#especially an episode in which she kicks ass while kidnapped

[elialys]

ANNA TORV as Olivia Dunham (Fringe) | 1.11 Bound

[herehavesomeheadcanons]

Bungo Stray Dogs Headcanons, but it’s only the characters that I think deserve more attention

I'm currently on a BSD kick, so have these headcanons while I feel ✨Inspired✨

I'll take requests for other characters, these two are just the only ones I have inspiration for right now.

Tw: Aku’s a yandere so yeah. He’s also kinda just a violent disaster of a person in general.

Ryuunosuke Akutagawa

🖤‼️ I got one word for you, and that word is Yandere. Are you surprised? You shouldn't be. If you manage to catch his eye, he will kill to keep you by his side. He’s certainly a dangerous one, so watch your back! Yes, he will kidnap you. You kinda brought this on yourself by searching ‘Akutagawa x reader’

🖤‼️He has no idea what love is, actually. He just knows that the world is a dangerous place and he’s the only one strong enough to protect you. It’s going to be a while before he can put a name to this strange feeling, so just sit tight while he figures it out.

🖤‼️Gets a lot of advice from Chuuya, mostly. It’s not that everyone else doesn’t already know that he’s helplessly in love with you, it’s that they’re all scared of him. Chuuya is the only one who isn’t, and thusly he is the advice giver. He actually gives surprisingly good advice, despite his rather angry personality.

🖤‼️It’ll be a while before he trusts anyone else around you. Eventually, you’ll basically be an honorary member of the Port Mafia, but for the LONGEST time he refuses to let anyone else even speak to you. Chuuya does not give a fuck, and visits you while Aku’s out on a mission. Don’t worry, Short Ginger’s got your back. He’ll be your best buddie and wingman.

🖤‼️He has absolutely no clue how to socialize like a normal person. You think Dazai took the time out of his busy schedule to teach Aku how to function socially? Absolutely not. He was too busy turning Aku into the perfect killing machine. Aku is incredibly blunt and literal about everything, and he takes everything way too seriously. 90% of jokes will fly straight over his head, which is pretty funny in its own right.

🖤‼️Gin is the first person Aku trusted with you. She’s his sister, after all. You’ll likely become friends with her, which pleases Aku. He wants all the important people in his life to get along.

🖤‼️If you’re not already a secret badass, become one. Just trust me. Aku is very into that. If you suddenly whip out a gun and save his ass by shooting a bitch without hesitation, he’ll be hooked forever. He’ll be so stunned in the moment that he won’t be able to function properly. Remember that scene in season 3, episode 11? Where he just said yes to everything? Yeah he relapses into that.

🖤‼️Please validate him. Tell him he’s the best and the strongest. He needs to hear it from somebody he cares about. And maybe try to convince him to not seek after Dazai’s validation so much. Does his opinion really even matter? I mean, he certainly doesn’t seem to care about Aku.

🖤‼️He spends more time in the infirmary than out of it. This hard-headed idiot pushes himself well past the limits of what his frail body can handle LITERALLY EVERY FIGHT. You’re going to be spending a lot of time sitting by his hospital bed hoping he’ll wake up from whatever coma he’s currently in. Somebody needs to tell him not to push himself so hard, and it may as well be you.

🖤‼️Please make him take care of himself. Force feed him if you have to, but this boy needs a sandwich. Good gracious, he’s a fucking toothpick. There is no meat on his little toothpick bones. Make him bathe, too. At least make him wash his hair and put on deodorant.

🖤‼️No, he will not let you steal his coat. He will get you a matching one, if it’s really that important to you.

🖤‼️Aku opposes physical affection at first, especially in public. He can’t have people thinking he’s a softie! Eventually, he’ll warm up to it. Only in private, though. Unless he happens to be jealous. Then he needs to show this other guy who you belong to.

🖤‼️Over all, probably the third most dangerous pick in the show. First being Fyodor, and second being Shibusawa Tatsuhiko. It’s not that he lacks power or ruthlessness, just that he has a very obvious issue that can be fixed with some hard work and dedication. He needs lots of validation, and to have some sense beaten into him from time to time.

Edgar Allen Poe

🤎🦝 Oh gosh I love this underrated mf so much- there really isn't enough content of this sweet introvert baby- Anyway, Poe is the sweetest, shyest little bean pole. I think he would like someone who won't abandon him at parties. *ahem* ranpo *ahem* He would also love it if you would read his stories and give him positive feedback. Please. Just do it. He deserves it.

🤎🦝He does have some… interesting… mood swings. Honestly, he can be moodier than most girls on their periods (i can say that, because I’M a girl). One minute he’ll be happy and cheerful, and the next he’ll be Tamaki-Amajiki-ing in the corner. If you don’t know what that means, go watch My Hero Academia. 

🤎🦝He and Karl are a packaged deal, obviously. I’m sorry if you have some deathly fear of raccoons (if you do, then why the heck are you simping for raccoon man??) but that’s how it is. Karl is his best buddie, and will be your best buddie too. Look on the bright side, you get to pet a fluffy raccoon!

🤎🦝You met during one of the ADA’s office parties, which Poe attended to show Ranpo his latest novel. Unfortunately, Ranpo is easily distracted and abandoned poor Poe within five minutes. Seeing the incredibly nervous introvert in the corner, you decided to talk to him. Congratulations! You now have a second shadow! Poe is so incredibly insecure in social situations that he will cling to you for as long as you’re willing to put up with him, even if you’re also introverted.

🤎🦝If you like to write, he would love to read your writing! He’ll give you pointers on how to make your writing better. Y’all meet up regularly to discuss your latest projects, read each other’s work, and give each other tips and ideas.

🤎🦝He is WAY too shy to confess to you on his own. He writes so many letters, but never has the courage to send them. He also practices with Karl daily, and still can’t handle the pressure. Somebody please help him-

🤎🦝He tries to ask Ranpo for advice (probably a bad idea) and Ranpo outs him immediately. (“Oh, you’re crushing on y/n, aren’t you?”) Ranpo advises him to just confess already. The World’s Greatest Detective definitely already knows that you’re crushing on Poe. It doesn’t take a genius to see how much you’re pining for each other!

🤎🦝Cafe dates!! Library dates!! Anywhere decently quiet and calm. Poe really doesn’t like large crowds, so maybe no big social gatherings. He enjoys just relaxing at home and reading next to you.

🤎🦝Loves physical affection, but is so so so shy about initiating it. Please just grab him and snuggle him so he doesn’t have to worry about it. Hold his hand! Give him kisses, if you can reach! He absolutely loves to cuddle. With how tall he is, he makes a great big spoon. He could probably just envelope your entire body with his.

🤎🦝Apparently he’s also rich?? Not certain if this is canon (edit: it is!!!) or not but we’re going with it anyway. That way, he can spoil you. If you like to read, he will buy you so many books. You’ll never have time to read them all. Artist? He’ll buy you art supplies! Any other hobbies? Taken care of. Saw a cute necklace/dress/outfit/whatever? It’s on your doorstep within a week.

🤎🦝All in all, a phenomenal pick. Perhaps the best in the show (in my opinion, anyway). Yeah he’s super clingy and insecure, and has some interesting mood swings, but he’s still just a good lad who deserves all the love in the world. Plus he has a pet raccoon, and that’s just really cool.

[lasenbyphoenix]

10 Characters I Fell In Love With in 2023

I liked doing this retrospective so I'm bringing it back. I feel like I didn't watch many shows in 2023 but of the shows I did watch there were SO MANY good characters that making this list proved to be difficult to narrow down.

1. Tang Lian, The Blood of Youth.

The Blood of Youth gave us a main trio of an exiled prince, a chaotic monk and a himbo firestarter, but it was Tang Lian the ace shixiong who was the first in the series to make me go oooh he's mine. Was it the purple clothes? The grey streaks in his hair? The romantic awkwardness? The hyper competence with small deadly weaponry? The crisis over following orders vs following his heart? All of the above probably. And I'm very glad the creators of the bonus episode decided to agree with me that HE IS NOT ALLOWED TO DIE otherwise I would have been throwing hands.

2. Sikong Changfeng, The Blood of Youth.

While the main trio are very fun to follow along with, they are also very young and at my age now I find myself gravitating towards appreciating some of the older generation just as much. Sikong Changfeng is one such character, and chosen because he's someone I think I'd like spending time with. He's a practical man among outlandish people, a doting father, and the fact that he'll throw a tantrum in public when one of his fellow city lord's decides to slice their training tower into pieces is a refreshing change from the great and aloof martial experts of his generation. And just look at that cloak!

3. Di Feisheng, Mysterious Lotus Casebook.

I came to MLC for Cheng Yi, and watched with amusement as other tumblr users fell head over heels for the moody antagonist until I got halfway through the show and had to mentally apologise to everyone because y'all had the right idea, omg how do I explain how Di Feisheng endears himself right into your heart and stays there? He's very show-no-weakness especially for someone who gets constantly nerfed - and boy do I like watching a strong man being whumped - he has the aesthetic of a total Boss and a sword named Sword.

He's unapologetic about his ambitions to be The Best Ever, which comes across as a bit shallow until you learn that his entire goal to be strongest ever is to be able to overcome the mind control bug forced onto him by the slave driver who raised/trained/tortured him as a kid and kick the guys ass. Which is the best and most heart breaking reason for a character to do anything and if that doesnt make you love him then the cuteness of the A'Fei amnesia arc certainly will.

4. He Xiaohui, Mysterious Lotus Casebook.

Again the older generation appealing to me, Fang Duobing's mother is absolutely a character you want on your side in a crazy place like this show. Taking in her sister's son as her own, she doesn't hide what she thinks of the jianghu when Fang Doubing runs away from court life, but also happily creates an accupressure torture machine when he needs a prisoner interrogatated. A little haunting can't scare her off from a bargain for her new dayspa empire, and she's barely rattled after being kidnapped. She's just so fun.

5. Yang Wuxie, Heroes.

Clever, loyal and funny are 3 easy ways to win me over. But they also went ahead and wrote a man who said "you're my only friend" and proved it with his every action -

- The way he pauses at the door to plaster a smile on his face before entering the room when Su Mengzhen is sick,

-  "can you take the archers on that side?" "Yes, but I'll die."

- clinging to SMZ's robe and weeping that he can't find him

- being trusted with the final blow, and crying all the while....

I really don't have the words. End me now.😭😩

6. Di Feijing, Heroes.

Again the loyalty of the subordinate is what moves me in this show and I chose Di Feijing for this list because I didn't expect to be moved by him. At first everyone in Six Half Hall seems to be there for their own greed, which is good for them but can be a very flat motivation to watch. It's after the death of Lei Sun that his story unveils itself and his protection of Lei Chun comes to the foreground and you learn that he's a moral person stuck in the middle of corruption and obligation.

I kinda feel like he got shafted by being ordered to stay out of things, because I reckon if given the chance he could have actually sorted a bunch of shit out?? I liked the handful of interactions between Di Feijing and Wang Xiaoshi and wish there could have been more.

7. Lee Rang, Tale of the Nine Tailed & Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938.

Protagonist's little brother with severe abandonment issues and a grudge to match, deadly but secretly a softie? Sign me up. The spurned sibling is by far the most relatable and likeable of the antagonists in season 1, and you get the joy of seeing him turn from the dark side due to the Power of Family, but still cuss and sulk the whole time. They created such a fun sibling dynamic that they had to go back in time for season 2 so that we could have a whole nother season with the two of them bickering and fighting for each other. Also, the looks he had going in season 2 were stellar.

8. Li Wu, Pledge of Allegiance.

I'm predisposed to liking Zhang Yunlong, and Li Wu was both very fun and very angsty to watch as he lied his way into and out of all sorts of trouble.

As Li Wu would tell you, he's just a theif! Selfish, no moral compass to see here..(Rescues kid from being arrested, finds kid a job)(shares his money with his friends in the alley)(helps them flee when he thinks they're in danger because of him)(keeps the knife as a reminder of the death he feels responsible for)(helps the son of the man he killed when he finds him again)(how many times does he save Lu Zheng from himself and all the people gunning for him??)(unravels political conspiracies)(and so much more). Just a theif! Sure thing Jan.

9 & 10. Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, The X Files.

Having only started watching The X Files for the first time in 2023 (and only as a filler show when I was too tired for subtitles,) I now find myself in season 7 of the show, entirely because of these two leads. What can I say about Mulder's non-threatening, hyperfixating, dorky ass and Scully's brainiac does-everything-he-does-only-backwards-and-in-high-heels competency that hasn't already been said? They're just *chefs kiss*

If anyone else wants to do a similar review I'd love to be tagged and see your 2023 blorbos!

[juniperhillpatient]

The Blind Bandit Re-Watch

TOPH!!! This episode is so much fun. I just love an iconic character introduction, & Toph absolutely gets that. I'm also just a huge fan of the "tiny delicate-looking girl takes out big muscular men easily" trope so of course I always have a blast with this episode.

I've consistently said that earth-benders are terrifying & this episode leans into that. I loved the Earth Rumble fights, & the brief attempt Aang made to hang with the earth-bending kids at the earth-bending academy. Side note - are bending academies a common thing in the Avatar world? It seems like they are for earth bending, & probably for fire-bending too? Do the kids learn regular skills like math & language there too or just bending? Just something I was pondering with the world-building.

Katara scaring the crap out of the bully kids is hilarious, & I love the juxtaposition from *hair flip & smirk* "a girl has her ways" to *the boys trapped in ice.* That's just iconic to me. Also, I liked Sokka sliding out after Katara & saying "water tribe" in a mocking voice. So funny.

My biggest criticism of this episode is that while a lot of Sokka's comedy (obsessing over shopping & his new bag, getting too into the earth rumble) was funny by itself, it was leaned into in a way that prioritized comedy over accurate characterization. I just didn't like that Sokka didn't appear to care about finding Aang an earth-bending teacher, & didn't care when Aang & Toph were kidnapped. That doesn't feel true to the character. This critique was pointed out to me already & so I probably noticed it more haha - it's not like I was super mad about it, but it's something I noticed. Like I said, I overall enjoyed Sokka's antics, especially when it came to shopping.

I loved the dinner scene & Toph messing with Aang while acting totally innocent was hilarious. I also like that afterward, she apologizes, calls a truce, & explains a little more about herself. Something that I struggle with & don't always think I get right when writing Toph in fics is balancing her brashness with her emotional intelligence - which she does have. She didn't have to apologize & explain, but she did.

Another scene transition that I really loved in this episode was "Toph is probably terrified" *cut to Toph mocking her kidnappers.* Toph kicking the entire Earth Rumble's collective asses was iconic.

It's left a bit ambiguous whether the Gaang knows that Toph was lying about her father "having a change of heart" & I totally forget if they actually knew or not. So, I'm excited to see that play out. Sometimes having the memory of a goldfish is fun, like when you're re-watching a favorite show for the 500th time!

Speaking of bad memory, I forgot that I was doing a points thingy for Iconic Behavior™. Oh well, no one really earned any in 'Avatar Day' anyway. The points will be added for each season & for the show overall at the end of my re-watch.

Toph gets 500 for her introduction, another 500 for kicking ass in the fight at the end, & another 1 for her trickster behavior so that she could run away with the Gaang. Katara gets 500 for scaring those bullies.

Here are the rankings for Book 2 (not including anything earned in Book 1) so far:

Azula: 2000

Mai: 1000

Ty Lee: 1000

Iroh: 500

Zuko: 500

Toph: 1001

Katara: 500

[aurumjank]

Wednesday, episode three. Let's go!

⚠️ Warning for spoilers if you still haven't watched the show ⚠️

Before I was writing my thoughts already after finishing the episode, but this time I decided to do it while watching. I'm not sure how it's going to look like 😅

The scene in the library after kidnapping - priceless. Her level of sarcasm and ironic comments is rising, her skills of getting yourself out of hostage is amazing and her high intelligence, in general, is showing.

"...I trust you will all put your best face forward." And kids with no face are shown. How insensitive of you, principal! 😂 In all honesty, the principal is creeping me out... Which makes me like the actress (she knows that people probably won't like her character, but she still does her best - it deserves some admiration, in my book)

Wednesday speaking in German was unexpected. But funny. Especially tourists' reaction.

Oh, she's such a kind soul (without even realising it, probably 😂). I mean, the way she switched assignments with Enid was mostly manipulation, sure, but Bee-guy (Eugene, I'm ashamed that I had to Google his name 😓) She could've just walk past them, but she protected him by kicking some asses (which was just as epic as the first time) and then this "Let's get you cleaned up".

Am I the only one who thinks that this pilgrim woman (Arlene or what was her name?) looks a lot like Emily Blunt?.. Though after Googling her, I admit they look nothing alike.

Aaaand relationship drama, of course. Enid is trying to flirt with Ajax and ask him out only for him to be a clueless dummy... What was I expecting, really?.. 😂 At least she wasn't beating around the bush for long and went straight for it pretty quickly (which, respect, girl!) And he agreed, which is also nice. Moving on.

Xavier being all jealous is not cute at all. And I hope they won't turn it in some kind of a Xavier-Wednesday-Tyler love triangle. Also, "Would you rather I develop an obsession with horses and boy bands?" is hilarious 😂💜 I should remember this one.

"Thing, a hand here" I don't know why it made me laugh so much 😂

The story of Addams' family and other outcasts is very tragic 😢 And a little bit intriguing 🧐

Oh, I love how she provided a soundtrack for people running around in panic! 👏😂

"...my hands are clean" That doesn't mean you're not guilty. But I approve, absolutely 😄

"If he breaks your heart, I'll nail-gun his" Oh, that's so sweet 💜

Ajax, you poor thing... Now I'm upset both for Enid (who thinks her date stood her up) and him (who accidentally turned himself into stone and wasn't able to go on a date)

So, let me get this straight: Principal is saying that she and Wednesday's mom are besties, but (not so) secretly hates Morticia; "Normie" teacher knows about Nevermore secrets, even though she just started teaching there; a therapist is actually a psycho, who needs a therapist of her own; and a nice quiet guy (Xavier), who I knew has at least some kind of secret, apparently has some huge and dangerous secret... Yeah, okay. No questions here. I was just making sure...

Conclusion of my writing during watching:

Apparently, I have too many thoughts when I watch something. Most of them are not any good or important. I'm not sure if I should do this again, because it takes two times longer to watch one episode if I'm writing everything down 😅

[princess-of-the-corner]

Winx Club Reboot Episodes 17 and 18 (These are some of the ones that I've been looking forward to the most!).

Yes!

Episode 17:

Okay, so this is the reveal of the Sky/Brandon Switch plot. But I'm doing with less drama, cheating, and overall embarrassment and heartbreak for Bloom. So we're cutting out the tournament/exhibition thing.

And since the Cloud Tower mission went different, the romantic relationships are stable.

Well. Except Riven and Darcy. After finding out what she did to Mirta and how she's now on the run from the law, he kinda feels that's breakup-worthy. We get hints that he might still love her, but he's not in denial about what she did. And anyone who tries to say "we told you so" will get an asskicking.

This starts with mostly just a large group hangout between the Winx and the boys. They're updating them on general stuff but especially the stuff they found out about Bloom's past.

Timmy connects the dots and pulls Tecna aside like "if I noticed than you have to have noticed" and Tecna's like "Yes that is most likely what's going on but there are other things I need to factor in before I act on it.".

This is derailed because Diaspro shows up! She's immediatly latching onto "Brandon" and calling him Sky while making a passing comment on how she hasn't seen him in forever and took a weekend trip out to say hi.

The girls are confused because she's calling him the wrong name. Sky and Brandon waffle on how to explain it but...

Timmy: "Oh. They switched identities. "Brandon" is Sky, and "Sky" is Brandon."

Sky and Brandon: "Wait you knew????"

Riven: "Y'all ain't slick. We spend 90% of our time together we're going to notice you slip up!"

Sky and Brandon elaborate a little. How before they came to Red Fountain, there had been some attacks on the Eraklyon royal family. So Sky and Brandon decided to switch places and make the real prine less of a target. (It was Brandon's idea and approved by Sky's parents. Sky was against putting someone else in danger on his behalf but knows that arguing with Brandon is worse than arguing with his parents.)

Brandon is a bit worried that Stella will be mad, or not like him anymore because he's not a prince. But while she's mad at the situation, she's not mad at him.

Same for Bloom and Sky. She's upset but understands that he couldn't tell her. And honestly it's been a year without incident so switching back is probably fine now.

Eventually it comes back to "so... Who is Diaspro?". And Diaspro is like "Oh I'm Sky's fiance!". Cue shocked faces and possible heartbreak from Bloom.

Everyone: "Sky you have two minutes to explain before we kick your ass!"

Sky explains that is an arranged thing because his parents and Diaspro's parents have some political agenda. Diaspro is okay with it becausr she loves him(or at least thinks she does), but he wants no part of it and has been uncooperative at best and trying to talk to his parents about the whole situation.

It kind of starts a fight. Initially it's between him and Diaspro about the expectations their parents put on them and "a duty to the kingdom" and all that. But it eventually turns to Diaspro blaming Bloom for taking Sky away from her.

It does turn into an actual fight with Magic and stuff.

Overall, Sky sticks with Bloom and tries to remind Diaspro that while he cares about both her and his kingdom, he's not going to choose his partner based on his parents political agenda. For now, she runs off.

Bloom feels guilty that she caused this, but Sky assures her that it was a long time coming and just finally became real to Diaspro once Sky has someone else in mind for romance. He knows that she'll be okay but needs time and space.

Episode 18:

Timmy and Tecna discuss their theories regarding who Bloom really is. And though they've kept quiet, Timmy points out that the Trix, a trio of dangerous Witches currently on the run from the law, have been targeting Bloom. There's a chance that this is the reason, and telling her would be better.

They go to Faragonda first, to warn her of what's going on. Faragonda agrees and they gather the gang.

Bloom handles it... Okay. I mean, how else is she suppose to take that?

Honestly she handles most of it well but like. When she first found out about all this she was excited to find who her parents are and where she's from. But to be told that it's all gone.... It hurts.

Everyone reminds her that even if her birth family and her homeworld are gone, she still has them and her adoptive parents and friends on Earth as well.

Speaking of....

The Trix have grown impatient with trying smaller scale attacks and messing with Bloom to try and get the Dragon Flame from her, so they take more drastic measures.

Kidnapping her adoptive parents and Earth friends, all of which were pretty defenseless, and threatening to throw them into the void if Bloom doesn't give up the Dragon Flame.

We get some of the Riven and Darcy thing. He calls her bluff. That she might be a lot of things, but she's not a murderer. She tries to pull the "fuck off you don't know me I was using you!" Thing but it sounds a bit hollow and lacking the conviction.

Bloom isn't as ready to believe it's a bluff. Eventually, she gives in.

[bacomon-art-blog]

I found your blog right now, and can I say how much I love your art??? Your expressions and designs are so fun and I can’t stop looking at them. Would you mind explaining more about your Camp Cretaceous and SCP AU? It’s totally fine if you don’t want to though!

I’m sorry, I’m overwhelmed with emotions since your art is so good.

Omg! Thank you so much! You can not believe how happy seeing this ask got me! As for the AUs? I would be more than happy to info dump about them, but be warned the SCP au doesn’t have as much development as the Camp Cretaceous AU.

SCP AU:

Originally, the digidestined were SCPs themselves, with their own unique abilities, and I will probably put more thought into that idea, but I decided to change it after I had issues thinking about what to do with the characters. Now, the AU has the SCP Foundation finding out about the digital world and decided to label it as SCP-9901, with the digimon and the digidestined labeled SCP-9901-02 and SCP-9901-03 respectively. This leads to digidestined across the world being kidnapped by the foundation and trying to escape. Some of the digidestined get ahold of some of SCPs to help them escape, some being ones that already exist or some that I thought up.

Camp Cretaceous Au:For this au, I will talk about each character separately, and will only mention stuff from the first two episodes.

Sora: She is 18 years old and one of the Camp Counselors at Camp Cretaceous.(Don’t worry, They had to take classes before this!) Her father got her and Tai the job. He works as a digsite researcher for Jurassic World. She and Tai were already friends before getting the job, and both taught children how to play soccer which is why her father thought they would be good for the job. Her mom didn’t think it was a good idea as she thought Sora could get her, and boy was she right! She and the other counselors will follow Roxie and Dave’s storyline where they try to find the kids. Things will go differently for them as they won’t end up on the boats like Roxie and Dave did.

Taichi: You already know that he only took the job because he had to make sure that Kari was safe. Most info for Taichi is already explained in Sora’s paragraph, but I do plan for him and Yamato to have several arguments throughout the storyline, though I plan for them to better get to know each other after they have to go search for the kids. For episode two, instead of two campers going to the Carnotaurus cage, I plan for Yamato and Taichi to go with Daisuke. Yeah, Sora wasn’t too happy about them endangering one of the campers, but hey, Daisuke had the time of his life and helped save Yamato.

Yamato: He is 18 like Taichi and Sora, which should have made working with him easier, but no. He decided to be difficult. He’s only here to make sure his brother is safe. (He had to beg a lot for his friend to get him the job.) He’s good with the kids at least. The kids also like to hear him play songs,which ends with Miyako always freaking out about how they have a famous rockstar as a counselor. He has issues getting the youngest kid to relax,but Sora seems to have got it covered.

Takeru: He is 15 and he got invited to come to Camp Cretaceous after winning a writing contest involving the Park. He met Hikari before any of the others as they arrived earlier with the Camp Counselors. He and Daisuke argue a bit, and sometimes Miyako will join in. The others usually don’t though Iori asked them to be quiet once, which led to Daisuke getting a bruise on the head, and all four parties involved apologising. Though now, they’ve all learned that Iori can kick their asses if he ever chose to. Takeru plans on writing a book about their times here with Hikari’s beautiful pictures to go along with it. Once they found out Iori drew, they dragged him into it too.

Hikari: She got invited to Camp Cretaceous after Ingen saw her photography blog. Her first day sadly didn’t lead to anything interesting, but she, Takeru, and Daisuke all snuck out to go see if she can get any cool photos of the velociraptors. They almost got killed if the counselors hadn’t shown up. The Counselors scolded them for a while, and Daisuke was barred from going to Wu’s lab, she and Takeru wouldn’t have been able to either, if their brothers weren’t their counselors. Poor Daisuke though. Atleast, she won’t have to deal with his flirting while they are at the lab.

Daisuke: Daisuke is 15 years old and his soccer team is sponsored by Ingen, and that led to him and the captain of the other soccer team sponsored by Ingen to be Invited to Camp Cretaceous. He was so happy to hear that he and Ken both got invited. After their teams got sponsored by ingen, they had to go against each other a lot. This led to a rivalry between them, and it sadly wasn’t a friendly one at first, but then Ken warmed up to him and they became quick friends. He and Ken get to play soccer with two of their counselors as they are also soccer players. Isn’t that the coolest! The other counselors and campers try to play too, sometimes. Hikari seems to know a bit about soccer from her brother, while Takeru and Iori have experience with sports, so they fared better than Miyako and Yagami. Once when Iori asked him to be quiet, he retaliated by calling him a pipsqueak and Iori threw a book at him, though he had already realized that it was uncalled for before the book was thrown.

Ken: He had never really been a fan of Ingen, his parents weren’t either, but he could never really remember why. He thinks it has something to do with Sam. So when he found out that ingen would be sponsoring his team, he was not pleased. He knew it would help his players though, so he allowed for the sponsorship. He found the captain of the other team rather annoying and overbearing, and chose to kick his ass in soccer. Though one day, he was accidentally injured by Daisuke, and Daisuke helped him get to the bench. They ended up talking some more, and became friends. When he and Davis were invited to the camp, he planned on declining, but Davis got him to agree. It took a lot of persuading for his parents to agree as well. The first day wasn’t that eventful for him, though he knew that was different for some of the others. Davis told him all about it when he woke up. Sadly, Davis wasn’t allowed to go with them to the lab, but they still had fun. One of the assistant doctors was very nice to them all, though he felt like he had seen the guy before. He couldn’t place where though.

Iori: He is the youngest of the Campers, at 13 years old, but he would say that he’s also one of the most mature out of the group. Especially since he didn’t try to get himself killed on the first night, unlike some of the other campers. He doesn’t understand why Miyako was jealous, sure they got to see velociraptors but they also almost died, yeah no thanks. Though, he’s pretty sure Miyako wasn’t as jealous once she found out Daisuke had to clean dino excrement. When he got to the lab, Miyako ran off, but he atleast got to talk to the nice doctor that was walking them around. He got to watch some ankylosaurus hatch, the doctor even let him hold and name one. He remembers the doctor mentioning it imprinted on him or something like that. Sad that he didn’t get to learn the doctor’s name.

Miyako: Miyako is 16 years old and she wasn’t even invited to the camp, but Cody wasn’t going to go unless she went, and Ingen was surprisingly easy to hack anyway. She was excited to see what Camp Cretaceous had to offer too! The first day was pretty boring, but then she found out that some campers snuck out without her! Though Daisuke ended up with a rather unfavorable job, instead of going to the lab, so that sucks for him. While she was there, she decided to snoop inside Dr.Wu’s office. She got caught though, and Dr.Wu forced them to leave. Cody was pretty unhappy with her afterwards, Hikari told her about what happened while she was snooping, and explained why he was upset. She and Cody talked though, and he wasn’t too mad anymore.

Jou: That assistant doctor that’s been mentioned, yeah that's him. He is 19 years old and he works for Dr.Wu. He thinks Dr.Wu is pretty pretentious. His parents and one of his brothers work for Ingen, too. When he’s not working at the lab, he is hanging out with his friends, Mimi and Izzy. He even got them access to check out the lab. While they were doing that, he was assisting in giving some kids a tour. They were all very nice, and the youngest one seemed to really like the baby ankylosauruses, one even imprinted on him. Jou decided to let the kid name that one. Sadly, the kids had to leave after one of them was caught in Dr.Wu’s lab. This meant his friends had to leave too.

Mimi: She is a famous 17 year old vlogger and singer. She wanted to get some good videos on the park, and it was a perfect excuse to see Jou! She dragged Izzy along for the ride too! They spent their first week there just checking things out and making silly videos, but for the second week they decided to do a deep dive, starting with the lab. They just looked around the lab in the beginning, but then they got bored and decided to check Wu’s office. They found out about some weird dinosaur before they heard someone coming and left the room.(It was only Miyako though,) What they found seemed to upset Izzy though, she doesn’t know why though.

Koushiro: He is a famous programmer that sometimes joins Mimi in her videos. He lost his parents in an accident involving the construction of Jurassic World, and he plans to find out more about what happened that day. He goes to the park with Mimi, using the excuse that he also wanted to see Jou. When Jou invited them to the lab, he knew that it would be the best chance of finding out more information. What he found was somehow worse though. Did they really think this dinosaur would be better than the last one they made? He needed to know if Jou knew about this, but he couldn’t do that if Mimi was with him. Maybe he could ask his friend Tai if he could get him in, since he’s working at the camp for the summer. (Sadly, he doesn’t get the chance though.)

God, that was so many words. If you have anything else to ask, feel free to!

[popculturebuffet]

Top 12 Christmas Episodes!

Merry Christmas Eve Everybody! We’ve reached the end of my christmas reivews and what not on this blog. 

But as a wise barrel chested canadian man once said, I fucking love christmas, So if i’m finishing up the holiday on my blog I want to go big and stay home. So in honor of the holiday, my memories of it and just how GREAT it makes me feel i’m counting down my top 12 christmas specials! After last year’s worst of list I really wanted to do the oppsiite.. but it was naturally a lot harder. Shows usually put a LOT of effort into their christmas outings, even the ones who do so once a year, so the good FAR FAR OUTWEIGHS THE BAD. To show the contrast I could only find like.. 8 I was comfortable with putting on the worst list and even some of them aren’t that bad just not good. With the best of list? I had over 60 considered and even once I started narrowing down.. it was still around 30 or 40 REALLY GOOD specials I had to work down into this list. It took a lot of work and up to the last one it was really HARD to cut it down this far. But this is the best of the best of the best of the best of the.. you get the bit. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and this review was already supposed to come out on christmas eve, so, since I won’t be able to use this for another year...

Er. Top 12 Christmas Specials.

12. Merry Christmas Johnny Rose (Schitt’s Creek) So I finally watched all of Schitt’s Creek this year.. and i’m kicking myself for not powering through it’s terrible starting decent ending first season earlier because the show is easly one of the best comedies of the last decade and rightly earned it’s emmy sweep this year. Heartfelt, hilarious, and starring some of the best names old and new in comedy, the show is really great and I recommend checking it out.. just again be aware the first few episodes are not very good and if it wasn’t vital to the rest of the show story wise, i’d just recommend skippping season 1. While the characters minus patriach Johnny are insuferable at first... it’s their growing from self absorbed assholes to still self abosrbed but really good and decent people that is the beating heart of the show. And no where more is this heart on the show’s sleve than at christmas time as this episode is baked in just how far our cast have come.

The episode centers on Johnny Rose, played by Eugene Freaking Levy who co created the show with his equally talented son Dan who desrves the lion’s share of the credit for the show’s upturn in quality. Since the Roses used to have big lavish christmas parties once a year, Johnny decides to throw the equilvent of what they can do on a budget at the Motel they all live in. But his family all has other plans with daughter Alexis, now happily with Ted again, meeting his friends for the first time, son David, played by Dan Levy, busy at his store with his partner, in both senses, patrick and his wife Moira having a performance with her acapella group. At first it just comes off as something typical of johnny: Something well meaning and what not but ultimatley just not something his family is into or that he planend well for.

It’s only when Johnny finds himself alone at the local diner with Moira coming to see him we find out why he’s REALLY doing this: the old lavish parties, which we see one of at the start.. ultimately ended up with him alone, sad and everyone off to their own corners. WIth the family having actually come together over the past 4 seasons, Johny simply wanted to celebrate that and says such in one of the best moments in the entire show and with one hell of a line.

"I just thought, in spite of all the hardship, we found ourselves coming together, the kids, you and me, as a family. And it just seemed like the perfect day to celebrate that. The perfect day for a Rose Family Christmas Party." But Moira has already taken care of it and thus takes JOhnny home to find all their friends and the rest of the family gathered, wtih the Jazzagals serandading eveyrone with a beautiful rendition of silent night. It’s just a warm, well done character piece that really fits the holiday while also really cementing what the show had become: a show not afraid to make dirty jokes or humilatie it’s cast but one that has a true sweetness to it. It’s only that the first half’s jokes don’t quite pop all that well and feel a bit at johnny’s expense that holds it back. Otherwise this is one i’ll be coming back to every year.

11. Father of the Bob (Bob’s Burgers) Bob’s Burgers is a damn great show i’m season’s behind on. Warm, charming, weird and with an expansive side cast played by a whos who of whose in comedy today. It’s a damn fine show and i’m happy it seems to have manatained it’s quality long after the simpsons and family guy lost theirs. And the show really loves christmas.. and halloween.. and valentine’s day.. and thanksgiving. Oh god does it love thanksgiving. Point is, the shows good at holiday episodes and loves doin em and has produced some stellar ones and I had a lot to pick from here.. but I ended up going with my gut and my personal faviorite. It’s not the most christmasy despite the trappings, but the character work is just too good to leave it out in the cold.  It’s Christmas Eve and the Belcher’s are visiting Bob’s Dad. As you can tell by the fact the most we’ve seen of him is a picture of his restraunt, big bob’s diner in the belcher’s living room and a flashback where he told bob to work instead of play as a kid that set off an episode’s plot, they don’t have the best relationship. Bob has a firm rule about not spending more than 15 minutes with his dad, as that’s the point they run out of things to talk about and his dad starts getting overcrytical and making jabs at bob’s life and restraunt. Linda, being Linda, decides to meddle and when she finds out Big Bob’s short order cook is missing, has our Bob fill in.  But as we see in flash backs it’s not THAT easy to repair things, as there’s a long, bitter history between the two: When a youngbob made his first unique burger and served it to a customer, his dad threw it out without even letting anyone taste it. He then offered bob a partnership when bob was a young man but Bob snapped at Big Bob in front of his friends and left to make burgers his own way, leading to where we are now. And honestly i’ts the perfect origin story for Bob and adds a lot of shades to his character. He’s obessed with the restraunt not just because he genuinely loves cooking but because it’s HIS. His place, to create creative burgers, his family and his regulars. It’s his corner of the sky. It makes the restraunt’s existance and surivvial that much more heartwarming to know the meaning behind it.

Naturally things end up blowing up with Bob pointedly serving the burger to make a point and Big bob walking out angrily and sadly. It takes bob’s gift from the kids, who had their own neat subplot of making gifts for bob in the basement, a snowglobe wrapped in newspaper.. to find out hsi dad kept the newspaper with the review of his first restraunt and kept ALL reviews of Bob’s Burgers. Despite being a stone faced critical ass on the outside, Big BOb STILl cared.. and bob relizes he needs to make amends and actually make an effort instead of just avoiding his dad or gettin gback at him. And through the power of gay club next door line dancing, and nick offerman whose a wonderful guest star here, the two reconcile with Bob admitting he shouldn’t of humilatied his dad even if he had to go his own way, and Big Bob admitting he’s hard to work with, the loss of his wife hit him hard, and he was a bit too much. The two hug, and it’s genuinely just a good, well done story of father and son that somehow gives even more dimension to Bob, an already pretty damn fleshed out character. Just a really great episode whose holiday timing makes it better.. though not being AS much a holiday episode as a really good bob’s burgers that’s enhanced by it is why this one’s so low. Next!

10. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (MST3K) I”m honestly surpised i’ts taken me THIS long to get to something MST3K related. I’ve loved the show since high school, first exposed to it thanks to a dvd from the library and continuing from there to present day. I love the show’s combination of riff’s on perfectly cheesy movie and fun skits with really good puppets especially for the budget. It’s just good comfort food in show form and no where is comfort food more welcome than christmas, and each era of MST3K, so far hopefully the show will come back again eventually, has had i’ts own damn good christmas special, with this being my faviorite out of the three. 

The other two are good: ironically I have a poster for the santa claus over my computer, or rather crow and tom as santa and pitch aka satan respectively. Yes really, that’s the premise. IT is as awesome and batshit insane as it sounds. Point is I like that one and year without a santa claus, this one just has more personal warmth to me. I jus tlove the holiday feeling of joel and the bots readying for christmas in the host segments. It just feels like christmas and it’s wonderful to see the bots act like kids.  That being said.. it’s still also fucking hilaroius, with the mad’s hilariously petty wish squisher, a device that turns good gifts into socks and other unwanted presents, the best Crow T Robot quote of all time as he gives joel his santa wish

And of course, one of the best and most patently insane christmas songs ever: Have Yourself a Patrick Swayze christmas, which has become oddly sweet after his death and got me to watch road house for the first time last year... and it’s as awesome and wonderfully rediclous as this song inspiried by it and even better once you get the refrences

But while the host segments are what push this film into the list, the movie is still a delightful bit of 60′s cheese as, to restore their children to being children, a couple of martians kidnap santa to bring christmas to mars. Fights iwth robots, an asshole martian and an obnoxious sidekick named droppo, yes really, insue. IT’s just some fun cheese for the holiday and a staple of my holidays. 

9. The Three Wise Men (Letterkenny)  It’s no secret Letterkenny has quickly become one of my faviorite shows. After watching it last January, it’s become part of my being and one of my go too feel good shows, a funny as hell, uniquely weird slice of life show set in rural canada. While like it’s fellow recent legend of canadian television Schitt’s creek it’s first season CAN be a bit rough.. but it’s not as rough and getting through it is worht it as the show immiedatly picked up and became one of the funniest things to ever exist. It’s also uniquely tied to christmas as every year a season of the show has dropped on that day on it’s home streamer Crave TV in canada, and on boxing day here in the us. So it’s only fitting the show also has a REALLY great christmas special. 

It’s Christmas eve and our heroes the hicks, are having a christmas party. For the uniniated the hick’s aren’t really all that “hick” ish just hardworking farmers who still accept everybody and work damn hard. Leading man, terse talker and certified badass Wayne is suprisingly really into christmas, as he spent pretty much every holiday spouting out inacuracies about it but this day? He genuienly enjoys, even insiting on awful holiday drinks only and a midnight toast, the titular three wiseman (Canadian, irish and American Whiskeys, one shot of each). “It’s tradition”.  And thanks to tradition we get the main gag of the episode: most of the episode is wayne calling in various members of the town, most of whom he dosen’t like very much and some who deeply annoy him, to give them presents. And  while i’ve admitted to being a guy who dosen’t like a plot that basically repeats itslef.. it works here.. mostly because while the setup is the same, each member provides something new and hilarious: while it starts innocently enough with Bonnie Mcmurray, local fanservice, nice lady and fangirl of wayne, getting a camera and offering to be an elf, an offer wayne is forced to take up, it soon becomes a parade of weirdness and bullshit Wayne really dosen’t want to put up with and that really makes me laugh hard: Local loveable sex maniac and bar owner Gail goes on for a good minute about her sexual antics with Wayne’s beloved departed uncle eddie after Wayne gives him a picture of the guy, Glenn, another of wayn’es unwanted admirers and local pastor, obsesses over a christmas themed digeredoo, local druggies and emos the skids intitally refuse to open their gift out of prinicpal until wayne simply asks “What if theres drugs in it” (It’s insted vitamin d), the local hockey coach sings a hilarious and gloriously cringe song about having sex with his wife when they were alive and the hockey players make wayne uncomfortable both by crying a bit. Also tanis gets an apron. 

But even if the reactions horrify or piss off our hero into needing his elf’s help, the heart is in the fact that despite hating most of these people, he still got them a gift and one that’s hearfelt and well meaning. And naturally the sweetest is saved for his family of choice with the hicks: Squirrely Dan gets a pencil case for his oft talked about women’s studies class, Dary gets some clonge since he wears his barn clothes everywhere, and Katy gets an obscure korean christmas movie since her subplot that episode had been spent trying to get a christmas movie going, only for everyone to pick it apart: from the racisim of santa and co towards rudolph to pointing out how profoundly fucked up the premise of the santa claus is (including the fact various serial killers could’ve gotten the suit), which I agree with, it’s just a sweet gesture that shows how well he knows his friend. Overall it’s just a fun hangout of an episode that feels like a real christmas party and in these troubling times we could all use that. Now let’s all have a spit.

8. The Feast of Alvis (Sealab 2021) Another Christmas staple for me.. and a gloriously strange one at that. This time we’re checking under the sea with Sealab 2021, one of the earliest adult swim shows and the blueprint for the abriged series format, it took a dry hannah barbara show about an underwater research station and remixed it into the antics of a bunch of idiots and lunatatics throughuly unequipped for the task. Except Dr. Quinn, the only sane person aboard.. most of the time. It was comedy gold courtsey of Adam Reed, creator of the later Frisky Dingo, a throughly underated show, and Archer, which is like Frisky Dingo but refined into it’s truest and most sucessful form. It was magical and just talking about it makes me want to talk about it again at some point, probably in a best of list.  So naturally this madcap energy was perfect for the holidays. Originally the crew planned to use ACTUAL religions for this, but were forced by network to change it.. which ended up being one of those cases where the network ended up actually making the right call as the creators instead created thinly veiled substute for the various religions... and centered it around Alavanism, which is christianity.. but if christ was instead born in the us at some point, and instead of being a pacifist, was a drunken beligernt gun loving redneck who shot a guy in the face, has “vengance is mine” as one of his quotes (from said face shooting) and still had pomp and circumstance as part of his holiday.  Helping this though is our Alvian for the evening is Captain Murphy, the series best character and often the center of it’s best moments, played by the wonderful and sadly late Harry Goz, a half crazed half chidlish cloud cuckoolander who often comes off like a demanding child in an old man’s body. So naturally this holiday is for him and even more naturally he’s holding a massive alvis day cermeony that’s as batshit as he and his religion are in the main deck: he’s got buffalo, a buffet that’s deeply unsanitary, and a hallogen light mimickign the alvistide star that he wants to plop a baby under.  Naturally no one else is happy about this. Well Stormy, local hilarious dumbass, is as the only other alvian on board for this, and a general sucker for dumb shenanigans but he’s so plastared he’s even less coherent than usual and can mostly muster the desire to kick something’s ass or a weak “shut up” Most of all Quinn and his girlfriend debbie, who point out religious tolerance is a part of the sealab charter and that this kind of grotesuqe celebration really isn’t in season. I’ts also a nice dig at “War on Christmas Assholes”, long before that was as big a problem with Muprhy very much being the asshole and his cleebration rapidly crumbling. He also attempts to fire Sparks for being a wiccan stand in so yeah he deserves it. It’s all capped in Muprhy getting visted by a drunken halucination of his lord. All in all easily one of the best and most insane christmas specials ever put to film. If you have HBO Max watch it today or tommorow you will NOT regret it. 

7. Arnold’s Christmas (Hey Arnold)  A classic of my childhood, Hey Arnold is one of the best animated shows period. It’s something i’m not shy about saying, I bleivie I said it in my thanksgiving list and i’ll say it quite a bit. It’s not PERFECT, it has it’s flaws.. but it’s still damn good and the golden standard for slice of life shows. 

This episode naturally is one of it’s best and, while I didn’t catch as a kid the signifigance or what this was about, touches on of all things the vietnam war and the children who were helicoptered out. In a heart destroying story, Mr. Winn, one of Arnold’s boardinghousemates, reveals he has a daughter he has no idea where she is as to give her a better life, he made sure she got on one of those helicopters as an infant. While he was able to immigrate later, he never found her. Arnold being our own personal jesus, refuses to let this stand and goes out of his way to figure it out and goes on a quest that seemingly ends in failure. It falls on Helga to save the day as Helga actually gets what she wanted from her parents, a pair of nice boots, and gets the rare moment where they actually acknoledge her.. but loving arnold and seeing the noblility in his quest.. she gives it up. Just to make someone elses’ dream come true. He may never know who did it and tha’ts okay. An utterly heartwarming and heartbreaking episode. Nuff said. 

6. Santa Claus is Comin To Town  Speaking of classics this is how you do a santa origin story. Not the first or last i’d see, and we’ll get to one of those in a moment. While i’m not a huge fan of Rankin Bass’ other big hit with Rudolph, this one really hits the spot for me and is only this low because it’s pacing is really slow at points. Otherwise this special is near flawless, looks good and holds up today.  As I said this is a good Year One for santa establishing how he became immortal, how he met the elves, he was raised by them, how he started giving out toys, how he met mrs claus you know all the stuff you’d ask about.  To me what really sells it the best though is Mickey Rooney as Santa. While I had no idea who played him till literally writing this article in my mind his earnesness, kindness and genuine nature just.. fit the old elf to me even as a young man and everything from his humble beginings to his wanting to help children just out of kindness to his teaching an old man to dance to his romance just feels.. genuine and warm like christmas should. It just makes me feel good and like others on this list.. FEELS like christmas if that makes any sense. Not a lot else to say. Burger Meister Meisterburger isn’t the best vilian, but it was the early 70′s and we weren’t quite to diamond levels of complex interesting villians just yet so fair enough. Baiscally I don’t have a TON to say about this special in short, I may review it next year, we’ll see, but  it’s really good, really fun and sometimes simple just works I guess? Speaking of stop motion..

5. Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas (Community) I love a good sitcom. I haven’t shared that love enough on here, I should try and change that at some point, but I do, as a fourth of this list should make crystal clear. So while sadly some of my faviorites like Brooklyn Nine Nine, Parks and Rec and Roseanne didn’t make the cut, Community thankfully did. Community is a show that’s really damn good and had THREE awesome Christmas episodes. All three, all winners and all in contention for some time. Regional Holiday music just barely didn’t make the cut. But ultimately I went with the best of the best, the most creative, most character driven, and most intresting. And the one that in Community’s traditional style, decided to take a spin on an old genre.  In this case Abed, the study groups resident pop culture junkie, guy who thinks in tropes and future Huey Duck, is seeing everything in stop motion and may get thrown out of school as a result. With his friends deeply worried, they turn to Greendale’s local psychologist and british areshole Professor Duncan, played by my spirtual father John Oliver. ALL HAIL THIS MAN

Duncan takes the two into Abed’s fantasy and thus into a rankin bass special where Abed slowly weeds out his friends and tries to get rid of Duncan, whose naturally only intrested in proving a case. It’s a fun, chaotic ride including christmas pterodactyls, and the cast all in bizzare forms based on what Abed thinks of htem. it’s really damn creative and beauitfully animated at that.  Naturally like most of these what clinches it is the heart and soul. We find out towards the end WHy this happened: Abed’s mom is spending christmas with her new family instead of him and it’s broken him to not be able to watch specials like they do> Thus the group rally behind their friend, beat duncan in a wonderful christmas number and watch specials with their buddy, as the weird ass family some of whom have or will make out, they are. 

4. A Charlie Brown Christmas With my love of comic strips and sentiment, it should suprise absolutely no one this is on here. I love peanuts and have only grown to love it more over hte years for it’s mealancholy, finely constructed cast and weird bits people forget about like Snoopy’s disco phase, that really damn good arc where his house burned down, his brother stealing his fiance only to have her stolen from him, the fact Lucy threw Linus out once, that peppermint patty was once held back a grade and her snores took her place at her desk, the fact there was a character named 5, Charlie Brown and Linus’ friend roy who introduced peppermint patty to the cast, the fact a character named crybaby boobie exists, the fact there are specials devoted to a pastiche of call of the wild, a friend of linus’ getting cancer, and Flashbeagle. Just flashbeagle. 

It is glorious. And I really need to add that to my review queue.. maybe for late january. Seriously, tis glorious. And I OWN this one. So yeah. What were we talking about? Oh yes the special that made all the specials, especially flashbeagle, possible: A Charlie Brown Christmas This one has always been part of my life, but even beyond it’s signifigance to me, having grown up with it and grafted it to my soul, it’s just .. good. It has some good commentary on the consumrisim of the holiday with Charlie Brown rightly a bit upset about it and ending up roped into directing a christmas play. Great gags, and charlie brown trying to stick up for a scragly tree no one enlse likes insue. Oh and scripture as this is probably the only overtly religious special on the list. Not that ther’es anything wrong with not being religious and celebrating christmas: i’m not anymore but I still do and while I respect people who celebrate the holiday int he spirit of christ I have none for people who bash anyone who dosen’t just see it religiously and whose over zealous about it. Your just as bad as war on christmas people and you should feel bad.  But yeah overal it’s just an inconic special whose clunkyness in production and audio just adds some charm to it. It shows it’s age.. but only in the animation and production values, which is just.. charming. It’s message is timeless, it’s characterization is perfect as you’d expect from peanuts in it’s prime, and i’ts ending is truly heartmelting. If you’ve never seen this one.. just go do that. I can wait. 

3. How Santa Stole Christmas! (Ducktales)  I”ll be brief on this one as, since it only aired a few weeks ago, i’ve already done a full review on it. But I will justify why such a recent special is this high up: because it’s just that good. It may of JUST been aired, but it’s as good as anything else here and age dosen’t matter. Quality does. There will likely be future specials worth this list i’m sure but for this moment in time this one earns it. It has Santa perfectly charactrized and tells an utterly heartrending story of friendship that ends up ending simply because the two are moving in opposite directions and of Scrooge learning the meaning of christmas. Not thorugh the ghosts, they already brilliantly messed with that one. It’s just really fantastic, gets the christmas spriit perfectly and uses the characters just as flawlessly. I will defintely be watching this one every year. Just a warm, creative, funny as hell special. 

2. Comfort and Joy (Justice League) Speaking of reviews I held off reviews of my final two so I could save more thoughts here. I probably still will review them eventually, especially this one, I just felt i’d be repeating myself or have to be brief like the last one. But yeah this one slaps. The Justice League cartoon is easily one of the best superhero cartoons, if not superhero properties, period. Taking the base already built in from the previous three dcau cartoons, this one builds out the world and expands it , and introduced a young me to my lifelong loves of Martian Manhunter, The Flash and especailly the green lanterns with John Stewarts badass reciting of the oath easily etched in my brain. The only reason he isn’t my faviorite lantern is because mogo exists.. aka the lantern that is a living planet. 

You can see why. But yeah Jon stuck in my mind. So it’s probably no suprise that the christmas special heavily featuring all three. It’s Christmas Time and after the league stops it’s usual disaster, they head off for their usual holiday activities. Batman and Wonder Woman are missing, but it’s fine. While I love both, especailly DCAU Batman, the episode is probably better off not trying to shove them in there just for the sake of it. One of the show’s greatest strength’s was character ballance, not forcing EVERY member of the big 7 into every episode and just using whose needed and shuffling them in and out FAR BETTER than say, Ducktales. Point is this, much like being loved by anyone, was not unusual and it makes the episode tighter. Even more so since this is the ONLY half hour episode in the first two seasons, the rest are basically hour long episodes split into two parters, though still paced for being two episodes so it’s good.. and three movie length three parters for the premire, and the season finales. Fun Fact: As a kid I missed starcrossed and thus had to find out second hand, and barely at that, why hawkgirl was gone at the start of unlimited. I still have not seen it. I will correct this eventually. It was a diffrent time. 

So yeah this episode not only has a main character cast of 6, with 3 other major supporting characters, but is handily split into three amazing plot lines. The first has Green Lantern try to teach Hawkgirl how to have christmas fun by playing on a snowy world, while Hawkgirl takes him to a bar to show how she celebrates.. i.e. getting hammered and starting a fight. Nanananana, she’s gonna start a fight. It’s a fun really sweet segment, and some nice ship tease between the two.  The other two though are what make this special.. not that the first one is bad these two are just really inspiried for the characters involved: For the Flash, who in this series is both Wally and a bit of a smug quipster.. we see beneath the ego and flirting he’s really a sweet, caring guy and spends his christmas finding a toy for the orphans in this case a rapping duck. 

Not QUITE as embarassing btu close. He runs into the Ultra Humanite whose destroying the toys because he hates the comercialism and how it dumbs things down for the kids. Have I mentioned that I love the Ultra Humanite? Because I do.. the animated version. The comics version is REALLY fucking creepy but this version? He’s fucking great, an intellectual whose a formidable threat.. and honestly sympathetic. His motive here, while misguided, is well meaning and his price for selling out the injustice gang and going back to jail quitely? one of the best gags in human history. Getting PBS to say “This program was supported by viewers like you.. and the ultra humanite” He’s just awesome and i’ts a shame he never returned for unlimited. His comic version, while not BAD is just.. not NEARLY as intresting or deep and I wish the comics would have him take after this version.  And that depth shows as once he learns what was going on, he willingly helps flash and simply reprograms the duck to recite the nutcracker. It’s a really nice gesture, that flash returns by giving his foe a christmas tree. Really good stuff.  And I saved the best for last. Heading home for the holidays, Clark takes Jonn with him since otherwise he’d be stuck at the watchtower and batman was apparnetly “Begging” for duty. Granted one wonders what his surrogate dad and adopted sons think but odds are alfred would just drag them up there anyway no mater how much Dick protested. And of course Alfred has watchtower clearance, he’s alfred: he’s the only one besides Diana looking out for bruce.. and no I don’t buy the bullshit from the batman beyond comics that never happened. And Clark too, this is true... but it takes a village to get bruce to go the fuck to sleep and most of that villiage is alfred. And if your wondering “wait won’t he be in danger”... the only thing that can kill this man is apparently bane. He’s survivied earthquakes, poisonings, turning into a supervillian via radaition induced crazies, yes really, apparently dying leading to the supervillian thing, being stabbed, being shot at, having to help raise damien... my point is the guy’s been through a lot in comics, I doubt the dcau version is any less resilent and god damn I miss this old man. Salute alfred, salute.  Where was I oh yeah, Clark insists on taking John home. And it’s stuff like this why I freaking love superman. Many dismiss him as corny, unrelaistic or boring.. all untrue. Sure he’s a boyscout, but he’s meant ot resprsent the best in mankind, what we can truly be powers or no, what we can achieve and the kind of moral, kind person we can be. He’s an inspiration for us all. And this kind of act is what shows that: his response to one of his friends having nowhere to go on christmas and not having been around the holiday? Take him to his house to share in the warmth and love.  And Clark’s parents here show WHY he’s the hero he is and why I freaking love them in all flavors.. except Zack Snyder flavor and even then tha’ts only for Pa “Letting people die is the right thing to do now i’m going to throw myself into a tornado to prove that” kent. But it’s christmas so i’m not here to bitch about zack snyder and if you want that in full, you can pay for it.  My point is they show, as they should how he became the moral paragon he is: they meet a man from mars, who they’ve never met and their son just invited.. and welcmoe him without a thought. While this isnt’ their first alien obviously, and they say so, it’s still really sweet they just warmly welcome the man in and give him their surrogate daughter/their sons’ biological cousin’s room while sh’es away. Oh Kara’s away conveniently skiing with barbra. Also she lives with them in this continuity. Also maybe that’s where dick is. I dunno, but I hope so. Dickbabs for life.. depending on the continuity. I”m still dick and star for life in the titans cartoon.  Point is we get nice of sweet, and hilaroius, holiday stuff: Jonn is suprised to see this side of clark: while he’s always warm and inviting as Clark.. he can also be relaxed, enjoy the holiday and get real spirited. For one day he dosen’t have to be superman. He can just be clark. Evne superman can take a day off.. and he’s superman, he desrves one. Let Bruce and Diana take care of it after they finish marathon sex and Diana finshes with Cheetaah and Maxwell lord.  But yeah as I was saying hilarious as we find out clark used to peak and they had to, and still do, line it with lead foil to make sure he can’t peak, and Martha gives John a sweater, saying his company is all they need for a gift and when it’s a bit big he charmingly grows into it. Jonn also walks among the humans a bit and we get a great little bit of him sneaking down a chimney after hearing the thorughts of a girl whose worried santa isn’t real. It’s just all great stuff that cumilates in Jonn joyfully singing a song in his native tounge while stroking Kara’s cat Streaky.. who sadly does not have a cape or super powers in this universe. Yet. Just a really good superhero story, a damn fine christmas story and one of the best episodes of a stellar show that thankfully is still remembered in this new age of heroes. 

1. It’s Christmas You Dorks (Harvey Beaks) Yup not probably a lot of people’s first choice but fuck it. I’ve loved this one since i saw it a few years ago shorlty after the series ended, having grown far behind and caught up just as it was ending... and regretted it as Harvey Beaks is easily one of my faviorite shows from the wall to wall hit parade that was the 2010′s. It’s charming, hilaroius, heartfelt, and creative.. and really weird if not as weird as CH Greenblaht’s previous show chowder.. but still weird enough.Thankfully Big City Greens is carying the banner for this kind of show, as is Craig of the Creek, so the kind of gentle, slice of life stuff hasn’t gone away, but this show was still it’s own thing and i’m sad it’s gone.  But while it was here it was spectacular and this is one of the best of em if not the best. And naturally for a show like this it has a neat approach: The episode is dialouge free, only having some singing in the last act and that’s diagetic, the characters singing a christmas song. We’ll get to that. This isn’t the FIRST silent christmas special i’ve seen, Courage the Cowardly dog did it’s own take on the nutcracker, but it’s still the best. And given Courage the Cowardly Dog is one of my faviorite shows, that’s high praise. Each segment is charming, unique, and well done. 

As for what each are: The wraparound is a gorgeously animated bit of stop motion or something like it where the spirit of winter goes around and turns fall to winter or helps the kid with winter fun. It’s a bunch of really adorable stuff. The first proper one is the kids having a snowball fight when a bunch of asshole adults interupt, and hte kids end up getting even by hiding in some snowmen. Again just some really fun, really well done stuff.  But the first one that really makes it follows Technobear, local wannabe ladies man in training who has a crush on Harvey’s mom and fantasies about giving her some lovely read shoes and skating with her. His hopes are dashed when instead her daughter michelle, the horrifing baby child pictured above, takes them instead. But not only is it heartwarming to see the stone faced future rule of the world crack a smile, Techno instnatly realizes whats’ improtant and takes the bby ice skating.  The next segment is just some goofy googus with the squirrels, the local crooks who are also squirreels, but it’s still pretty good. We then get Jeremy trying to be santa which is both funny but genuinely heartwarming and finally the best bit as Dade, local killjoy, gets annoyed at everyone singing a popular new christmas song instead of the old standard he likes and being a dick about it before softening a bit when Harvey genuinely offers him camradere. It’s just.. good stuff that’s hard to put into words, and given putting it into words is my thing, it really speaks to just hwo good this special is. it just, makes me feel nice, and really gets the spirit of the holiday in all it’s forms. It’s gorgeously aniamted, well paced, and never stops being entertaining and that’s why it’s both my faviorite and why every year.. i’ll be coming back to little bark. And if nothing else.. it’ll keep this warm, great show alive in my heart.  So with that I end this list. If you didn’t like it tha’ts fine, this is my opinon. But I wanted to share my faviorites with you and hope you’ll check them out this or next chirstmas. Until we meet again... Merry Christmas to all,and to all a good night. 

[toooldforfandom-liveblogs]

RWBY V08E05 - Amity

Amity! A return to the adventures of RWB? With no Penny sadly. I doubt we'll get so many visual puns again but who knows, maybe they'll make friends with Whitley or at least have a cordial chat with him without killing each other. I have no idea, so let's do this!

Wow, great start. Poor Pietro, got copypasted there with no regard for his feelings.

I'm very glad I was wrong about no Penny.. Even if every second she's on screen increases the chances of something bad happening to her.

Why does the HUD look like someone used the wand from photoshop to extract it from a white background?

Wait, are they going to blow up the Dust to launch amity into space?

Penny is right, that doesn't seem like a good idea but it's also incredibly in-character for the show. Now even caves are a gun.

Someone at Rooster Teeth really likes the idea of little old ladies riding huge robots, and honestly? Can't disagree.

hmmmmmmmm not a big fan of pietro at the moment

oof, my heart

Maria continues to be the voice of wisdom. Sadly, I doubt Pietro is going to listen to her.

In the original tale Pinocchio ends up learning by making bad choice after bad choice. Penny doesn't seem to have that much in common with her inspiration but if she hasn't ever been able to make a choice at all, would it be surprising if the first time she makes a choice it ends up being a bad one? It wouldn't surprise me if this is setting her up to fly away from Amity (against Pietro's wishes) once she notices something went wrong with everyone else (making her vulnerable)

Welp.

look at that poor girl

Aaaa, that's the same expression she used when Ruby said Penny was still the Protector of Mantle. "my feelings don't matter, conceal, don't feel, don't let them kn— wait, never mind

but yeah, she's used to putting everyone ahead of her (because as a robot she supposedly doesn't know better, there's a reason that was her first thought when she was talking with Winter in last season)

aw poop

Cinder was moving so fast she left her shadow behind.

Great deranged expression and voice though. Did she bring both Neo and Emerald or just the latter?

Penny yes

Hey, 9 blades! For a second I thought they wouldn't remember that she lost one.

no, no, no, time for what? aaaaa

Now that we have more context, Cinder using her own experiences to know where to hurt people is * chef kiss *

Intentional reference to the PvP fight?

okay, I didn't expect badass Maria to actually fight using her robot but I blame my own lack of imagination

now I'm hyped, it also gives something the other two something to do.

I think the main problem here for the good guys is that if Pietro gets threatened there's no way Penny is not going to surrender. Although, maybe he gets kidnapped? That'd make him get "swallowed" by a whale... hm. Another possibility is that they threaten Pietro and Penny gets hacked "just in time"

you can't lie to me, subtitles, I know she was going to say bitch

lol at crashing the entire ship into maria to get her out of the way

bad mistake to hurt one of Penny's friends in front of her

Did anyone give a job to poor Emerald? I can almost see Cinder telling Neo to distract people while in the ship with Emerald sitting in the back seat trying to get noticed.

C'mon Neo, leave the old lady alone

…of course she wouldn't leave her alone, she's Neo, she likes playing with her victims

I wonder if Neo has a deeper plan than "killing this old lady while looking like her protege would be incredibly cruel and extra and therefore worth doing"

If the drifting was an accident, where did Emerald go?

waiting for the RWBY shmup

I understand why she's leaving Amity (to prevent their fight from destroying it by accident) but leaving Pietro alone feels like a bad idea.

…this HUD is a lot cleaner, I don't get it, it should be the same png overlay

anyway, took the screenshot to write "wow, Cinder is actually capable of thinking through her rage these days, good for her" but now that I think about it, I'm not sure if she's ever been fooled.

booo

I wanted more evil Ruby

Also, I'm literally loling at Maria yoda-ing Neo.

ah yes, neo, so graceful

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmm

mmm

oof, looks like that was a direct hit. And the worst part is that the second James hacks into Penny, I assume it'll will work that way. Probably her worst nightmare.

Yeah, no, this worked for spiderman because his nemesis wasn't right in front of him.

I like the idea of this shot but for some reason the execution looks weird. Maybe it's just awkward positioning, it's hard to tell the angles.

lmao

* cough *

I mean, yeah, saw that coming.

For a second I thought she was melting her face but then I remembered the one reason Cinder has that arm.

I'm going to need a diagram to know what Emerald was doing.

Yessss, no need for swords if you can make your own

I really need to know what she was doing inside because right now it feels like that was the worst excuse ever to get her out of the fight until the last possible second (and maybe make it another reference to PvP when Ruby exits the corridor?)

Did she finally see Pietro?

Emerald has so much faith in Cinder, sigh

I wonder if before the end of the show Neo will get to stab someone with her umbrella. Maybe it could even be Cinder

First time she gets knocked out?

Cinder with a long spear only means one thing. Someone is getting stabbed

Huh.

I hadn't thought about this until now but before this second I'd have said Emerald's semblance shouldn't work on Penny. Like, what part is she affecting to make Penny see the duplicates? But I guess it does work, somehow. Maybe reality gets processed through Aura.

Fire spear vs laser, who wins?

Giant laser wins

Glad that Penny is confirmed as the most powerful character in the show.

Poor Emerald, two lines this episode and they are both "CINDER"

Damn, she looks done with their crap.

And now she looks absolutely feral. Loving this.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. If she gets hacked now, Cinder still wins. She wouldn't get the maiden powers but at least she'd stop the transmission.

aaaaa

Emerald breaks my heart. So much love for someone who couldn't give a hoot about her.

At least Cinder seems to know her place with Salem, but I can't tell if she started like Emerald and got her love beaten down or if she just had different priorities after getting saved from what seemed similar circumstances.

Ah, Neo. Now to add to her resume that she beat a granny only because she got distracted.

oh, shut up, Pietro

Is this it? Is this where Penny "rebels"?

Even after all that fight, I think this is the best animation of the episode so far. It conveys so much resignation and annoyance.

I think this is the first time this season RWBY makes me teary-eyed. She finally said it!

This is too cute for this world.

Remember when I said that hug with Ruby felt like a goodbye? Well, this is much worse.

Wooo, she succeeded! (I hope, they did mention the message was a couple of minutes long)

But I'm also even more worried now because it feels like the one last thing she had to do.

They are back!

I wonder if the one character I miss the most will also get a shot.

Pensive Whitley? more likely than you think

He has a lot of potential, especially now that Salem -> Cinder -> Emerald are a thing, making cyclical abuse more of an explicit theme. Not sure if there's enough time to do him justice though, considering he's not much of a character.

"we don't want to reveal Vacuo yet, what do we do?" "put them in the desert"

Yessss, Ilia got a cameo!

Are they pulling her back from voiceless purgatory?

Holy shit, wow, really didn't expect to see her.

Literally a pet. I wonder where the hound falls in the hierarchy

...why is she so happy? She's not supposed to be happy!!

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

yeah

was expecting this

Poor guy, I wonder if this is the first news he gets from her daughters.

Taiyang made me realize they didn't show Yang's team. Huh.

Oh, fuck you rooster teeth.

Fuck oofffff (RT, not you, Pietro)

Is Winter end up doing the right thing? She's obviously affected by seeing Penny's sword there.

Also, I wonder if her new armor is just that or if it's a bracing system to help her move so soon after getting beat. But I guess that wouldn't be necessary if her aura helped her heal.

Hopefully, if Watts escapes and tries to get everyone else to help (since I doubt he can beat all the guards on his own), Qrow shows he learned his lesson about trusting the enemy.

ah, there you go

Okay, this is an amazing reveal. Is Salem transforming Mantle into another land of darkness? Because that'd definitely explain why she was so unworried about the broadcast.

What a way to end the episode. A brief moment of hope completely destroyed, twice.

Penny has been raising so many death flags that her inevitable hacking lacked some impact. I'm still sad (and annoyed at RT for poor Penny being a magnet for suffering) but Watts being Watts maybe he did a bad job just to prevent Atlas to escape? And Penny seemed able to resist? aaaah, I don't know. Now that the hacking finally happened all the foreshadowing is over, anything could happen.

The worst part of the hack is that it modified Penny's thoughts. It wasn't a complete takeover, like with Pietro, it was a lot more insidious. Literally making true what Cinder told her. Ugh.

Looking back at the screenshots, wow, a lot of the episode was just them fighting, but there were some fun moments, like Maria kicking Neo's ass.

Very curious about where it's going. Both the Penny plot (there's absolutely no way hacked Penny doesn't fight Ruby, there's probably a rule written in the universe about having mind-controlled people fight their loved ones) and the river of Grimm which was an excellent secondary gut punch. Really, loved that reveal. "You thought things were bad? lol"

I think that's all for now, until next time!

[rungalwaysheretolisten]

Armada Review episode 9-13

I am putting the read more so that you do not have to read all of this if you do not want to. This is a review for episodes 9-13  season 1 and again, a reminder, these are my thoughts, if you don’t agree with what I have to say that fine but please respect my thought and opinions on what I think about the serious.

Okay so we at the end of this season which mean will be going into season 2 and oh boy I am hipped because that things started to fall into place and kinda where I watch the serious more. But where not here to talk about season 2 and we not here to talk about season 1 as a whole, that in another post which here is the link if you want to read the summer of my review for the whole season as a whole and what I think was good, what need to be fix and what things really made it good or bad.

Anyway, so here the review for 9-13 starting with.

season 1 episode 9 Confrontation:

Okay, so this is the episode that come back from a previous episode of which was call Carnival, and if you read my review on that episode that was the episode that was just not a good episode in my opinion. So you think I would hate this episode too. No, it not that bad and in fact it make more of a point of why that episode was pointless. So it pick up with the bullies Billy and Fred, talking about seeing the Autobots and them talking about how they might be evil or not good, and them saying some thing about them being from the future. Which just made me laugh and insert joke here: 

I know I’m a nerd.

But it was mostly them talking about what happen and how no one, saw anything that day. Even thought I call bull shit on that, but still the bullies see are young main children hero heading to the Autobot base and try to follow them, before all of the kids are confuted with Cyclonus, who kidnaps the the bullies, which turn make the Autobot have to go and get them, they ask for the min cons they say no, they fight. Which end up with the other main kids and bullies getting taken hoisted by Megatron, which in turn force them to have to give up there min cons to save the kids, however Rad is able to use Laserbake to shock Megatron into drop the other kids expect himself, which then Fred, fight back with Laserbeak and even ask Megatron min con why they can’t be friends which stunts him because I guess he never thought about that? And then it end with Hotshot kick Fred out of Megatron hand saving him and having the Depections retreat. Fred and Billy are welcome into the team, even thought they are later not show in this season expect till the last of this season episode 13 Swoop. 

So overall this episode has some pro and cons to it. The pros, I like that they show that this kid can get kidnap by the Depections and that even thought technically Fred and Billy are not on the Autobot team or with the other kids Optimus still calls them his kids and want to project them and the Autobots care about them too. I also thought it was interesting about Fred talking to the Megatron min con not only is that brave to do but this could have gone into a very interesting scenario, does the min con really follow Megatron because it wants too or does it do it out of fear, which you could say he does do it out of fear but he almost seem like he could have made a choose to not listen to Megatron. 

Which if they had gone that route, rather then having Fred get upset and leave, I think it would have been interesting to see what Megatron does and how he act to a min con not listening or obeying him. He already wanting more power and to control the min con, to just have one not obey him, would have show us that the min con have in fact choose and even could have show what Megatron would do to a min con who didn’t listen to him. They could have even gotten dark and crush the min con and that would have made interesting impact to the serious. 

However, they didn’t do that but if they had, I think it would be just amazing to see them dare to do something like that to a min con during the first season. I mean we do see him later in this season forcing a min con to wake up, but to see him kill one would just be interesting. 

So the cons, this episode had too many back and for, kids are kidnap, then they are not, and then they are again. They don’t fight for every long and I feel like the other kids were a little to mean to Fred and Billy in the began when Alexia ask if they were going to join them and they laugh it off as if they are not important. I am summing they are for jokes. But honestly, I think if any character should be treat with more repeat it Fred, he always the butt of the joke about bring fat but he really has a good heart and I just feel bad that he treat so wrong. Maybe that why I somewhat like this episode but at the same time didn’t think this is one you need to see. The only reason to see it would be because you would need to know why Fred and Billy are know part of the Autobot team. Other then that it an episode you could skip. 

The next episode however, oh boy here we go!! 

Season 1 Episode 10 Underground: 

Oh my god, this was the episode that I love the most only because of one reason and one reason only. It gave us Smokescreen!!

No, no, not that Smokescreen, that from Prime.

Yes!! This beautiful old guy that I like to call grandpa of the team and you can not tell me otherwise. That what he is to me and always will be! He is the wonderful commandment of Kup and Ratchet or any older mech from the transformers serious and I just love him so much! 

But I getting off track, so this episode is about there being a min con in the city subway, the Autobot, children and Depiction are looking for the min con down in the subways. The children fine the min con on their own, are attacked by the min con that the Depiction told to search by themself because they can’t really transformer down in the subway like the Autobots can. 

The children run from the min con and some mysterious robot, that they children think it might be a Depiction when it only are good old friend Smokescreen who come to save the children from the Depiction who tried to kill them to get the min con, which cause them to get buried by rocks, Cyclonus get his first min con which is somewhat strong but isn’t really that as strong as Starscream. They retried and the Autobot go to save the kids only to see there good old friend Smokesceen has project the children and has finally reunited with the Autobot after he got separated from them when they first when to come down to earth and is know part of the Autobot team!

This episode start off a bit slow but it is worth it at the end to fine out that we get a new Autobot join the team, and this is where the serious become really inserting because of reason I will later talk about in other season to come as why this become inserting and make the show really good.

 For know Smokesceen off the bat, has this old man, won’t take shit from anyone, and is a really close friend to everyone, he also a very good fighter and I just love his voice, it the type of voice that sound very kick ass old man voice that you get from a lot of characters in show. It just a good voice that fix the character so well. I just loved how he fight with his hook and he just is overall a good interaction to talk about other Autobot past as well as being helpful for in the next episodes with fighting the Depiction because they are know out number with this new addition to the team.  So I do recommend this episode just because it bring in a very cool and wonderful character to the mix!

The next episode is season 1 episode 11 Ruin

This episode was really interesting and began to bring up a lot of question which I loved so much!

So the Autobots get this messaged from a hologram of a girl from a ancient city that has sank along time ago. They messaged at the began is asking for help, they go down to the city and are right way having to fight the Depection while Optimus who has the children, get shot at and has to quickly bring them into the city before he leave to fight the Depection while the chidren have to go into the city because they have to look for the min con. While they are there, they fine out the truth of why their city was sank to the ground and discover a truth about how powerful the min con are especially the min cons that form the Star Saber and how dangerous it is for them to be in the wrong hands.

 The Depection get one of the min con that forms the Star Saber and The city falls and get distorted and leave Carlos heart broken about not being able to save the pretty hologram girl who he was very much wanting to save her image and help her from being erased, which then Rad comforts him and tell him that he might see her again some day. 

So, first I just want to point out this, I was looking at the wiki for Carlos and the first thing it has on there for an instruction to him is this: 

If you having a hard time reading it, I’ll just get you to the point you to the words that is very cringe and focus on this pacific episode. “Fantasizes about holographic dead girls” no joke, that is what it say! 

It blow my mind that is the instruction to Carlos in the wiki has for poor Carlos and I want to defined him on this because this is a bad instruction to a character that isn’t really that bad. First it is only one girl not girls! He not think about hologram girl all the time, just one.

Second Carlos, just is a kind and caring person who just wanted to keep her image alive. He wasn’t fantasying about her because he thought she was beautiful, even thought she is and he did like her look. I think there was more to it then just that. He wanted to save her from being erase and forgot by time.  He wanted to make her last moments not so sad and painful, even if she not real and is only a hologram. Yes, this serious can be corny and silly, but Carlos, just care about her and want to saver her that it.

Other then that this episode was good, and it help bring around the idea about maybe no one should be controlling the min cons and that there might be more to the story then what the children or audience know. We can’t just assume that what the Autobot are doing better then what the Depection are doing. Yes, they wear the end and purple badges but there more to it then just that and this episode and the next one, it wonderful bring that up and make you question what they are doing.

With that said in the next episode Season 1 episode 12 Prehistory

In this episode Rad start question the Autobot about why they need the min cons. He ask why they can’t just stop fighting and why do the Autobot get to make the choose and not the min cons. Which then Optimus Prime, start talking about the history of their war, about foreshadowing a big mystery about the min cons that they just came out of the blue and that they where very strong and where stared to be use by the Depections and other to fight in the war. He talk about sending them away, and later in the show, they another signal for a min con which is most like the Star Saber that has been foreshadowing for some time again and they go to get it off of an amusement park that as a volcano that is active and is going off. The Depection and Autobot start fight, the children hide with the autobot min cons, until the see the min con in the volcano and the min cons that are working with the Autobot finally start help and make the Rad see that the min cons do in fact have a choose to fight with the Autobot or not. 

After a while they are able to get the min con and finally are able to convents the children to keep believing in them and trusting what they are doing is right.

This episode brought a lot of question and also made me think about things. On one hand, yes what the Autobot are doing is right, they trying to save the min cons from going into the wrong hands, but also at the same time the problem raise with them want to use them to project them, and yes, the min cons that are working with the Autobots do want to help but it does set up a lot of question if what they are doing is right and if when everything is over, will thing be change or will they turn on the min cons. 

It really make you think with both of these episode together about if the Autobots are really good or not, and why they are still fight for so long before the min cons came into being, they say the Deceptions were righting to gain power, but because I have read mtmte and other comics it make me think that maybe Optimus is somewhat make the story a bit more different then it really is, honestly I think the Depections want to be treat equality and the Autbots didn’t want that again we don’t get the side of the story from the Depections and even if we did we wouldn’t be sure if we could turn Megatron to tell the story correctly or not, maybe Starscream would but it bring up a question about trust in story and what other say. This episode is really intresting and I love to know what you think, do you think Optimus might have been elaborating the story a bit or do you think he was being honest?

Finally we get to the last episode of the season and the one of most turning point of the serious. 

Season 1 episode 13 Swoop

In this episode the Depection figure out a way to brake into the base and try to steal the two min cons that make the Star Saber, the Autobot try to project them with there base, meanwhile Fred and Billy get caught up in all of this when there being show around which cause the Autobots to lower there defeats because they have to project the kids from getting hurt, the other Alexia, Carros and Rad go to save Fred and Billy from getting hurt and are even able to trick Cyclonus in a very claver way. Which then the Autobot have to face off with each Depection to get them either trap, hurt or even both, to keep them from getting the min cons.

However, Megatron is able to make them form into the Star Saber but luckily Hotshot is able to not only use the min cons but also us it to damaged Megatron a little bit before he retires and the Autobot know have the powerful Star saber which is given to Hotshot to use to fight the Depections. Megatron scream that he will get them next time you know team rocket style and that is the end of the season!! 

So with this episode how did I feel well. 

It was okay! It wasn’t as good as the other once before it, but for the finally, it was a good episode to end on. It show the Autbots how they would handle if the Depections did brake into their base. How each one use there strangest and teamwork to keep everyone safe. Even the kids thought of a great idea that was very good way to get ride one of the Depections. Optimus and Megatron had a good fight and I thought it was great that Optimus didn’t get the Star Saber and Hotshot was the one to use it because he was able to use his skill and the in encouraging of the kids to fight Megatron. I also thought it was so cool to see Megatron antler be cut off like that showing how strong that sword is and how embarrassing that has to be get his ass kick not by Optimus but by young Hotshot. So overall this is a good episode to end the serious and wrap up everything nice for the most part and really hypes you up for the next season.  

So, I do recommend this episodes the biggest one I think not to miss are the episode 10-13 just because they bring the whole serious together and it just a lot of fun. The animation is good in this episode too, even thought there are some funny moment with the animation but mostly there really well draw and the music is good too. Overall yeah, I say go watch this episode sometime soon because there worth watch them and I had a lot of fun rewatching this episode. It brought me back to my childhood and why I love Transformers so much. 

[interestray]

it’s always a good moment when I see a critical role episode with so many things happening that my adhd can’t help but develop a mind of its own, so now that my hyper-fixations have stopped beating the shit out of me theres a couple things I wanna bring up most of it theory stuff and the rest personal things. btw its a long post be warned.

SPOILER ALERT- I’m talking about ep 117 of critical role and its a doozy.

 I’ve doing my recent posts in a different format and I’m liking it so I’m gonna use it here. btw I gonna mention some ship stuff I want to make clear I have no hate for any ships mentioned but unless I say I like the ship just assume I’m indifferent.

1. I gonna say I called it because even if I’m wrong about about future stuff I was right that it’s not just Lucien in that body, even if Lucien is completely right about molly as the group knew him is gone forever Molly (which I don’t believe at all) is still a fragment of lucien’s soul. now past that I do think molly as a conscious being is still in there and trying to connect with his friends. why? because theres this weird disconnect with how lucien acts communicating with the m9 from a far vs in person, in person it seems like he had his guard way up but when they scry or message him the barrier is lowered a bit I think when his guard isn’t up Molly bleeds into his actions and mind more. I personally see Lucien at being 130% whole because Molly grew into his own thing.

2. regarding my predictions for this episode I’m gonna give myself 2 points (with 1 of the points being made up of half points) I was hoping for flirting and I think we definitely got some version of flirting between Lucien and Caleb so I get a half point for that, not gonna lie I was a little freaked out (in a good way) how fast Lucien zeroed in on Caleb, I hope if things don’t go pear shaped we get to see those two interact more.

3. Personal thing I really wanted to smack Fjord and Veth for most of the episode like they both had moments of being rational (fjord more so) but for the most part i just want to slap them.

4. it was kind of hilarious to see how freaked out Lucien was of the m9, like there was a little of the bad kind of freaked out feeling I think it was mostly like how Ludinus felt meeting Jester. like poor Lucien he’s just doing his thing and suddenly this group of puppies imprints on him and follows him around poor guy. Seems like Lucien has so distrust towards the tomb takers with the whole ‘we are one’ thing, it seemed to be a recent development. I’ve seen people talk about whether the tomb takers/Cree will backstab Lucien I think it’s possible.

5. I think some members of the m9 have realized Caleb’s not doing ok, most likely from the corpse scene and him talking over Beau (bad caleb bad). what they do with this info is gonna be interesting I personally think Cad should talk with him in private maybe have yasha there as well (also hugs please someone hug the sad wizard man him and Yasha both need it).

6. personal thing I don’t understand jester x Fjord as a possible canon ship at this point in the story like i got it in early campaign but I think they’ve both grown and changed to the point where a relationship between the two would end quickly after starting (whether in tears or not). the only times I like seeing their romantic interactions is when Laura and Travis bleed through and at that point its nots really jester and fjord. again no hate you do you I just don’t understand the appeal.

7. I’ve not watched campaign 1 for a few reasons yet but I’ve done research on some of the bigger events one of which was Percy’s resurrection where Taliesin watched how everyone was acting to decide whether to come back or not. I think Cad’s whole talk about what the rest of the m9′s goals towards Molly/Lucien is first Taliesin’s way of deciding whether Molly will be a npc after this arc or if he picks up playing him again (this all of course depending on whether the m9′s stupid actions don’t get Lucien killed), second I think this is Cad’s way of deciding whether his “debt” is payed and if it’s time for him to leave. To be clear I don’t think this was the final decision I think it was the first step to see whether anyone could say they want their friend back and we had two (almost 3) say yeah they do so I think it was a good start.

8. I can totally see Lucien kidnapping some of the m9. this sounds weird but stick with me, it looks like the tomb takers as a whole have a few important spots missing in their mission like they (probably) have a blood cleric in Cree the goliath and halfing seems more strength based I’m not sure about the human and Lucien is filling spot of a little bit of everything. Lucien has already pointed out Caleb as being curious and smart so I think out of the party is Lucien steals any of them it will be Caleb, if not Caleb tho I think Yasha could also be one that gets his attention (especially if Lucien ever sees them fight) I don’t he would kidnap anyone unprompted but if they go through with their stupid plan I’m sure he’ll want payback.

9. I get a full point for crying at both the Yasha clover scene and Molly’s card about Caleb. 

10. So my best friend is also a fan of critical role but he always works Thursday’s so he’s behind on actively watching the shows, but I can watch them so I take notes of all the funny, interesting, and weird shit that happens then I call when he gets off work to tell him everything that happened then we talk about what we think will happen next. why does this matter? because before the molly reveal when we first heard about them going to aore (I don’t know how to spell the ruin place) I said I had a feeling Essek would probably show up and run into the m9. well I was right so i’m supper happy, hearing floaty bois voice was awesome I hope Essek and Lucien meet at some point (hopefully not while trying to kill each other that would be sad).

11. Caleb’s eighth floor is so interesting like I hope we get to see all the rooms at some point, I think the room we saw this episode was his room at the asylum (mostly from it’s disarray and how drab it was) as for who he was talking to? I’ve seen a lot of people says its Essek or Astrid (I can smell the incoming discourse) I think it’s neither, it’s probably the simplest answer himself or more specificly Bren. I think he was talking to the Bren that spent years in that bed and chair wasting away.

12. wtf do you mean the big snow worm has a double reason for hunting the party Matt?! (I have no clue what that means).

13. the m9′s decision to try and get to A2 before Lucien and take whatever is there is such a shit idea, why did he kill Vess because she was a traitor she betrayed him what are they m9 about to do betray him even after the warning about straying from the path (which btw I think was molly warning them). If they actually go through with this plan I hope Cad is right on Lucien getting amused at them instead of fucking pissed. good news is that even if they get there before Lucien they could still salvage the thing with Lucien by saying they wanted unbiased answers. I get they’re grieving and in a bunch of pain but use the common sense I know you have and learn more about whats happening before fucking it all up. (also I get half a point from Lucien kicking Vess’s body)

14. I will say I mostly loved this episode (except for the ending) but them talking about possibly scattering Lucien to get Molly back no matter how brief did unsettle me a lot. no matter my feelings about Molly this is Lucien’s body when he was scattered molly did have the right to the body so I don't think any of his actions were wrong or bad but now that Lucien is whole again his bodily autonomy should not be violated just for a unsure chance Molly would come back. As it is Lucien seemed already uneasy and annoyed with stuff molly did (ex-tattoos).

15. I originally wasn’t gonna put this point but I think I should. when Taliesin said “he thought they would be on the other side of this” I think most people thought it was in reference to how it seems like Lucien is evil (I still don’t think he is) but what if he meant Molly’s arc. think of it wouldn’t it make sense for Molly’s arc to focus on his past coming back to meet him what if they always intended for Lucien to become whole again and it was suppose to be Lucien’s thoughts/feelings bleeding into molly’s. but Molly died so instead we’re getting the inverse Lucien has to come to terms with his past as Molly and the people Molly left behind coming into his life. I think it would be a good arc him learning that you can’t run from or ignore the past no matter how much you want to it can and will come bite you in the ass. would also make sense why Lucien and Molly both have that attitude towards their pasts (you know other than being pieces of the same person). 

[turning-dreams-into-chaos]

Banished (Part 25)

*Not my Gif*

Summary: When the 100 was sent to the ground, Y/N Y/L/N was one of them. Having been locked up for almost 8 years, how will she react to surviving on Earth? Especially when she gets banished…

Post Date: 11-22-19

Paring: Bellamy Blake x Reader

Word Count: 2K

~Banished Master~

~Master~

*Based off episode 2x12 of the 100, Rubicon

You had gone back to Tondc with Lexa, Indra, and Octavia for the council meeting. Kane asked you to stay with Skykru but you refused, leaving shortly after the conversation.

“What’s on your mind?” Octavia asked as she came up to stand next you who couldn’t stop staring at the mountain. You just gave her a quick glance before turning to the scenery again.

“You think he’s still alive?” You whispered and brought your thumb up to bite your nail, needing to let go off this constant paranoia. “Nevermind. Just forget it.” Octavia stayed silent as you had just spoke her fear and you felt guilty knowing Octavia wasn’t the one you should’ve started that conversation with, if you should’ve done it with anyone. “So, you’re Indra’s second? How’s that?” You tried to change the second and Octavia was thankful, looking back towards the woman who watched you both with a scowl.

“She trusts us. Most of them don’t.” Her eyes now traveled to where Penn sat, sharpening his blade before meeting your eyes. You stood strong, not moving before he stood up. You swallowed thickly as he took a step forward but Indra met you both before he could.

“Follow me.” She said to you both as you nodded, risking a last look to see Penn gone. You walked around the camp before Ice Nation walked in. You’ve heard off them from Lexa about the viciousness of their Queen towards Lexa’s lover, Costia. She told you the story shortly after you joined her and she recognized the remaining affects of Bellamy in you.

You hadn’t realized you stopped walking and were just staring at the Ice Nation before Lexa was at your side, looking at them as well.

“I heard what happened at their camp.” She said with her head facing forward as you crossed your arms.

“Which part?” You asked referring to when Penn slammed your head into the wall or when you had your ass handed to you.

Lexa started walking to a building and you followed her, passing by Indra and Octavia as O walked away with her jaw set.

“You let him get the better of you.” She tossed you a staff as you entered, grabbing one for herself as she took off some of her armor. “You need to learn to fight smarter, not just stronger.” You nodded as you took your stance, twirling the staff in your hand to get the balance. “Let’s begin.”

Bellamy crawled down each air vent, looking out the holes for the lab. “Which way?” He said to Raven and Clarke into the Radio, moving forward as fast as he could while checking.

“You should be close, the lab should just be up ahead.” Clarke and Raven looked over the blueprints for Mount Weather, trying to pinpoint where Bellamy was as he groaned a complaint.

“Any chance you could be more specific?” He barely finished the sentence before one of the pathways whizzed to life with a drill sound, making Bellamy stomach drop. “Nevermind.” He continued down through the vents, dreading what he’ll find as the drilling got louder and louder until he the finally found the room. Doctor Tsing was drilling into one of the 47 kids they kidnapped and Bellamy didn’t want to watch but he knew he had no choice. He needed to save his friends. He listened as Cage talked with Emerson, Clarke and Raven hearing through the radio.

“We'll finish the job tonight. Whitman just radioed in. Apparently, there's a war council meeting happening tonight in one of their villages, and all the leaders are gonna be there." He moved in the vent, trying to hear better as their conversation continued.

“Whitman’s good, but he can’t take out that many targets alone.”

"Which is why we're gonna use a missile. This time, we're not gonna miss." Bellamy got out of the vent as fast as possible, needing to talk to Clarke now.

“You heard all that right?” He asked, checking his surroundings. Clarke confirmed him they did, saying they needed to warn everyone quick. She was just about to leave before Bellamy’s voice pulled her back.

“Clarke wait! Octavia... when I left she was in Tondc. Is she um...”

“She’s here. She’s safe.” Clarke lied with her eyes casted to the ground.

“And Y/N?” Bellamy asked with uncertainty. Clarke’s eyes flickered to Raven who’s brows were furrowed.

“She’s safe.” Clarke lies as Bellamy felt his heart skip a beat at knowing you’re safe as he sighed in relief into the radio. The moment he turned off, Raven spoke her mind.

“Octavia and Y/N are in Tondc for the meeting. Why’d you lie to him.” She said as Clarke shook her head.

“Bellamy can’t be distracted. And if he finds out the two most important people in his life are about to be blown up, it helps no one.”

“Pick your feet up.” Lexa tells you after she swipes your feet out from under you for the millionth time. You groan as you laid on the ground, rolling to your side to push yourself up. Lexa watched as you stumbled, catching yourself on the ground and closing your eyes. She knew not to push you after what happened but resting doesn’t make a warrior. “Take it easy.”

You snapped your head to face her, “I’m fine.” She took your denial as you got back in position, looking down to your feet as if telling them to move. They didn’t listen though as Lexa took her first swing, knocking the staff out of your hand and holding it to your throat.

“You let your guard down and you’re dead.” You slapped the wood out of your face as Lexa let it go, skidding across the room. You were done getting slapped around the damn stick, if Lexa wanted a fight you weren’t going to be taken down by some pieces of wood.

“Enough with the sticks Lexa. Let’s fight.” She smirked and you took the first swing, receiving a blow to your side as Lexa ducked. You staggered back but remained up, turning to Lexa and kicking her leg out. She fell, landing on her back before kicking your knee and sending you to the floor as well.

“You wanted a fight. Watch. Your. Feet.” You huffed as you nodded, pushing yourself back up. Lexa joined you as you swung your leg up at the side of her torso as she blocked it. “You’re distracted.”

“No I’m not.” You panted and dropped your leg. Lexa smirked, finally figuring it out.

“It’s Bellamy isn’t it?” She asked as you took another swing at her other side. This time she caught it, pulling you right off your feet and landing on your back with a gasp. Lexa grabbed her staff off the ground, coming to stand over you as your chest heaved up and down. “You’re distracted.” She said more forcefully before leaving at the sound of Clarke’s horses outside.

You covered your eyes, trying to calm your breathing, but when they didn’t work you slapped the ground as hard as you could, pushing yourself to sit up. Of course you were distracted, and of course it was about Bellamy. You really don’t know what has gotten into you. You had never held the concern you had for Bellamy for anyone else. Yet it wasn’t just concern, it was anger and worry. You didn’t like the feeling of not knowing if Bellamy had even gotten caught and by the fact that Clarke had to come even after sending Kane earlier did not ease your worries.

You left the building, putting your weapon with the rest of them as you watched Octavia walk Clarke through camp. They were coming your way as you held back, joining them in their walk.

“Clarke, what’s going on?” You asked, recovering nothing from the blonde except a worried expression. “Is it Bellamy?” You asked before you approached Lexa, Indra, and Kane. Lexa shot you a look you didn’t really understand but knew it had something to do with Bellamy.

“Can we talk in private?” Clarke asked Lexa who nodded leading Clarke to the building you were just in. You didn’t follow them, staying with Octavia and Kane.

“O, whats going on?” Octavia just shook her head, watching Clarke frantically look around as she followed behind Lexa.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s good.” She said as you nodded, ignoring the way Kane kept taking glances at you as you turned around, walking as far from him as possible.

Bellamy made his way through the inside of Mount Weather, climbing through the vents as he kept Raven on the radio.

“Hows things going on your end? Did they evacuate Tondc?” He asked the girl as she sighed.

“I don’t know but it’s Clarke. She’ll get it done.” Bellamy made his way up the ladder, listening to Ravens words as he thanked the fact that you and Octavia weren’t there. “Just focus on getting your ass through the vents and not worrying about your sister.” Bellamy stopped moving immediately as Raven took a second to process what she just said.

“Octavia’s in Tondc?” He clarified was he tried to contain the anger seeping through his voice.

“She’s going to be okay. Clarke is going to get her out of there.” Bellamy was terrified that his sister was in a village that was about to be blown up. He couldn’t believe that Clarke would keep that from him.

He swallowed as he rested his head against the ladder, thinking of one other person. “And Y/N? I don’t suppose you lied about her too.”

Raven bit her lip, “I’m sorry Bellamy.” Bellamy found himself taking a deep breath to hold back his emotions as his bottom lip started to tremble.

“Damn it.” He muttered. “How could you keep this from me?” Raven explained herself and Clarke, telling Bellamy he needed to focus as he continued up the ladder. “Let’s just get this done.” He grumbled. For a split second he could see Clarke’s view on this because he was distracted, all he could think about was the possibility of losing his sister. Of losing you.

“Have you see the commander?” You asked Indra and Kane, speaking your first words to the man in a day. “Or Clarke?” You just wanted to know what was happening, if everyone was safe, but mostly if Bellamy was safe.

“I haven’t since they headed downstairs.” Kane told you as you furrowed your brow. That was the last time you remember seeing them as well. You turned to the building, knowing that they most likely wouldn’t be there as you kept an eye out on the rest of the camp for them.

“They aren’t there now.” Indra said as Kane crossed his arms, raising a brow at you.

“Ok, we check the woods?” You offered as Indra nodded and agreed. “I’ll go tell the others.” You barely made five steps before Kane’s hand was on your shoulder and without even thinking you pulled his arm off, punching your fist into his ribs.

He groaned as you held him up, feeling only slightly concerned for the mans status. “What is it Kane?” You asked as he held out a finger for you to wait. You rolled your eyes, turning to continue your walk before he ran to catch up.

“Can we just talk?”

“We have to find Clarke and Lexa.”

“How about after?”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Y/N.”

“No Kane!” You yelled but the words died as the missile made contact with the village and your world was engulfed in orange. You couldn’t see anything as the building around you collapsed, bringing you down with it. Pain shot through your body to points you didn’t even know you could feel anymore as you were thrown about, effectively getting buried underneath the rubble.

You wanted to scream but dirt and dust kept you from being able to breathe properly. Your ears rung as you tried to sit up, but the building currently sitting on the bottom half of your body made that especially hard.

“...N?!... /N!... Y/N!” Kane shouted as best as he could from the building crushing him. You couldn’t respond so you did the only thing you could do. You reached up above your head, grabbing onto a metal rod and pulling it down. A thwap sound coming from you as you pulled down again and again, just praying someone would be down to save you.

Whatcha think!

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***Reblogging with Banished Tags***

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[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Hol Horse

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

So last year I thought it was a good idea to try and review all of the enemy Stand users in Stardust Crusaders in a totally random order. The results were… mixed. Some of them I think came out okay, but others? Not so much. One of them was just an entire backhanded attack against some guy who decided to say “No one likes your analyses” because I think ProJared was a creep. It was, quite frankly, a mess, and I never bothered to revisit it and never thought I would, even though I still hadn’t covered the glorious, wonderful human being who is Hol Horse.

Well, now, after playing Heritage for the Future and All-Star Battle as well as just becoming a bit more knowledgeable on JJBA, I’ve decided to not only give Hol Horse his dues, but also at least briefly go back over or cover the other Stand users and give them a rating or an updated rating, as the case may be. So buckle in, this is gonna be a long one, and it’s all gonna start with everyone’s favorite incompetent henchman.

Hol Horse is probably one of the most amazing characters Araki has ever created. Hol Horse is in possession of a powerful Stand, The Emperor, which is literally a magical gun that fires bullets he can control the trajectory of. By all accounts, Hol Horse should be the single most dangerous foe that the Crusaders face, more than even Vanilla Ice. This guy should be able to shoot them all dead without a second thought! There’s just one tiny little caveat:

Hol Horse is a fucking moron.

This man is cowardly, incompetent, and just the punching bag of cruel misfortune as all his plans constantly go awry and he is constantly knocked on his ass. And yet, Hol Horse is still the most beloved enemy Stand User of Stardust Crusaders, and it’s not hard to see why. Because despite all of his bumbling, Hol Horse just oozes a sort of cool you just don’t see every day.

(For best results, listen to this the whole time while reading the following).

Motivation/Goals: Hol Horse is one of the few henchmen of DIO who is motivated purely by his own greed… at least, at first. Eventually he has his ass handed to him one too many times, and he decides to try and assassinate DIO. This goes about as well as you’d expect, and Hol Horse – not just part of it, the ENTIRE Horse – is so scared out of his mind that he decides, yep, loyalty to DIO is the way to go! It doesn’t work out, but hey, he tried, right?

Performance: Imami Williams gives Hol Horse that raspy, American charm he needs in the anime adaptation. With his voice and the animation combined, we get to see our favorite smarmy sharpshooter who can’t shoot for shit shoot his shot and miss every time, and it is simply glorious.

Final Fate: Hol Horse kidnaps Boingo and forces him to work with him to finally get his revenge! With the prophetic skills of Thoth and the raw damage that can be done with Emperor, there’s no way they could lose! And yet, as is always the case with Thoth, things go horrendously awry and Hol Horse, despite having the ability to control the trajectory of his bullets, ends up shooting himself and knocking him out of part 3 for good.

Best Scene: Really, just the entirety of the episodes where he teams up with Boingo, especially when he tries holding up Polnareff. Considering what comes after and what came before it, it’s just the dose of lighthearted fun needed before you watch all of your favorite characters get brutally murdered by DIO and Vanilla Ice,. 

Best Quote: There is only one line it could be, and it’s Hol Horse’s response to Thoth’s suggestion he kick a woman in the neck: “Listen, Boingo... I am the nicest man in the world. I have girlfriends everywhere. I might lie to a woman, but I'll never hit them! It doesn't matter how ugly they are! Because I respect women!”

That’s right, everyone. Hol Horse drinks Respect Women Juice.

Final Thoughts & Score: Hol Horse is simply astounding. The character is such a colossal screwup that he shouldn’t be as good as he is… yet he is. The dude is gifted with the most incredible power imaginable, and yet somehow he is never able to do a goddamn thing with that power! You control where the bullets go, dude! How can you not hit anything?! It’s interesting how his cowardice and lack of motivation makes him a perfect representation of the inverted Emperor tarot card, but hey, tarot motifs are par for the course with the Stand users.

But there’s something charming to how pathetic Hol Horse is. He’s always plying second banana, he’s a dirty coward who turns tail and runs when things aren’t looking good for him, he never wins a single battle, he didn’t even kill the one guy it seemed like he killed… but throughout it all he still has this sort of smarmy charisma to him that makes him impossible to hate. It’s no wonder this guy has girls all over the world, because he is a world-class charmer. There’s also how Hol Horse is just a character who really, really lives by his own personal philosophy – that is to say, he always likes to be #2, never going into a fight without backup. It’s kind of refreshing to see him always stick by this, even to his own detriment; it’s hard to hate a man who’s principled to that degree. And, of course, this man respects women. Good on him.

It helps that Hol Horse’s inexplicable popularity has led to him getting his time to shine in outside media. Heritage for the Future has two versions of him, his regular form and one that partners him with Boingo, and in skilled hands his Emperor finally gets to live up to its deadly potential. And he’s no slouch in his return appearance in All-Star Battle, and what’s more impressive is in that game he is part of the base roster while Joseph and Iggy, two of the main heroes, are relegated to DLC! You heard me right: the bumbling cowboy who did not win a single fight or even come close to it and spent a lot of time shooting himself managed to beat out out two iconic heroes from the same part onto the roster! Horsey Man must be doing something right.

As this video shows, Hol Horse is one of the most influential characters in the JJBA franchise, having helped to shape the franchise going forward and helped to inspire the traits that made beloved characters like Guido Mista, Gyro Zeppeli, and Yoshikage Kira as legendary as they are. Hell, Hol Horse is just so awesome he almost got to be a protagonist, but Araki decided that Horsey was too similar to my favorite big-titty Frenchman, Polnareff. This means Hol Horse never got his time to shine as a hero, and so stayed a villain til the end… but hey, can he really be that sad if he gets a 10/10 on Psycho Analysis?

Actually, maybe he wouldn’t like that. He likes to play second fiddle to others, after all. But I guess that’s just the curse with these JoJo villains who want to not stand out; they always end up being the best and most memorable characters.

Anyway, now that we’ve got the best of the best out of the way, it’s time for...

Psycho Analysis: DIO’s Other Henchmen

I’m just gonna give my brief thoughts on these guys. Most of them are pretty one-note oneshots, but there are a few who rise above that and manage to be something else entirely. These guys were a learning experience for Araki, and his enemy Stand users of the week definitely improved with later parts, with Vento Aureo really cranking it up to 11. 

But for now, we’re stuck with these guys.

Gray Fly: I actually stand by my opinion from my original review of him; he’s nothing incredibly memorable, but he’s a solid start to the adventure and he is directly responsible for diverting the journey onto the course it ended up going on. Without him, things would have likely played out far differently. A 5/10 is still a good score for him.

Fake Captain Tenille: He actually gets bumped down to a 2/10, due to my changes in how things are scored. He’s not amusing enough to be in the “So bad it’s good” category of the other 3s, he’s just really lame and forgettable, and he still somehow manages to lose when he has the advantage. What a dweeb.

Forever: If you think the monkey boat fight is dropping in score, you’re mistaken. Forever remains at an 8/10 for being such a delightfully weird curveball that helps set the tone for the franchise to follow.

Devo: One of the weirder playable character choices from Heritage for the Future, and certainly not one I like too much; he’s also a random event that is pretty useful in All-Star Battle’s online campaign, so that’s a good mark for him. If nothing else, he gave a good showing of Polnareff’s skills when under pressure, so… yeah. I think a 5/10 is good enough.

Rubber Soul: This review I regret because I was backhandedly responding to that guy who weirdly decided to bring up my distaste for ProJared in a review of Arabia Fats and Kenny G. I do mostly stand by what I said; Rubber Soul is one of the more amusing minor foes, if only because of his ridiculous performance as Kakyoin. Still, it really sucks he was just a clone character in Heritage for the Future… put he gets points for  having the iconic cherry-licking as a taunt. 6/10 is where he remains.

J. Geil: Again, my opinion hasn’t changed: J. Geil is a mountain of wasted potential, but at the very least he makes for a good antagonist for his brief appearance and hey, he’s the one who helped bring us the beautiful hunk of man that is Hol Horse, so I’d feel bad giving him less than a 7/10.

Nena: I honestly think Nena is one of the most boring Stand users of the part, which is sad because her episode gives Joseph the spotlight. She’s just really gross and uninteresting, and you’ll likely forget her after her episode is over. 2/10.

ZZ: ZZ is not particularly great, and his design is just there to be a joke, but it’s hard to totally hate a guy who manages to roll references to Christine, Duel, and the album cover for Eliminator by his namesake into one. I think he’s more of a 4/10, but probably on the higher end there. He’s not great, but he has enough going for him to keep me from hating him.

Enya: So if I thought that J. Geil was a waste of potential, I feel this even more so for his mother Enya. Despite being hyped up as this big, intimidating right-hand woman to DIO early on, she gets one appearance where her Stand is defeated by Star Platinum pulling a power out his ass and then is unceremoniously killed by Steely Dan of all people. I will give her this: her interactions with Polnareff are absolutely hilarious. But when all you have going for is some jokes, don’t be surprised when you end up with a 6/10, which you’re pretty much only getting because even despite the mountains of wasted potential you’re really not that bad.

She do be looking hot in the OVA tho.

Steely Dan: My opinion is unchanged; he’s a solid 7/10 oneshot douchebag. Nothing more, nothing less. His level in the PS1 game seriously blows, though.

Arabia Fats: I was too hard on this guy. While I meant everything I said, and his episode is boring filler, does it really make him a bottom of the barrel all-time worst villain? No. It just makes him a crappy joke character. 2/10.

Mannish Boy: I regret not getting to this guy last time, because aside from Forever he’s probably one of the most insane Stand user of the part, seeing as he is an infant. Like, he’s just an evil baby who can kill people in their dreams. And he gets defeated by being force fed his own crap. Much like Forever, it’s fun to speculate where exactly DIO found this guy; did he just go to a nursery and start jabbing babies with the Stand arrow? Did he meet this guy at a Cairo night club? What exactly is Mannish Boy’s origin? He’s just so utterly and hilariously inexplicable. He’s definitely a 7/10; he doesn’t quite have the shock factor that Forever did before him, but let’s not pretend an evil talking baby Stand user isn’t one hell of a weird twist.

Cameo: This guy really lives up to his name; his Stand is the one that gets the most screentime, with the actual Stand user being relegated to a – you guessed it – cameo appearance at the end of the fight. Thankfully, his Stand is an enjoyable take on jerkass genies and gives a pretty sad and disturbing episode that not only features my man Polnareff, but also marks the point where Avdol returns and brings “Hell 2 U!” I think he deserves at least a 7/10, even if this is mainly for Judgment. Still, a Stand is a representation of the user’s soul, so I think it works out.

Here’s the Stand:

And here’s the man behind it:

Midler: Midler is one of the single most interesting characters from the pre-Egypt half of Stardust Crusaders, and is the point where Stand users really started to get interesting. Her Stand, High Priestess, has a really funky and unique design, and her battle serves as the final roadblock before the Crusaders arrive in Egypt. Despite never appearing onscreen, with only her unconscious body being shown at the end of the fight in a way that obscures her, she got to appear in Heritage for the Future with an awesome sexy belly dancer design and a badass moveset that makes her a really fun character to play as. Taking everything into account, I think she just barely scrapes into the bottom of the 8/10 pool, though really this is mainly for her playable appearance.

N’Doul: My opinions really haven’t changed on him. He’s still an 8/10.

Oingo & Boingo: These guys are, in a word, hilarious. In between the grueling, brutal fight with N’Doul and the later fights in the part, these guys bring some much needed levity to the proceedings. Oingo gets an entire episode where he just completely bumbles about as he attempts to impersonate Jotaro to assassinate the Crusaders, failing at every turn and only managing to blow himself up in the end. Boingo fares a little better, eventually getting roped in to Hol Horse’s scheme to get some revenge, which leads to one of the funniest episodes of the entire series as Hol Horse and Oingo hold up Polnareff. I think they collectively get an 8/10 for being two of the funniest Stand users in the part. They even get their own unique end credits in the anime (with Hol Horse joining in on the fun when he teams up with Boingo)!

Anubis: Again, my opinion is unchanged, though I must say him having technically three playable appearances in Heritage for the Future does make me have at least a little more fondness for him. Black Polnareff, Chaka, and Khan are all amusing characters to play as and all have some awesome theme music. Introducing the concept of Stands being able to exist independently of their Original user is pretty neat, as well as the idea of a Stand that can switch users like it does. 7/10 is still what I’d give it, but I think that it’s pretty telling that this is probably the “weakest” character in the Egypt arcs in terms of being a villain, and yet he’s still pretty cool.

Mariah: Completely unchanged. She still deserves an 8/10, because her episode is hilarious, her playable appearance in Heritage for the Future is a blast, and she’s just really frikkin’ hot. I’m not gonna lie, she’s probably my second favorite enemy Stand user out of the Egyptian ones. I may or may not want her to step on me.

Alessi: I’m going to be honest here: Alessi is my favorite of the Egyptian Stand users. He’s an ax crazy coward with pedophile undertones who is just an utterly demented and sick individual with a seriously intriguing Stand that de-ages its victims. It’s a damn shame he never crossed paths with Joseph and de-aged him, but when he’s just such a hilarious and hateable lunatic with an incredibly fun playable appearance in Heritage for the Future (complete with awesomely creepy theme music!) it’s hard for me to give Alessi anything less than a 9/10. Attaboy!

Daniel J. D’Arby: My opinion is honestly unchanged, but I think I’d bump him down to an 8/10.

Pet Shop: Again, unchanged really. It’s hard to give a character as busted as he is in Heritage for the Future anything less than a 9/10 any way you slice it.

Telence T. D’Arby: Opinion unchanged, 8/10. I don’t have much else to say here, besides Xander Mobus rocks.

Kenny G: See Arabia Fats above. I got irrationally mad over a dumb joke character. He’s not going above a 2/10, but he’s not worth really getting mad about.

Vanilla Ice: I still think he’s the only enemy Stand user besides Hol Horse who deserves his 10/10. My opinion of him remains unchanged, but I would like to say he’s easily one of my favorite characters to play as in All-Star Battle.

Nukesaku: Ok, he’s not an enemy Stand user, he’s just some weird vampire… zombie… thing. Still, I feel he’s at least worth briefly mentioning, if only because he’s probably the only easily-defeated joke villain Araki did from the first three parts who is particularly memorable. Wired Beck and Doobie are really not all that memorable, but Nukesaku at least elicits a few chuckles – he even gets cameos in Heritage for the Future as well as getting to be a stage hazard in All-Star Battle. For what he is, I think he deserves a 5/10.

And with all these enemies taken care of, that just leaves one more Stand user to talk about.. one whose Psycho Analysis has been sitting in my drafts for a year now...

[greendragonqueen]

How to Fix Arwen

And no, I don’t mean the elf princess from Lord of the Rings, she is perfect and I love her.

No, I’m talking about the ship Arwen, from Merlin.

(I know, ya’ll fucking surprised that I’m still talking about Merlin. Neither am I.)

Well I’m here to talk about this ship, because out of all of the ships on this show, this one was the most canon and yet felt the most pushed. The most forced. 

I mean I love the idea, I am a HUGE fan of the original Arthurian Legend stories. (If you somehow did not know, Merlin was based off of the poems and stories written between 750 AD to about 1500 AD. They aren’t all consistent, but revolve around King Arthur, his knights, and the world they lived in. These poems are all collectively called ‘Arthurian Legend’.) Their relationship is so complex, and it’s great. In some, Guinevere is a loyal and loving queen, others are malicious and are willing to stab Arthur (and really anyone she doesn’t like) in the back the moment she can get a chance, and the most recent versions (see Mallory’s work) are good people, but just don’t love Arthur. In some, Arthur takes Guinevere for granted, giving her sympathy for whe she betrays him, in some he is an absolutely doting husband, making her betrayal (if she does betray him) all the more painful for him.

There’s a reason why this relationship is up there in iconic relationships with Romeo and Juliet (and only being surpassed by Guinevere and Lancelot) and it’s because it’s such an enticing relationship. It’s complex, you don’t know what’s going to happen next. There’s literally so many options for how the writers of Merlin could have taken the relationship! But instead, we got what we got, which felt like a half assed, half baked, attempt to literally shove all of the complexities of their relationship into one big mess.

I mean literally, season two was supposed to have Merlin and Morgana in a relationship, but they decided against it because ‘they didn’t want to take away from Arthur and Gwen’s relationship’. So essentially they wasted one relationship, and squandered another. If they had written a good version of Gwen and Arthur’s relationship, I would have at least understood why my ship didn’t get the attention it deserves, but they didn’t.

But we still love the idea of a king falling in love with a servant. They are two adorable little nuggets and if we are all obsessed with destiny, then this is the biggest embodiment of destiny we can get.

So this is what I would do if I had to rewrite their ship.

First, you have to encourage the ship from the absolute very beginning, and you HAVE to keep it up, you HAVE to keep it consistent. Like, almost very first minute of the show. Like, Arthur is basically beating up Merlin in their first encounter, but Gwen walks by and tells Arthur off. (This would then lead to Merlin’s introduction to Gwen and her immediate crush on him.) And we all know that Arthur doesn’t really care for servants and peasants (I mean, for gods sake, he’s throwing knives at his unnamed servant), but he listens to Gwen. Before he listens to Merlin, he’s listening to Gwen. The other knights make fun of him for it, but he doesn’t care. And we can tell in his mind that his logical excuse is that Gwen will tell Morgana if he doesn't stop, and if there is anyone that scares Arthur more than Uther, it’s Morgana, and Arthur does not want to incur her wrath. 

But eventually, as time goes on, the reason why he stops is because he’s staring at Gwen. He can’t take his eyes off of her. She is the reason why he loses some sparring matches, but that’s much later on. We can still keep her comment ‘I would never want to marry a man like Arthur’ at the feast later, but we also need a, a look. Something that says that a tiny part of her is lying.

We need the hints right from the get go, just like we get hints right from the very beginning for Merlin and Morgana’s relationship. We see his eyes get drawn to her, we need that sparkly music. We need the whole dang ten yards, people, otherwise it’s not gonna work. 

Second, there needs to be more alone moments between Arthur and Gwen, especially early on. Moments that logically have no romantic moments in them, but you can still feel the tension. Like a creepy picture, but with romantic ideas instead, if you get what I mean. 

Like we need Gwen and Arthur going out to help Merlin and Morgana after they get into their own little shenanigans (coughcough they went on a secret date and were kidnapped by bandits because those woods seem to be crawling with  them coughcough), and bickering like an old married couple the entire way. A stranger or a knight comments on it. The two blush redder than tomatoes, and agree to never talk about it again. 

Gwen/we finally meets the hunting dogs Arthur continually talks about. Arthur tries to warn her, saying that they’re ferocious creatures, they’re work dogs, they’re trained to kill, they attack Merlin all the time if he doesn’t do exactly what they want, and before his mouth can even finish his words, Gwen has them on the floor, tongue hanging out of their mouths, giving them belly rubs and talking to them in a baby voice. Arthur doesn’t know what the fuck is happening, his jaw is on the floor, and Merlin just turns to him and says something like, “you need to take her on this trip, not me” and just walks away. All Arthur could hear was “You nee to take her” before he is left blushing like a little school girl as she doesn't realize that the prince of Camelot is staring at her.

Speaking of animals, a scene where Gwen needs help with her horse, who is refusing to listen to her. It gets so bad that the horse eventually rears up. Immediately Arthur comes running up and helps, practically saving her from getting kicked in the face. He gives her advice on what to do, telling her where their blind spots are and how you can’t stand in them, otherwise you’ll spook them, what to do to calm them down and whatnot, and while Gwen already knows about half of what he tells her, she doesn't mind, because he isn’t mansplaining to her.

Arthur and Merlin catch up to Morgana and Gwen while out in the market, and immediately offers to help carry their things. Immediately Arthur turns around and gives his things to Merlin, but Gwen rolls her eyes and immediately takes her things back. This leads to a rather funny passing around of objects from Gwen to Arthur to Merlin to Gwen to Morgana to Merlin and all the way around, until finally Arthur submits and takes the things. 

Random moment where Gwen and Morgana sneak out to the tavern to get drinks and get caught by Arthur and Merlin. It’s very funny as Gwen tries to hide her voice and the drinks and it fails spectacularly. Drinks are spilled, voices are choked on, the whole nine yards. They eventually agree to help them on the condition that they get some of the drinks too. Cue a full night of the four getting drunk off their asses on the roof of the castle, filled with laughter and stories and hangovers the next morning. It’s completely PG what they do on the roof, so no funny business. 

(Arthur and Gwen talking about Merlin and Morgana’s blooming relationship, because I can’t seem to keep them out of any Merlin post I make.)

Third, they also need more of those romantic tension moments. Those moments that are meant for romantic interests, to offer the idea of the ship. They don’t have to be that early, but they should be sooner than it was in the series. Several early episodes could be modified to fit this idea, and I bet they were intended to show this idea, but they weren’t done well. They were too far spaced and too slow, resulting the writers to need to forcibly need to pick up the pace when the time came, resulting in a sloppy building of the relationship.

The sickness episode could have been one big giant romantic interest episode, one that showed that Arthur had grown to at least care for her. Like when she is sentenced to execution, Arthur’s gotta fight against it. He's arguing with his father, he has to get dragged out by the guards. When Merlin proclaims that he has magic and that he was the one that cured her father, Arthur gets mad for more than one reason. (One, he wishes he had come up with that idea first, even though it probably wouldn’t work, and two, how dare he start going after Gwen.)

Gwen also being kidnapped and meeting Lancelot was also a good episode for this, but once again, it was slow and it was late. It needs to be pushed up a little, like around season one, perhaps. Arthur doesn’t even need Morgana’s encouragement, he’s already half way out the door before Morgana can even come in and rant. Both Merlin and Morgana are confused. They like it, but they’re confused.

Also, wasn’t the unicorn in “The Unicorn” attracted to Gwen’s purity? I feel like that’s right. If it wasn’t, then it should. Gwen is out in the woods, and the unicorn walks up to her. Against Merlin’s wishes, Arthur kills the unicorn. Afterwards, Gwen feels horrible about it, especially after learning about the curse about what happens when you kill a unicorn, and lets Arthur know about it. She rips him another one, and it breaks his heart because she is making great points and there’s tears in her eyes and its all his fault, all that sort of good stuff. Arthur watches Morgana and Gwen sneak food out of the castle, and the next time they do it, he helps, as a sort of apology. When he goes out to try and solve it, he leaves her an apology note, explaining what he’s doing. 

Also, there would also be other moments in other episodes, or even newly created episodes.

Arthur takes a page out of Merlin’s book and brings her flowers he picked. They aren’t nearly as pretty as Merlin’s were for Morgana, but Gwen giggles and knows its the thought that counts. She keeps them regardless and even dries the bundle to keep it forever.

Arthur finally learns that Gwen had kissed Merlin (on the lips, no less!) (potentially on their night drinking on the roof) and Arthur has to work through his inner turmoil and his realization that he doesn't like Gwen kissing Merlin, or more specifically Merlin kissing Gwen. No one but Morgana realizes what’s going on. I would dare to even say that the idea causes him to have nightmares about the idea, but perhaps not. Still wishy washy about that idea.

Morgana realizes Arthur’s crush on Gwen (yes, that’s how early we need to establish the roots of this relationship, that Morgana is still good and realizes that Arthur has a crush on her before Arthur even realizes that he has a crush on her), and decides to fully lean into it. She dresses her servant to the nines, even getting Merlin’s advice, for a ball, and Arthur is absolutely thrown back. He is thrown off his feet. He can barely even get a word out, much less a full sentence. And then later on Uther pulls Morgana off to the side and tells her that she can’t do that again, telling her that royals and servants can’t intermix, much like how Arthur told Merlin not to pursue Morgana.

Or better yet, take a page out of Miraculous Ladybug and have Arthur in one episode disguise his identity from everyone, including Gwen, just so that he can openly flirt with her. Hell, that could be the jousting episode! Instead of him living with her for a few days, he pretends to be someone else entirely for the jousting competition and doesn’t tell anyone (except for Merlin, because Merlin would freak), and he realizes that his disguise is so good that even Gwen doesn't even realize that it’s him. Cue the flirt master, and her gently declining him, saying her heart is saved for another man. He pressures her into telling him, and eventually she relents and tells her its the prince. Arthur has no idea how to respond.

Not to mention we need the WEDDING EPISODE. We have her coronation, but not their wedding. I mean, what the hell? Is that supposed to be their wedding? Because if it was, then it sucked.

Fourth, they need to help each other grow. We all love Merlin being the one who tells Arthur off and help him grow, but if we want this ship to work, we need Gwen to do it too. 

Arthur teaches Gwen to sword fight, not like how he taught Merlin but actually teaches her, or better yet he teaches her chess. Chess has always been known as a strategy game for Scottish kings to learn for how to move their armies, and if Arthur wants Gwen to be her queen, then why wouldn’t he teach her battle strategy? He teaches her how to escape knots and bindings “in case for the future” (this leads to some awkward moments in the bedroom). He, along with Merlin and Morgana, teach her how to read and write, because “I’m the only one in our group who never had the luxury nor the requirement to learn how to read and write” and that just can’t stand.

Gwen teaches Arthur swordsmithing, or at least convincing her father to teach Arthur how to swordsmith (which also leads to Arthur getting the approval of the relationship from Gwen’s father). This may come from Arthur continually breaking his swords, and Gwen commenting how much of a waste it is. Arthur probably wouldn’t understand and probably wouldn’t care, and Gwen would explain/go into a speech about how it would take a swordsmith, such as her father, days of tireless work to make a single sword, all for him to not even care about his swords and continue to break it. Some point, Gwen drags Arthur to the forge with the explanation “you’ll care more about your weapons if you actually make it”, and forces her father to teach Arthur how to make a sword. After all is said and done, and Arthur has grown. He still keeps his rather terrible sword, as a memento.

Fifth, once you have everything to show of the development of a relationship, there needs to be a LOT of resistance. Not just from Morgana not wanting Gwen on the throne (believe it or not, even in her deranged state, she still likes Gwen and Arthur together, she just doesn't like Gwen being on the throne), but from everyone. 

Lancelot continues to show up more since season one, and the more he shows up, the more Arthur tries to keep Gwen away from him. This leads to arguments between them, Gwen telling Arthur that she can do whatever she wants. She’s an independent woman, and while she may work for the castle, she doesn't work for him. “I’m not your wife,” she says in passing, and it only makes Arthur more frustrated. Eventually, Arthur has to confess his feelings. 

Uther somehow figures out Arthur’s interest, and forbids it. Uther will try his BEST to set Arthur up with various princesses and ladies, and Arthur literally runs away from all of them. He does not want any of them, he wants Gwen. He refuses to come home until Uther gets rid of the suitors. Eventually, Uther relents or Merlin manages to get rid of them. Either way around, it proves to Gwen and to Uther that Arthur wants her, and Uther says something around the lines like “she is a peasant, she is worth nothing.” And Arthur responds with, “But she is worth everything to me.” Uther potentially banishes her, but I’m not too sure.

 After Uther is gone and Arthur is king, Elyan arrives and becomes a knight. Once Elyan finds out that Arthur married Gwen, he does NOT approve of the relationship, and lets it be known. It even gets to the point where Arthur has to fight for her hand, again, and it’s only when he shows mercy to Elyan when Gwen asks him to that Elyan approves, when he realizes that Arthur does listen to Gwen. 

Some lords, ladies, knights, and even some peasants show their disproval of Gwen being the new queen, and let it be known specifically to Gwen. They don’t respect her, they don’t listen to her, and they call her the peasant queen, or the false queen. Both have to work together to get the people to approve of her, and even then that's something that has to be dealt with over several episodes. It’s a slow arc. 

And finally, sixth, it needs to show that both work together, not only as a husband and wife duo, but as king and queen. The two work heavily together to rule the kingdom and for their relationship, and its shown in many small moments over the final series.

The two have heavy discussions over the breakfast table about everything in the kingdom, from tax disputes to recent sprees of crimes to raising the ban on magic to servant gossip, it’s anything. 

Gwen’s pointing out advice at the battle strategy meetings, and Arthur’s listening while also seriously disputing it, like any good battle strategists would.

Arthur and Gwen have picnics outside where Arthur braids flowers into her hair. He gets pretty good at it. 

Gwen reads to him every night to help him sleep, and he freaking loves it.

I wrote about this earlier in an earlier piece, but Gwen may act in court as a perfect, studious queen, but behind closed doors she’s still the same old Gwen, and Arthur loves it. She slouches, she bickers, and no matter how many times he tells her to leave to the servants, he will catch her cleaning. Even if Merlin is in the room, she will be cleaning, because “she ordered me not to, and I can’t disobey the orders from the queen”. Arthur will even clean the whole room himself before Merlin gets in and she wakes up to stop her from cleaning. It turns out it was a ploy by Gwen and Merlin to teach Arthur to clean up after himself, and it works flawlessly.

“Merlin, where’s my cape?” “I don’t-?” He looks over, and in comes Gwen with the cape, which is much too big on her and makes her look almost look like a child, thrown over her shoulders. She gives him the derpiest looks, and with a swish and a twirl, proceeds to run away with the cape. 

Gwen keeps a booklet of things Arthur says in his sleep, which is apparently a lot. (It kind of makes Arthur calling Merlin’s name out into the night a little less weird, because apparently he says everyone’s name in his sleep.) One of the sweetest things he says as wrapping his arms around her waist is, ‘No, Gwen, I love you too much to let you boil our hobgoblin grandchildren’. It was confusing and terribly sweet, even though it made Gwen laugh and made Arthur wake up.

 Finally, Arthur holding out his hand for her to take to dance with him at every banquet, like a teenager asking a girl out to a dance, and it never, ever gets old. 

Point is, we need to make this relationship feel real. We need those small moments and that growth to make it feel real and alive and shippable. 

[mtvswatches]

Wynonna Earp 3x06 If We Make It Through December

Click here for previous recaps!

Stray thoughts

1) This episode is starting way too merry and jolly to end up well, isn’t it?

2) I wish there was a shot of Wynonna saying “well, that’s not canon” because wouldn’t that be an A+ meme? Especially because what’s canon in this scene is the Menstru-Angel!

3) One of the boys is chasing after Santa, and are we gonna get a Santa demon? Because I’m here for it! Oh fuck, it’s just fucking Bulshar.

I’m still... not scared of Bulshar? Like, we keep being told how he’s the Big Bad but for the most part, he hasn’t done anything truly horrifying yet. And he doesn’t look menacing either. He’s this old chap with a questionable fashion style, is all. 

4) Wynonna feels weird about their mom being back home and living with them as if she’d never left, while Waverly is excited at the prospect of spending some mother-daughter time with her. I’m with Wynonna on this one. It still feels weird.

5) Um… so, Wynonna finally tells Waverly that her dad was an actual angel, and Waverly is properly freaked out, and has to force her origin story out of her mom. But… Mama Earp just tells her a story a la The Notebook without zeroing in on the fact that this Julian guy was a freaking angel. Why is she not explaining that tidbit of information?

6) OMG I died…

7) This is the sweetest bromance ever? I loved everything about this scene! Doc telling Jeremy he should get on with some gentleman, Jeremy being offended at the suggestion he can’t pass the Bechdel test, Doc being totally clueless about all the cultural references, and the hug at the end? Ugh, they’re the cutest!

8) What type of Santa Workshop of Hell is this?

It seems like at least a dozen people or so have been kidnapped and everyone is chilling and celebrating Christmas? Priorities, I guess?

9) Oh, okay, people are freaking out. And Nedley is in shock. And Wynonna is making googly eyes at this Charlie guy in the crime scene of a missing kid. At least he saved her, which earns him a couple of points.

10) Do you think Purgatory’s first families made some type of pact with Bulshar to give up their descendants or something? I mean, there must be a reason why people belonging to these families are going missing.

11) And Waverly is paying a visit to Bobo. I’m very excited about this, I’ve always enjoyed their interactions so much.

12) OMFG, Doc had no idea that his wife had always been a vampire?? This show is the best sitcom EVER.

13) So… is Waverly really an angel? Or is Bobo calling her an angel because of his belief that a woman called Waverly saved him all that time ago and told him to protect her when they met again?

14) Ay ay ay, these two break my heart every single time!

DOC: It is bad luck to refuse a kiss underneath the mistletoe. WYNONNA: Are you waiting for one or are you offering? DOC: The offer is always there. WYNONNA: Maybe you should stick to kissing your wife. DOC: I have not been with her in a century. WYNONNA: Oh, so your knife was at her place because your dishwasher was broken? It is not my jam to be the other woman. DOC: Dammit, Wynonna, you are not the other woman. You're... another woman. WYNONNA: What does that mean? DOC: It means, she was my wife. And now you're... someone I've shared something even greater with. More than just romance. We had a baby...

DOC: Isn't it time that we stopped being scared and starting being honest with one another? WYNONNA: Honestly? I don't know what to do with you. DOC: You could admit that you love me. WYNONNA: Let's just get back to work.

Yes, yes, YES, I’m a sucker for this type of relationships. He’s always wearing his heart on his sleeve and laying it all out for her, and she’s so afraid of giving herself to someone that she can’t admit she does love him. I just hope nothing happens to Doc before she gets the chance to be honest with him…

15) Nedley is having a hard time coming to terms with his responsibility in this kid’s disappearance (although it’s obvious he couldn’t have done anything to stop it.) He’s questioning his role as a sheriff, and I know this is all leading up to Nicole taking over. He’s mentioned several times he’s tired, and the idea of passing the torch to Nicole has been festering for a while. I guess if this kid dies, that will be the last drop for Nedley.

16) What is Bulshar doing with these people?

17) So, Bulshar is offing the first families’ descendants because their ancestors betrayed him and turned him in to Ward. And… how mean is it if I’d rather little Tim died instead of Jeremy’s boy toy? Oops.

18) Okay, Charlie dude wasn’t as clueless as he seemed to be, which is always appreciated. But Doc should’ve been the one by Wynonna’s side when they broke into Bulshar’s Little Workshop, kicking ass and calling names.

19)  Awww, that was sweet!

And little Tim didn’t have to die, go figure.

20) This is not a surprise, of course.

21) No no no, Doc left in the middle of Christmas dinner and Wynonna was about to go after him but her mom told her to stay, will these two ever be on the same page? Ever?!

22) That was a nice gesture…

But I’m still not on board with the Mama Earp train. 

23) There it is.

That’s the meat of the matter, and it’s nice to know Wynonna at least can admit it to herself, and to her mom. She thinks she’s broken and she thinks she doesn’t deserve good things, love, happiness, whatever version of a happy ending one could get at Purgatory. I just hope when she makes up her mind, the writers don’t find some contrived plot to keep her and Doc apart.

24) Ugh.

I guess Wynonna can get in the middle of her own happiness all by herself. I’ve got nothing against Charlie, I’ve liked what I’ve seen of him so far. But I can’t see him as anything but a distraction since that’s exactly what Wynonna is going for.

25) Oh, damn, Mama Earp, you’ve no idea what you’ve done.

26) Waverly is every lesbian’s wet dream, isn’t she?

27) Um… Nope?

Nonononono

Fuck this. Why couldn’t Wynonna be honest with him? He heard the words he needed to hear from her, but it was Kate saying them. And it was so obvious she was playing him like a fiddle. He knew it, too, and I guess it was an easy choice. But what will this mean for him? What will be the rammifications of this choice? Doc Holliday, a vampire? I don’t know if l like the sound of that. I guess I’ll have to wait and see how this plays out.

28) A fun episode that advanced a lot of the season’s arc a bit, and I can’t wait where this season takes us! I still need answers about Waverly! 

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

[seyaryminamoto]

Been thinking for a while that I’d like to do a light behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the themes in the newest Gladiator story arc. While it’s not the very core element of the arc, the source of Azula’s current struggle in the story came from... an unexpected place.

Unexpected as in, it came from LOK.

Okay, in all fairness, it’s not quiiiiiiiite something that came from LOK itself, but it’s a take on an idea I had while pondering the various reasons why Asami’s character wouldn’t really take off for me in the show. Well, beyond the obvious reasons why it wouldn’t *cough* Book 2 *cough*... 

I’ve always said I’m more than a little confused by how a character like Asami, with just 20-something years of age at the time of LOK Book 4, has enough talent and know-how to not only be a top-of-the-line engineer (which, yes, is believable enough on its own), but to also be a CEO in her own company (I gueeeess since the company falls into her hands and she mismanages it plenty in Book 2, it’s not that impossible to feature this in conjunction with the first thing?), a clothing designer, an architect AND a urbanist, capable of driving every machine known to man, an outstanding hand-to-hand fighter...!

... If you really think about it in cold blood, it feels like a little too much.

BUT. Instead of boringly accusing Asami of being a Mary Sue (which I’m sure some people might) for having a thousand talents that we don’t really see her work for, that she just developed offscreen, I thought the show would have benefited greatly from actually focusing on how Asami is handling the constant, desperate need of so many authorities in Republic City to have HER resolving all their problems.

Therefore, instead of a Reunion episode with a conflict focused on rescuing a kidnapped Wu (whom I profoundly dislike as a character, not for his role, but his personality is simply barf-worthy for me and the amount of focus Book 4 gave him was, as a lot of things, detrimental to the show as a whole, in my opinion), I thought LOK’s Book 4 could have instead featured a Reunion episode focused on Asami... which, of course, would also be a nice way to fix some of the lackluster onscreen development of Korrasami. So... let’s go onwards with my episode pitch:

Picture that Korra is about to reunite with Mako and Asami for the first time in all those years, same as in canon. Asami arrives! Yay, Korra is happy, Asami compliments her hair, just like in canon... aaaand then Asami says she can’t really stay, she just dropped by quickly because this REALLY matters to her, but there’s this pressing issue going on at the company and she has to deal with it RIGHT NOW, because no one else can. So, woops.

Korra is completely disappointed (and probably doesn’t even understand WHY she’s so disappointed, hinting at deeper feelings for Asami that Korra hasn’t even stopped to reason with yet), but she sees Asami off while pretending this doesn’t bug her (for Asami’s benefit), and ends up spending the evening with Mako but clearly she’s not enjoying it as much as she hoped to. Which could result in Mako being pretty surprised by whatever closeness and bond those two seem to have now, noticing that he seems to have fallen to second place in Korra’s eyes somehow.

So! Skipping ahead, perhaps to the next day, Korra tries to check on Asami again! :D Oh, but she’s got to work on the airbenders’ outfits, some have been having trouble with the aerodynamics of it, and it’s just not working as Asami intended, so more calculations are needed! She takes to studying on the subject frantically, has to figure out what formula she’s missing or messing up, and while Korra offers to help, she knows there’s not really anything she can do to give Asami a hand since this stuff is well out of Korra’s area of expertise.

Then, when Asami is finally finished, OH NO! An emergency in the train she inaugurated at the start of the season! Asami has to go deal with that too! And of course, Korra goes too, while wondering how TF does this damn city even run without Asami...

... And then realizing it actually doesn’t. There’s a president who basically dumps all the difficult issues on Asami because she has the know-how and the resources to deal with all the city’s problems, there’s an airbending master who requested for that same girl to help with the designs of his people’s combat outfits instead of dealing with it himself or finding someone else to help, there’s an entire vehicle company (ranging from cars to AIRPLANES) that depends on HER. And it’s just SO. MUCH. SHIT. For a girl who’s like... 20? 21? How old is Asami at this point? xD I don’t even remember. But the point I’m trying to get to...

Is that Asami should be overwhelmed. She hasn’t had anyone helping her, she deals with everything alone, and it doesn’t matter how hard she tries to work through this, there’s always one more problem, one more obstacle, one more bothersome thing she has to tackle, and nobody seems to stop and think that maybe she could use a break. That maybe she needs a nap because she hasn’t had one in 20 months. That maybe things in this damn city would be in a better place if people didn’t rely on her, and her alone, to resolve the bulk of their problems.

Korra, though, with her latest character growth (... that I’m not really fond of anyhow, but still...), has become a lot better at understanding people’s emotions. And her job as an Avatar is, amongst many things, to help people: someone she cares about deeply, her best friend future girlfriend, is currently going through so much crap and the truth is, Asami needs help. Whether Asami realizes it or not, she needs it. And so, whether it’s Korra’s job or not to help her, that’s all Korra wants to do right now. 

So Korra enlists Mako and then all three deal with whatever that train emergency might be! Asami probably rejects their help at first, out of force of habit of doing everything alone lately, until Korra tells her she doesn’t have to do that anymore. And then Asami’s mind is blown because yeah, maybe there’s a bunch of older people in charge who are happy to dump all responsibilities on her! But that doesn’t mean she has to accept it meekly and save all their asses time after time... and it also doesn’t mean she has to deal with everything alone.

After the train problem is resolved, Korra and Asami (maybe Mako too? But for Korrasami’s purposes, it can just be those two) get to have a small chat about what life has been like for Asami since Korra vanished. The conversation doesn’t merely focus on Hiroshi, which... *cringes* let’s not get into that. It focuses on Asami and the hardships she’s dealing with, seeing as the city is basically using her as a non-bender Avatar, in the sense of leaving all the problem-solving to Asami alone. Korra probably apologizes, Asami probably tells her not to feel guilty, because she has had it rough, and Asami understands that better than anyone, especially after what she’s been through lately.

It’s a cute, heartfelt moment, not necessarily romantic yet, but featuring a strong, meaningful bonding scene between these two! Asami wants to go back to work on some pending stuff, and Korra respects that, though she warns Asami not to overdo it. Asami promises she won’t... and the next time Korra checks on her, Asami is asleep on her desk or something like that. Korra smiles and puts a blanket on her shoulders, and when someone else arrives to say something REALLY BAD is going on, Korra shushes them and decides to deal with it herself (as long as she can), and, if she can’t, she’ll find someone else to do it in Asami’s stead so the girl can sleep safe and sound for the first time in ages.

Episode pitch over! :’D

*siiiiiiiiiigh* alright, so yeah, this was something I originally thought of as a replacement episode, to further explore and establish a bond between Korra and Asami that wouldn’t really resolve all of the rushed-Korrasami problems... but it would make it so much clearer that those two share a different bond, and a very special understanding of each other, that the other two Krew members simply don’t have with either of them. It’d deepen their relationship, but the most important element about this for me was that it’d be an Asami-focused episode and plotline. However brief it would have been, my idea was to feature Asami facing her own problems, not problems based on her relationship with other people (be it family or romance). It was also a way to show that she’s not indestructible or just the go-to problem solver with neverending resources and talents that the plot can exploit at leisure whenever it feels like it. And, most importantly, that Asami can’t and SHOULDN’T be the answer to every problem in Republic City, especially when she’s only delivering those answers off-screen, offering the viewers next to no chance to see her in action, kicking ass at all the things she apparently has insane expertise on.

As far as I know, the two LOK comic trilogies haven’t really done much for Asami either. I haven’t read them so I could be wrong, but from what I can gather from comments of people who have read them and the books’ summaries, she’s still Korra’s girlfriend first and foremost, gets kidnapped so she can be used as a hostage to manipulate Korra, and then gets brainwashed into fighting against Korra...? If this is truly how it is, again, Asami just gets reduced to a satellite character, in the sense that she just revolves around other people as though that’s all there is to her character, canon-wise. Which... makes me sad. She had potential, plenty of potential worth exploring, if only the show’s writing had been more paused and allowed their characters to breathe and grow organically, as a consequence of their own actions and decisions rather than by being forced into hellish situations persistently until they broke out of desperation.

So... LOK really had the chance to explore a much more human side of Asami that they’ve neglected to acknowledge so far (from what I know), a chance to deepen her character by displaying that no one of such young age should have so many difficult responsibilities dumped on her shoulders... which, again, could be expanded into a metaphor for the Avatar’s role, showing both Korra and Asami as two highly capable women who could achieve great things... but who need a chance to be normal too, once in a while. From the looks of it, neither of them have had that chance in canon (yes, Korra was stuck in a compound all her life but Asami must have been stuck in constant lessons at every discipline she has mastered? If she can deal with all those jobs of hers as flawlessly as she has, I don’t think she had much of a life before LOK started), and it would have been really nice of the deeper, darker show LOK wanted to be to acknowledge that a bunch of grown-ups, who had relatively smooth lives in their youth, dumping so much heavy work on a pair of girls who are just becoming young adults and barely had childhoods of their own, is just damn nasty :’D just as it was nasty in a show featuring a much younger cast... *innocent whistling*

Alas, this was just one idea that won’t ever go anywhere in canon, as is obvious. I’m sure I mentioned it at least once before, not as thoroughly as I did just now, but this is more or less what I had in mind. If you dump a thousand things on a character, it would only be fair to let them suffer for it, to a fault. Maybe don’t feature them whining because they have soooo much work to do... but turn them into workaholics! Show that they’re struggling to make everything pay off, that this kind of burden isn’t child’s play because in real life, it simply wouldn’t be.

But, as there’s next to no chance Asami will ever get this sort of development, I merely stashed this idea on my back burner, in case it might come in handy in the future... 

... And then I returned to it once Gladiator’s Enforcers became a solid reality. Azula has been dealing with challenges that are rather different from those Asami dealt with... but ultimately, the responsibilities both girls have taken up, Asami in canon and Azula in my story, were just insanely big. Azula, in Gladiator, has had very little time to spare for “secondary” pursuits since the previous arc, and in the current one that has become a problem because she simply CAN’T stop working. She goes home and instead of going to bed, keeps on working. She’s constantly on edge, assuming that any time not spent working is wasted time, time she should take advantage of to further improve her projects and endeavors... to the point where people are starting to notice she’s slightly overwhelmed, extremely stressed out, and needs to calm down :’D

I really had wanted to explore these themes in overachieving characters, who take up far too many responsibilities, more than are reasonable. While I’ll always consider it a really big waste of potential that LOK never gave Asami this particular dimension, despite her character 100% warranted it, at least I had the chance to explore this with Azula instead, and I’m honestly really pleased with the result, because it suits her really well too. The outcome won’t be at all like what I just outlined for the LOK episode that never was, and the current story arc will take a vastly different direction... which is why I thought it would be fun to explain where this particular, new dimension of Azula’s character had come from.

Aaaanyways... the bottomline is, Return to Shu Jing is here. And I reeeeeally love this arc. I hope that those of you reading and staying up to date with the story will love it too!