehow died again, Sam just stop caring about living, he just care about taking down as many monsters as he can before he dies. 'Death wish' Dean called it. He would know about that, he is Dean "You wanna die" Winchester, after all.

Having Dean wasn't enough for Sam to want to keep on living.

"We lost, brother. We lost. I'm done."

They still have each other? Yes. Is that remotely enough? No. That's what the future told us. They need more than each other, they need other people.

But there was a little something else that made it even more beautiful.

"The Dean who raised me [...]"

Let's be clear about something, I think the show never gives enough recognition for having raised same pretty much by himself since he was 4 years. The situation was totally unfair to Dean and yet he never once took it out on Sam, he just look out for him, cooked for him, and make sure he could be as much of a child as the situation allowed, that is a lot more than Dean ever could. In his own words, he wasn't just a brother, he was also a father and a mother.

I just want to cry for thinking how hard that was for both brother. And Sam knows it, even if he doesn't always acknowledges. So the fact that he chose the words "the Dean that raised me" when "the Dean that I know", for example, would have conveyed the sentiment as well, is significant.

They wanted to remember how important they are for each other, how much they love each other. They don't dismiss that, they are making sure we remember that, at the same time they are telling us the alone aren't enough for a happy ending.

They are telling us what we need for a True Happy Ending.

Dean and Sam still being close brothers and loving each other, but allowing themselves to love and need other people.

Okay I'll go to the point.

A HAPPY ENDING IS SAM AND THEN HAVING OTHER PEOPLE IN THEIR LIVES WITHOUT LOSING EACH OTHER.

A HAPPY ENDING IS THE END OF THE TOXIC CODEPENDENCY AND THE START OF A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP THAT INCLUDES THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER PEOPLE.

You guys now I've been saying they are hinting at it since my meta of "The Rupture" but this ain't foreshadowing THEY ARE SCREAMING IT. Like I can't come up with a radically different interpretation.

So this episode only got my hopes for endgame Saileen and Destiel (the destiel maybe not at canon as the saileen, but heavily hinted at least) even higher. Specially for the parallel with Eileen having Dean's doubts ("I don't know what's real") and Sam making kinda answering the same ("We are"/"I know that was real"). Btw I'll be screaming because of that for the rest of my days.

[BONUS: Random questions I can't seem to answer.

Does the angels even know God's going bersek? I mean, Belphegor didn't know it was God the one who broke hell... but even Lilith's been brought back. Do they know Micheal's back? God I don't know.

Was that really a possible future? Or it does was like a Zacharaiah tactic? Why does Chuck's abscence makes monster go crazy? Wasn't the point that it didn't unblanaced the powers?

Story-wise, why ain't Cas in next episode?

Was that the last mention of Claire? An off-screen hypotetical death? Please someome let me see my girl again.]

Tagging: @metafest @verobatto-angelxhunter @agusvedder @legendary-destiel @that-one-fandom-chick @studio-hatter

[blissfulsaturn]

I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks like this but imma say it anyway : this lethal scene is the single most greatest scene in the movie, I'm talking about just this one when they're playing with their feet. It's so intense and emotional and hot and it makes me so nervous.

I watched the movie first and then read the book, so in this scene i was met for the very first time with the fact that they played with their feet.

In this particular gif you can read it all, i swear.

When Elio slipped the note underneath Oliver's door, it said that he needed to speak to him but then Oliver replied that they're gonna meet at midnight. Surely, everyone knows what midnight means : when the two people who made out not so long ago, when one of those two people actually touched and kissed the foot of the other one, and when someone was feeling very courageous and comfortable with touching the other one's chest and biceps...it only means one step further.

And that's what they did.

Elio counted the hours until midnight, Oliver ran off somewhere and came back looking like a total mess (a hot mess btw). When they met, their body languages and silence and moves spoke "We're gonna do everything except talking". Oliver touched his hand on the balcony, Elio whispered he was nervous and Oliver lifted his head to look him in the eyes and smile as he were to say "I'll be gentle".

They were the only two people who were awake at that moment in the villa, it felt like they were the only two people who were awake in the entire Universe. Then Elio kinda swings his hand to show him to move the party inside, and then all those cute moments happened while they were in the bedroom.

By that point, it got clear for the both of them that they share those feelings, they share the sexual desire for one another. Someone who was ignoring the boy in the morning as to play cold and uninterested, suddenly asked that same boy "Can i kiss you?"... Yep, you guys are talking real good, continue please.

Now this gif, i know i ran off the track for a second there, but I'm back. The gif. I don't know if Elio was 100% sure that they were gonna do it for real, maybe he really did look forward to chilling with Oliver or something else. But, when Oliver took his shoes off, it was clear for sure. That was the first thing he took off of him as to show that he doesn't need them, he's gonna get naked soon and be in bed so why use them. The way Elio's feet move, he's nervous, he's so fucking nervous...it makes me nervous as well. This is how it all starts, first you take one thing off of you and the rest will fall on its own.

This is just them, there was literally nobody else to interrupt them, nobody else to get in their way. For the first time in weeks, Elio had Oliver all to himself and he wanted to make sure to make the best of it (never mind what will happen in the morning). On some level, i always wanted to believe how Elio worried too much about not being good enough for Oliver in bed. There was a quote in the book that said something like "I'll try to not be the word laid of your life".

Once the shoes were off, that was it, Elio knew what was going to happen and he knew it 300%. Elio will finally experience one of his many dreams coming true ever since the American walked into his life.

gif credit to @uknowhathings

[twistedcharismaaa]

The Red Door Pt. 4

Summary: You and Erik have a lot of shared history together but because of recent events you’re scared that you’re going to lose your best friend. Maybe he’s still there … behind that red door?

Author’s Note: Hello beautiful people. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I’m pretty nervous about it. Let me know what you guys think. Please comment. I love you guys and thank you for reading. I used a gif to show you his dreads being braided btw 😁✨.

Erik was late and he knew it. There was a part of him that regretted it and another part that didn’t. He was hoping that by the time that he arrived, you would be gone and that you would forget about him entirely. He knew that he was the embodiment of mixed emotions and it wasn’t his intention to confuse you or add more unnecessary stress to you, but reluctantly that’s who he is now. He thought about you endlessly while he grieved ... and more importantly while he changed. He changed in the absolute worse ways. He was no longer warm, compassionate, charismatic, or even joyful to be around. He became direct, cold, lifeless, and full of hate. Erik was about 10 minutes away from Rico’s Lounge and he was wondering what convincing lie he was going to feed you the moment he saw you. He was exactly an hour and thirty minutes late.

Erik entered the lounge and looked around for you instantly. He noticed that you were sitting in his favorite booth. He used to love that booth simply because of you. He never had to the chance to tell you that he always overly enjoyed watching you. Even though you both had always been platonic, that didn’t change the fact that you were beautiful. He loved how the strobe lights complimented the hue of your complexion. It was mesmerizing seeing every color kiss your milk chocolate brown skin with such grace and elegance. You were so lovely effortlessly. He remembered how the air conditioning in the lounge would gently blow your infamous two curls that were left out of your slicked-back afro puff. He loved hearing your voice over the subdued music playing throughout the club. It seemed as if your voice was always in harmony with any song that filled the lounge. 

He slowly made his way to the booth he was wondering why you weren’t looking at him, waving him down, running towards him, or cussing him out from afar. Erik finally approached the booth and was taken back to find you sound asleep. He felt like an ass and he knew he was acting like one. But behind it all, there was a method to his madness. 

He sat down lightly beside you. “Marley, I’m here,” he said awkwardly.

You rubbed your eyes and blinked them quickly. Your eyes met his and you were overwhelmed with his presence. It would take you a while to get used to his new appearance. He was still intimidatingly massive. The only difference about this encounter was that he had his short dreads braided towards the back. Your natural reaction was to move away from. You backed away from him into the ice-cold wall.

“My bad, maybe I should sit on the other side. I don’t even know why I sat over there,” he added while clearing his throat.

You sat up straight and tried to gather your composure. You inwardly told yourself to focus on something that would make you less nervous. You grabbed the closest thing to you which was a half-empty ketchup bottle. You toyed with it between both of your hands. 

“I’m going to bypass the formalities here. I want answers,” you responded.

Erik nodded.

“Alright, so what did you see at the crime scene-?” you quizzed.

Erik immediately shook his head and waved his hand in discontent. “Nah.” he interrupted. “We ain’t talking about that. Anything else but that.” he continued. 

You suddenly stopped playing with the ketchup and glared at him.

“Did you just say no?” you said fiercely. 

“Marley-” Erik tried to interject.

You don’t know what came over you but your words left your mouth faster then you would’ve you liked to. “No Erik? No? You don’t have the right or permission to tell me no about anything. I gave you your time to deal and to process losing your mother. I know whatever you saw fucked you up. I know you but what you’re not going to do is tell me fucking no. I can’t sleep, I can’t rest, I’m dropping weight-” you yelled. 

You slammed your hand on the ketchup bottle and it squeezed an immense amount of ketchup on Erik’s dark grey hoodie. But at the moment, you didn’t care and honestly, a stained hoodie would be the least of his problems if he didn’t start answering your questions.

“You had me here waiting for over an hour just to tell me no! And then you show up looking like a completely different person,” you screamed. You grabbed the bottle and started squeezing more on him, but this time purposely. 

Erik leaped out of his chair and backed away from you. “Yo chill, Marley chill!” he pleaded.

“I said give me some answers! What did you see! What did those cops show you E!” you added. You threw down the bottle and caught your breath.

You watched Erik grab a handful of napkins in hopes that he could clean himself up. Erik grew frustrated and threw the napkins down on the table.

“You know what fuck it.” he spat. 

“Fuck what?” Marley asked. “You know what, actually fuck you nigga!” she continued.

You felt Erik grab your arm firmly but not firm enough to hurt you. “You don’t want to know what I saw. You don’t want to know what I can do. You don’t want to know what I’ve been doing. I’m in some deep shit and if you fuck with me, it’s going to bring you down too. I shouldn’t even be talking to you right now but I care about you. I love you, Marley. You gotta let me go. You got to.” he said softly.

You pulled back from his grip and clutched your necklace. “That’s what you want me to do?” you mumbled.

“No,” he said firmly. 

You and Erik shared a brief silence. You watched Erik pace back and forth as if he was contemplating his next words. He knew that you were on the edge he was literally the only one that could pull you back. 

“What if I told you that night I met the devil? Would you believe me?” he asked.

Would you believe him?

—

Part 3 Part 5

@shookmcgookqueen @fonville-designs @chaneajoyyy @alexundefined

@melaninmarvelgirl62 @blackmissfrizzle @honeytoffee @essaysbyciara

@tip222u @ghostfacekill-monger @l-auteuse @lostennyc @quietstorm-73

@blackreaders-assemble @rayraynddem @soulfood-fics @theogbadbitch

[tvdamonelena4ever]

It Had To Be Her.

A Jessica Jones Season 2 Ending Analogy

SPOILER ALERT, PLEASE JUST SKIP OVER THIS IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS.

"It didn't have to be you" but that was a lie.

The best twist of that iconic line, “it didn’t have to be you”, is that it had to be Trish, there was no other option. A quick summary, TLDR, Jessica was pretty much brainwashed by her 'mom’ and could not understand all the damage she was doing to not just her life but to everyone's lives by keeping her alive. That woman stopped being her mom the very moment Karl experimented on her and gave her so many defects that she VERY CLEARLY could not handle.

So lets talk Alisa, people can and will claim that she was still Jess' mom because of all the memories but I just can’t agree with that because there's a lot of evidence that goes against that. Even with all those memories and her apparent 'Love’ for Jessica (which btw if you look back it wasn’t really there much at all. It was always Karl over her own daughter) it did not matter, she could only barely and in some instances control her monstrous nature that Karl created and that was only when Jess was with her and even that took time to try and control, so Jess was really supposed to be shackled 24/7 to something that used to be her mom, to try and keep her, a very dangerous mass murderer, in check!??? The terribly sad truth was that her mom did die in that car crash and what was brought back was just a shell with the memories of a previous life, her trying to be that woman and using the voice of who used to be Jess’ mom.

Let's go in depth with that voice, that is where all of Jessica’s control and rationality starts to kind of rapidly disappear, that voice is what got into Jessica’s head, she said in 2x08 she doesn’t see her mom when she looks at her but she hears her through her voice, that is what pretty much brainwashed Jess and made her lose all sense of rationality, choice, control etc, in my opinion, the second half of this season was Jessica being controlled by another Killgrave, another monster but this one wore her mother’s face and had her mother's voice and that was all too powerful of an emotional connection to her past for Jess to break free from. Jess wanted so badly to believe her mom was still there but she just wasn’t, Jess literally wanted to drop the case and forget everything that her 'mom’ did, all the murders etc. that we saw in the first 7 episodes and even continued to see afterwards because she really wanted that to be her mom, she wanted to believe that she got a second chance with her mom.

Now let’s talk about Trish a bit, while I can’t entirely defend Trish with a lot of the choices she made I can see why she made some of them. The inhaler drug was a split between Trish just giving into the high kind of feeling that she had fallen into before but it was also abour her wanting to be able to help Jessica more, she wanted to be Jess' sidekick and she believed who she was wasn't enough. Next, when Jess first told Malcolm and Trish about 'her mom’ Trish could immediately tell that Jess wasn’t herself, she knew that Jess was probably not going to be able to see clearly and break through this hold her 'mom’ had gotten on her, even with how strong Jess is in all aspects. I can see that was part of, definitely not the only reason, but partly why Trish wanted powers and kidnapped Karl to achieve them. Yes Trish did have some selfish intentions there, I know that but part of her intent was to stop Jess’ mom, in 2x12 Trish admits Jessica is the only one who can put her down, that was really the only option despite the illusion of choice the writers showed us. So what happens when Jess tries to finally do what had to be done? Jess still couldn’t do it because she still wanted that to be her mom, it really wasn’t but she still wanted to believe it was.

So 2x13, the episode that really ties this all together nicely, this was such a crazy episode and I want to dive into this a little bit because once I watched it I was able to see what I believe the writers were establishing all season. Again this is my opinion, I think they were trying to make us believe that Alisa(?) could be redeemed, showing that illusion of choice time and time again but whenever they did that it was always by showing it through Jess’ perspective. From any other angle you wouldn’t feel a thing for her, look at how rational and how right Pryce was, i hated the guy but he had no connection to her and he told Jess what she needed to do. Now look back the first 7 episodes and how much different Jess and us, the audience, reacted to this mass murderer but in the back half of this season you mostly only see Alisa through her daughter (a daughter who lost her whole family far too young and truly just wanted a second chance with any of them) they try to make you feel sorry for Alisa, try to make you feel for Jess and the loss of her family and the apparent finding of her 'mom', and they want to make you think Alisa could somehow be redeemed but that was never the case and that was never there intention. So 2x13, this was the best this beast got, but not even saving that family could redeem her, she was doing that for selfish reasons like wanting Jess to stay with her, shackled to her in hopes that she could remain in check but that just isnt possible and then near the end of 2x13, we actually do see Alisa, the real Alisa, truly come back to life and be Jess' mom one last time, because she does such a selfless act and it’s the one thing Jessica couldn’t do, accept that who Alisa is now can’t stay alive, not as this monster that Karl created, she finally shows a bit of love for Jess by not wanting to ruin her entire life just for her to have to try and keep a beast in check. I will come back to the very end but first I want to explore the episodes that led up to this a bit more to show some crucial things.

First, let’s look at when she surrended and was in jail, that seemed to be selfless and a honest move to try and reconnect with Jess right? Wrong because she would still continue to protect the person that made her a monster, that was her selfish intent and bargaining chip for Jess to have visitation rights. Yes she got abused by a guard, and that was a bit wrong but with everything she had done it wasnt unwarranted. Anyways she doesnt just let it go and made sure Jess saw what happened, she should have been selfless here and kept this to herself but she doesn’t. Jessica Jones, who started the season saying “I’m not a murderer”, then went to this dude’s house to investigate, got caught off guard and ends the next episode by killing him, the third life she took. I'd like to also mention the extremely amazing gaurd that replaced him, what happened to her? You all saw it and you know she didnt deserve that. So back to Jessica and who shows up in 2x11, Killgrave, there to haunt her mind but it’s not him that makes those scenes important, it’s the real meaning behind them, Jessica not in control, Jessica not being able to see clear, Jessica doing things she knows she shouldn’t be doing. This whole episode I believe was the clearest evidence to show that Jess was really struggling to have control of her actions, her emotions, her rationality, her reality etc. At the end of this episode you think she’s okay and you believe that she has gotten her control again by getting rid of the Killgrave like control that was in her head but that wasn’t the case, it was a trick. Her 'mom’ had such control over Jess that even when she repeatedly threatened Trish, Jessica could not break that hold, her 'mom’ even comes to kill Trish and her 'mom’ almost makes Jessica herself kill Trish by blocking her throat. After that you would think Jess would finally understand that there was no ther way this could end but she refuses to believe that even when Trish tells her she is the only one who can put her down, even when she has a gun pointed at her 'mom’. And that episode ends with her 'mom’ knocking her out and kidnapping her.

That just isn’t love but even with all of that Jess was still willing to become a criminal for her 'mom’, an accomplice to a mass murderer trying to escape, yes she was a mass murderer you can’t even debate that.

Let’s touch on 2x07, Her 'mom’ even murdered one of Jess’ boyfriends, one that Jess was really in love with, yet Jess barely shows any anger about that, do you remember that scene? Her 'mom’ wouldn’t even listen to what Sterling said, he was outmatched and in real danger with Jess not around, so he needed to make up a lie for those thugs to leave but Jess’ mom didnt care, didnt listen to what he was trying to say, she literally just bashed his head repeatedly into a wall. There was a reason they made us, the audience, see that truly gruesome scene.

I could examine a lot more if people want me too but let’s jump to the most controversial spot. THE SCENE.

Jess and her mom on the Ferris wheel at Playland. And yes I didn’t put marks around mom that time because this is the one instance her mom is really there, Alisa finally realizes and accepts that she needs to die, to set Jess free and let her get back to her life without being shackled to a beast, a monster, that she can’t control and will take over again soon. But even here, Jess still won’t let her go and gets in too, At this point, with the info they know the police have classified Jessica as an acomplise to a mass murderer. If they would have caught Jess with her mom alive in that ride she would have saw the police murder her mom, they may have been brutal about it too, taking there time, etc. Jess would then be arrested as a criminal and possibly even charge her with all the murders her 'mom’ commited because she did not stop her and even went as far as to help her, hide her, and run away with her.

This is why it had to be Trish Walker, Jessica’s best friend who knows her better than anyone else and needed to save her from herself, just like Jess saved Trish from herself in the past, aka 2x07. With Trish being the one to kill the struggling shell of Alisa she saved Jessica in a lot of ways. Trish prevented Jess from being a criminal and arrested as one, Trish saved Jess from throwing away her whole PI career, Trish saved Jess from her mistakes. Mistakes that she didn’t even know she was making until the trigger was pulled. That’s when Jess got her control back, you could see how angry and hurt Jess was, you thought she snapped and was going to seriously hurt Trish and yet she couldn’t because she held back and controlled herself. In the aftermath of what is a tragedy to Jessica is when she comes back to the reality of her life and finally sees that she couldn’t just throw away everything she worked so hard for, her job, her life, even her potential relationship with Oscar, (Full Disclosure, I need to admit I am 100% Trishica trash but I do actually like Oscar and I think it’s a part of the story they need to tell) before she was too scared to open up to him and really let him into her life, even when he tried to stop Jess from leaving with a mass murderer to stay with him and his son because they both really like her but she still didn’t listen, she couldn’t stay. In the aftermath though Jess now knows she needs to open up to them, she can’t hold on to the past, she had to face her past and with Trish's help (even when she didnt want it) she overcame it and got closure, yes in a harsh way but that's what she needed to move on. Jess now knows that she needs to keep living her life and let some people in. That whole sweet ending with Jess, Oscar and Vido is all thanks to Trish Walker, if not for Trish Jess would have been arrested, convicted and thrown in jail for life with no bail for the crimes she became a part of when she was basically brainwashed under the illusion that she had got her mom back.

That is why it had to be her, why it had to be Trish Walker. Jess might not want to understand or forgive her but I’m sure she will in time, because Trish Walker stepped up to be the hero that Jessica needed.

If you read all this thank you again, I appreciate it so much and I am willing to hear what you all think, to politely debate about it or whatever.

P.S. Just look at them! Even in their dark times

[thoughtfulpaperback]

Charmed 03x03 Spoiler Review!!!!

What was that? No really. I hope the whole me just complimenting the entertainment value of an episode but not seeing value in its place in lore doesnt become the norm from here on out. Entertainment wise it was a solid 8/10. Its place overall in the series as far as lore building or cannon compliant id say 5/10.

So let's start with the dislikes and just get them out of the way.

DISLIKES

1. Abigael's demon face

Okay so I could be wrong but, my understanding is that abigael's demon side was locked away in that figure. Which is why she hasn't (in the entire season 2) had a full body demon form like Parker and her dad. I actually like the demon face as far as design goes it sort of -but not entirely- reminds me of one of the demons in the OG Charmed. What I dont understand is that, if Abigael was at some point Overlord of the Demon world and before then she was working exclusively with demons, how the hell did she do this without every needing to show her demon face???

I guess maybe they only needed blood (see season 2 episode 2) but come on. Also, if apparently you can lock away your demon form, why the hell didn't Parker find that out? Granted in season 1 his daddy was using the fact his demon side was eating at him as leverage, so not like he was going to tell him about it, but Parker literally left season 1 to find a way to tame that side of him and get away from demons you'd think he would have asked one witch who might have known this between then and when he became overlord.

Also, does Macy then have a demon face? He eyes have gone black (season 1) and she had her demon powers. Apparently demon powers and demon face aren't tied together if Abi can have one without the other, so who knows.

They better at least go hard with Abby as a villian or else I am going to be unsatisfied. Charmed has been lacking in the villian department since season 1. The writing needs improvement.

2. Jimmy's Anti climatic and non sensical death.

Okay, so the fight scene was amazing and RE is like the best actor ever, but this whole thing made zero sense. For like so many reasons:

1. It was sloppy lore wise

So the established (poorly established btw) rule was that thier lives were tied together at a magical and molecular level. Magic could put them together not sever them. They established that a little after mid season. The other rule was that they could not kill each other, but others could kill them. Death by Suicide apparently would kill them both which now that they ended Jimmy like this makes that whole situation in episode 12 totally unnecessary and even more gross than it was (we do not support the indulgence of romanticizing suicide on this blog).

They literally just delt with all the tangling up they did with the Jimmy and Harry connection by having Jimmy say "well now that there is no magic we arent tied together anymore". Which again makes no sense since the before they made a deal about them being molecularlly tied hence the dna helix when macy creates a potion to merge them.

Also why was that a thing if it was never going to be used?

On top of that, they bond is apparently gone but apparently Jimmy and Harry are still missing halves because Jimmy didn't just turn human and die. He vanishes in white smoke. Which is different, but not different since smoke is smoke and Harry didn't vanish in white (to our knowledge) when he was stabbed the first time.

2. It was unnecessary story wise. Especially if by some want they decide to write Jimmy back in.

Why bother sending Jimmy away for an episode if you are going to kill him off in the next?. He was away, safe and happy, was it necessary to bring him back to die?

Yes I get it magic was wearing off so apparently his memories came back. But was it necessary to make it a thing where Jimmy with his memories just wants to come back and kill. Especially when the whole season 2 was about him wanting to be free. Wanting to live and not be a servant.

3. Shallow sisterhood

Okay so I am going to be careful in how I say this, but season 1 (for all its flaws) was the best at writing the sisters bonding. At having them on individual archs but still connected and growing with each other.

Season 2 had them pretty much seperate from each other and that was fine as I understood it to be leading to an eventual come back and uniting.

.... except it really didn't. There is a pattern of seperate jouneys but not the same connected feel of season 1, and then some big declaration of sisterhood, but not true reunion. I assume it is just the writing. So maybe these writer just aren't able to write the same sort of sisterhood which season 1 had. Sad, but if that is the case it's just something to expect here on out. I am curious if the destruction of the sisterhood was that they have to be apart now (convenient physical distancing wise) or if next episode it will be forgotten as a side effect that only lasted the initial moments afterwards.

LIKES

1. Maggie's growth

For my complaints about shallow sisterhood writing and how romances and villians are handled, Maggie's storylines this season have been 100% amazing. And looking at the whole series it feels solid.

Maggie starts off the series very much not into magic unless she can get some personal gain from it whether its a magical glamorous party or some fantasy time with a magic orb. She very much wants a normal party girl life although by the end of season 1 she seems to accept some responsibility to the magical world. Season 2 sort of unraveled that in the beginning as Maggie seemed not accepting of her role in the magical world as she was the last episode of season 1. But she is shown to be the same party girl with a lot of heart. Every episode she grows up until she no longer likes the person she was, and I love how Jordan tells her that growing up isn't about moving on and hating who you used to be but living who you are now (I swoon with him). Thats very Maggie season 2 arch confronting old self and ideas and trying to grow up. She is and she does but not in the ways that she think. When she "tries" to grow up she is actually making bad decisions or pushing down her trauma and pain, when she allows herself to just be, she is at her best. I love it.

2. Hacy

It was all angst and indulgent but still I love anytime a couple can still be going through a tough time but not make unnecessary drama. Macy wasn't being unrealistic or dramatic thinking about her being the one to die, and Harry wasn't being unrealistically bratty about the situation. They were as calm as could possibly be in that situation and he respected her choice although hoping it wouldn't happen. I appreciate it.

3. Mel

So season 2 was so bad for mel writing wise, for some reason the writers have trouble developing Mel outside of other characters considering her most significant and well written character development moments are either in relation to Abby or to Maggie and Ray.

But I liked seeing some of the old mel. The Mel willing to do whatever to save others and her family. Mel as an activist (confident and self assured) is the best Mel. I feel like season 2 didn't have that same Mel and I like the glimpse of her this last episode.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

Sick Abby

Ruby at the grave

The Maggie

Island Dance

Jimmy the florist .... adorable

JimmyxHarry fight scene

Demon Abby