#focus is on the relationships between characters rather than the show's main plot actually

[doverstar]

So vecna’s not showing up at all in Your fic? Interesting 🧐

He's mentioned throughout, and of course he's pulling the strings the way he is in canon, but will there be any scenes with him in them, directly speaking to anyone? No. :] The fic is about Eddie and Chrissy primarily, and I don't have plans to change the general plot of the show, so there's no real need to feature Vecna. Does that make sense? The only changes I'm really making are that Chrissy and Eddie both live. An incredibly unoriginal concept, but hey, we all wanted it! I got plenty of exposure to the blood-soaked psycho licorice stick in the show, thank you. Not going near him if I can help it!

[showtoonzfan]

Now that the episode is out officially, here’s my rant review of Oops!

PROS:

- Fizz and Ozzie were adorable and I honestly love them. Despite the sex jokes, you can tell they love each other for who they are OUTSIDE of sex. While I did wish we would have seen more, (like how Ozzie took him in and fell in love) they’re still adorable to watch. They’re the better version of Stolitz, can the show be about them instead?

- Brandon’s voice acting holy shit, he really knows how to sound like he’s in tears or is broken. As much as I hate the character and feel no sympathy, he displayed genuine and broken emotion very well.

- Alex Brightman Alex Brightman

Okay that’s it. Moving on to the Cons. Bear with me, it’s a lot and I go back and forth a bit. 😭

CONS:

So for a quick short summary, this episode:

- Once again puts more focus on the filler plot rather than actually focusing on the relationships between the characters, so all we're left with is a 10 second clip of Fizz being burned while the rest of the episode is surrounded on sex jokes/petty bickering and Stolas and Ozzie sitting around.

- Completely erases what made Blitz and Fizz's dynamic interesting in the first place because it retcons it with a dumb miscommunication trope about how Fizz actually wanted to see Blitz and Blitz tried reaching out to him. Not only does this feel like a cheap attempt to make Blitz out to be sweet/sympathetic and NOT the one in the wrong so Fizz can suck up to him, but this also makes no sense within the narrative.

- Has Fizz forgive Blitz despite him being the last person anyone would think would forgive him. (So honestly ruins Fizz himself because it turned him into a soft boy who's forgiving compared to the asshole he was in Ozzie's) All because Viv would sell her whole soul before she even remotely considers painting characters like Blitz and Stolas out to be the one's in the wrong.

- Takes Stolas out of the hospital completely, erasing all the drama/tension Western Energy had and proves that that episode was utterly pointless.

- Turns Striker from an interesting complex villain to a Saturday morning cartoon goon.

- Proves to us that Crimson is just a flat tool and gives us more prove that the world building rules Viv set up in season 1 legit don't matter.

-Ruins Blitz/Barbie's feud now because now you're making Barbie look like the one in the wrong since the fire was an accident. God forbid a female characters emotions in this show are justified.

But if you want my more in depth rants, it’s under the cut! (There’s a lot so bear with me lol)

- As usual WAAY too many sex jokes and swearing. It gets annoying and repetitive at times and some of them distract from the main plot. There’s a long and I mean LONNG dragged out joke of Fizz talking about Ozzie’s dick, then later saying he’s hard when Striker has a gun to his head, as well as Blitz making a joke about him and Fizz making out once they hug. Again, Viv can’t be serious for 2 seconds without an unfunny shitty gag. I genuinely wonder if Hazbin is ganna be like this, where a character is in a life threatening situation or a deep dark serious scene happens only for the next scene to be sex related.

- This is one of those “shit happens because the plot demands it” and it shows. Crimson and Striker COINCIDENTLY meet up with each other, and Fizz and Blitz just so HAPPEN to be in the same exact area they are. Viv wonders why we call her shit a fanfic and this is what we mean, when she creates wild wacky plots and focuses more on THAT rather than the actual character writing. This entire episode hinges on a useless poorly last minute planned kidnapping plot that didn’t need to happen. Also way to once again make the characters idiots so the plot can happen, cause Fizz KNOWS Ozzie worries for him and that the Greed Ring is dangerous, yet purposefully puts the spotlight on him.

- Stolas did NOT need to be in this episode. The plot completely ignores the fact that he was in the hospital the last time we saw him, and he’s only here for Stolitz banter. You’d think that a character admitting they have feelings for someone would be a big deal but he just flat out says it and it’s so underwhelming and feels half assed with no weight to it. Fan comics have made more dedication to this than Viv has. We're supposed to believe him too despite the show failing to actually SHOW us this. Same for Blitz ranting about how “nice” Stolas has been to him, laughing at his jokes and liking his posts…hey Viv, can we actually SEE that on screen so it’s more believable? Or are you only determined to show them sexually flirting? 😑

- Once again Viv felt the need to shove a B plot into this episode and this one sucks because it’s just two characters sitting and doing fucking nothing. It felt like Viv had no idea what to do with Stolas and Ozzie, and I refuse to believe that Ozzie just sat there knowing Fizz was in danger. If anything he would have said “fuck the paperwork” and went to save Fizz himself. Way to show that gif of Ozzie getting mad as a sneak peak to get fans excited, only to see that Ozzie spends the rest of the episode sitting in a dark room LMAO what a let down.

- Ozzie is weirdly chill and cool with Stolas and it’s something I don’t get. While he did say that Stolas had the real “spirit of Lust” in S1E7, it still gave you the impression that he was also more poking fun at Stolas rather than respecting him. The whole point of House of Asmodeous was that Ozzie outs him and publicly embarrassed him. Stolas literally was intimidated just by Asmodeous’s mere name, and hid his face around him. It seemed like Stolas certainly didn’t want someone like Ozzie to know about his private life especially since they’re both part of the Ars Goetia. Now here Ozzie is just cool with him and it feels like a missed opportunity for their dynamic.

- Stolas confessing his feelings about Blitz also makes…no sense narrative wise. I thought the whole point of The Circus and the ending to Western Energy was that he was realizing that Blitz didn’t like him that way and was finally waking up. I thought that’s why he was doing this whole crystal deal in the first place, so he can let Blitz go, yet the show keeps flip flopping and insisting that these two love each other and are good for each other. It’s really making you realize how this season and the previous stuff set up is becoming nonsense because the writers retcon EVERY damn episode. Also….why the hell is Stolas telling Ozzie his feelings for Blitz? Out of all people, why is it Ozzie, the person who outed Stolas and embarrassed him. Why is Stolas even respectful of Ozzie? He has no reason to, and he’s not under the impression that he’s dating Fizz either. I get that he needs the crystal but mentioning his love for Blitz makes no sense.

- Striker and Crimson teaming up to kidnap Blitz and Fizz was such an ass puller last minute decision. It feels overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time, more because it feels like Viv has no idea what to do with these two villain characters other than give them something evil to do to start the plot. Also…why…are they working together? It feels so random.

- Striker’s character especially is all over the place. First he’s working for Stella, then he’s painted as the best assassin in hell, and now he’s…looking for more work I guess and working for Crimson? Why? Does this guy even have a motive anymore? It feels like his character is just dangling around until Viv wants to use him for another wattpad kidnap plot and it ESPECIALLY shows when Striker escapes for the THIRD fucking time. Can this character/storyline actually GO somewhere or are you just going to keep introducing him and have him run away. 🤦🏽‍♀️

— How did Crimson not know who Striker is despite him being labeled as “the most popular assassin in hell”, and how the hell does Crimson know Ozzie and know all the information about him being in a relationship with Fizz?? Oh right because we needed the plot to happen somehow. Still, even if Crimson did know that Ozzie was the "weakest" and loved Fizz, (which….what about Beezlebub?)) he still should have known he was playing with fire. I get that he's supposed to be evil and intimidating but how could he have predicted that Ozzie would actually stand down and fill out the paperwork? He could have immediately came there and killed Crimson for all he knew. It's just distracting how..not planned this shit was.

- Fuck this episode for calling Striker a supremacist. It makes no sense?? Viv is trying SO hard to villainize him despite him being the one in the right and it pisses me off. He has every right to be mad at the upper class, he’s part of the lower class that we’re said Hell takes advantage of, but god forbid we call out Rich and powerful Stolas because that would mean he’s a b-bad person and we can’t have that complex morality! This is so not a “eat the rich” story and it shows bc Vivzie is rich as hell. Striker as a character deserves so much better man. Congrats writers, you had an interesting character and motive set up for him, now he’s nothing but a silly goon that you might as well kill off already cause you clearly don’t care about him. Crimson meanwhile is just a piece of paper, a boring plot device I could give less of a shit about. I thought his motive was to go after Moxxie, now he’s just doing fuck whatever because this show desperately wants a bad guy for their filler fanfic plots.

- We get more world building issues, Ozzie and Fizz are so determined to hide their relationship for obvious reasons, but then at the end of the episode just say “fuck it, no one would dare tell anyway”. So now they’re being open about their relationship and lmao I told y’all the newspaper scene of Ozzie being called out for being a hypocrite wouldn’t go anywhere. Even if Ozzie did threaten his workers to not tell, they can’t be so sure that someone wouldn’t see or snitch, it’s kinda a retcon too cause they were pretty lovey dovey in Ozzie’s. Still, it makes the characters look dumb and it makes the rules Viv set up for Hell once again not mean anything.

- We finally get to see Fizz’s backstory in action and it’s executed in the most underwhelming way possible. It’s literally a fucking 10 second clip of what went down, and rather than experiencing the event for ourselves, it’s in flashback mode but with Fizz’s voice talking over it. That’s it. I’ve seen fan comics/fanart that built this shit up better than Viv did, that actually took the slow time and dedication it needed, and here it feels like such an afterthought, like Viv could care less. Maybe if this actually was a character driven show like Viv claims, Stolas, Striker, and Crimson would be taken out of the picture and then that would leave us with PLENTY time to actually explore and develop Blitz/Fizz, bc most of this episode is just them pettily bickering and Stolas and Ozzie sitting around. But nah, we gatta have our fanfic kidnapping plot. Same goes for the reveal of Blitzo’s mom dying in the same fire. Glad to know that she got the same treatment Moxxie’s mom did, where we don’t even know her and yet we’re supposed to feel moved and care about her death. You nailed that one Viv. 👍

- I predicted that this episode would victimize Blitz and have the fire incident be an accident, (because Viv is a pussy writer and can’t make her characters actually do bad things like god forbid) but I never thought they’d actually have the balls to have Fizz forgive Blitz immediately in the same episode and pull the “actually turns out that horrible thing you did to me helped me in a way”- trope. Biggest flaw of the episode, fuck you Viv. I was actually going to applaud Blitz for taking accountability, but then the dialogue reminds you that an abuser wrote this, and he shifts his apology to “okay but I lost something too see so it’s not all about you” as if he’s fucking dismissing Fizz’s trauma and making it about himself. “I love flawed characters” my fucking ass. I would have smacked a bitch if I was Fizz because Blitzo loosing his mother in the fire too isn’t an excuse?? Fizz lost his fucking ARMS AND LEGS, and at the end of the day Blitzo STILL KNEW HE WAS HELPLESS IN THE FIRE BUT LEFT HIM BEHIND. He could have gotten help and came back, but didn’t. If this were a good show Fizz would have threw that apology back in Blitzo’s face and said “I don’t care if it was an accident or not, you still left me there and then proceeded to loathe me for years”. This is why Helluva will never be Bojack cause at least characters in that show who got treated horribly by him knew when to say “no, fuck you.”

- The episode retcons again, this time they make it out to be that Blitz TRIED contacting Fizz the years they were apart but no one would let him see him. Then they say that Fizz actually WANTED to see Blitz but assumed he didn’t want to, so their entire feud was solely because of miscommunication?? Number one, show don’t fucking tell omg. And number two, that makes ZERO sense. Blitz talked badly about Fizz in Loo Loo Land, and when they finally reunited in Ozzie’s, it was clear they fucking loathed each other. You got the impression that Blitz was petty and jealous just because Fizz was more popular, and Fizz not only loathed him for the accident, but liked to rub in his face about how much of a big shot he was. They literally do that in this episode too, so the episode is literally contradicting itself. Blitz and Fizz had multiple chances to meet up with each other, you can’t just say “oh they couldn’t because no one would let them��- So which is it? Did they hate each other because of bad blood, petty drama, or that they thought the other didn’t want to see them? Pick ONE Viv and stick to it, but she never does. Their feud was interesting and now you ruined it just to have some sweet happy ending. “Adult mature show” my ass lol.

-Bottom line is Fizz shouldn’t have forgave Blitz so easily, or forgave him period. I find it funny how he says “it’s hard to just forgive you” and then he literally does lol. I feel so bad for Fizz fans, him and Blitz’s feud was honestly interesting, so to see all of this go down in a half-assed piss poor way as if this was Care Bears is….wow. The fan interpretations had more thought and care put into this storyline but what else is new lol.

- I’m really tired of these shitty annoying songs. If you’re going to get Broadway actors, please put effort into your songwriting and actually have them sing something good, not something that’s literally nonsense. This Fizz song sounds like it took less than a minute to write and Sam Haft was just thinking of anything he could think of at the top of his head. Also Why the fuck are Striker and Crimson just STANDING there while Fizz sings. They look like idiots, just SHOOT them omg. If this were a funny show, Fizz would have started his first note and Crimson just rolls his eyes and pulls his gun out.

- Fizz and Ozzie kill the lawyer but not…Crimson? Despite Fizz knowing what ring he’s in and even Ozzie knowing what he looks like? Same for Blitz, he doesn’t try to make sure Striker is dead. I get that the plot demands for these two to still be around, but there’s a way to keep them alive without making the main characters look like fucking idiots. Also Stolas just leaves without doing or contributing anything to the plot yay.

- Fizz: “Let him have it, you could say he’s earned it”— Uhm….Nope. Blitz did NOT earn shit. He didn’t even earn Fizz’s forgiveness. Last time I checked, the moment Blitz cried and said it was an accident, Fizz forgave him, knowing he didn’t mean it. What effort did Blitz do to “earn” that as well as the crystal? Because he saved Fizz and didn’t leave him behind for the SECOND time near the end?? Cause if so than the bar is extremely low. That’s the bare minimum, just because Blitz cried and felt bad about it doesn’t mean he should be let off the hook Viv. I hate this so much, what a shitty conclusion, it feels forced just so Blitz can have the crystal and just so the writers can once again paint him as the one in the right. It’s almost insulting that they make it seem like Fizz was in the wrong for assuming Blitz starting the fire too, same for Barbie.

God what a shitty day it is to be a Fizz fan, I’m sorry. The episode did NOT do him justice. Fizzarolli deserved better than that half assed gaslighting apology for someone who lost their arms and legs man, and I’m tired of the show letting every character suck up to Blitz and Stolas for their horrible treatment just because they feel bad. Not only that but the episode (as most recent HB episodes) was a huge time waster. Everyone was really hoping for an in depth walkthrough of his character/backstory but again, when he’s not with Ozzie, the rest/most of his screen time is dedicated to him being helpless and pointlessly arguing with Blitz, plus a long dragged out nonsense song that didn’t need to happen. It felt like SO much time was wasted when we could have used the runtime we have to dive deeper and see more, like….again it would have been nice to see Fizz’s life AFTER the accident and how he became well known as well as how he fell in love with Ozzie, but his backstory is briefly scratched upon in a single scene and that’s it, all because Viv wanted this filler plot and wanted to dedicate more time to THAT rather than actual character expansion/development, something we could have got had you took out Stolas and Ozzie’s B plot and Striker and Crimson.

Viv is so on her way to murder/ruin every character that isn’t Blitz and Stolas and I won’t be here to watch further. I’ll check out the Mammon music video thing but that’s it man, this show is going off the rails, Adding Fizz to the character adoption list!

[frostbytemyrik]

Danny Phantom Required* Watching

*It isn't actually required. I know there are a ton of phans who have never even seen a single episode of the show, but it's a fun watch and I would recommend at least catching some.

Sorting the episodes into colors (with the first letter in parenthesis by the title for those who might be too colorblind to tell). Note that this is all just my objective opinion, and everyone is free to leave their own thoughts on this!

Green (G) - Introduction of an important character or major plot development, such as a new power for Danny or another major shift in the status quo. If you can only watch a few of the episodes, watch these.

Pink (P) - Introduction of a side character or minor plot development.

Red (R) - Introduction of a new character worth mentioning or other general status quo change, but the episode is generally considered to be...not great by most people. (But hey, nothing wrong with liking these episodes!) They'll be summarized at the bottom of each episode description for those who can't be bothered to watch them.

Blue (B) - Nothing important happens to the overall plot, but it's a fun episode that fleshes out the characters.

Season 1

Episode 1: Mystery Meat (R) - Establishes the show and its main characters: Danny, Sam, and Tucker, as well as a lot of other important characters such as the Fenton parents and Jazz, and minor recurring characters like Dash and the Lunch Lady. The writers are still getting their footing so the main trio is unfortunately among the flattest they get here.

Episode 2: Parental Bonding (P) - Introduction of Paulina and Dora, first look at Valerie, and most importantly, Danny's power to overshadow people. Fun episode in general, Tucker makes a weird comment at the start but this is one of Sam's absolute best episodes as a character. (Tucker and Sam actually getting to be fun characters instead of just "butt-monkey comic relief" and "selfish asshole" is rarer than I'd like, so I always like pointing out the episodes where they get some love.)

Episode 3: One of a Kind (G) - Introduction of Skulker, a recurring major antagonist, and his motivations.

Episode 4: Attack of the Killer Garage Sale (P) - Introduction of Technus, Ghost Master of Technology and Destroyer of Worlds, Manipulator of Machines, Lord of all Gadgetry, Wizard of Integrated Circuitry, Master of All Things Electronic and Beeping.

Episode 6: What You Want (P) - First appearance of Danny's Ghost Ray and introduction to Desiree and the Ghost Catcher (a Fenton device with an unfortunately rather...culturally insensitive name and design), explores Tucker and his relationship to Danny. I went back and forth between making this green and pink because I'm biased in my love for this episode, but it isn't necessary to comprehend later episodes. (If you can watch it, though, it's a lot of fun as we get to see how close Danny and Tucker are and how Tucker feels about Danny's powers.)

Episode 7: Bitter Reunions (G) - Formal introduction to main series antagonist, Vlad Masters, and his relationship with the Fentons and the ghosts of the Ghost Zone. (Antisemitism tw: Vlad has hired ghost hitmen that are vultures with Yiddish accents, hooked beaks, and fezzes. They thankfully don't show up anywhere else, as far as I can remember.)

Episode 8: Prisoners of Love (P) - Introduction to the Ghost Zone itself and Walker, a side antagonist. Shows Alicia, Danny and Jazz's maternal aunt who never appears again after this episode.

Episode 9: My Brother's Keeper (G) - Gives Jazz a focus and formally makes her a major player in the plot through a certain discovery she makes. Also introduces side antagonist Dr. Penelope Spectra.

Episode 10: Shades of Gray (G) - Valerie Gray, a background character from Episode 2, gets new motivations and becomes an important part of the series going forward.

Episode 11: Fanning the Flames (P) - Ember is introduced, and she hypnotizes the entire town to fall for her with her music. To keep Danny out of her hair, she makes him fall for Sam. Whether this episode is a Pink or a Red depends on whether or not that bothers you. (Racism tw: there's a sequence towards the end of the episode that shows people around the world watching Ember, and they're all very stereotyped appearances of Japanese, Eastern European, Arabian, and Indigenous Australian people. Thanks, Hartman.)

Episode 12: Teacher of the Year (B) - A fun episode with Technus. It does have some of that early 2000s "don't underestimate me because I'm a girl" stuff, but it's still a good episode with a lot of heart.

Episode 13: Fright Night (P) - Introduces Fright Knight. A Halloween special that has its ups and downs (eating underwear?) It's just really funny that an actual ghost, who has been to the maddeningly twisted and alien world of the afterlife, still can't scare anyone to save his life.

Episode 14: 13 (P) - It's a shame this isn't actually the 13th episode. Anyway, it introduces Johnny 13 and Kitty, while Tucker and Sam get to hang out without Danny while trying to solve Tucker's new run of bad luck and the fallout for his reputation.

Episode 15: Public Enemies (G) - Walker's back and he's making a major shift in the status quo: ghosts are confirmed to exist as he stages a major invasion of the town. Things don't go well for Danny, and the repercussions will be felt for well into the series. Also introduces Wulf, a ghost who looks like a werewolf, exclusively speaks Esperanto, and has the ability to tear the fabric of reality to create portals between Earth and the Ghost Zone. He's putting this power to use for Walker, but it's clearly not by choice...

Episode 17: Maternal Instinct (B) - Maddie notices her son is growing distant from her and tries to take him to a science symposium to bond with him, but disaster strikes and leaves them in the woods, with the only shelter available being...a cabin owned and occupied by none other than Vlad. Meanwhile, Jack tries to understand Jazz, who doesn't seem to want anything to do with him or ghost hunting. Lots of great character moments for the Fentons.

Episode 18: Life Lessons (B) - Danny and Valerie, arriving late to class because they both were out ghost hunting, get paired up in home economics class to raise a flour sack baby together. We get more insight into what Valerie's life is like after Shades of Gray, and she learns to get along with both Fenton and, temporarily, Phantom, after an excursion through Skulker's part of the Ghost Zone. As a B-plot, Tucker makes money babysitting other students' flour sacks while ignoring the one he has with Sam, and Sam tries not to get attached to the sack. It's not important to the plot AT ALL but I'd put this as a must-watch if I could. Alas, I made the rules and must follow them.

Episode 19: The Million Dollar Ghost (B) - A million dollars is placed on the head of the ghost boy, Public Ghost Enemy #1: Inviso-Bill, known to us in the audience as Danny Phantom.

Episode 20: Control Freaks (G) - The circus is in town! New villain Freakshow gets introduced, and he becomes important later. Kinda. Depending on how much you like a certain blue episode that comes on down the line. The trio go to this cool new goth circus, but there's a string of ghostly robberies in town and Danny has been acting strangely lately...

Season 2

Episode 1/21: Memory Blank (R) - Danny and Sam have a fight, Sam wishes she'd never met him, Desiree makes the wish come true and now Danny has no powers and neither he nor Tucker remember her at all. Sam gets him fried by the portal again to get his powers back, but this time with a new logo she designed slapped onto his chest. Really all that happens is Danny gets his logo. This can be skipped...if you wish. ;)

Episode 2/22: Doctor's Disorders (B) - There's a bug going around - literally - getting the kids at Casper High sick. Symptoms include sneezing, chills, coughing, congestion, and various ghost powers depending on the student. The only ones immune seem to be Danny (thanks to his ghost powers) and Tucker (wearing his new homemade cologne that smells awful in a different way to everyone). A new hospital opens up to treat them, but something fishy is definitely going on. ...But Tucker is afraid of hospitals. Great Tucker episode.

Episode 3/23: Pirate Radio (P) - Introduction to Youngblood, an occasional antagonist. A new radio program pops up, and every adult in town (and Jazz, who's 16 but sees herself as an adult) is enraptured by it and the one song that it plays on loop. Then one day, every single adult in town leaves behind a note that they're going on a cruise, and it's up to Danny to rally the teens of Amity Park to discover what's so fishy about the cruise and get their parents back.

Episode 4/24-5/25: Reign Storm (G) - The creepy castle in the Ghost Zone Danny accidentally freed Fright Knight from in Fright Night holds yet another secret: the coffin of the Ghost King, known as Pariah Dark, whose goal is to rule over the Ghost Zone and the human world with an iron fist. Vlad frees him hoping to snatch the powerful artifacts on him, but it backfires and now the King is free and follows the fleeing ghosts to Amity Park, which he promptly invades. Danny, Valerie, and various enemies including Vlad need to team up to seal King Pariah back within his sarcophagus and save both Amity Park and the Ghost Zone as a whole. Major status quo shifts happen here.

Episode 6/26: Identity Crisis (B) - Not my favorite episode, but I'm including it here because it was popular with the Phandom a decade ago. Danny gets tired of trying to balance his human and ghost lives, so splits himself in two using the Ghost Catcher that was introduced in Season 1 episode 6: What You Want. That also, unfortunately, divides his personality to two extremes; the human half ("Fun Danny") is lazy while the ghost half ("Super Danny") is an absolute ham of a superhero stereotype, and Tucker and Sam struggle to put their friend back together so he can stop Technus in a way only he can (and also because both halves are honestly really annoying them).

Episode 8/28-9/29: The Ultimate Enemy (G) - This is THE episode of all time. Maybe not the best episode, but it's great in its own right and, more importantly for this list, introduces another major status quo shift. It's also basically required viewing for the comic that came out last year (at time of writing), as that comic is a direct follow-up to this episode. Clockwork, a ghost that is essentially a deity of time, has a mission to eliminate the greatest threat to Earth and the Ghost Zone that has ever been before he comes into that role: a ghost named Danny Phantom. Danny comes face-to-face with a version of himself that caused a doomed future, and needs to fight to ensure that future never comes to pass.

Episode 10/30: The Fright Before Christmas (B) - The boy Danny Fenton, a Grinch to his core, finds the holiday season to be quite a chore. Into the Ghost Zone to blow off some steam, he accidentally causes a scene: the Ghost Writer's finished manuscript in ashes, and with Danny's indifference he clashes. He traps him in a book that warps space and time, and forces all events in his life to rhyme. You're in for a treat if you like all these rhymes, but if they annoy you, then don't waste your time. (This factoid may not matter to you, but this is where we learn of the Christmas Truce!)

Episode 11/31: Secret Weapons (R) - Jazz is overbearing, Danny doesn't like it, so Jazz decides to go to Vlad. The episode's latter half isn't bad, but it's R because Jazz's constant invasions of Danny's privacy and the repetitive thermos jokes grate on me. If you plan to skip, the thing that makes it a red episode is this: Vlad learns that Jazz is in-the-know.

Episode 12/32: Flirting With Disaster (G) - A lot of the more plot-relevant episodes in season 2 (and one in season 1) have been building romantic tension between Danny and Valerie, and here's where it comes to a head: they actually start dating! However, after some jealous stalking thorough investigating, Sam finds that there's someone pulling the strings, and manipulating their real feelings for each other to pull them together and get them out of the way... Valerie especially undergoes a lot of major character moments, and we learn a lot more about her as a person. One of my personal favorite episodes (and I don't just say that because I'm a Danny/Valerie truther) (the "engraved" ring and Sam being a stalker about it aren't great, but honestly I just try to ignore those parts. Yes, I know I'm biased).

Episode 17/37: Kindred Spirits (G) - While Danny's busy being an asshole to his friends leaving Sam and Tucker to take the blame for property damages during his fights, he finds a strange girl named Danielle (or "Dani") who claims to be his cousin and shares an eerie resemblance with him. The similarities go more than skin deep, as she quickly reveals that she's ALSO half ghost. Tucker and Sam warn Danny that there's something suspicious about the whole ordeal (in between being left behind to be blamed for collateral damage more times than I'm bothered to count right now), but when Danny winds up in trouble anyway, they still skip detention (that he got them in) to save him before it's too late. Danny's a dick, but despite that, it's still a good episode and we get introduced to Dani before her next appearance.

Episode 19/39-20/40: Reality Trip (B) - Freakshow gets the Reality Gauntlet: an off-brand Infinity Gauntlet that can warp reality to anything he desires. He gets Danny's secret revealed to the world, causing the government agency the Guys In White (from Million Dollar Ghost in season 1) to relentlessly pursue him. Luckily, thanks to knowledge Sam gained from a book on the gauntlet, the main trio manages to warp the gems to different parts of the United States, severely limiting Freakshow's power. Unluckily, Freakshow retaliates by kidnapping their parents and Jazz, forcing the three to go on a cross-country road trip to get the gems back to Freakshow and save their families while evading the law. No permanent shifts of the status quo, but one of my personal favorite episodes. It's a fun ride!

Season 3

Episode 1/41: Eye for an Eye (R) - A prank war between Danny and Vlad ends in Vlad becoming mayor and passing a lot of horrible laws specifically to spite Danny. The laws are undone by the end of the episode, but Vlad stays mayor.

Episode 2/42: Infinite Realms (R) - In trying to map out the Ghost Zone, the main trio end up meeting Frostbite: leader of a realm in the Zone known as the Far Frozen, filled with spirits that take the form of peaceful, yeti-like monster folk who revere Danny as the chosen one who defeated Pariah Dark. Frostbite is also keeper of the Infi-Map: a map that can take the user anywhere in the Ghost Zone. Now for the bad news: Vlad is here, he wants world domination now for some reason, and he wants the map to help him do it. Vlad steals the map, the trio needs to get it back. It's not the worst episode, but Vlad's villain decay is...tragic. Tl;dr: Frostbite is the leader of a tribe of friendly yeti spirits and keeps the Infi-Map, which can take the user to any point in the ghost zone.

Episode 5/45: Forever Phantom (B) - One of the only actually fun filler episodes in season 3. Introduces us to Amorpho: a ghost with the power to shapeshift into anything and anyone, who uses their power to cause mayhem for attention. They bite off more than they can chew when they impersonate Danny Phantom, however, and a Fenton device gone awry locks both Amorpho and Danny into the form of Danny Phantom. Wacky hijinks abound.

Episode 6/46: Urban Jungle (G) - Haha green. Like plants. Anyway, Danny has been cold lately. No matter what he does or where he is, he's consistently freezing. It gets worse: while Danny's in this weakened state, a giant plant ghost named Undergrowth takes over Amity Park and possesses Sam. Unable to fight the constantly-regenerating Undergrowth or to keep himself from freezing, he flees into the Ghost Zone to seek Frostbite's aid.

Episode 9/49: Frightmare (B) - Danny wakes up one night to learn, to his horror, that Nocturne, the ghost of dreams, has put all of Amity Park into a deep sleep to feed on their energy. He enters the dreams of his friends to wake them and get their help taking Nocturne down. A good episode for people who ship Danny/Sam, and a GREAT episode for people like me who like to pretend that all the episodes I left off the season 3 list were just bad dreams.

Episode 10/50: Claw of the Wild (B) - The students of Casper High are ending summer with a camping trip in a foggy forest. All seems normal until, one by one, campers go missing. Danny, Tucker, and Sam go investigating and find their ally Wulf, who seems to know something about the disappearances...

Episode 11/51: D-Stabilized (G) - Regarded by most as the final good episode of Danny Phantom. Dani had been on her own in the world since we last left her, but over time, her form has been getting unstable, causing her to be slowly melting into a puddle of ectoplasm. She tries returning to Amity Park to get help, but is now being hunted down by Valerie, who Vlad commissioned so he could melt Dani down and study her remains to make a superior clone. (Valerie thinks he's just going to keep her contained for the safety of Amity Park; she isn't informed of the cloning.) Valerie turns Dani in to Vlad, but Danny manages to form a shaky alliance with Valerie to get Dani back, since Valerie knows that Dani is half human.

Episode 12/52-13:53: Phantom Planet (R) - The only reason this is here is because the comic continues from where this episode left off. If it didn't, I'd suggest ignoring it entirely. Rapid-fire summary: an asteroid is about to hit Earth, Vlad reveals himself to the world and demands unquestioning rule over Earth (and one trillion dollars or something) in exchange for turning the asteroid intangible. Vlad can't turn it intangible since it's made of Ectoranium, an anti-ghost substance we never hear of until now. Jack leaves Vlad in outer space. Danny gets every ghost he knows to help him turn Earth intangible, it works somehow, and Danny reveals his secret identity to the world. Statues of Danny are built all over the world, Sam and Danny start dating, and Tucker becomes mayor of Amity Park. A bunch of other stuff happens too but it's all stupid. Valerie gets thrown into a dumpster on live TV and that's her only appearance besides clapping for Danny at the end. I'm still mad. Don't watch Phantom Planet.

The Comics

Book 1: A Glitch in Time (G) - Danny's life is perfect: his secret identity is out, and the world accepts him not just as a part of it, but as its savior. His parents and former bullies fight on his side now, he's in a committed relationship with Sam, and Amity Park seems to be at peace. There's just one problem: his powers are getting weaker by the day. Unbeknownst to him, there's another problem in progress: Dan Phantom, the evil future Danny from The Ultimate Enemy, is released and fuses with Clockwork, causing present Danny and those near him to experience unstable glitches in time. Vlad returns to warn Danny of the threat of Dan, and they all team up to venture into the depths of the Ghost Zone to find a way to stop Dan and get Danny back to full strength. Meanwhile, Jazz and Valerie hold down the fort at Amity Park, holding Dan off for as long as they can while the trio and Vlad search for answers.

Book 2: To be continued in 2025!

Danny Phantom can be watched on Paramount Plus, but if you don't have a subscription, there may be DVDs at your local library! Other people may also have resources on how to watch the show, so feel free to ask around!

Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time can be found anywhere books are sold! Abrams Books Amazon Barnes and Noble Google Play Waterstones

[crooked-wasteland]

Okay, but like, what even is this writing?

Vivienne Madrano has the dreaded affliction of having too many characters, followed by too many ideas. And the logical narrative to link everything together to actually tell a story doesn't seem to be a high priority for her.

For starters, the main plot of the story is supposed to be the relationship between Stolas and Blitz, but every decision that has been made throughout the show has worked to decrease the interest in this plot and relationship. Let's just start at the beginning. The major interest was Blitz being an Imp while Stolas is a prince of the Ars Goetia.

The status discrepancy and how these two individuals came to be in contact was a long-standing source of intrigue that the show seemed very aware of. The first episode (actually the pilot) established a hostile relationship between the two, mainly on Blitz's side, as he was the one who obviously had the weaker position in the deal. If he refuses to sleep with Stolas, he loses the book. He loses the book. He loses his entire business. The pilot also estaished that the business was Blitz's chosen family and thus was an emotional point for his character.

Regardless of the problematic blackmail-ish pretense to the whole thing, it's a good launch pad. It would be interesting watching Stolas fall into true feelings for Blitz, or for Blitz to become aware of his own soft power within the dynamic and how much control he actually has over Stolas through his emotions. However, we never see Stolas fall in love. From LooLoo Land to Ozzie's, the relationship just is changed every time we see it. Even with the suggestions made in the bad trip sequence of Truth Seekers, we never have any actual understanding of how Blitz feels on the relationship. Is he afraid? Trapped? Does he ever realize his own strength in the dynamic? Is he resentful? It never actually settles in what the relationship actually is.

Instead, Madrano does what I think has to be the worst form of storytelling I have ever seen. Rather than watching the characters grow and become more complex, we are sent back in time to justify the relationship by contrivance. Somehow, being friends for a day over two decades prior is all the justification we need. It rewrites the earlier dynamic of Stolas using Blitz because he can to having it be that Blitz was Stolas' childhood crush. That this crush was so strong it persevered through deception, distance, and time for Stolas to immediately beg Blitz to have his way with him at his wedding anniversary party.

The complexity and intrigue on how this relationship was supposed to work was stripped of all depth and relevance. There is no journey for this relationship to take actually because they got along so well that one day, a quarter of a century ago, that their compatibility is all but assured to the viewers. There is nowhere for the relationship to actually go now, making it unnecessary to the plot while also being the primary focus of the plot.

It is a beyond fascinating faux pas that hasn't just derailed the main plot, but appears repeatedly as microcosms of everything wrong with the shows past, present, and future.

The upcoming episode has been rather highly anticipated on Twitter. However, there is an inevitable looming disappointment that hangs over the episode and thus the show at large. As it has yet to be released, this is solely speculation, but I am fairly confident in this assessment due to the trends thus far.

To be frank, this episode exists on the foundation of misunderstanding the narrative purpose of a character, namely Fizzarolli. Madrano suffers from the amateur affliction of over-creation mixed with under-exploration. While not every character needs an explicit purpose outside of expanding the world, a character to closely entwined with your main lead needs a very clear reason to being involved with the plot.

And that's where I feel this episode will crash and burn. There is no purpose to the existence of Fizzarolli. He did not need to exist for Blitz to have an unsuccessful performance career or his resentment to those who have success and fame. It adds nothing to the main character or their life.

Narratively speaking, it would make sense if Fizzarolli existed as a former or slighted love interest to Blitz who then can be used, not as a foil, but as a mirror for Blitz to be forced to contend. Because the point would then be to have Fizzarolli be the living embodiment of all of Blitz's past mistakes that he must reconcile before he and Stolas can be happy and grow their relationship.

Except, as previously mentioned, that is not a factor in the plot. The childhood friends trope between Blitz and Stolas makes this narrative unnecessary. Blitz and Stolas just are, and their conflicts are external threats (Octavia, Stella, Striker), not internal reflections of their worst tendencies. They are not at odds within themselves so much as they just seem to level up and change after every major emotional beat.

Less an MMO where you need to work for that next number through time and dedication to the world and character and more akin to those click bait ads where the most mundane change can completely alter their present self. It's unfulfilled.

Additionally, instead of focusing on the main cast, Madrano insists on reaching above her ability. To treat a minor side character as a main character is an event that is earned by first proving you understand your main characters, which has not been achieved. So, instead of experiencing the same story from the alternative perspective, it feels like a wholly new beginning unrelated to the previous concept. It feels unfinished on a narrative standpoint because the question remains, why is this story important to tell.

That's a very lean way of structuring any story, but lean is worlds better than what we are currently being fed. Bones and fat do not a hearty meal make. Learn to stand before we walk. Madrano hasn't learned quite how to crawl narratively speaking.

In Seeing Stars, the conflict between Stolas and Octavia is identical to Season 1's LooLoo Land. The one way it attempts to make up for the spiritual rerun is by trying to add a parallel secondary plot between Blitz and Loona. However, the problem between Stolas and Octavia is resolved with a simple "Whoops, I forgot" while Blitz and Loona never share a word about their problems. Rather, the episode justifies Loona's abuse of Blitz and misbehavior in general by basically saying "She's had a hard childhood". Showing a brief glimpse into said childhood for Blitz to feel guilty for attempting to set any kind of boundary and claim ownership of being the problem when, in reality he isn't the one in the wrong.

Loona is never given the opportunity to talk about herself either. Instead, she is the preaching mouthpiece for Madrano and Co to talk about how great these characters are without actually seeing any of them do those great things. Loona never speaks on herself and how insecure she feels or how she can't help but need to push Blitz's envelope constantly to feel any kind of security, waiting for him to abandon her like everyone else.

None of this is explored, instead implying that this understanding of the characters should be derived from engaging with their pasts rather than their present selves. We are not encouraged to want our characters to actively change, but to instead "remember the good times." We are not challenged to grow and adapt with age and experience, but instead should be allowed to remain the same and not be responsible for how our actions affect others.

The entire approach to character growth and complexity is antithetical to the mere definition of "Maturity".

[unhelpfulfemme]

Halt and Catch Fire is the best show ever and you should watch it if you haven't.

It has amazingly deep and three-dimensional and tender characterizations and a plot that's structured kind of like a spiral, in that you observe the characters over the course of ten years where they keep ending up in similar situations and you can see how much they have or haven't grown since the last time they had to face a similar thing.

It gives you a new appreciation for the wild west days of IT of the 1980s and 1990s, which is something I keep seeing people mention but have actually never experienced on my own unless you count searching for pictures of the W.i.t.c.h. on dial-up and playing some kind of pop the bubble game in 1999.

It has amazing female characters that aren't perfect but also don't have flaws that are sexist stereotypes. The two female leads are an angry punk girl and a hyperfeminine Southern girl and they are both presented as equally competent and given equal importance, even though the hyperfeminine girl gets underestimated a lot in-universe (she has a STEM degree and is as good with computers as the other one, but gets relegated into a "team mum" role a lot).

There is A LOT of focus on friendships and business partnerships and found family - it gives these relationships equal focus to the romances, and they are all realistic and grounded in the characterizations of the leads. In fact, the last episode focuses on the two girls' partnership, not their respective romantic lives. But the romances are amazing too, I have never been invested in a pair so hard the way I currently am in Joe and Cameron, if I weren't bi already they'd be my bisexual awakening. They seem like total opposites but have so, so, many parallels between them, and they have realistically sad backstories that aren't the stock "I was beaten by my mean dad" type. And they have amazing chemistry. And I love how the show is aware of the fact that they need to go outside of their relationship to grow and address their shortcomings because they kind of have the same flaws too, and even though they're still kind of pining after each other they only come back to each other when they're capable of having a stable relationship. This is especially good beacuse the girl is in her early 20s at the beginning and it was so so good to see the show let her grow into her own, on her own, rather than leaving her stuck in an endless back-and-forth with a messed up guy who's her boss and 10 years older than her, but then also respecting the connection they have.

All the characters are realistically flawed, and their flaws come back to bite them in their asses in the end, and the setups for this are strewn across several seasons. And it all makes sense for the character as a whole - for example, the punk girl is rebelling against pretty controlling parenting, but she obviously never learned how to handle relationships except in terms of the dominant person and the one who obeys, so she'd rather live in anarchy and never form any kind of power ladder in the first place. However, when she is forced to do so in order to handle the people who work for her punk IT startup she becomes very autocratic and controlling, and when people try to give her ideas she replies with, "Well, I'm the boss so we'll do what I say."

Why does she do that? Because she obviously doesn't know how to argue constructively. She knows how to a) aggressively overwhelm you, b) get up and leave (as she did to her family) and c) submit (unacceptable).

She does b) to her smarmy yuppie "it's complicated" man who is also one of the main leads - he does something to break her trust, she just abandons him and that's it. But then she gets into a fight with her next boyfriend, and she just assumes that that's it, and he says, "Woah, we're not breaking up, we're just arguing, have you never done that before in your life?"

At the same time, she forms a partnership with the girly girl and the girly girl starts just going around her whenever she hears the "I'm the boss so we'll do as I say" thing because she's frustrated that she has no say in things. This leads to several fallouts because spiral plot structure, and they're all mostly over one of two things: Cameron (punk girl) is being autocratic or Donna (girly girl) is being manipulative. Eventually they run the company into the ground because they can't listen to each other, and the plot always varies which one of them is right and never paints one of them as the 100% villain because they're both being kind of assholes but also deeply sympathetic.. But over the course of all this Cameron kind of learns how to be more functional in her partnerships, which then helps her with both her love interests AND her career. And then other things happen to address and highlight other flaws of hers, and this happens to all of the characters - three marriages fall apart in the course of this show, several companies with really good ideas are run into the ground and a guy commits crimes and then commits suicide because he bought into a Steve Jobs-type bulshitter's cool aid too much.

It has what I'd call great queer rep because one of the leads being a bisexual man is treated very casually and yet the rare instances where homophobia is touched on fit into the rest of his character and backstory so well (he insults a homophobic business partner at some point, and he also has an AIDS scare, and he recalls being bullied at school and how it affected him, and he makes friends with a queer teen because he notices she's like him and that's it). Like, there's an episode where his ex boyfriend comes into the picture and the plot doesn't revolve around them both being men - the plot revolves around his current girlfriend feeling insecure about the guy still having feelings for his ex and coming off as flaky and untrustworthy. The genders of the characters are incidental.

Like seriously this is the best show ever and I don't know why people don't talk about it more, current stuff like The Bear and Succession can only wish to be this nuanced.

[caelyne]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

sonic prime s3 was. okay :3 spoilers below..

i really loved how episode 3 ended. as Sonic willingly gave himself up to Nine to prevent him from decaying the universe further, the other characters soon follow behind with the intention of saving Sonic from Nine. This look, on Nine's face, got me really excited.

The heavy breathing, the look of panic on his face, followed by seething fury. I was thinking, oh. He's about to start Screaming.

my problem is that.. episode 7, the last episode, is what I thought episode 4 would be. Right before the end of episode 3, it felt like Sonic was getting through to Nine. He let his guard down, and it felt like they were gonna talk it out.

but he didnt. instead sonic immediately ran back to the side of the other characters and was like 'wow howd you guys find me??? alright then lets show nine we mean Business!!!'.. and then the two armies fight in a barren wasteland with a crystal backdrop for 2 episodes.

it wasn't until they faced off at the top of Nine's fortress and into his lab that Sonic finally started to understand Nine's point of view. how this lonely, scared kid, with the power of the universe at his disposal, wanted to escape his old life and build a new one with Sonic. how Sonic's urgency to fix his mistakes and bring back his old world and his old friends made Nine feel like he was just being used.

as he comes to this realization, the same thing at the end of episode 3 happens. the others storm the lab, and Nine is suddenly in a corner; afraid and lashing out, threatening to destroy everyone... and then Sonic jumping to his defense when the others wanted to End him for wrecking the universe. I wanted to see more of that. More of Nine breaking down. More of the relationship between Nine and Sonic. More of Nine pushing Sonic away out of fear. More of Sonic desperately trying to be this kid's friend. More of Sonic trying to protect this kid that he loves so fucking much.

the season wasn't bad, i enjoyed some aspects of the character interactions and the animations and voice acting were Quality. But I guess the battle episodes just felt like filler. There was stuff going on, but it got old after Nine revived his entire army for the third time. My disappointment comes from the fact that the writers (probably correctly) wanted to focus on all of the characters they have. All the alternate versions of the main cast, the eggmans, etc. I think it could've been interesting to do it a bit differently though, rather than a whole big avengers battle with inconsequential robots in the same location for 3 episodes. myah! but i guess this is a action show more or less aimed for an audience that is younger than i am and probably not nearly as attached to Tails as a character, unlike me, who is normal, i assure you,.

shadow and sonic are so gay though. all of the flirting sonic was doing with him was good. and i cried when nine hugged sonic. i think i actually whimpered. im just.. so weak for tails/nine. especially when he's vulnerable. I just wish season 3 had a better plot and lead up to that moment.

[masterdizzi]

for a story named “my hero academia”, we don’t actually get to see a lot of hero academia?

THIS, THIS! ALLL OF THIS!

Take The Owl House. Imagine if once Luz got to the BI, the show decided to pivot and put full focus on Hexide or dive right into the action before expanding on the relationship between the trio (and Hooty) and "THE OWL HOUSE"

Well, that's what MHA is doing. The story goes right into training and battle trials once Izu gets into UA, no introductory section, no tour, no nothing. What Hori should have done is to get us familiar with UA because even as it is in canon, it IS our main setting and we need to be familiar with it and its characters.

Issue is that UA related characters, both teachers and students get no focus unless the plot demands it.

(Big 3, Hatsume and 13)

We could have at least gotten ONE school life episode to know how these kids' daily routine goes outside of hero training but the issue is that Hori has a habit of jumping from big fight to bigfight with very little breathing space for our characters.

And as the series gets closer to the end, the less time we have for this.Unpopular opinion but I rather have a show that wastes too much time on filler (Amphibia) than one that does not give us enough because although Amphibia falls flat is some places for the reason that Matt spends a ton of time on slice of life stories. At least Anne, Sprig, Polly and Hop Pop's found family dynamic feels real and not forced and moments that bring that to light feel rewarding.

MHA suffers from (for the most part) not having that. 1A as a class does not feel like Izu's found family. They feel like his acquaintances.Only a select few members of 1A have true bonds with Izu, namely lida, Ochako, Shoto, Tsu, Mineta and Tokoyami which is good but as a CLASS, their bond is not as strong as it is being let on and a few breathers would help that.

Most frustrating part is that Hori had SO MANY CHANCES for small breather arcs before things got too serious.

Before the USJ Attack

Before the sports festival

After the final exams

DORM LIFE, DORM LIFE DAMMIT

Before Shie Hassakal raid

School festival arc

(he tried yes, but Gentle and LaBrava still took up most of the arc's time)This is why I LOVE the training camp arc's outro. It has everything I am complaining about.

The kids chilling in NON hero related classes

Daily school life and Hatsume!

The kids goofing off, I especially love Mineta slealing Shoto and Ochako's donuts

AND THE RELAXING.

The outro gives the school more life than the rest of the show IMO

[hpowellsmith]

March Reading

I read a lot of books this month, and had great luck with how much I enjoyed them! Favourites are bolded.

Brute: Stories of Dark Desire, Masculinity & Rough Trade - ed. Steve Berman

A collection of dark erotica stories about queer men: a variety of horror, thriller, and character studies. Some didn't entirely land for me as they were just a bit too gruesome for me to entirely enjoy, but I did love 'Dark, Firm, and Dry' by Rien Gray, 'Dick Pig' by Ian Muneshwar, and 'The Boy Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was by LC Von Hessen'; 'Suitcase Sam' by Tom Cardamone was horrific enough to disturb me afterwards. There were a few trans guy protagonists but amid a lot of lovingly-described gigantic cis men, trans men didn't get described as objects of desire; it made me realise how much I'd like to read more erotica or steamy romance where a trans man is written in the lavish/idealised/thirsty way a lot of the cis men were in this collection. It was also interesting that most of the protagonists were strongly submissive; it's sparked off a lot of offline conversations about erotic fiction and depictions of kink therein, and my own thoughts about how I write erotic scenes (though I don't consider what I write intensely kinky). I'd enjoy writing more about this subject but I'm not sure Tumblr is the place for it; maybe a blogpost one day?

Love Kills Twice - Rien Gray

I adored this high-heat F/NBi romantic suspense book. The characters were hot and appealing, with a lot of substance and groundedness to them along with it. The plot was tight and I devoured the whole thing at top speed. Much recommended!

The Salt Path - Raynor Winn

A memoir about a fifty-year-old farmer and her husband who became homeless and walked England's South West Coast Path. Powerful and evocative in places: I enjoyed it, though some of the descriptions and dialogue of the people encountered melted into one another a bit. I'm realising that I rather like these people-hit-rock-bottom-and-walk-in-the-wilderness-about-it books. They always inspire me to look outward and get outdoors, albeit in a lower-key way.

The Eye in the Door - Pat Barker (reread)

This was quite nostalgic for me, because I read it a long time ago (before the first in the series, actually). I like elements of it more than Regeneration - getting to know Billy Prior better, the city scenes, depiction of queerness and homophobia beyond what Siegfried Sassoon talks about in Regeneration, some of the socialist politics and class consciousness - but the main plot hadn't fully stuck with me. I think I see why: there are several long sequences that I found hard to focus on, and some of it is a bit strange, veering into depictions of multiple-personality-disorder that have been pretty debunked nowadays. Still, I enjoyed revisiting it. The sense that William Rivers is on the verge of breakdown feels palpable and gripping.

Love Bleeds Deep - Rien Gray

Justine and Campbell are on a not-so-idyllic not-exactly-honeymoon in France, growing accustomed to life together and the combination of enjoying a private life and Campbell's deadly occupation. This doesn't shy away from the psychological damage both leads have suffered, while also showing exactly how much they mean to each other. Again I loved it just as much as the first one.

Love Burns Bright - Rien Gray

So many romance books focus on the sexy getting-together part, and sequels don't always keep the spark going. But this series is so good for that and for keeping the emotional connections between the gorgeous characters. In this one, we meet Justine's family, which is already fraught as Justine wasn't in a position to be in touch with them for a long time - but things soon get complicated. I loved it.

A Love So Dark - Rien Gray

Such a good finale for an amazing dark queer romance series! The relationship between Justine and Campbell is beautifully drawn and as hot as ever - no weird misunderstandings or other relationship-drama nonsense - but their situation is anything but settled as some consequences from earlier books come back to haunt them. What a fantastic series this is! Some of the books I've read about nonbinary characters treat them as learning opportunities, or as nice best friends, or as a vehicle for positive rep, and I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see a fully-formed, hot, flawed, adult nonbinary character making their way through excellent thriller plots. I love Campbell and Justine and I'm sorry to see them go, but it was an amazing ride with them.

Valerin the Fair - Rien Gray

A beautifully-written fantasy novella, the first in the Out of True series about sapphic knights. The details are so lovely - they remind me of what I loved about the prose style in Spear by Nicola Griffith - and the intimate scenes are stunning. You can download this for free, so if this sounds like your cup of tea, do give it a look!

[mirageofadesert]

C-Drama Review: Story of Kunning Palace

Broadcast: iQIYI, 2023, 38 Episodes Genre: Romance, Historical

My Rating 8/10

For the better part of the show, the drama does not focus on the romance between the main couple, but rather on the complex power structures within the palace and the relationships between the mostly female characters. As soon as it becomes a romance, it falls apart.

Acting: 8/10 World-building: 6/10 Production: 9/10 Storytelling: 8/10 Pacing: 10/10 Re-watch Value: 9/10  Bonus: for Bai Lu being the Empress of my heart.

Summary with minor spoilers: Jiang Xuening (played by Bai Lu) will stop at nothing to achieve her goal of becoming Empress. At the end of her young life, she dies alone and despised by everyone. Yet this is only the beginning of her story. She is given a second chance and wakes up in the body of her 18-19 year old self. Determined not to repeat her mistakes, she is unable to escape the intrigues of the palace a second time. In this life, she wants to protect those close to her. These include her childhood friend Yan Lin, Princess Shen Zhiyi, her former lover, the upright Zhang Zhe (played by Wang Xingyue), and her mysterious teacher Xie Wei (played by Zhang Linghe), who is plotting his own intrigues at court…

My Review (spoilers ahead, TW: sexual violence)

Story of Kunning Palace has one of the best pacing of any 2023 drama. The storytelling is intriguing, with suspenseful arcs from the very first episode. The show does a great job of introducing the many characters and establishing their motivations. For the first 30 episodes, the twists and turns, as well as Jiang Xuening's personal growth, captivate the audience. The female friendships are beautiful and the discussion of female power is interesting.

The romance isn't the main focus of most of the show. In the beginning, Jiang Xuening struggles with her best friend's romantic feelings for her, while trying to save him and his family this time. In order to achieve this, she begins to plot with her teacher Xie Wei, but only in the last arc does she develop feelings for him. Instead, she longs for her former love, Zhang Zhe, an upright official with a strong sense of justice. One of the main themes of the show is that Jiang Xuening is not a good person, not in this life and certainly not in her last, but she is trying to be better. While Zhang Zhe is not a good match for her, the scheming and violent Xie Wei is. The story of Kunning Palace is not about love, but about intrigue, friendship, ambition and doing the right thing. It's only in the last 8 episodes that there is a real romance, and then the show loses its intrigue.

There are several reasons for this. The show fails to raise the stakes in a coherent way, instead it gets messy. However, the main reason for me was that I did not like the main couple. I was rooting for them right up until the moment their actual relationship developed. Firstly, I'm generally not a fan of the trope of men forcing themselves on women and women giving in until they like it, even if it's under the influence of trauma. Is it reasonable for his character to react that way? Yes, it is. Did the writers have to make him do it? Absolutely not. Especially when it is all framed as sexual tension. Also, Bai Lu is usually known for her great kisses on screen, but they really weren't anything more than forceful pressing of mouths, except for the extra episode. They were great as partners in crime, but at that point, is just using trauma for the sake of drama. Which brings me to my second complaint: It's one of my least favorite depictions of trauma. While it's understandable that he suffers from PTSD, the way the writers use it to create tension between the lovers and legitimize him being abusive towards her and later his own son (which is framed as funny) is something I dislike. I think they want to show that even a couple that isn't "good" and "righteous" can work well together in this world, but by that time Jiang Xuening has grown so much that she has become a good person - at least on screen, because they choose not to show her cruel and intense side for many episodes.

The third problem with the third arc is that they change the main character from Jiang Xuening to Xie Wei. This is something that is quite common in dramas - the female lead becomes the relatable character with whom the audience explores the new world, while the male lead is shrouded in mysteries that unfold in the later part of the series. This is one of the cases where it didn't work well. My emotional connection was with Jiang Xuening, so I lost interest when she became a minor character.

There are two other things that didn't convince me: One was the overall poor OST of the series, and the other was the xenophobic portrayal of other cultures. While the trope is popular, it was not well executed here, portraying them as less than human in their cruel behavior.

Overall, Bai Lu really stole the show. She was absolutely perfect for the part. As for Zhang Linghe, his performance again lacked nuance, but it was better compared to other shows I have seen so far. As for the side characters, the only other one that really stood out for me was Lui Xiening as Princess Le Yang/ Shen Zhi Yi, as well as the scheming Xue Yuan (by Huang Haibing) and his sister, Empress Dowager Xue (by Liu Min). These two were such great villains!

Despite all the problems in the last arc, I really enjoyed the show and will probably re-watch it!

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Movie Review Blurbs: The Super Mario Bros. Movie

The Highlights

-The brothers were the most endearing part for me, they had a wonderful dynamic that not only made me like them as a duo, but as individuals (from the Mario media I know, there wasn't much focus on their personality so it was nice watching something that gave them more character)

-Jack Black got to sing his silly songs and honestly that's all that matters

-The movie making fun of the egregious Italian accents in the beginning was a good gag, especially considering the two are still Italian in the movie and are given more accurate accents (also I love that they're canonically from Brooklyn lmao)

-Mario was a fucking crack head before the isekai and I enjoy that fact very much

-Yoshi avengers end credit scene

-Surprisingly decent voice acting, they all delivered (especially Charlie Day and Jack Black)

-The penguins, the Dry Bones, SHY GUYS

-Toad is a fucking criminal apparently who helps outsiders break into the castle and goes outside the Mushroom Kingdom to do god knows what

-Off the top of my head, my favorite part of the movie was Luigi running from the Dry Bones and ending up in Luigi's Mansion; great horror scene for a very PG movie

-Whatever the fuck was going on between Kamek and Bowser

-SHY GUYS SHY GUYS SHY GUYS SHY GUYS SHY GUYS-

-Mario and DK's frienenemy relationship was great, especially with how they butt heads but also understand (daddy issues) and respect each other (they're a good ship ngl)

-I liked Cranky Kong as a character, I feel like he was a character made to appeal more to an older crowd now that I think about it

-The implications? Of Bowser's entire fucking ship coming to the human realm? And totaling the city? Magic is real? What's gonna happen there is the U.S. government gonna try and harness the power of the magic realm and capitalize on it like there is so much left unanswered

-simp bowser lmao (many dudebros were mad about this one which automatically makes it the best plotline in my book)

-Mario and Peach weren't shown to have romantic feelings for each other, giving them time to actually get to know each other first

Criticisms

-Ok so let's address the main issue; the pacing. The movie severely lacked transition, bridging and buildup, and it felt less like a movie and more like a bunch of individual scenes thrown together (cause it kinda was). It was frustrating cause the movie was genuinely very engaging, and there was some real lost potential with how rushed it was. It definitely needed to be longer; I think the people working on it were on a time constraint, and it showed

-Pigging-backing off the previous note, a lack of build up to big moments made those moments feel like they came out of nowhere. it also lacked an after math period for those big moments, which makes them feel unsubstantial

-Ok rant time: I saw people having this concern for Peach being a dull #girlboss character that lacked substance, and... yeah, it happened. I think the issue of female characters being sidelined and not given any character depth is being acknowledged, but in a way that still doesn't give them depth. Basically, male creators have realized they've been making female characters useless love interests in the background, so they're fixing this by making said characters hyper-competent, and in the forefront of the fight. However, its had this adverse effect where these hyper-competent characters are now just serving as plot devices to push the narrative rather than being given their own character narrative. They are at the forefront, and fight, but are still lacking in depth and development (what's worse is they still just serve as aides to male leads most of the time, just now in a repackaged way that usually would be held by a side male character). The Mario movie was rushed so none of the characters got much development, but Peach in particular was not given any character development, only plot development (she got isekai'd and is wondering where she's from, but we don't see how this idea effects her emotionally or drives her because... it really doesn't. She's just kinda like "oh hey I'm from another universe... ok cool! Anyway-"). So yeah, that needs work. Male creators need to humanize their female characters like they do the male ones, and actually give them flaws and struggles (Peach literally has a gag about being so perfect she mastered the super hard parkour course they practice on in one go, while we see Mario work on it and improve over time; its lazy ass writing cmon now). Hence why I like consuming media that's actually by female creators, and I encourage all of you to do the same

-Mario and DK were great but again needed more fleshing out, they had this whole bonding moment about their daddy issue but it happened so fast that you couldn't really stew in it much

-Mario/DK's daddy issues were not handled the best, they only got their father's approval when they did something cool and not for actually being themselves; didn't like the messaging there very much

-Though I mentioned Mario x Peach didn't happen, the movie still very intrusively pushes the idea in your face by having side characters comment on it; I imagine this is what homophobes think they're experiencing when queer character exist in media, except this movie didn't even try to be subtle with the push

-Why did Toad just decide to help Mario find Luigi? Why did Peach decide to train Mario so she could take him with her to Donkey Kong Island? Just cause he's a fellow human? And why did she just decide to take Toad along too? Again, pacing

-Rainbow Road being a "secret path" that was literally out in the open and Bowser found it almost immediately lmao (it was also never narratively explained how Bowser found the path if I'm remembering correctly)

-The Luma gag was overdone imo, but the "finally, mercy" part was very funny

-no bowuigi sex scene -∞/10

Final Thoughts

Overall, the movie was very fun, but the time constraint really did bring it down from being a better ranked movie. Its frustrating because the movie had so much to offer, I wanted more from it, and that's why the pacing is something I'm hammering on so much. And for anyone saying "its a kid's movie, who cares?"... sorry I want kid's to have good movies? And not just the kind of drool that comes from Minions-type productions? Movies are art, and art should have the people behind it putting the best into their work that they can, kid's movie or not, so if something is bringing down that art (a time constraint for example) it should be criticized in my opinion. Plus lets face it, a lot of the people going in to see the movie were teens/adults who grew up on Mario.

Despite all this though, I genuinely enjoyed it, and my low expectations for what is an Illumination movie were pleasantly subverted. There was clearly a lot of love put into this film, and I can't wait to see if there will be a sequel. Thanks for reading!

[mdhwrites]

This may be a hot take ask but it's been in my mind forever.

Do you think toh was queerbaiting?

I know it was intentional to have gay ships not just for marketing purpose. But the way they were handled didn't differ that much. Amity's character was assasinated as soon as the ship sailed. Rain is a nobody outside Eda. Huntlow is one sided (and only later they revealed their orientations so they were considered stright for a while), Aladarius is more of a concept than anything.

They didn't focus on the characters (and ships) as they bragged about, but they didn't focus on the plot either. So what do you think?

Sure they did put effort in it for the first season (only lumity) but they got rid of it just as effortlessly for the rest of the show after it was said and done, like any corporations after pride month is over. And if we're honest some of us didn't even know what the main plot was even about in s1 if lumity was suppose to be the side one. Like literally there was no main plot till the door got destroyed.... oh, Luz's quest to become a witch was it? Where is the quest part🔍👀

So to the first half: That's not what queerbaiting is. This isn't Wednesday where a lot of the marketing material hyped up Wednesday and Enid like their relationship was going to be the most important (which arguably it is to be fair to that show) before then swerving into ALL THE STRAIGHT SHIPS POSSIBLE! even to the detriment of the show. That marketing team had explicitly setup what looked like it might be a queer show and even the show seems to want to keep nudging you that something might happen here but nothing does. That is queerbaiting, at least my understanding of it, because what looked like representation was put on a hook, only for the audience to find out it was all a lie once the trap was sprung.

Real representation, even if not done well or boringly, is still representation and as such, isn't bait. It might be a bit more spoiled than you initially thought but it is still real.

The plot of TOH on the other hand? That is a far more fickle thing, isn't it? Especially for a plot driven show.

Now I've been told that modern cartoons nowadays actually seem to commonly spend their first season on a much lower key than the rest so as to setup characters, be more family friendly, etc. like that. Good shows of this sort will still have a major point to this though. Amphibia absolutely follows this method because the music box and going home are brought up only a couple times in S1, though those setups actually do have payoffs and longer lasting consequences in S2, but it's still doing work. It's still enriching Anne's character and giving a satisfying story of a girl growing up.

Comparatively, Eda as a wild witch makes up maybe a third of S1 of TOH and her curse takes up even less time. That is ostensibly the plot of S1 before it claims to be transitioning into its grander plot. And to be fair to this: It does get two episodes of resolution in S2 between Affearances and Knock Knock Knockin'. But here's something that happened between me and another author by the time Clouds on the Horizon came around. They were only invested in Eda getting a coven sigil... Because they forgot Eda didn't have magic.

By the end of S2, Eda was such a minor character, so non-aggrieved by the end of S1, that another fanfic writer, someone who should be tracking these elements more than most, forgot about it entirely. And this is the curse of TOH where it's both serialized and episodic. Where consequences don't last and the focus never stays on the task at hand. Even interactions can go back and forth depending on the needs of the episode.

After all, despite the curse being an issue for Eda... Luz doesn't actually care about it until the end of S1. She could have done more. They could have highlighted their growing relationship by Luz deciding to focus on Eda's curse rather than her school life and magic, shown some character growth there too and given a reason for Hexide to exist plot wise... But they didn't. So many elements of TOH are disconnected from each other in ways that make it so TOH often has to introduce a new element to have a plot for an episode rather than EVER following up on previous hooks or the like.

As I will continue to point out: S1 ended in such a way that Belos should have been the main threat. Luz's theoretical nature to care for any oppressed person like in the first episode should have come out in a raging hurricane of pain and vengeance for almost killing her new family and cutting her off from her mom. Lilith could have even paralleled and fueled it because of Belos' betrayal of her and her ambitions.

Instead... It doesn't. It barely focuses on Hunter, the new plot element and takes a third of the season to do another Amity plot with him but worse and a quarter of the season, mostly in S2A, is giving lip service to the portal door but only two episodes in the season are actually about questing for it because frankly nothing is actually earned in this show. Luz puts more work into getting Amity's badge back, INFINITELY more work even if off screen, than getting the journal that will take her home. It's even made more bullshit by this random mouse I guess deciding to follow Luz from the library after its only interaction with her is getting screamed at.

That's not serialization. That's not using your current elements to tell your story so as to need the audience to have seen what came before. However, these episodes also aren't fun enough or satisfying enough on their own to be properly episodic. In order to get anything out of them, you HAVE to be invested already and have the greater context.

It's just another version of TOH's split personality and S3 REALLY started showing the cracks when stuff like Willow's breakdown happens and a lot of people seem to have turned to my side of "Wait... When was this actually shown to us?" Because Willow was an early element that they never did anything with. Similarly goes for Gus' confidence issues in his personal episodes while a lot of his comic relief stems from him being the pinnacle of confidence and then getting knocked down. The dude has a line of "No biggie" in response to Willow getting called the strongest witch Luz knows. Dude is secure... unless the focus is on him. Same goes for King in S1 especially frankly.

It leaves TOH in a limbo where it's not comedy focused, it's not scenario focused, it REALLY wants to be character focused but then rips apart its character's potential, and it also REALLY wants to be plot focused while having so much romantic stuff going on that it never has time for its own plot or never focuses on it.

It's just a mess, even from S1. But again, as always, S1 was at least trying to be more fun and satisfying in the individual episode and that goes a long way to making an audience be invested in the plot you're hinting at.

But eventually, you have to start your story and TOH was far more interested in new stories than satisfying conclusions to old ones.

=========

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

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

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[yourqueenb]

Thank you for your answer, and thank you for putting so much thought into that 💞💞💞 mal and nia are my main LIs and at first I was really glad that at least two members of the party stayed with each other and mb even got closer but I can see how it would be annoying and/or sad for people who romance one of them exclusively. I think that I mostly just want to see eeal bonds between our party bc idk it just feels a bit hollow? In the first book they were just thrown together by chance but a whole year has passed and without MC there to hold them together it just shows how much less there is with exception of some banter and general sympathy towards one another. I also think that excluding Threep and other non-romancable characters from the main friend group makes most of the dynamic in choices hollow bc lmao all these people are here to try and fuck us and no one cares about each other beyond that. I don't really like TRR or TF but I feel like friendship was so much richer in previous books, like those two series, OH and TE - and in PM they managed to create a poly route where I could feel solid platonic bonds between people other than MC and LIs (Sloane and Hayden, Steve and Hayden or Damien and Nadia). Or mb I'm just a bit underwhelmed with the current plot course in blades lmao (sorry for rambling around the same three thoughts I just can't seem to gather my thoughts on this whole thing together 🫡)

I’m so sorry, I meant to respond to this sooner. But no, I completely get what you’re saying! You made some good points.

Even though all of these characters were kind of thrown together in book 1, personally I did feel like they were more like a family by the end of it. And I think that’s one of the reasons why everyone loved Blades so much. However, I do understand why the bonds aren’t as tight in this book. It makes sense for there to be some distance between everyone after what happened to MC and the apparent strife it caused. But I feel like they haven’t done enough to fully bring the group back together again and reform those poignant emotional bonds.

As you basically said with the exception of some banter and general sympathy towards one another, pretty much all of the focus is on each member’s relationship with MC alone. And even those relationships are very one sided with each person relying on MC for support, but not giving much in return. When the main cast is tied together by genuine relationships with each other rather than simply all waiting for their turns in MC’s bed, it’s really great to see and makes for a better book overall. That’s why the Pend Pals are still my personal favorite friend group to this day.

I will say that I actually don’t feel like the relationship dynamics in Blades specifically are hollow because everyone’s trying to sleep with MC though. And maybe that’s because I’m only romancing Mal (and flirting with Aerin on the side). But yeah, I think it’s because the writers have really been ignoring the opportunities to capitalize off of emotional beats (which I’ve said a few times before) rather than the characters just not having more to their relationships at all

[gunsatthaphan]

Can I say that if this is the tone of Warp Effect I am scared for Only Friends? cuz this cast is already fenomenal and the series is AMAZING... but seeing what this cast did make me fear for OF cuz if any of my boys do anything remotely close to what this cast did(considering Mark is in both shows I am already geering up cuz the opening of this week episode of Warp was... SPICY🥵)

I am gonna say it of Only Friends is even remotely close in spice and plot as Warp Effect I am gonna die cuz already warp effect kills me every week(it is onestly my favourote show at the moment!) and seeing FirstKhao and NeoMark(and Force Book but in a smaller part than the other 2) like this is gonna be my undoing!!!!

Also the opening scene of yestedays episode made me think of the opening of season 3 of Sex Education lol I think Jojo really took inspirarion of that show and decided to kinda make the Thai version with his personal view and storytelling and onestly it is paying off this show is glorious

thank you for the open asks it is a nice way to express my feelings and have someone respond to them💗

I was thinking the same thing but I'm pretty certain that OF will not go as hard as the warp effect lmao. 

the warp effect literally IS about sex lmao and it uses that as its main plot device; it has a heavy focus on sex education and breaking the stigma, which is one of the many things I appreciate about the show but that's not what OF is about at all. yes, there is naughty stuff involved lol but it gives off a completely different vibe to me. My estimation, and also according to multiple interviews, is that it will focus more on the relationships between the 6 mains, rather than the graphic stuff lol. Obviously that goes hand in hand but since there's less characters involved, I think it's gonna be more tame. and by that I mean it's probably gonna be intense but we won't see scenes like that opening part of the latest TWE episode lmao.

In the end I think we're going more into a Friend Zone direction with OF aka spicy but decent and with a lot of relationship drama lol. Also let's not forget that the mock trailer is always crazier and wilder than the actual show so let's wait and see 👀 but then again considering what the show's twitter account posted this morning,,,,, I'm not so sure jdshkjgdf

xxx

[pinkarachnia]

Lesbian Anime Review #9 - Birdie Wing Golf Girls' Story Season 2

The world is a miserable place and I hope we all die.

So I just finished the last episode of Birdie Wing and I feel very differently about season 2 compared to how I felt about the first half. I'm going to spoil what does and, more critically, what doesn't happen in this show in this review, so read on at your own peril.

I am so fucking disappointed.

When I saw the first season of Birdie Wing I thought it was exceptional. The yuri force was so strong with that show that I was out here thinking it was the chosen one. But I digress, rather than vent about how sad I am, I should actually try to write a proper review to some level.

Season 2 of Birdie Wing is about Eve and Aoi playing golf in different tournaments across the world while they aim for the pro tour so that they can fulfill their promise of golfing against each other. They barely get to see each other for the whole show. There's a lot of them playing against other characters who don't matter, inevitably winning and then thinking about how great it will eventually be when they see each other.

Sidebar 1 - fuck yearning

I'm sick of this shit. The most common yuri trope is yearning and it seems like this defines some people's interpretations of how yuri is supposed to be. I think there's an issue with anime in general where characters entering into a relationship is considered "endgame", so you'll often see those plotlines get dragged out needlessly to keep characters from getting together, but it feels particularly egregious here in Birdie Wing season 2.

Season 1 of Birdie Wing ended with Eve and Aoi winning a doubles tournament together. Eve had promised to kiss Aoi if they won. This is never brought up for the entirety of season 2. They launch into season 2 with a secret parents plot, which I actually enjoyed.

(Damn I went looking for a gif and I think this is the only time Eve touches Aoi's face in season 2. Ladies, I'm at my limit.)

Eve has had amnesia for all of the first season and she gets her memories back suddenly and remembers who her dad is. It's Aoi's dad! That sucks for her. They briefly have an "oh shit are we related" moment, but then Aoi learns that her dad might not be her real dad because her mother had an affair with the guy who has been coaching her for her whole life. So both the main characters get a secret parents plot, and I kind of love this. It's so absurd but it feels just right for this show, which seems to relish in its own absurdity. I get that the parent stuff would have fully distracted the girls from their season 1 yuri promise, but once they've figured this out, nothing seems to change.

Season 2 feels weighed down by the way it splits its focus between the two main characters. Both Eve and Aoi go through their own separate stories independent of each other where they both learn about their secret parents, both learn new golfing techniques and both go through physical struggles in order to play golf. Aoi has a disease that she inherited from her dad that gives her headaches and makes her pass out if she exerts herself, and Eve's golfing style is so physically demanding that she breaks all her bones or something. She has to go through a training montage where she works out until the following tournament after she creates her signature shot, Rainbow Bullet Burst. This specific part is something I like, but that's because I still think Eve is the best anime protagonist maybe ever.

Season 2 is 12 episodes long, and after Eve and Aoi go their separate ways in episode 4, they don't see each other again until around the end of episode 10, and even then they barely interact with each other. Season 1 had enough gay subtext that I was genuinely impressed, but that was nowhere in season 2. There was one episode that covered the backstory of Aoi's caddy, and they put all their romantic analogues in that episode and then have her say "no homo" at the end. I wasn't really bothered at the time because I was never that invested in those two having anything, but now that the season has ended, I can see that on reflection, that was the episode with the strongest romantic themes, and that feels like a punch in the gut.

The golf was also more boring in season 2 compared to season 1. In season 1, Eve used a series of colour-themed golf swings which she would reveal throughout the season, but in season 2, she only really needs to use the rainbow bullet and then rainbow bullet burst. These shots are too good and she never needs to use any of her previous swings any more. It seemed to me that there were a lot of reused animations in season 2. I got so sick of seeing the exact same animation for one of Eve's opponents who does a run-up swing with a cannon motif because I saw it over and over. It's a 12 episode show, but that didn't stop them from recycling these same shots all the time. At least if the main characters got more unique moves it might have been more forgivable, but it didn't impress me like the first season did.

Sidebar 2 - season 1 is still good

The thing that's hitting me the hardest when I think about season 2 of Birdie Wing is that the first season was incredible. In terms of the sports setpieces, the characters that I loved and the yuri content, season 1 was masterful. Season 2 seems to be making some attempt to recapture that, but it doesn't seem to have any new ideas. The stakes in season 1 feel huge because Eve has to play golf against the mafia to defend the home of her loved ones or play for her own life. Season 2 has the British Open. They include some of these elements in season 2, but they're brief and only appear to tie up loose ends. Eve has one match in the mafia setting so some golfer can job to her and it's over in an episode and then she never has to deal with them again. The official tournament setting means they don't get to do anything zany with the courses, it's just regular golf. The coolest parts of season 1 feel watered down in season 2. Season 1 had Rose in it. No character has ever been as sick as her.

Season 1 had this in it

I need a stiff drink, fuck.

I've been slowly working through a bottle of The Shin, it's a Japanese blended whiskey. It's alright, but for a similar pricepoint I think Suntory Toki tastes better. The other day I treated myself to some Yamazaki 12 at a whiskey bar and for a while I was thinking that I just can't taste why it's so much more expensive than other whiskeys. On reflection and after having a few others for comparison, I think I can appreciate the quality a bit more, but it's still way out of my price range. Give me a Macallan 12 any day.

Anyway what else can I even say about this show

Look, it's complicated because season 1 did not feel like yuri bait. Look at that gif! It haunts me! I'm in pain writing this.

Season 2 however, is 100% unequivocally yuri bait. They don't kiss. I'm sorry. I feel betrayed. When I finished the episode, the first thing I did was go to MAL to look at the staff credits for these shows because it made me think that surely season 2 was written by someone else and that's why it ended like this. From what I can tell, it's the same staff. I would love to be proven wrong on this; please if you know better, prove me wrong. It's insane to me that the same people who made Birdie Wing season 1 would choose to end the show in this way. Season 1 gave me hope, but season 2 has eroded the good faith that season 1 built up in me. I'm a husk of a woman. Birdie Wing season 2 might be the reason I read Berserk.

I'm not giving this show a review score because it doesn't feel like I can sum up these feelings with a number like that.

I'll never forget season 1 of Birdie Wing.

I'll never forget Evangeline Burton.

She shot right through me with her rainbow bullet.

[90shaladriel]

writer asks

thanks so much @pursuitseternal and @myfavouritelunatic for tagging me!

I am not sure I really qualify as a writer 😂 , this is something I started within the last 12 months as a response to diving into Rings of Power / Haladriel shipping and fanfiction.

How many works do you have on AO3? 3

What's your total AO3 words count? 61,841 !

What fandoms do you write for? The Rings of Power, Silmarillion. I have some wip drafts for something from the Halo universe (my ao3 account name “NobleOne_Carter” was one of the Spartans from the game Halo: Reach)

What are your top five fics by kudos? - I only have 3 😭… 1) A Lord and his Builder 2) First Fire in the Void 3) Strays at Sea

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Absolutely, it drives me to keep writing almost more than anything else and I sometimes like expanding on the backstory or my approach when people ask good questions about my fics.

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I haven’t finished it yet but I am pretty sure First Fire in the Void will be the one 😉

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Again it hasn’t been written yet but I think A Lord and his Builder will have an upbeat but open ending.

Do you get hate on fics? Not any really

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I have mostly been afraid to because I feel my writing is so inadequate for it, and or I kind of embarrassed about what cringe I imagine a sexy scene to be. I am trying to get over this anxiety and get out of my comfort zone. In my last chapter of First Fire in the Void I wrote a detailed make-out kind of scene between Melkor and Mairon. Which was a challenging one in many ways for me. I am thinking of going full smut later in that fic (I think that is obligatory for Angbang? 🍆)

Do you write crossovers? If so, what's the craziest one you've written? I haven’t. However I always have an overactive imagination. One crossover I would love to write is Darth Vader (Star Wars) on a space freighter full of Xenomorphs (Aliens) 🤣

Have you ever had a fic stolen? No I don’t think so. I have actually come across similar scenes to mine in a few fics which has given me of deja vu once or twice. I mostly think it’s because we all are working from the same set of tropes and plot lines from the media we all consume.

Have you ever had a fic translated? Not yet!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, that could be fun

What's your all time favourite ship? Haladriel. I can’t even think of another ship that comes close. Honestly, the other onscreen relationship I spent a lot of time thinking about was Inuyasha x Kagome from the Inuyasha anime which came out when I was in university 20 years ago. I downloaded and watched over a hundred subbed episodes of that show and I don’t think they ever once kissed? Talk about slow burn!

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? I have two main WIPs that I hope I can finish. I am basically able to write 1 chapter per month with work and life stuff, I hope I can finish these and then I might take a break or focus on one-shots rather than long multi chapter fics.

What are your writing strengths? I’m not sure, I think I do a pretty good job describing how characters subjectively experience a situation or thought. I dunno if that’s what others think though. My writing style is heavily influenced by imagining the words as if Frank Herbert (Dune) had written it. I like to think my plot ideas are pretty creative, I am always trying to find a way to be different or unconventional in terms of plot.

What are your writing weaknesses? Run on sentences, trying to write banter, trying to write something romantic 💀

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? It’s probably more work than I would want to do. There were times I wanted to use some Black Speech for the Orcs or Sauron in A Lord and his Builder, but actually Tolkien never really completely described this language so there’s not like a Google translate for English to Black Speech unfortunately.

First fandom you wrote for? Rings of Power / Haladriel!

Favourite fic you've ever written? I only have 3 but I guess I would say the one that started it all was A Lord and his Builder. My first ever fic that I wrote and published anywhere, and the fact that people seemed so positive in the comments. I was really excited to bring this different sort of story to the Haladriel / RoP fandom which was heavy on the Sauron x Galadriel romance that I love, but I felt the Orc stuff was a niche that could be explored in an interesting way. Since I started writing this fic I have read a lot of other great fanfics which incorporate the Orc culture into this fandom and I love it, though maybe my ideas are not niche anymore? Everyone’s take on the Orc culture is a bit different because again Tolkien left a lot of blank spaces on the canvas when it came to the lives of the Orcs.

[edalynn]

Oh my gosh i hope this doesn't sound silly or anything but THANK you so much for outlining everything i Really Don't Like about huntlow. GOD. i only got into toh SUPER recently and i have literally felt like i watched a different show because everyone cannot shut up about it. why. why. It literally sucks?

and i LOVE hunter, he's one of my favorite fictional characters ever, and willow is Fine, but i still don't even get, like, why'd they even include huntlow in s3 when it was being shortened so much? personally, i feel if you removed everything ship related between them from the whole show, absolutely none of the plot or characters would be affected at all. the ship is just so boring and adds nothing to the characters, plus it really bothers me how hunter and willows platonic relationships with other characters are SO much more interesting than their romantic one and all those just feel so. shafted? in favor of like 2 scenes where they look at each other and the crowd goes wild or something. they've had like. A handful of scenes together in total. it's so underdeveloped and again Boring!!

i don't know. i was really hoping for a focus on luz and hunter as one of the main dynamics of season 3, not to mention how gus should've been the on to comfort willow in for the future to parallel their first meeting instead of hunter. just. WHY!!!! hunters platonic friendships with the other kids would be so much more potent to be focused on plus WHY DOES HUNTER NEED A GIRLFRIEND!!!! HE DOESN'T!!!!!! HE NEEDS WITNESS PROTECTION!!!!!!!

sorry for being a hater. no im not...

YEAH NO YOURE RIGHT. If you took out the romantic implications of hunt//low, literally fucking nothing would change plot-wise. It adds nothing meaningful or good, and in fact actually makes their characters LESS interesting and more diluted rather than if they were implicitly platonic. It also plays into the terrible trope of “most important person in the world above everyone else is a romantic partner”. It’s just bad and not at what TOH is about. It’s just. Ugh. A platonic relationship would’ve been so much better and more intriguing. I also really, REALLY wanted more Luz and hunter interaction this season- and I really thought we were gonna get that after TtT- but no. Romance instead.