#can you believe i still haven't been able to do a rewatch

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

I had coffee my thoughts are all over the place it's not gonna make sense and I'm probably gonna change my mind about some of the things I said later but here's my ramble.

I'm so mad right now. There's so many things that piss me off with Peter B. I keep thinking about all the mess he keeps pulling throughout the first and the second movie. The fact that he betrayed Miles not once but twice BUT THREE TIMES (typing Miles up in ITSV, not telling him about the Spider Society or that he was an anomaly, CALLING HQ ON HIM BECAUSE HE WANTED TO SAVE HIS FATHER. Technically that's 4 but moving on.)

He refuses to acknowledge Miles as a fellow spider(which is probably why he didn't feel bad about finding Miles was an anomaly now he has a reason to not take Miles seriously.) And he keeps trying to insert himself into a mentor role when he's yet to do a whole lot of mentoring. What also throws me here is how he had the audacity to say the trauma builds character while being a mentor to help guide Miles into becoming Spiderman so Miles' could avoid the mistakes that Peter made.

I WILL NEVER BE OVER THAT CHAIR SCENE IN ITSV. How is it you as a grown man. A grown white man no less took a black teenage boy who you viewed as so much of a liability that you had to tie him up. And I know multiple people have talked about everything that's wrong with this scene but there's still something so haunting about watching him just nonchalantly be tied up kicking and screaming about how he wants to be let go that bothers me so much. And I find it hard to believe that this was just a scene we're supposed to just move on from. Did they do this on purpose? Was this supposed to showcase something about Peter's character that I'm not picking up on? Because I find it so hard to believe that the writers who made sure to explicitly show how Gwen's Peter is Christian because he later turns into a lizard wouldn't understand the implications of this scene.

I also don't think he's a strategic as he thinks he is. What do you think was going to happen when you forcefully tied this boy to a chair? You thought he was going to sit still? Also would you think the boy who's trying to save his father was going to do? Actually listen to your words? Sit back and be like, oh you're right I should just let my father die. (This is me going off my reasoning that he didn't plan out that one scene in ATSV. I think that he thought that because he's Miles' "mentor" he could get through to him in a way others can't. Which pretentious much?) His actions do more harm than good and it just works out for him somehow. (For instance Miles saving them in ITSV because he came late.)

These are my thoughts do with this what you will. All the stars decided to align today ig because I haven't been able to come up with coherent thoughts like this in a minute.

(I really need to rewatch itsv. So if there's anything here that I'm wrong about regarding itsv it's been like 5 years since I've seen it.)

I GET THISS SOOO HARD (I waited until I had coffee to answer this lol)

BUT YESSSSS Because like I can understanding giving Peter the benefit of the doubt, it makes plausible sense for a movie to have a certain amount of wiggle room plot wise.

But with writers who clearly understood punk enough to accurately show it in Hobie's arc, repeatedly put in the work to respect Cockney and Puerto Rican culture, who wrote every one of Hobie's lines with PERCISION - would just overlook the glaring hole in their story that is Peter.

Because we as a viewer are continually told we SHOULD look up to him and we SHOULD trust him - but in doing so they accidentally make him the exact opposite. Like.. It doesn't make sense to me.

The Focus on Jess & The Absence of Peter:

aka GODDAMN I hate Peter B. Parker [yet another rant about 'bad' writing, plotholes, and Peter not showing up for Miles or Gwen.

For example,

Jess is Gwen's mentor, and we see her mentor style is extremely different from Peter's and that's suppose to be a contrasting dynamic between them and the relationship between Miles and Peter. Okay, makes sense.

But by NOT having Peter be Gwen's mentor, the writers are implying that he didn't step up as an emotional mentor when all this given - HE SHOULD. Because he's the only adult that she knows, and she a freshly homeless teen who needs to be around people she trusts, rather than working at a society with an auditorium of adults.

But by trying to show off how much we should judge Jess, the writers have inadvertently given us a Peter who just..didn't take responsibility. That's what they're implying - that Hobie and Jess were the ones who came to get aid. And we're suppose to look the other way. I... can't do that, sir.

"Look at how mean Jess is, why not blame her-" Jess is doing her job. Where's the adult she actually knows and trusts. Can we get some dialogue about what he did for her? Or did he just do nothing?

Did they just forget to include that, or did Peter just forget to help?

For me, that's two points in the bucket. Not housing Gwen, and not being her mentor. He could've done one, the other or both.

But because he didn't, we're left asking "What WAS he doing in the Society?"

Missions, I assume. Cause he wasn't mentoring her, so he must have been off putting in legit work for Miguel, I assume.

If we're looking at the characters as full-rounded - which I would hope they are considering the depth of Gwen, Miles and Hobie, it's not a large jump to ask 'How involved was Peter in Gwen's time at the Society? Why is he not her mentor, or why is she not living with him?"

Gwen..should be staying with him. If you're an adult who knows a teen and they become homeless, and it is within your means - yeah, I do think it's a moral obligation to open your home to them, at least temporarily. If you care about them. But that aside, let's extend the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Gwen didn't want to see him.

But then the ratting Miles out thing. This, I can't get around-

Some may say that it was simply for plot development and that Lyla spoke suddenly as a mistake on her part.

And I gotta call bullshit.

Firstly, because this is the same movie where we're shown Hobie stealing parts prior to learning what the parts are for. The same film that literally animated a fight accurately to Bushwick down to the very street. Let's cut it some slack here.

And moreso - I could understand the justification that it was a mistake on Lyla's part.

If Lyla was human. She's not.

She's an AI, and a very sophisticated one at that. Lyla runs on protocol, because that's AI's do. She's made to do things the way that is mathematically most effective, based on her analysis and her code.

It's easy to see Lyla as just an avatar, and a comedic one at that - but Lyla is literally one of - if not the - smartest 'person' in the multiverse. She's the only one who can track Spot in real time. If Jess and Miguel need aid on a mission or with Spot, they call Lyla. And she's handled every Society mission prior to the chase.

Her speaking out of turn suddenly and giving Peter away is an understandable plot mistake, if she was subjected to human mistakes.

So far, Lyla isn't. It doesn't make sense, based on what Lyla is.

I think Lyla would know better than to give Peter away suddenly by detecting Miles' presence and still speaking out loud.

A lot ask 'What motive does Peter have for ratting Miles out?', but we also should also ask "What motive does Lyla have for ratting herself out?'

It's her goal to find Miles no matter what. She doesn't care, she kinda can't - she's an AI. She just has to find him and send Miles' location to Miguel. Her objective.

So her locating Peter without his knowledge and then giving herself away to him doesn't make sense - especially if Lyla knew Miles was that close, from a human standpoint and definitely from the standpoint of the most sophisticated AI in existence.

So I was under the assumption that - like you mentioned now, that before when he gets Miles alone, he may genuinely be trying to convince him still, but by the time they get into that space, I think that's around the time that it becomes a 'Okay, let's just get Miles back to HQ and talk about this' situation.

He genuinely ratted Miles out. In my eyes.

Because at this point, Miguel hasn't assaulted Miles. That comes later. So realistically speaking, his goal was probably to calm Miles down, and get him back to HQ however he could, and talk to him there.

Peter could've helped WAYYYY earlier.

People give Peter credit like 'Oh but he came over to Miles' side at the end-'

NO. YOU DO NOT GET A COOKIE.

Peter could've helped SO much earlier, and if anything, he was THE ONLY ONE in a position of helping.

Gwen can't do anything, like they physically restrain her when she tries to. And there's no point after they come to HQ that Gwen has the chance to turn around and help Peter.

Gwen doesn't get that chance. Peter DOES.

Had Peter helped Miles HERE, IMMEDIATELY, Miles would've gotten away without being assaulted by Peter.

If Peter had turned around and changed course in this moment, Miles would have been better off.

Fuck Peter B. Fuckkkkk hiiiimmmmm. NAWWWWWW

If Peter had let him go here, or helped him escape - Miles wouldn't have been taking hits up on that train. That's crazzzy.

But he wasn't trying to help Miles escape. If he wanted to, he would've. He could've just said "Matter of fact Miles, I think setting the WHOLE Society on you is a bizarre move and you should probably get out of here until Miguel can calm down and I can talk to him."

But he was like 'Nah, hold my baby. Matter of fact lemme tell you story in this pivotal moment when you're actively in danger. Here, look at me. What do you mean - I'm not stalling? I didn't rat him out on purpose.

Like either you did. And even if you didn't you didn't help him when you were literally the only person in the universe who could. In fact, he got away slower because of you. Lovely.

Peter is a grown man. He's not an idiot.

He knows Miles is in active danger. Why would an adult turn the conversation in that direction - about his baby - KNOWING Miles has no time.

As soon as Miles got his hands on MayDay, Peter is trying to change the conversation. Suddenly he's joking and laughing.

Even though Miles is freaking out. Why is Peter joking? He knows this isn't a joking situation. But here he is wasting Miles time, either accidentally or intentionally.

Because that'd be some good ass stalling.

There was nothing stopping Peter from helping him leave. But Peter was still on The Society's side, so he didn't. If he was on Miles' side, he would've helped him. He should've, but he was still for Miguel, because at this point Miguel hadn't assaulted Peter yet.

Congrats, Peter. Big L. Humbling Reality Spider-man everyone.

Like combine all this. AND THEN THE SCENE IN ITSV.

LITERALLY AND PHYSICALLY PETER IS ALWAYS HOLDING MILES BACK.

You cannot expect me to believe that the writers of a movie I can write 10k+ words about, just so happened to leave these two glaring plot holes for ONE character.

That I'm just suppose to ignore that Peter restrained Miles, a black boy, in ITSV. That he betrayed Miles for months, wasn't very active in Gwen's time at the Society, and he actively hinders Miles escape - if not actively ratting him out.

It baffles my mind.

It doesn't make sense, that these writers can write Hobie, Jessica, Miguel, Officer Stacy, Rio, and Jeff as fully rounded, well-thought characters. But for some reason, when it comes SPECIFICALLY to Peter B. - they just forget how to write. They just stop thinking about him the second they don't look at him.

IN BOTH MOVIES?

I don't buy it.

To have every other character be thoroughly thought through but have one of, if not these most iconic character full of plot holes...

I think the likely answer is they wrote him that way on purpose and he's just a bad person.

I'm sorry, and I'm laughing while writing this but like.

Either Peter is the ONE singular character who has a series of emotional plotholes - or he's just a bad mentor. It's one or the other. And it's open to interpretation.

But I wanna cut the writers some slack and say, No - they thought it through. And No, Lyla did not just randomly speak out of turn, he contacted her first off-screen before she replied to him.

And by waiting till the very end to come around, waiting until the person who looks up to you is deeply wounded to finally turn around - that's the same arc Officer Stacy goes through.

And we're not supposed to clap for him. It's lovely, but he doesn't get an award. And neither does Peter, not at all.

Maybe if had helped Miles escape in that moment. Maybe if he was Gwen's mentor or he housed her.

But as far as we know he spent those months of Gwen in the Society doing fuck all. We've seen no sign of his contribution anywhere.

And in a story about mentorship, that says something.

Anyway. This is long. Again fiosfgihrgirturetuier I'm SORRY

Once again, Fuck Peter B. All my Hobies hate Peter B. (not a typo)

He's worse than Jess.

And he's not worse than Miguel but I like Miguel more and it's not because of the ass that's just a bonus Miguel is cool (but also very wrong. but like personality wise we're cool).

Ummm I feel like I got off track here. Oh well!!

Damn he be doing Miles dirty. SMH

Bye.

[misc-obeyme]

I like to think that lilith's Angel DNA was still active or strong enough to last generations after generations. So if her Angel DNA got more thinner and thinner after generations, it would make sense for Mc to gain power AFTER forming some sort of pacts with the brothers.

This makes me wonder if Mc is the "special one" in her lineage to awaken this sort of power within themselves. If Mc had siblings, wouldn't that mean that Mc's siblings could also gain/awaken their power, too? Since they all share lilith's bloodline. Which could make some things very interesting.

I completely agree with you that Michael (or god) have their eyes on Mc considering how powerful they are (regardless of whether they're human or Nephilim). Maybe that's why Raphael was sent to the Devildom to keep one eye on Mc. Both realms are currently not at war, but i'm sure neither of them want that powerful being, aka Mc to become the others side weapon if something were to escalate. Maybe this is why Solomon once asked Mc to side with humanity instead. (I can't remember what lessons it was in NB).

Either that or they would try to get "ride of" Mc if they become too powerful and dangerous. and once more, according to biblical lore states that ridding the Earth of these Nephilim was one of God's purposes for flooding the Earth in Noah's time. So they have done it before.

Also, off topic but; You used to watch Supernatural?! Omfg, this brings back memories 😭

-Angsty Anon.

Oh dearest angsty anon. I did indeed watch Supernatural. I started watching while season 5 was airing. For many years, I was obsessed. Though it got to the point that I just watched out of habit because by the time I had invested in twelve or so seasons, I was like I'm gonna see this thing to the end.

Which is funny because I still haven't watched the end. One day, I will watch the last half of season 15. Who knows when it will be, but one day I'll do it. I also rewatched the first 8 seasons, but it's been a while.

Anyway, I think you can go with any of the options regarding the angel DNA. The game's canon on this topic is sparse so I really think you can just come up with whatever you want.

I hadn't previously considered the implications of MC's siblings. I suppose that's why I considered most of MC's power to come from their pacts and so on. My own MC has an older sister and I can't believe I never realized that she would also have some of Lilith's DNA. My MC's mom might, too!! Oh man I kinda feel like that has to be the case because it'd be really funny.

Sorry got a little off topic there. Raphael's cover story is that he's there to be the new exchange student, but I think his ulterior motives are to watch both Simeon and MC. And you know likely to report back to Michael about the goings on in the Devildom in a more general sense, too.

Does the Celestial Realm know about MC's heritage? I can't remember. Lucifer was keeping Lilith's resurrection a secret from his brothers, but I'm assuming nobody else knows? Does Simeon?? These details are eluding me.

I'm just wondering if that would matter to the CR, you know? Just another reason to keep track of MC is their angel DNA, right?

I wonder if they'd even be able to "get rid of" MC, even if they tried. It's hard to say since we don't know how powerful Michael or God/Father is. On the one hand, I would think MC's power would be off the charts at this point, but on the other hand well... that's God we're talking about, right? LOL.

Anyway, here's hoping no floods happen just to take out MC. We get enough of that from Lotan being summoned.

[bunnygirl678]

Back at it again with another Reguri AU that I don't have time to write. So steal it please! Seriously feel free to write, draw, or use it to distract your mind enough to fall asleep (is that a thing other people do or am I just freaking weird)

-Red and Green are on their honeymoon in alola (duh) and they are doing a fun little couples battle with some of the alolan pokemon they've caught

-one of the tapu's sees them and wants to fuck with them cause they're unhinged (my 5 year old has rewatched the sun/moon anime like 15 times and i still can't remember which one does what)

-sends green back into time (note this is gonna be like dragon ball z time travel where it just created a new timeline or whatever)

-he gets transported midbattle with little red, but like not the championship and most of his pokemon haven't evolved yet

-Big!green is just like awwww you guys were so cute, little!red immediately realizes that somehow Green aged like 12 years in a flash and is obv confused, green explains that he was on vacay with his Red and got sent here somehow, let's go to the lab and see if gramps can help

-they travel to the lab or whatever, and the prof is immediately like "My dead son!" cause my hc is that green looks identical to his dad, and big!green is like nah sorry gramps it's just me from the future

-and they all talk and little!red is like, you aren't an asshole, anymore? and big!green like apologizes for little!green, and is like it may not seem like it but i know he cares about you, because big!green knows that during their journey he realized he had feelings for red, but like didn't want them so he just started being an asshole

-at some point daisy sees the ring and is like "oh you got married?! Whos the lucky lady anyone we know yet?" and big!green kinda like does an awkward quick glance at little!red, and is trying to figure out how to not out his past self because this isn't his secret to tell

-the prof is like 'oh holy shit you and red figured things out' cause he observes and figured it out when green was like 7 or something, and little!red is like wtf and big!green is like yeah but not for a while and then he gives little!red some training just cause what else are they going to do, plus little!red is having a crisis, cause he thinks his version of green hates him

-then it like flips to big!red's perspective and little!green shows up freaking out shouting for his red cause they were just together, and he see's big!red who is swole af and doesn't look that much like his red so he thinks his red has been kidnapped or something, and little!green goes absolutely feral, cause remember he has feelings for his red

-he's like i'll kill you, did you hurt him, where's red, and big!red is like this is the most adorable thing I've ever seen, and like big!green at one point had told him that he had feelings for Red when they were small but Red didn't really believe it until that moment, and also he's like hmmm green and i should adopt cause he's like high on honeymoon and little!green is such a cutie

-Big!Red is like i'm red, it's fine, little!green doesn't believe it until big!red brings up something that like only he would remember like they caught a caterpie together or something idk

-big!red goes and buys little!green some food and they kinda talk and little!green can't stop staring cause wow big!red looks so different, then he sees the wedding ring and is like devastated, and is trying not to cry or whatever and big!red is like able to read him like a book cause it's green even though it's little!green it's still green, and he like pulls out his phone and it's a photo from their wedding and little!green like short circuts cause he didn't even realize that was an option

-somehow they get to switch back and the other timeline red/green work out their issues quickly both with knowledge of the future and they start dating at like 14, cause 11 year olds don't date, and red never goes up the mountain except for the occasional week of training and green always goes with him and it's never angsty like the other timeline

-the alolan honeymooners are just glad to be together again and they finish their time in alola and red's like let's adopt and green's like whatever makes you happy

[theflyindutchwoman]

I’m watching 5x04 at the moment, and I’ve been paying closer attention to Tim (and Lucy) during the episode…

And the worry on this stupid man’s face the whole freakin time 😭 and he keeps looking at Lucy like he’s checking that she’s okay.

Like so far this whole episode, he’s just got this look on his face and he keeps making subtle glances in Lucy’s direction.

And I am so emo right now 😭

Eric really said “Rosalind episode? Bet. Watch me make Tim the ultimate Lucy protector without any words” 😂

I haven't rewatched that episode since it aired so I'm writing from memory (on a side note, I seriously need to start my s5 rewatch…).

But yes, those looks… *screaming internally* The worry, the pining… Like the one in the shop, where he subtly tries to check on how she's doing without drawing attention to her, knowing that she would probably hate that… Or the one they exchange when Lucy panics after Bailey asks her where Nolan is and Tim is right there to take over for her… 'Just be a friend. And if you need a cop, tag me in'… And, of course, the one when he is being lowered to the basement… That moment is just exquisite. The love, the longing, the fear… So much emotions… And I'm emo too now!

But for all those little moments, I still felt let down on the Chenford front in that episode. I get that this was rushed due to what was going on behind the scenes with the actress playing Rosalind… But I guess I wanted and needed more emotions, if that makes any sense? That storyline in regards to Lucy and Tim has always been so poignant and it didn't entirely deliver.

It probably didn't help that it happened right when they were stuck in that limbo. It's a tough act to balance his desire to be there for her with the awkwardness between them, the guilt… So I understand that Tim couldn't be as explicitly supportive and protective as before. Like when he gave her back her ring. Or when he was being the Fierce Protector at the prison. And in a way, it offered the perfect contrast to 5.01, in the sense that you could imagine how hard this must have been for them not to reach out to the other. For Lucy not to have anyone to ground her. For Tim not to be able to comfort her. And that's why I wished we saw more of that struggle. How adrift they probably felt. Those looks were great, but something was still missing. Like, I don't know, Tim about to grab Lucy's hand before stopping himself because he doesnt know if he can do this now… Same with Lucy… They share this history with Rosalind and I didn't think it was properly acknowledged.

And then, there's that last scene that kind of bothered me. The way Tim barely reacted to Lucy's turmoil and conflicted emotions at seeing Rosalind's dead body… I need to rewatch it to be certain, but I remember feeling a bit put out by it. I still can't believe that no one asked her how she was doing… The fact that this felt unfinished and rushed didn't help. (Though when I see what they did to Nolan and Bailey in that episode and how her trauma was not only brushed off, but turned into a joke one episode later, I'm actually happy with what we got lol).

[precuredaily]

Precure Daily's Sixth Anniversary

On April 10, 2018, I posted the first review in the project that became Precure Daily. It wasn't actually on tumblr at that time, but on Facebook. The plan was to watch an episode every day and just post some thoughts, but it evolved into reviews and screenshots and that necessitated a whole blog, and here we are. That was six years ago today!

Six years. It's hard to believe. I honestly, truly didn't think I'd still be doing this. Whether I petered out before the end, or managed to get it all done in the 2-3 years I anticipated, I figured I'd have stopped by now. But somehow I haven't given up yet! I'm still watching, still writing, and still getting new fans to share with, and that makes it all worth it.

The past year was slow, I will readily acknowledge it. I only got about 7 reviews out in that time, including the one that just went up earlier today, but one of those was the Go Go movie. That was a whole undertaking, it took me nine months to get out. Granted, for about 6 of those 9 months it was just sitting there unchanged. I'd open it occasionally to poke at it but then not end up getting much done. Maybe it still wasn't the best it could have been but I'm proud of it nonetheless. It was a good review for a good movie. Also, I got to review the very first All Stars, even if it was a short film. Having recently wached the most recent All Stars brings that experience full circle and it's real nice.

One small hiccup is that, at the time of writing, I haven't yet gotten out the traditional Honoka birthday post. I just haven't had time to sit down and gather artwork for it. Hopefully that'll come out in the next day or two!

Outside of the blog, let's look at the wider world of the Precure series over the last year

I said last year that I hadn't finished Delicious Party, and that's still true. When it was on air, I was watching it with a friend and she was really into it; we are going to resume watching together to finally push through it.

HIrogaru Sky's second half was good, it lacked a little bit of the driving power of the first half and the villain plot never properly came together in my opionion. I still love the characters, I think they're my favorite cast in a good while.

I did not watch Otona Precure. Although I've watched Go Go before, I want to finish this current watchthrough for the blog before I jump into it. Maybe I'll even review it as I go, that remains to be seen. I've heard mixed things about it and I'm not very big on the idea that the girls just go back to teenagers when they transform, but I'll reserve judgment.

Wonderful Precure did not appeal to me when information started coming out, and I fell off it for a few weeks when the first couple eps didn't impress me, but I decided to keep going and it's thoroughly enjoyable. I don't think it's going to crack my top 10 but it should be a solid middle of the road series.

I watched the Delicious Party Precure movie and Precure All Stars F with friends in fairly close proximity, and wow do those movies exist on opposite ends of the spectrum. DeliPa's film was one of the weakest Precure movies I've seen, while All Star F was phenomenal. I need to rewatch it.

I did say last year that the blog would look different when I finish Go Go. That is still true. I should be able to wrap that up in a few months, then comes the next phase of things. Deets when it happens.

And also just because I can, here's some recommendations for shows outside of Precure you should watch that came out in the last year-ish:

Oshi no Ko

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (featuring Wonderful Precure's Tanezaki Atsumi as a monotone elf)

SPY x FAMILY (featuring Wonderful Precure's Tanezaki Atsumi as a psychic toddler)

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger

The Last of Us

And I think that's it for this year's update! Here's to another year of watching and writing about Precure! Thanks as always to my loyal friends and fans for making this project a success: @sailorzombiestar, @vertixscribe, PaintedOutlaw, @hanasaki-tsubomi, yugimon135 (can't tag you for some reason), and my newest fan @nono-bunny.

Here's all my previous sappy anniversary posts if you want to go back and read them.

First Anniversary

Second Aniversary

Third Anniversary

Fourth Anniversary

Fifth Anniversary

[the-words-we-sung]

First impressions after watching season 3

So after being super patient all day yesterday, I finally managed to get back home and binge watch season 3 last night \o/ I'm just gonna put a few of my first thoughts here for now, I'm gonna need to rewatch everything to have more detailed and coherent thoughts 😁 But first of all, I wanna thanks Amber 💜 (@amailboxlemur) for being the best spectator and companion to my live reactions 😂 It was super duper nice to be able to share these with you while I was watching and going through all the emotions 😱 So I liked the season!! It was a lot a lot but I really enjoyed it!! It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me blush... All the rainbow emotions 💜

Here is my reaction at the end of episode 5, and I think it sums up pretty well my feeling at that moment :p

So a few randoms comments (I will write more about each episode after rewatching them, which I intend to start doing tonight because I neeeeeed to watch it all again):

[It's not spoiler-free so don't read if you haven't watched the season yet!!]

⁂ Simon was incredibly sad this season and it broke my heart. Seeing him cry just made me cry. He was so lost and broken, I really can't wait for the last episode to see him get better (yes I'm an eternally optimist person so I believe he will be happier!!)

⁂ I wasn't expecting the Micke/Sara storyline but I think I liked it! It gave us a new perspective into the Eriksson family dynamic and I felt so so bad for Sara at the end

⁂ I loved to see Simon being truly angry at his sister!! Baby boy is so used to being nice and forgiving, so it was really refreshing to see him actually be mad and stand his ground about it!!

⁂ Wilhelm Wilhelm Wilhelm. My poor boy is a mess! He was so hopeful at the beginning, thinking he could finally have it all, but yeah it was obviously not gonna be smooth sailing. He's such a messy, broken, angry teenager this season and my heart cries for him. He ends up hurting Simon quite a lot but I cannot be truly mad at him. He's a broken boy trying his best :(

⁂ Which leads me to his family: arghhhhhh. So I was hoping that we would get some more info to understand Kristina at least a little bit, but she's just truly awful this season. And the Duke is not better. I hate them for how they behave with Wilhelm. And on a more personal note: I always saw my own mother in Kristina, but this season it's even more flagrant, and gosh does it make me mad for Wilhelm. His lashing out at them at the end of episode 5 was as painful as it was good to see. I've been in his situation. I've yelled like him too many times to count. So I hurt for him. He deserves so much better. Nobody should have these kind of people as parents :(

⁂ The Erik stuff made me so sad!!

⁂ The whole school situation was a bit frustrating at time but it was interesting to see the characters reacting to it all. Felice is a queen and deserves so much better than her "friends". And Vincent can rot in hell 😠

⁂ They're all incredible actors!! And the show is beautiful as usual. I am slightly disappointed with the music (no song captured me as well as the ones in season 1 and 2, but maybe I just need to watch the episodes a few times for that to happen ^^)

⁂ All the cute scenes between Wilhelm and Simon were just the best. Seeing them be silly boyfriends was the best. And yeah, the chemistry is still chemistrying hard between Edvin and Omar :p

I'm gonna stop my list of first reactions there, but I'll continue in more details episode by episode! Overall I think I like this season, though the ending killed me and the week to come is gonna be the longest week ever ^^' I am not really worried about the last episode. I trust the show. I do believe Wilmon will be endgame. And I think not everything will be wrapped up neatly but I do think the ending will be satisfying. So can't wait \o/

[thefrogdalorian]

It's New Year's Eve and I just wanted to share some mushy thoughts about life and Mando and Din and how this year has been overall for me!!

If you don't want to read below the cut I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year!! I hope you have a wonderful time, whatever you do to celebrate. I'm currently on a trip so I may not be terribly active, but if you're struggling and the emotions of the day are a little too much, please do message me. I've been there plenty of times. You're not alone. NYE should really be about looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past, but I know how easy it is to get caught up in that depressive loop of thinking.

But if you do want to keep reading, then strap in for some Oversharing Online and gushing about how much Mando means to me:

I first started watching Mando during the pandemic in 2020, I think the first episode released like 2 days after the UK went into lockdown or something. 2020 was an awful year for me, as I'm sure it was for so many of you. A lot of things happened to me that I'm still trying to process but I hope to start therapy in the new year and go some way to addressing it.

Anyway, The Mandalorian came to me at a time I dearly needed it. It was welcome relief from The Horrors I was experiencing. I was hooked pretty much straight away, who was this mysterious man? What were his intentions? Was he good or bad? OH WOW THAT WALK. THAT VOICE!!! I loved it, but it wasn't until The Believer that everything changed for me. It went from enjoyment to full-blown obsession. I couldn't wait until Season 3 aired, and I think the expectations I had built up in my head could never have lived up to the reality of what I felt upon watching it for the first time. I was pretty disappointed most weeks, but I feel so differently now.

This year has been pretty strange for me. I had some amazing highs (like being able to go to Star Wars Celebration where I got to see so many amazing Din and Mandalorian cosplays which was an INSANE experience and I still kind of haven't properly processed yet??) and also some difficult lows.

In June I finally got my autism diagnosis, something I'd been essentially waiting for for EIGHT YEARS. It was a huge shock but also not shocking at all. As in, I knew I was autistic since being a teenager but I was absolutely not expecting to be told right there and then at my assessment. So when the psychologist looked me in the eye and told me that I was autistic it was somewhat of a gut punch. Processing it was extremely difficult but during that time I found myself drawn back to Mando and particularly to season 3. I rewatched it again and again fell in love with a season that I'd probably felt on the whole underwhelmed with at the time, until the last two episodes, which I loved instantly.

When rewatching it, I noticed things that I'd missed before, which led me to become kind of obsessed with the idea of Din and Bo together. I know not everyone enjoys that but that truly is what I love about media, that we can all watch a similar thing and interpret it differently! I don't think I'm any more correct about the way I view certain interactions than anyone else. Shipping should just be a little fun, not ruin your mental health or dictate how you treat strangers on the internet. And it especially should not lead to any real world harassment of creators and actors.

So in September an idea formed and between then and November a 182,000 word fic landed in my lap. That's the best way I can describe writing it for me, I was so fixated on finishing it and the plot just kept coming the more I wrote. It is by FAR the longest thing I've ever written and probably ever will write, but the routine of writing it and publishing it helped claw me out of a spiral I was in after my diagnosis.

And it was publishing it on AO3 that gave me the confidence to rejoin a fandom space again. It was a big step for me to put myself out there but I'm so glad that I did because that's what led me here, to discover this wonderful community who adore Din and The Mandalorian just as much as I do. I'm so happy that I finally found my way here. It was way less intimidating than I ever thought it would be!

I know that I haven't been here for the longest time, I wish I just got over my nervousness and made a tumblr earlier in the year so I could have joined in with the hype before season 3. But also considering how poorly received the season was overall, maybe it was for the best that I wasn't here.

Despite my relative newness here, I just wanted to say how welcomed I've felt and that is a truly lovely feeling. Thank you so much to everyone who has interacted with any of my posts and especially my writing in any way, big or small. It means a lot to me! I cannot wait to be around for all the buildup to Season 4, honestly. I know it seems so far but after midnight we can say it's (probably) only NEXT YEAR!

I have no idea what 2024 has in store for me. That doesn't scare me, in fact I'm quite excited about not knowing what will happen. I

Of course, I have some goals I'd like to achieve for myself but whatever happens, I know that Mando will be there to endlessly rewatch and whatever comes my way, I'll always have Din Djarin. He's the only man to ever exist! That gorgeous tin can who instantly soothes me every time I get to watch his silly little exploits with his silly little son. Where would we be without him, eh?

Anyway, whatever you're doing tonight to celebrate and even if you aren't, I wish you all the best. Stay safe, enjoy yourself and I'm sending you lots of love and light for the year. May 2024 be a healthy, happy prosperous year for you and your loved ones.

See you in 2024!

Love,

Spud 🥔🐸

[udovaintomyheart]

Ways you can help get Shadow and Bone S3 + Six Of Crows Spinoff

Stream Shadow and Bone S2 on Netflix:

this is the most obvious and yet time consuming way that you can help. it is rumored that Netflix values completion rate, hours watched, rewatch rate, and number of new viewers. This means it would be best if you could get friends and family who might not have seen the show before to watch it all the way through.

If that isn't possible, the next best thing we can do is stream! This means to watch the second season all the way through, start to finish. You don't have to physically be watching of course, you can have it playing on a device in the background as you work, clean, cook, ect.

Ideally, the volume on your device should be more than half. You can use headphones if you don't want to hear the sound, or place it in a different room. Just remember to check up on the device every 2-3 hours to make sure it is still playing the show.

From my experience, Netflix will stop the season at the beginning of episode 4 if you haven't been jiggling the mouse or adjusting the volume, brightness, ect. So, I just change the subtitles or brightness every now and then to make sure Netflix believe I am actively watching the show.

How to stream on PC/computer:

Go to Netflix.com (you can use the Netflix app but you won't be able to mute the tab if you do it that way)

Choose Shadow and Bone S2 Ep 1 and let your device play through it. You want the sound on the Netflix tab itself to be higher than 50%.

Now that you have it playing, you can mute the tab on your device (I use Google Chrome but, I'm sure other browsers allow you to mute as well!)

To mute the tab:

right-click the tab, and then you will see "mute site". go ahead and click on that.

Tablet/Phone:

Go to the Netflix App

Click on Shadow and Bone season 2 and start from episode 1 at the beginning.

Because there is no way to mute the tab, just use headphones or put the device somewhere if the sound bothers you.

You might also want to keep your device connected to a charger as it can drain the battery a little.

please continue to stream shadow and bone! and start if you haven't already.

TV:

Go to Netflix on your remote/application

Play Shadow and Bone s2 all the way through

This is best if you are cooking or something where you can hear the show from the other room and can click "continue watching" when need be.

Other ways to help:

Say you are unable to stream, that's ok! There are other ways you can help Netflix know that we want Shadow and Bone renewed for a third season and a Six Of Crows Spin Off.

Use hashtags! Rumor has it that Netflix cares most about Twitter, so please use that platform the most if you can. (I know that is a tall ask haha) Here are some super important ones:

#Shadow and Bone

#Six Of Crows Spin Off

#SOC Spin Off

Talk about it on Social Media:

Whatever platform you use, please share Shadow and Bone content, like, comment, put the posts on your stories, make edits, talk about the plot, what you liked, what you didn't, just talk about the show!

Join the watchparty:

This is more like a blend of the two ways to help. Kanej Breakdown on Twitter hosted a watch party on April 1st and 2nd and it went super well! The idea was we all watch using a Google Chrome Extension called Teleparty (you can also just watch the episodes listed for that day at that time if you don't have PC/ Google Chrome) and tweet using the hashtags listed above. This allows so many tweets to be sent under those hashtags, and gets it trending. They are hosting another watchparty today as well as this weekend.

We want to stay as high as possible to finish out these 28 days (important for Netflix's renewal system) so, please, please if you are able STREAM!!

[demonslayedher]

Things that went through my head while watching this episode:

--It's pointless for demons to fight each other… unless it's fun.

--Have we ever seen more joy on Nezuko's face? Maybe joy isn't the right word, but it's close, at least for a demon. I know we're getting more of Nezuko: Advanced in the swordsmith village, but I really wish we couldn't have gotten just a little bit more of her losing herself like this to drive home the point that, at her core, she is currently something different from human now, and for as long as she's not human, she'll run the risk of doing this again. Also, it would drive home just how hard she's always had to fight her demon nature, even if it did get easier once she freed herself from Muzan's control and unlocked the restorative powers of sleep.

--Speaking of Nezuko's powers, Daki's right, Nezuko is a but of a one-trick, two-trick pony using the same sloppy kicks and slashes all the time--she totally lacks finesse or conscious effort to improve in her fighting abilities. Rather, the abilities she comes up in the moment--exploding blood, and now regenerative abilities that put Daki's to shame, and hardened blood that saves her the trouble of her body part flying every which way--are things that her more of a gut reaction of what she wants in the moment. And, while there's other motivation behind it like wanting to protect her brother, what Nezuko wants most deeply and simply in those moments is violence. Rui? She wanted him to burn. And here, we see she wants to hurry up and get back in the fight--a fight which has now been more safely removed from where Tanjiro is--and she summoned back her form purely for the purpose of want to kick Daki again, really hard. And when Daki makes that's harder? Nezuko adjusts, again, so that she can kick her harder. Oh! Turns out stomping on her is pretty satisfying. Let's do more of this. Tanjiro who?

--I love how before Nezuko truly remembers the song--much less who she is--she is very slightly starting to calm down as she feels the memory of her mother (or least enough of a memory of her to welcome her ghost back, if that is the case. These poor Kamados have a such a busy afterlife) . Some fun things Hanae-san said in the Kimetsu Radio reaction to this episode were that Kuwashima-san (a veteran seiyuu who voices Kie) had to reign in her very skilled singing voice to make the lullaby more believable something a simple mother would sing to entertain a child, and Hanae's first recording session for Yuukaku-hen was the "singing" (thank goodness he didn't) of the lullaby as Nezuko is beating him up, as the animators/producers wanted to fit the scene to his performance and timing instead of the other way around. As for his timing, he considered it on a panel by panel basis, down to every whack and thump from Nezuko that interrupts him.

--Hey, Tanjiro, stop making promises you can't keep. You sure as hell haven't been able to keep Nezuko from getting hurt and having to fight. You said something similar to this right before Daki crashed the town.

--Speaking of promises he doesn't have the power to keep, I love Uzui laying into him about how he made such a brazen promise to Oyakata-sama about this not happening. It's doubly satisfying after having rewatched that recently.

--I love the scene of Daki whining and crying at Uzui so much that it spawned a feel-good fix-it AU, in Part 1 and Part 2.

--I love how when Gyutaro first made an appearance the fandom's collective response was, "His voice, I hate it!! …It's perfect."

--Because it is!!!!

--Excellent job, Ohsaka Ryota-san. After your career of voicing pretty boys, I hope you had the time of your life performing the most wretched a voice imaginable, yet still making us all fall hard for Gyutaro as a character. Good source material for his story, yes, but what really sold his anime adaptation for me is the cooing and affection in his voice not just for Daki, but even for teasing Tanjiro later.

--On that note, I love Daki's complexity. Aren't we all like her, at some level? "I did my best, but it didn't work, I'm done being a big girl, time to baby me?" We all have an inner Daki, she just blows it to demonic proportions.

--Then again, that's something that makes her such a foil to Nezuko, the other feature imouto of this episode: in the Taisho Secret, Tanjiro harps on how she was always so reasonable and patient and mature, even when she was hurting (which I guess makes her a good embodiment of the "don't you ever get tired of being nice" meme). Even though tiny!Nezuko indulges in getting Tanjiro's love and attention, as a human, she never hoarded Tanjiro for herself or expected him to do anything special for her. However, she and Tanjiro had a secure, loving family, whereas Ume & Gyutaro's enire worlds were each other. Now as demons, they take "unhealthy level of attachment" to a literal level.

--One thing that makes me curious is how often Gyutaro comes out and does anything, as it seems Daki doesn't frequently undergo anything as frustrating as Nezuko's fire or a Pillar chopping off her head. However, Gyutaro has eaten more Pillars than she has, and as the more powerful one, presumably done the larger share of killing the Demon Slayers who come into town. Sure, maybe Daki has to fish them out, but maybe there are a lot of times when it's more advantageous to just sick Gyutaro on somebody right away instead of blowing Daki's oiran cover. Also, perhaps earlier in their demon careers, Daki got beat up on more frequently so Gyutaro was more acively involved in beating bullies up, hence, why he got Muzan's attention.

--In the midst of this long and different night Tanjiro is already having, he's just so bright and happy to hear the sound of Inosuke's voice and that is heartwarming. And I just had to check against the manga, yup, Tanjiro is totally confused that Zenitsu seems to be asleep. He's got no idea. I love how, perhaps, all three of them have had no idea for all this time. Nezuko, though. Nezuko's witnessed it four months ago and I'll bet that scene plays in her dreams.

--Speaking of Power Napping, I love how Nezuko looks so little here, like the littlest she's been in this whole series???? She may as well be asleep on her mother's back again while being unable to stay awake to watch Dad perform Hinokami Kagura. I hope she's having good dreams about her mother.

--Finally, a doodle I made after this episode first aired:

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 7)

Alright, time for another power ranking... in space? Looks like it's going to be all stars for our All Stars. There, now if they don't make that joke in the episode, I've made it for them.

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings ( 5 | 6 ), the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Fiore's Elimination

Current Point Total: 18 acquired/29 possible

So. That was sad.

And I mean that purely from a point of my personal enjoyment, not a critique of the writing. I feel like I've seen some people claim that Fiore's elimination was a bad move writing-wise, and while I respect their opinion, I can't say I entirely agree. I still think that believing Fiore could be this season's winner wasn't a completely ridiculous idea-- the main reason why I thought that could be the case is because she was framed as sympathetic as compared to Hunter, as opposed to in S1 where she was a full villain. I still think that Ashley's attitude regarding Fiore is... a bit misguided, given that the only "revenge" she has to get on Fiore is for Fiore outsmarting her in the game of smarts.

However, in retrospect, even if Fiore reunited with Alec, I'm not really sure what she would be doing for the rest of the season that wouldn't just be a total retread of her prior content. If Fiore and Alec quickly regrouped and became allies again, then they would play the rest of the contestants in the exact same way they did in S1. If they didn't regroup, or even did on only tentative terms, then they wouldn't have the numbers, and Fiore likely would have been eliminated shortly anyways. Knowing what I know now, Fiore seems like one of those characters who has the edit to be the winner, but not the actual social standings to make it that far. I will still absolutely miss my favorite character, but she already got her chance to shine in S1, and I can always rewatch that if I want to see her dominate again.

As for my predictions... well, I'm really talented at putting the boot in 9th place, huh? I mean, it gets closer and closer to accurate every time, so I can't really complain. What's interesting to me is that what I did correctly totally flipped between Connor and Fiore. For Connor, I was correct in assessing that Yellow had bad vibes, but did a terrible job determining who on Yellow would get axed. For Fiore, I was totally wrong in predicting a Cyan tribal, but at least I managed to determine which member of Magenta would go home if they did face elimination. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to synthesize the good points as opposed to tripping into both of my pitfalls. Although, I'm a little worried...

Trailer Analysis

... Because, what the hell is this preview? Don't get me wrong: the episode looks really fun, and I'm super excited for it! But, in terms of content, I'm having a hard time discerning anything of note. Let's see what we can get out of this trailer.

So, obvious starting point; this episode is space themed. I'm guessing that the teams all have to race to these escape pods, completing challenges along the way. The outfits look great, and I'm very impressed by the number of outfits per character they're introducing this season. Keeping their 2D riggers in business, I suppose...? The outfits seem to be at least somewhat inspired by Star Trek, although, I think there's actually a bigger inspiration behind this episode that I haven't personally seen anyone else mention yet...

This episode seems to be really inspired by Among Us??? I only played the game, like, once, so I could be totally off. But, there appear to be many, many challenges that mirror Among Us' minigames. Here's Ally swiping a card...

Here's a door quite similar to the doors in... at least some maps? (Tom is holding a tablet, which we also see Ally and Jake fighting over, that may report each team's tasks).

There are multiple scenes depicting what appear to be a power outage, which is something that happens periodically in the game. Jake is fixing it, just like a crewmate would(?).

I think that you usually fix wires instead of cutting them in Among Us, but the similarity still stands. This is the Among Us episode. If the eliminated character gets fucking ejected I swear to god--

This arcade setting intrigues me because, as far as I know, arcades are common to neither Among Us or Star Trek. That could mean that this arcade was placed here for a highly specific Disventure Camp reason. Is it here to distract Ally? Can players flunk the challenge to find an advantage within the machines? Or are there just particular tasks/games that they wanted to throw in this episode that needed to be at an arcade?

The fact that we see Derek but NOT Trevor in this trailer intrigues me. It's quite possible that Trevor was fully left behind on Earth, and Krystal only recruited Derek for this space mission. Talk about being worlds apart.

Aiden and Jake will have a chat, albeit possibly only briefly. Were they separated from their teams by something? It looks like Jake might be trying to make amends (given that, if Tom "has a boyfriend," Tom definitely isn't into Aiden either), but Aiden is still hesitant to believe in/work with him. Notably, this is during the power outage.

Tom reads from a piece of paper in the arcade, which could fit with the idea that there's some special game/challenge that can only be completed in the arcade. I don't even want to know what Ellie would do with a totem at this point (/pos).

Like I alluded to earlier, Ally and Jake are definitely fighting in this episode. I'll talk more about my theories on that in both of their sections (and probably Ashley's as well).

These two continue to be iconic. I'm SO here for it, honestly.

"I knew it... I knew it! We're all gonna die...!"

Back to Among Us for a moment, one major aspect of that game is the Imposter; the traitor hidden amongst the cast trying to kill them all. Aiden's quote here could easily be in regards to a role like that existing within DC. Then again, I really have no idea how they would implement that. Would the Imposter be one of the contestants, and, if so, does that person get any additional advantages or protections in tribal? If that is the case, then I guess I'd predict that Grett or Ellie might be the Imposter, just because we didn't see a whole lot of them in the trailer. Or, could the Imposter be someone more like Trevor or Nina? That would make more sense from a fairness angle, but neither of them could really pretend to be a contestant and get away with it, as far as I'm aware.

Another really interesting thing about this preview is that, as far as I can tell, every single scene comes from the challenge. If the losing team does stick around on the ship to eject someone, then it's possible that some scenes are sneakily from after the challenge has ended. Still, there's not a single shot of camp. I wouldn't be surprised if the episode cold opens on the challenge, with the campers "waking up" on the spaceship and having no idea how they got there. At the very least, the challenge is going to take up a HUGE chunk of the episode.

The fact that we can't really tell what's part of the challenge and what's not makes it really hard to tell which team would wind up losing, and, to an extent, which relationships are going to receive particular focus. Even though I was wrong last time, I at least thought I had a leading theory on which team could lose the ball challenge. This trailer gives me no inclinations as to whether Cyan, Magenta, or Yellow is headed to tribal. Therefore, a lot of my analysis will likely be based off of who I think is most likely to make it to the merge, with that based on what story lines they have to expand upon in a merged setting. We have to be merging pretty soon, right...?

This will be a challenge. I'll try my best!

Power Ranking

#1: Ashley

In my mind, Ashley is 100% safe in this upcoming episode. I’ve already said that I think Ashley will make the merge this time, and I still believe that’s true. For Ashley to even be viable for elimination, Magenta would have to cut themselves down to TWO PEOPLE, which seems pretty unlikely on the writers' end. And, even if they did, with the way that the preview shows Jake and Ally, I find it really difficult to believe that the two of them would suddenly work together to eliminate the person that both of them feel closer to. More likely, in a Magenta tribal, it would come down to who Ashley feels more comfortable moving forward with… and Ashley obviously feels comfortable working with herself. No riding off into the sunset yet.

#2: Alec

Pretty much everything I said last week about Alec still holds true this week, because the Yellow tribe’s dynamics didn’t change much between this week and the last. If anything, Alec’s situation possibly got getter, because 1) he proved that he’s useful in challenges, and 2) he grew closer to Riya, to the point that she’s more of a genuine ally than just “not already in a pair.” I guess those strengths could also be reasons to target him, but now that Riya probably prefers Alec to Grett and Yul, the trio turning on him feels even more unrealistic.

#3: Tom

Tom really just keeps ping-ponging across my list, doesn’t he? Well, this time his move is motivated by the spicy content revealed in last week’s episode. Tom has a boyfriend! … Or, more likely, he doesn’t. In either case, wouldn’t it would be sort of weird to have him sent home without ANY further development on that plot line?

Okay, fine, that’s not entirely fair. Tom explaining why he ignored Jake throughout this game so far could theoretically be his swan song before clearing the stage for Jake and Aiden to have beef without him. However, I’m, like, 99% sure that Tom made up that boyfriend on the spot, and if THAT’S the case, it would be weird for him to go home without ever facing the consequences of his actions, whether or not Jake is there with him.

Tom also lost the whole “regretful, I’m going to ask to be sent home because I feel so badly about how I treated Jake these past few years” angle that I thought he might’ve had last episode. That puts Tom back in a safer spot for as long as he has Aiden as a shield. I don’t think he’s going home anymore, so he’s here.

#4: Tess

There’s still a possibility that Tess could get caught in the “indecision results in elimination” sinkhole, but now that Tess knows that Ellie is part of the villains alliance (and didn’t tell her), I have a hard time believing that the choice would be so impossible for her. The thing that was swaying her towards Ellie's side was not wanting to ruin her outside-of-game friendship with Ellie, so if she believes that Ellie is backtracking on that already, she'd be less likely to remain loyal.

Furthermore, her little moment with Ally last episode could be considered enough content for a justified elimination, but... was it, really? They talked for, like, thirty seconds, and not even about themselves. Now that Hunter has been eliminated, All Stars is wide open with opportunities for Tess and Ally to bond without their relationship hinging around Hunter. Their one conversation so far has still mostly been about Hunter, so eliminating Tess here would sadly close that door. Losing Ally would obviously close that door too, but... uh...

#5: Ally

Here’s my declaration that, in case of a Magenta tribal, I think that Ashley would very likely flip on Jake to work with Ally.

The preview seems to foreshadow Jake acting pretty childishly next episode. He’s bickering with Ally, presumably still over who is Ashley’s closest comrade. (If the episode starts with everyone waking up in space, I wonder if Ashley and Jake won’t get to have their conversation before the challenge begins.) Given all of the allusions to Among Us, I would really suspect that Ally is going to be an MVP of this particular challenge. Therefore, if the team loses, it would be a direct result of Jake’s insecurities dragging their team down. That kind of behavior, in my opinion, could sway Ashley’s mind.

Ally’s elimination here continues to feel pretty random to me. I know I was wrong when I claimed that Connor wouldn’t go home from the Yellow team because his elimination would be too clear cut… but Ally still feels the same way to me now! It's hard to get around that assumption! Aaaaaaaa!

#6: Grett

Placing Grett ANYWHERE feels bad to me, because, in my opinion, there are mildly compelling reasons for her character to stay or go.

First, my reasons why I think Grett could be eliminated. Mostly, there's just a part of me that feels like she's the most expendable member of the Yellow Team left. Alec, Riya, and Yul still seem like they all have Big Villain Things left to do, and as the least villainous of the quartet, there might not be room for Grett moving forward. As I said before, I can better imagine Yul's character without Grett than Grett's character without Yul.

There are also some other oddities I've been noticing as I've retreaded s1 via Silly Billy's interviews. Grett and Gabby's relationship was, like, really important to S1, and it left off on kind of a bad note. Presumably, if the two of them were ever put onto the same (merged) tribe again, they'd have some sort of notable reaction to each other. But, to my memory, Grett and Gabby haven't interacted this season at all. Are they just saving any turbulence the two of them might have for once they actually hit the same beach? Or does the fact that no Gabby/Grett plotline has been set up imply that they never will have any notable content together?

On the other hand, there are my reasons why I think Grett would stay. Although I do think that a Grett-less Yul still makes more sense, I do think that the particular situation that Grett is in right now could lead to a more interesting predicament for her. After axing Connor, the Yellow Team is comprised only of villains. That means, if they have to vote someone out, the villains' alliance will have to cannibalize one of their own. If Grett does turn the tide of the vote against Yul, she would be in a really interesting position with the rest of the villains. She's kind of turned against them by voting out her own boyfriend, but it would only be with their consent that he was taken down in the first place. In a merge scenario, does she explore alliances with potentially hostile outsiders, or does she stick with the treacherous villain's alliance?

The bigger thing is that I just don't really think that there are the numbers for a Grett elimination right now. Yul had way more of a chance of throwing votes on Grett when 1) Connor could be down to vote for anyone who wasn't him, and 2) he could appeal to any desire Alec and/or Riya had to save Connor to sway their votes. Now... why the hell would Alec and Riya decide that they want to work with Yul over Grett? Other than "entertainment," anyways. Now that the target on S1 girls' backs has shrunk a little, I feel better about Grett's longevity. But, I still don't feel confident either way, so she winds up in the top half... barely.

#7: Riya

Riya, too, could go both ways. Her newfound friendship/alliance with Alec implies some further content for her. However, Riya did get a lot of time to "shine" (subject to viewer opinion) in S2, so her run could be coming to a close soon. Her selfish attitude certainly hasn't changed, so if something happened to make Alec grow sick of her, the other three could unite against her.

Something that I think gives Riya the edge over Grett, at least, is that she does have a relationship with someone on another tribe that could be expanded upon later: Aiden. In the first episode of All Stars, Aiden and Riya fight, and she shoves him off the plane. That easily could just be for laughs, or to show off a rivalry that's too potent to sweep under the rug, but it could also be setup for the pair clashing once again in All Stars.

But, in the end, I think a Yellow vote would come down to the Alec/Riya and Yul/Grett pairs clashing, with Riya and Yul on the chopping block for elimination due to being the looser cannons. So, between Riya and Grett, I put Riya lower.

#8: Yul

As you can see, I had a really hard time distinguishing between Riya and Yul. Grett, too— all of them have somewhat compelling reasons for being kicked out, but nothing so concrete that it makes me say, “now THAT’S the next boot.” I just have to hope that Yellow isn’t going to tribal next, which… I think will be the case? Maybe? Who knows.

While I do think that Yul will be a major villain of the season, there’s still a decent change that that role will be reserved for solely Alec, Ellie, or both of them. The rule of threes could come back to bite Yul if, now that he’s used the earpiece twice, the third time leads to his elimination. And, he is really unliked, so I would understand why the other villains would choose to eliminate him.

One interesting possibility I thought of would be if Alec and Riya and Grett and Yul refuse to turn on each other, resulting in a tie vote. Yul was involved in a tie vote in S2, where he beat Maggy in rock paper scissors to stay in the game. It would be kind of poetic if Yul was thrown into a tiebreaker again, and lost this time. That’s why I put him below Riya. But, on the whole, I don’t THINK Yul is going home. Probably…? This power ranking is a mess.

#9: Jake

My lowest non-Cyan entry. I suppose that, despite all the fussing, I’m still thinking that their large group must be the next to cut a number. But we’re not here to talk about Cyan, we’re here to talk about Magenta! And Jake, who could be doing something… troublesome in the next episode.

Despite the leaps and bounds he’s been making in the communication department (which I’m honestly so proud of him for), Jake’s biggest flaw still is and will be his jealousy and insecurity. It’s what put him in hot water with Aiden, it’s quite possibly what drew Tom away from him in the first place, and it’s what’s causing him now to want to fight with Ally for Ashley’s affections. If, as I said before, his flaws are directly causing the team to lose, he might get cut.

Granted, it would be a little weird to cut Jake before he learns that Tom was lying (assuming Tom was). However, that COULD still be resolved at a later point with Jake either on the sidelines, fighting to get back into the competition, or in the fabled Loser's Motel episode (assuming Tom has been eliminated by that point as well). Because Aiden also heard Tom's lies, Tom can still suffer the consequences of his actions with Jake gone.

Despite all this, I think the season would be better with Jake's continued involvement in it, so I hope he doesn't go out next episode. The curse of the #9 slot is... just a superstition, right...?

#10: Ellie

Is this just because I’m salty that I put her in last twice and she still hasn’t gone home yet? Well, maybe a little bit. But also, the fact that she HASN’T been eliminated, and has continued to do more villainous things (especially towards Jake) each episode, has started to sway me to believe that she might be in it for a longer haul. Would they really need this much build up to justify Ellie as a pre-merge boot?

Because, like, they’re putting SO MUCH FOCUS into her being a villain. Her negative arc could get cut off now, but it would mean that all of that time spent showing her tormenting Jake specifically would have no bearings on her elimination, because Jake can't be involved in her vote right now.

I still think that Ellie will be eliminated on the sooner end, but I now kind of think that she might be the first boot after the merge. Then, everyone that Ellie has wronged (who is still in the competition) can band together to send her packing. That would also be even juicier on Gabby's end (assuming she is still in the competition), because it would hammer in that everyone is against her.

For Ellie to be eliminated as the merge boot, she has to survive this episode, which is why I moved her up a little from the bottom. However, I can still obviously see why Ellie could be eliminated now, so she doesn't stray too far from the bottom.

#11: Aiden

Surprised to see Aiden this low? Me too, kind of. The reason he's this low has to do with a specific scenario that I think could happen next episode, so bear with me as I get a bit more conspiratorial than usual in these power rankings.

So, the challenge is probably Among Us tasks, right? But, we saw the paper that Tom read in the arcade, which might be an advantage. So, something that I believe might happen next episode is that Ellie and Gabby will abandon their team to go advantage hunting in the arcade, and their lack of participation will cause the Cyan Team to lose. With Ellie clearly playing for herself, both in the villain's alliance and in the arcade, she's the obvious target. However, if Ellie manages to find an immunity totem, she could save herself. And, if she did, who would go home other than her biggest target, Aiden?

I really love Aiden as a comedic force in this season-- the way that he's just chilling and having fun despite all the drama always makes me laugh-- but he doesn't have a whole lot to do other than be an obstacle between Jake and Tom. I'm worried that the conversation with Jake as shown in the trailer could be a bad sign for him. Unlike Jake and Ally, Jake and Aiden weren't shown to be super hostile with one another, which means Aiden might hearing Jake out here. If he did, I could see Aiden feeling sympathy for Jake after hearing more of his side of the story, and some of the worse things that Tom has done. That could close their chapter of hostility while leaving Tom and Jake to now sort things out on their own.

Another thing that's made me feel more iffy about Aiden's chances was learning that the reason why James may have been eliminated early (and maybe not done Patreon reads) was just because his voice actor was super busy. If that's the case, then I'd really doubt that James would be coming back as a returning competitor, which would mean Aiden doesn't have that "shield" anymore. Furthermore, I hadn't really thought about what would happen after James and Aiden were back in the game together. Assuming they don't both make the final 3 again, one or both of them would need to be eliminated at some point. But, like, how? When? I think (and hope) that Odd Nation Cartoons wants to keep the Jaiden relationship sacred, which means that the two of them would kinda just be enjoying the competition together. That's really sweet, but it's 1) an in-universe threat to the other players, and 2) not that juicy for out-of-universe viewers. Honestly, I wouldn't be too surprised if they both got canned in a double elimination not long after James returned. But, is that really what they would want from their returning player?

I dunno, I'm probably thinking about this too hard in both directions. Aiden could still have a bright future ahead of him even if James doesn't return, and he could also be eliminated without all that totem nonsense if Tess simply chose to side with Gabby and Ellie. I think there's a definite possibility for a surprise Aiden boot, though, so he's a lowly sacrificial lamb. Even he thinks he's going to die, soooo...

#12: Gabby

I... really don't have a justification for this one in terms of game mechanics. It just feels like the right vibes to me? Gabby is the player that I can most easily see a merge without, so now she's at the bottom.

Like I said back at Grett, the fact that Grett and Gabby's relationship hasn't really been expanded upon could be bad for both of them. I'm once again back to thinking that the slight erasure of Gabby's more negative traits could be to make her a more well-liked unfortunate exit. I'd prefer it if the writers took her in more of the woman scorned direction, but, is that really going to happen...?

Returning to the totem scenario, I do think that has a chance to take out Gabby as well. If Gabby and Ellie made it really obvious that they found some sort of advantage (by being absent from completing tasks), Aiden, Tom, and Tess could secretly switch their vote to Gabby and make Ellie burn her idol on herself in a tribal where she gets to votes. It's the potential for that poetic cinema-- Gabby played her idol on Ellie to save her in S1, but Ellie doesn't play her idol on Gabby to save her in S2-- that makes me really like this possibility, unlikely as it may be. Similarly, I like how it eliminates Gabby, who thus far appears to be a less important character this season than Ellie, while still having the other three Team members intend to target the logical biggest threat. They just can't do it directly, in this scenario.

But, still, I don't like putting Gabby in last place just because of one kind of cool scenario I thought of, hinging on a totem that may or may not be in play. The thing is, I just have a hard time thinking that we're about to lose anyone at this point. Everyone feels so important!

And, honestly, this preview confused me so much that I could really see anyone Tess downward going home and not be too surprised about it. That's scary when it comes to making this ranking. I might take a point hit this week, but... maybe I also nailed it! I'm very excited to see where this episode takes us. Thanks for reading!

[andi-o-geyser]

im curious how you feel about how the lady vex moment was done in the show?

as someone who is only starting to watch the campaign (so i’ve seen just clips of that moment and not the whole thing) and who also watched the cr watch party as they explained it, i quite like how it was done. the intent and meaning was there so from a perc’ahlia standpoint i’d say it works (esp since they are still developing that relationship and they aren’t as close as in the stream i think) but also syldor’s (at least the show’s version) reaction felt appropriate and allowed for vex to stand up to him and for that to be the main part of the moment imo

Thanks for the ask! I’ve had some… conflicting feelings about the Lady Vex’ahlia moment, which I do think is in part due to me having built it up so much in my head over time. It’s such an incredible moment in the stream, and the victory of Syldor having to accept the title was lost in TLoVM which really threw me off. That being said, with a week to rewatch it and let my feelings about it settle, I’ve warmed up to the animated version much more. Objectively I think they did it wonderfully, and just like you said, the way Syldor didn’t accept it made much more sense in this context. They had so much more time to fit nuance with Syldor into the stream, but here they needed to make him an absolute asshole to convey the insecurity of the twins. it would have been a bit hollow if Vex so quickly had a win when Percy one-upped her father because that would have made her sadness and willingness to go with Saundor much less clear. Taking that win away from her in the show I think made this version hit much harder than it otherwise would have. The scene works perfectly in the stream as is, but TLOVM simply is not the stream. That's not to say TLOVM doesn't have its weaknesses, but as much as I first did, I no longer believe this moment is one of them.

I also think adding the new scene of Percy and Vex talking afterwards made it all come together really nicely. They haven't had nearly as much time to develop Percy and Vex’s relationship, so as much as I wanted more Perc'ahlia it almost would have been too abrupt for them to suddenly act the way they did with each other in the stream. In the stream, Vex was ecstatic with Percy and even gave him a kiss on the cheek, and that simply wouldn't have fit here (as much as I adore that scene). That deep feeling of the upset of not being able to rattle somebody so awful, and just like Vex said, telling them to fuck off usually feels like it hurts you more. Having her express those feelings gave her comfort while also not fixing her issues, so the audience can understand why she then has an emotional struggle with Saundor. I know that they have much more to squeeze in, and I think it will always take me some time to get used to the changes, but once I do it’s really fun to be able to appreciate them as a different medium. The stream will always be there, and I can always go back and watch the (absolutely marvellous by the way if you haven’t seen it) “I’ve known a lot of people with money” and “it’s Lady Vex'ahlia” scenes. Still, I think the way they adapted it was super well done and has made me more excited about it as time has gone on. I think you’re absolutely right about how the appropriate reaction from Syldor and Vex talking back to him worked here, and I’m so glad to see that people are enjoying it. As the expectations of it have worn off a bit for me I’ve been able to have much more fun with it as well :)

Also if you haven’t, I would HIGHLY suggest going to watch any Perc'ahlia scenes in the Feywild. The arc is much (by usual TV standards, but it's not actually too many CR episodes) longer in the streams and all of VM is there, and it’s so so enjoyable as a short few episodes of dumb fun and daddy issues. The “they are definitely not worth you” exchange is also objectively incredible in the stream and makes me lose my mind every time I watch it, so while they couldn’t fit it in its entirety, which is totally fine, I think it should be required viewing for everyone because it’s one of the most heartfelt Perc'ahlia scenes hands down.

[mdhwrites]

Reccomendations for cartoons to watch include: Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Regular Show, the later seasons of MLP Friendship is Magic (for the sake of completing it and being able to properly evaluate the show), Steven Universe, DuckTales 2017, OK KO, Big City Greens, Star vs the Forces of Evil, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Kim Possible, Hilda, Helluva Boss, Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, She Ra 2018, and the Ben 10 franchise.

I actually still have another ask that is mostly this same list but I think Hilda and Helluva Boss are new. Mostly responding because something I find interesting about myself given how ruthless I can be with TOH is that, well...

I probably will never truly be able to be some big reviewer because when I start disliking something, I drop it. That's actually the big reason I'm responding is because there is NO WAY I am watching the like 4+ seasons of MLP:FiM that I didn't watch because I just can't engage with stuff I dislike. I find no joy in it and while I can rant for a couple episodes, it just loses my interest.

I never seek things out because I think I'll dislike them. I just don't think life is enjoyable that way. It's why I have no plans to return to Helluva Boss. I absolutely believe people would potentially send me asks about it with how polarizing it is but I got to the episode when Moxie and Blitzo are interrogated, went "Ah, I see, the two characters I hate the most and don't even find funny (Stolas and Blitzo) are the actual main characters and the pilot was potentially kind of a lie for what the real focus of the show is. I'm out." And I haven't watched an episode since. My brain struggles to click with media after all so why would I bother with media I actively know I dislike already?

I'll comment on a couple others that I have at least had experience with on the list in a minute but since Amphibia, I've watched the first season of Craig of the Creek and think that show is just AMAZING. There's at least one episode I keep wanting to do a blog on just because it exemplifies how much the show understands the wonder of fantasy and childhood without actually being fantastical. I've also seen S1 of SpyxFamily and some of S2 but right now the only streaming service I have consistent access to is Hulu (the Disney+ I was borrowing cancelled theirs to swap to Hulu) and they only have S1 dubbed of SpyxFamily.

I'm hoping to sometime soon actually watch Over the Garden Wall finally and just have been kind of a mess as of late as for why I haven't yet. I've heard only good things, and shockingly few spoilers, and it's about time I gave it a proper shot.

ANYWAYS:

Steven Universe: Watched the first episode and only really liked Greg so just didn't bother watching more. Steven was fine but I actively hated all three of the gems because of how brain dead they were in both segments of the episode. As far as pilots go, I think SU might genuinely have one of the worst I've ever seen for convincing you to like a main cast.

Gravity Falls: I rewatched the first episode recently and went "This is oooookay." Something about Dipper's VA just bothers me. Not like they're doing a bad job but that it falls into an uncanny valley my brain doesn't love. I really wish I could better explain why that show refuses to properly click for me.

Regular Show: I forget why but I've seen a few episodes. It's not bad but I don't think it's really for me. I find Rigby and Mordecai annoying more than anything else. Not awful but I think without it feeling like they're actually meant to be learning something, they fall into the trap Randy and Howard from Randy Cunningham fell into eventually for me where I was like "Okay, assholes can be fun for a while but if that's all you're ever going to be, I don't care."

Adventure Time: I have seen as many episodes where Fiona and Cake show up in that show than I have Finn and Jake. XD I have genuinely liked what I've seen and just for some reason never sought it out. Maybe someday.

Star Vs: I need to give S2 a chance but MAN when I got told they break up Marco and Jackie for NO REASON I lost a lot of interest in the show. I like Marco more than Star, and I've only seen S1, and thought Marco and Jackie's relationship was genuinely really nice and kind of unique. Also knowing it's most people's cartoon punching bag doesn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm for it.

Kim Possible: I remember rewatching the pilot a couple years ago and being shocked by how much I didn't care for Kim. I think the fact that Bonnie is the only one who gives her shit but she's actually just genuinely amazing at everything and liked by most make her just not compelling to me which is a shame because I have REALLY fond memories of the show. I'd probably commit to a rewatch of Danny Phantom first though since it has been just as long since I watched that.

(Weird fact: I was looking at Hulu's unfortunately limited amount of cartoons and saw they had Kick Buttowski of all things which is WILD to me.)

She-Ra: I've seen literally one episode, thought it was good, and definitely is one of the ones I keep telling myself to watch because everything about it seems like it'd be up my alley. These are also my thoughts on Voltron though with how much... less divisive that last season of Voltron is, it's definitely below watching Princesses of Power.

Ben 10: Loved the original series as a kid, tried the first two spin offs that came out and didn't really jive with either but I thought Julie, the tennis girl Ben gets with, was super cute. I know a friend who would LOVE to see me get into Ben 10 and do some reviews of it.

And just as an anime shout out, a part of me is still tempted to give Little Witch Academia another try. Not only is it just an obvious next show for me to watch but it's one I REALLY want to like because I like a lot about it... I just absolutely despise Akko from the like four episodes I watched a good number of years ago now. I thought almost all of the supporting characters were great though.

Just... Consider this my weird, rambly blog late at night about cartoons and the fact that I do wish I engaged with media better. One of the worst elements of it is that I don't engage well with scripted content well if my brain isn't already in an alright place. Like I don't go to television for distraction and cheering me up. I vastly prefer streams for that as I can actually turn my brain off during those normally. It's something I've talked about before and something I'd like to change. Heck, I even at one point had a therapy goal to watch something at least once a week since that'd still be easier than streaming or writing. Whoops. *sigh*

I do also appreciate the recommendations! The reminders are good sometimes since I don't feel like I actually stay in the loop all that well. And since I kind of assume this is the same person who sent a list before, I decided I felt like actually responding, especially because the MLP pitch is an interesting one but man... That's a LOT of Starlight Glimmer I'd have to put up with when just like six episodes of her as a good guy made me want to light both her and Twilight on fire to put them out of their, and mine, misery. That's without me getting into the fact that I just think the characters in general got worse by then, almost like series shouldn't last for that long because finding new angles on characters becomes REALLY HARD (says the dumbass with a series of his own that honestly is longer than he should reasonably plan a story for.)

Again, late night rambling while my brain deals with suddenly snapping out of a hyper focus on a game for three days and doesn't deal with that well. *sigh* Have a good night everyone, take care of yourself and see you next tale.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[genshinemblem564]

I am curious who is your favorite oc in feh.

I don't really think about favorites often, they just happen, so I'll list the ones that stand out and the reasons they do so. Sorry I couldn't answer your actual question, I hope this will suffice.

• Alfonse: His reason for remaining distant from summoned heroes was understandable. Just because they're here now doesn't mean anything. They will eventually have to return to their worlds and fulfill their roles. After learning about Zacharias however, my heart broke. He's self isolating due to trauma and grief, Anna and Sharena are hurt too, but he took it the hardest by a mile, and it's only made worse after the reveal. I never wanted a character to be real just to give them a hug more in my life, our boy needs that hug bad.

• Bruno: Man is loyal to the end. He fakes his death, takes on a new identity, and tries to get his best friend to kill him because of a curse on his family's blood where he's not in control of his own actions, all the while searching for a way to lift said curse for the sake of his sister.

• Veronica: I was always confused about how loneliness leads to wanting to destroy a nation, but after Bruno's explanation, I believe her actions may not be her own. This is only proven further by Brave Veronica since she holds no animosity towards the summoner, and now I just feel bad for her. Also, I love how Xander joins her willingly for the reason that she reminds him of Corrin. I think my teeth rotted from too much sweetness.

• Fjorm: Her story is a sad one from start to finish, and she still has the strength to press forward. Unless I missed an event, I'm fairly certain her contract with the summoner is the only thing keeping her alive, as I believe it's stated in game that Breidablik can revive heroes, even ones not summoned if I've interpreted the light's blessing mechanic correctly.

• Laegjarn: She is such a great character. She spent every day fighting to survive Muspell's cruelty using her smarts rather than her brawn. She was never as cruel as her father, only seeking combat because it's an order, wishing for peace between the nations of fire and ice. Even in her final moments, she thinks only of her sister's safety.

• Helbindi: Typical meat head, that's what I thought at first, I was DEAD WRONG. From his motivations for fighting to his betrayal of Surtr, he is a phenomenal and tragic character. I also headcanon that he acts as a second older brother to Ylgr, at least I think it's a headcanon, I can't remember if that's their in game dynamic or not.

• Lif: I haven't played book III yet, so I can't say much other than "I like his design." I mostly try to avoid spoilers unless I'm researching for my writing.

As for FEH original characters beyond book III, I know next to nothing about them, as I've been playing in a linear fashion, despite not needing to. I actually beat book II on my first account, but it wasn't linked to my Nintendo account, so it didn't carry over, but that's why I'm able to give my opinion on book II original characters, in case you were wondering after what I said for Lif.

Regarding Fjorm's section, FEH is honestly almost as bad as Genshin when events are involved. The only thing making them better is that you can rewatch event cutscenes, but only ones you unlocked or that occur naturally, such as openings and endings. I know Fjorm has one regarding the rite she underwent, but I forget its name and category.

[mobius-m-mobius]

Literally sometimes I'm just doing whatever adult things that I do and "scar tissues" echoes in my brain like Owen is there personally rattling the bars. The other night I took some Nyquil and watched Darjeeling again and right at the end where Francis took his bandages off the damn "scar tissues" freaking screamed in my brain again. Truly believe I transcended into some weird terrible dimensions in that moment. I never want to hear Owen break down his thought process for Mobius because of the off chance that he mentions that scene and it will probably knock me over the head leaving me bleeding out on the floor. Still cannot believe that Tom wrapped that scene and continued to be a functioning human and not forever changed as a person!

Omg for starters anon, are you me because I did almost the exact same thing a few days ago and still haven't completely recovered so sending extra love your way to get through the new layers of poetic tragedy we definitely didn't need on top of the finale as is 😭💖

Trying to adult while Owen's acting choices are fresh on your mind instead is the biggest mood lmao, there was a moment years ago during S1 when I was driving out of town to an annual work event and ended up accidentally going like twenty minutes out of the way because I was daydreaming about him and can safely say focusing on anything else hasn't been any more successful since then 😅

There are so many parallels between Francis and Mobius both trying to push past their worries and doubts to be a rock for everyone else even if they have to keep from diving further into their own emotions to do so, and how they almost want it to be that way? Not to mention Francis visibly wearing his scars but trying to break out of a pattern throughout the movie compared to Mobius being able to hide his own hurt within to find a way to continue existing in the same loop for eternity. As much as I'd desperately love to hear Owen break down his thought process for what went into how he's developed and grown Mobius through the seasons, knowing his mind I don't doubt anything he would say out take me out at the knees instantly which I'm probably not in a place to handle right now lol

Darjeeling's just an absolute knockout on the best of days but before rewatching I really did fail to take into account how "scar tissue" has changed me to my very core, it echoes within like "let time pass" does in Loki's final scene so I too have absolutely no idea how Tom was faced with Owen giving the most heartbreakingly beautiful, resigned delivery in this life without becoming a completely different person than moments earlier because I sure did! And they filmed those scenes on DAY ONE, can you imagine!??

[jasntodds]

I really liked titans portrayal of Gotham city and the Gotham tv series portrayal of the city, and this may sound ridiculous to say but at least for my liking there is not enough Gotham in the batman movies I get that the focus is on batman and whatever loon he's facing but giving some deeper focus to the nitty gritty and utter strangeness of the city and 'average' Gotham citizens is something that I just require lol

I really did not know all that, oh my gosh you're telling me we are legit not gonna see that little bastard (said with such affection) Jason todd version ever ever again because one dude wants his universe to be the only one!?- that is some playground level nonsense and honestly with this many characters and this many storyline possibilities it is just unfair not to make a bunch of universes and that way fans can pick and choose which ones they wanna follow. Like I know some people didn't like the arrowverse (I fucking loved it) but if there's different options you don't have to watch the one you don't like cuz it's not the only one available y'know

Bruce killed the Joker for Jason (that is so huge) heaven above let titans live on for a little bit 😢 a redhood spin off with him attempting to clean up his own mental state and Gotham city with Barbara's help and we could've gotten to see more gotham villians heck Tim could have been included here and there in it cuz he's Robin now, bestie I wanna pull my hair out. And the fight scenes in titans was like near netflix Daredevil level beauty, the brutality shown in some characters (ahem dick and jason) contrasted with how you know that they're good inside that their heart is in the right place (esp dick) but you can visibly see the brokenness

I'm just getting back into titans now, it took forever where I am for season 4 to come on netflix and I still haven't watched s4 yet (I did skip all the way til nearly the end just to watch the episode with redhood lol but oh my seeing Tim be robin was cool)

I kinda really need to see Jason dealing with what he did to poor Hank (hank was one of my favs I cannot believe he didn't get to just nicely retire with dawn 😢)

Okay no but you're right!! I started rewatching Gotham like 2 weeks ago actually lmao and the pure joy the cutscenes bring me just because the city looks so GOOD is insane hjdgfkdh Both Gotham and Titans did a really good job at showing how gritty and gloomy Gotham is while also allowing it feel very organic and completely normal for everyone living there. (like the Titans being a little confused with Gotham stuff happening but you have Dick, Jason, and Babs just rolling with the punches). Tbh I think every Batman related movie/show needs to show the city more like Titans and Gotham because I think showing how Gotham IS explains a lot of why Bruce and the rest of the batfam and villains are the way they are

Nope!! I'm assuming we'll see a version of Jason and Dick (at the very least) at some point but they won't be Titans versions and won't be the same actors. LITERALLY WHAT I'M SAYING!!!! I physically do not care what his role is. He shouldn't be able to just be the only one (again same goes for Marvel). But yes exactly!!!!! Like if there are different universes with a bunch of content for all of them, then like................that's more money?? lmao At the end of the day, studios like making money and if there is only one universe and 1 version of the characters, like you said, some people won't want any part of it because they won't like it. But, if there's another universe for them to watch, they might like that one!!! I have NO desire to watch The Flash movie and it kind of ruins it because actor. But, the show?? It's one of my favorites and I loved Grant Gustin as Barry and Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally jkdfhgkdj (I mean the whole cast of the show tbh is so good). I know James Gunn probably thinks it'll work because he worked for Marvel and it worked for them but DC isn't Marvel lmao AND IT SHOULDN'T BE. DC should be different, that's what makes it fun but having to watch 30 fucking movies to understand shit is not fun when I don't like Miller or Momoa or the kid from Santa Clarita Diet who's gonna be in the Superman movie please I don't wanna watch THOSE to watch the shit I want to see (Blue Beetle, I will watch you soon). I wanna watch Titans lmao

OMG BUT TIM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE APART OF THE SPIN-OFF 😭😭😭 That's part of why I'm so angry. Jason is my favorite batfam member, immediately followed by Tim. And those two don't get along often in comics so ya know, the show was NICE and the spinoff could have been EVEN BETTER. (I also just adore Jay as Tim. He will also be MY Tim Drake). I could actually write a whole think piece of morality of Dick and Jason IN Titans lmao because yes the fight scenes were ALWAYS so good (I love the one in the alley in season 1 episode 1 with Dick as Robin idk and Dick and Jason's fight in the words in season 3 episode 4) but yeah no they did such a good job with showing how they can pull their punches but also fight to the death if they really need to but that doesn't make either of them bad. For both of them, it's about the greater good and they just have different viewpoints of what that means because they're both absolutely fucked up (which is also great because it goes the same in the comics and it makes them SO MUCH more interesting as characters). It shows no one is all good and no one is all bad.

jfghdfgfh omg it took so long!!!!! I hope you enjoy season 4!! It definitely wasn't as good as 2 or 3 imo but it was fun!! Episode 9 is really good!! I still smile like an idiot whenever I think about that episode with Jason lmao Tim finally gets his Robin suit thinking he's hot shit and Jason's like "Dude is gonna get his dumbass fucking killed LOL". Episode lives rent-free in my mind forever

Same though!! I need to know like what he did ?? Did he reach out to Dawn to offer an apology?? Did Tim tell Jason he met Hank when he died?? I don't know how he'd ever get over the guilt but I'd love to see the angst that could have brought us!! I wasn't a huge Hank fan but I was still jaw on the floor shocked when it happened and I felt so bad for him skdfh like poor Hank he didn't deserve to be exploded

[selenityshiroi]

HDM TV Adaptation overall opinions

So, now that all three seasons are out I want to get some more thoughts out there. I haven't rewatched the whole series again, but I still have impressions from what I've seen over the release schedule.

First, casting:

The main casting things that threw me off were Ma Costa (the actress was perfectly skilled but I'd just always imagined her as a big, powerfully built woman and it was the one character image I'd never been able to push out of mind) and John Parry. I have nothing against Andrew Scott but the main plot point of John Parry prematurely aging, because he lived in the wrong world for so long, was COMPLETELY LOST by having him played by an age appropriate actor. It also removed any sort of surprise, because he looked just like his photos from the real world and, therefore, we all knew who Jopari was the moment he appeared.

I was surprised when we got dark haired Lyra and Marisa, since they had been described as blonde in the books. But my main ??? reaction was to do with the scene where Lyra's hair is ripped from the bomb and the tension of the moment when no one knew if the single hair that remained was Lyra's or the Golden Monkey's.

The bomb scene ended up completely different (and, in my opinion, not for the better in the slightest) so that moment never became relevant. But both Lyra and Marisa were beautifully acted and portrayed. And I've never been one to believe that appearances need to be 100% consistent with text, so other than the 'how will xxx work' I was never bothered by the change.

I was always impressed with Dafne but I do believe that she really grew into the role as time went on. Her performances became stronger with each season and I am so unbelievably astounded by how powerfully emotional the end of the series was.

Ruth was darkly charismic the entire time. It worked beautifully for Marisa, although I do think that the show used her too much, in some cases, trying to show off such an intriguing character. And in doing so kind of spoiled some of the mystery and unravelled her too much too soon.

But my favourite casting was that of Amir Wilson. The moment he stepped onto screen, suprisingly but brilliantly early, I was convinced completely by his performance. We'd waited so long to see Will Parry on screen, especially after the movies failed to launch into a franchise, and he was worth the wait. He captured every nuiance: the boy too young to be a carer, like so many children, but doing it anyway because it was necessary. A boy who never wanted to fight (or kill) but could do so because it was necessary. A boy who you would think would be jaded by caring and love...but could never not do so because it was oh so necessary.

But I don't think I can fault any of the performances on the show. All of the cast were brilliant. Even if I wasn't sure they were used in the best ways at all times. So a huge applause for the casting team.

Secondly, writing:

Let me start by saying that this series was a good adaptation. It wasn't perfect and it has it's flaws, but it was good. I can tell that the source material was loved and treated with care but I feel that there were limitations placed that negatively affected the way the story was told.

Each season, in my opinion, could have done with 2 more episodes, at least. Whilst it was ABSOLUTELY the right decision to introduce Will in season one and intertwine his and Lyra's stories (instead of cold opening season two with him like The Subtle Knife did) I do feel that season one significantly missed out on developing Lyra. And, unfortunately, they never really corrected the clipped away moments and ended up removing the main, defining arc for Lyra Silvertongue.

Her ability to craft stories and lie.

That being said, one of the show's greatest strengths is how wonderfully they developed the build of friendship into love between Lyra and Will.

From the very beginning this was all trimmed out. We never got to see her telling lies with the Oxford Children and the Gyptians. We never got to see her lie her way out of London when trying to escape. We never saw her extended, planned out deceptions and investigations in Bolvanger. Lyra's ability to lie and craft stories was a core part of her in the books. It was why she was named Silvertongue. She described it as something she could do for Will because he was too honest to protect himself when needed. And it ended up being removed entirely from the subplot in the Land of the Dead, destroying the storyline with the Harpies and 'Tell them stories...but true stories'.

I'm not sure if these moments were originally removed for time and they ended up having to cut her arc completely or if the decision was made to 'sanitise' this character trait? If it's the first it's disappointing but kind of understandable how it ended up that way. If it's the latter then it's kind of unforgiveable. Either which way, Lyra's arc and development it the single biggest criticism I have of the entire show.

Bringing Will in earlier allowed us to get a sense of his character before he and Lyra crashed into each other in Cittazgaze and it made their intitial interactions more wary and tentative than they were in the books (where there was more tension as Will was still a bit of a mystery to the audience and his character traits were being explored on all scales through his interactions with Lyra). It made things a little more natural between them on screen, in my opinion, and we saw the friendship unfolding gradually.

This continued on throughout seasons two and three and the trust and bond between them was very believable. I was always wary about how the end of The Amber Spyglass would be portrayed on screen. It's such a deeply emotional and heartwrenching ending to the books but full of love and young passion. And it would be so easy for this to be awkward or cheesy or overdone (I love the audiobooks but the ending is a little cheesy in performance, for example). But it was knocked out of the park. It felt like two teenagers in love, but it also felt full and mature and genuine and you could believe their heartbreak and that they would continue to love each other until their death. It was such a fine line to walk but it was phenomenally done.

I also didn't like what they did with Asriel. Almost all of his arc was in the background of the books. And maybe that allowed rose tinted glasses but I never really felt he was disdainful of Lyra in the books. He always felt distant and unreachable, but to me there was always a sense that, underneath his grandose plans and ambitions, he still loved Lyra. I think they took it too far in the show and that love was lost. And it made the confrontation with Metatron feel hollow. Because it never felt like he was doing it for Lyra. It felt like he was doing it for himself.

As I mentioned before, I'm not sure Marisa was always adapted with the same careful touch. Ruth Wilson's portrayal was so powerful that they clearly wanted to capitilise on that and they gave her scenes that revealed more of her character and even some of her backstory from the Book of Dust trilogy. But one of the things that I thought was done so well in the books was how you never really knew her angle. You never knew who she was playing and what her motive was. Not until the very end. By showing more of her character some of that mystery was eroded and I think it made her role in the final season less powerful.

And, because of the utter lack of Lyra's character trait of lies and stories spilling out of her like water as a way to protect herself and those around her, we also miss out on the depth of the Land of the Dead. On how the Harpies hate lies and are so used to the dead trying to lie their way into 'salvation' that they provoke hated and fear through their retaliation. That Lyra herself is viciously attacked by the very same Harpy who eventually saves her from her fall. That her true stories are what eventually bring hope and light to the souls around her and draw the Harpies in like a moth to a flame. That they negotiate safe passage for those who can tell true stories of their lives. That children will be allowed freedom because they haven't had time to build stories, but adults should have lived their lives fully and should have had something to tell.

One of the limitations I feel the show had to deal with was the fantastical elements that would need extensive CGI. I'm willing to suspend disbelief over crowd scenes with suspiciously hidden daemons because it's very understandable that animating daemons for every extra would be very expensive and not totally necessary for immersion. But I feel like some of the writing decisions made for season three was to limit CGI usage. Obviously the storyline between Mary and the Mulefa was very truncated. But I do like and appreciate how they showed her learning and living with them through the evolving subtitles and her notebook. It was effective and well done.

But I feel that the Gallivespians being so heavily removed from events (no longer accompanying Will and Lyra to the Land of the Dead and causing such drastic changes to scenes such as the Bomb) was less well handled. It removed elements that added depth and worldbuilding. And I hate that the Bomb is no longer about corrupt men and Marisa's desperate love and Will frantically trying to save Lyra from a threat from worlds away but is instead a ridiculous power move from Metatron.

Which is one of the reasons why Lyra and Will agree that they have to live full and complete lives. Why they can't just wither away in less than a decade in a foreign world. Why they have to live for love.

I do see how and why some of the writing decisions came about. But the ripple effect they had on the HEART of the story was profound, tbh.

But since I have mentioned CGI and how it shaped things:

I want to give a huge round of applause to every single animator who worked on the character daemons and bears.

When the series was first commisioned I was so petrified that a BBC show would never have the budget and skills to make the daemons be so seamless. But they are so beautifully animated. So wonderfully expressive. When we first saw Pantalaimon speak I was overwhelmed because his little facial expressions and the twitching of his ears and the rustle of his fur...I was so impressed by the care and attention to detail and it's continued on throughout.

The VFX studio did phenomenal work and I can't thank them enough for breathing life into the characters I'd always feared would be puppet like characatures.

So, yeah, overall:

I enjoyed watching this show so much. I read Northern Lights and The Subtle Knife in secondary school and The Amber Spyglass came out when I was in college. They were the books that took me from my teenage years to my young adult life. And I joke often that The Amber Spyglass shattered my heart two decades ago and I've never recovered but, tbh, it's not that much of a joke. It profoundly affected me and to this day I still flinch at the idea of tragic love and separation and long for resolution.

Seeing the story portrayed, finally, on screen was a joy. I actually cried when the commision of the series was announced because the books meant so much to me and I hoped and trusted the BBC (and Julie Gardner, who I knew was a fan thanks to Doctor Who interviews) to do it to the best they could.

The final product is not perfect. There are changes I don't like and scenes that are missing. Some of the aspects have been lost or amended along the way. But there are also some changes that worked for the better or were adapted with a care that showed the love for the source. There are some criticisms that I can live with because I enjoyed other aspects and some criticisms that will always grate a little.

There are details that were introduced with the TV series that I will take back to the books (Cloud Pines under the skins of witches? inspired. Mary being a lesbian? Felt so natural I forgot it was a small change) and I happily take the visuals and beautiful performances into mind.

The books will always be precious to me. And, even with some critiques, this show will now always be precious too. They aren't interchangeable but I can take the best of both and enjoy them together. I can imagine Ruth Wilson spitting out 'Lyra's exceptional' and Dafne Keen whispering 'because he's Will' in a dream, even if the TV show never gave us such scenes. Because the words still live on the pages and the portrayals still exist in my minds eye. And that is a great gift to have.

(Also, in a lighter and less serious note...now that the series is complete and I expect more and more people to become aware of this franchise and the world building...please give us more daemon fics for every single fandom. I love daemon fics and all fanfic authors who bless us with daemon fics deserve their own Republic of Heaven here on Earth)