#i don’t want it tacked on to the end of an episode :(

[moonlightperseus]

i’m honestly at this point really hoping the actual marriage doesn’t happen until next episode just so madney can have a whole episode dedicated to Them only

[hopepaigeturner]

Hope's Review of S3: Benedict Bridgerton

Again…a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. But first...

PANSEXUAL BENEDICT? WE GOT PANSEXUAL BENEDICT? (She screeches at her 2020 self who wrote an entire story around that premise then had to fundamentally rewrite it to make ‘canon’). They delivered?!?

And just as before, I liked moments:

“Love is not finite” speech from Eloise—finally some emotional labour from the boy.

His contribution in the club scenes with Will, Colin, and John Stirling.

I actually liked Tilley. The actress really sold their banter and her personality. Also it merely confirms once again that Benedict likes a bossy girl with convictions. *COUGH* Sophie Beckett*COUGH*

The dinner scene where he stumbled over the question about his art. I think all the acting worked really well.

Again Luke T’s acting is really nuanced and detailed with micro expressions and gestures. He really sold scenes, e.g. when he was talking to Tilley about Paul. Kissing Colin? Perfection! All his gestures and background acting once again were golden.

While I felt the swing scene was a little tacked on, I like when he said “There she is..” when Eloise said she wished to change the world. I think it’s a lovely moment to show how Benedict understands Eloise. He knows she just needed time and space to work it out and return.

However, I do feel that the writing this season, like Benedict himself, felt…lost. No real coherency, no real consistency from prior seasons.

While it was awesome to get pansexual Benedict, if that was the ending then why not have him build a relationship with another man rather than Tilley? While Benedict does sleep around his track record has not been casual--he typically takes one mistress each season, and one that he has a genuine connection with.

If you want to give a storyline justice, have more than one conversation with Paul to show why he’s attracted to Paul. Why stuff it all into one episode? Why make it focus solely on sex?

There are numerous hints about him being the next season. And from that perspective I don’t think this storyline really contributed to that.

E.g. I don’t think we’ve really explored the whole ‘second son thing’ at all.

For me there was a lack of consistency about him & emotional labour. Where was his relationship moments with his siblings? With Francesca?

Apart from one dinner scene we do not get any mention about art. No comment from family about it. No comment from himself. No deflection or even topic arising. And maybe people say the dinner scene is enough, but we literally see no reaction from Benedict after having his heart crushed last season.

All I’m worried about is that they might unveil all this complexity about Benedict (e.g. second son thing) and viewers are gonna be like. Where did that come from?

And it would have been so easy to add this stuff in-literally just an expression or a sentence.

E.g. Second son thing.

Take the scene in Will's club when they're passing around the drink. And Colin says "Are you not the happiest you've been [being adrift]". While Benedict's reaction is funny, I would have loved the camera to linger just a moment longer and show the smile slip. He says this is the happiest, but in actuality?

A couple sentences, even a joke from him or a family member, about him handling the estates. Being the ‘backup’ while Kanthony goes on holiday.

In that convo with Paul and Tilley in bed, why not have Paul crack a joke about second sons?

E.g. Emotional labour.

Why not have him have a chat with Francesca about John. Or a chat with Francesca before her debut. Or hey? Maybe just actually have him interact with his family? The moments when he did were so good!

E.g. Art & Art School

Have Anthony ask about art school, have someone make a comment. And have Benedict just brush it off—his smile a little larger than his usual ones… (and have it in an early episode). Not only would this show how Benedict does not like getting into conflict. Not only does it hint at the pain about art school that will be delved into during his season. But it also shows the front he puts up with his family.

Literally. One. line. One extra exchange.

If you’ve got time for countless other subplots, you’ve got time for a small exchange to help set up your next lead.

But all in all, I’m not fully despairing. I’m just wary for next season. And in the meantime? I've got two years to finish An Offer from an Avid Reader so I'll just lose myself in that.

And do you know what pansexual Benedict also means? A bonus?

Solidifies my head canon of Sophie and Benedict being the artsy, bohemian couple that hosts soirees for all their friends of varying classes and sexualities. Using all that privilege and hoarded Bridgerton wealth to create a refuge for their friends.

[arthurtaylorlester]

i’m going to have to be honest, i don’t think today’s episode was very good.

of course, there were bits i loved as is with every malevolent episode, like jarthur saying each other’s names like that and arthur styling his hair after clark gable and john remembering, john literally acting like trying to kill oscar was nbd :), it was all very endearing.

but man. some of the other stuff threw me off so bad. there were NO STAKES, any sense of urgency created was immediately destroyed by jarthur literally talking their feelings out. one second is literally jumping on walls like a rabid dog, the next he’s calmly communicating with john and then he’s acting superior and calling him a child.

like, we’ve seen what triggers arthur’s erratic behaviour (usually a distinct lack of john) and how he acts when he’s like that, and sorry but just don’t think this was a case of that.

furthermore, arthur calling john was weird. not in the oh no! is john is canonically a child so you cant ship him with anyone because fuck that, that was not the implication, but in the sense that i think it was incredibly ooc of arthur to say that. like, he recognised that yellow was Like That because he was awful to him, not because he was a child. so why is he saying this to john? he says john can’t handle his emotions, which yeah because he can only talk to you which john makes very clear. arthur says its unfair for john to expect that he never speak to anyone again, but that’s not even what john asked. he doesnt want to be ignored and rather be included, which is a totally reasonable thing to ask for! he even says to arthur when he’s going off the rails that he’s used to being ignored by arthur by now and i don’t think this is another manipulation tactic.

seems like both of them forgot the main goal of the show: separating john from arthur without the king taking him back.

the friendship breakup with oscar at the end was ridiculously tacked on and in my opinion shouldve been the beginning of the next episode. but no, obviously that couldn’t have been done since the next episode is the season finale.

which brings me to my next qualm: this is a terrible penultimate episode. penultimate episodes are supposed to raise the stakes higher than theyve been the whole season so the finale is literally unhinged. and malevolent has been excellent at doing that (see: part 27 the roots). But all this episode does is nullify the stakes, we’re not looking forward to anything next episode. John and arthur are in their healing era (there was no divorce this season let’s be real), theyve left oscar, the stone is gone, the butcher is in police custody and daniel is fine.

so how is the season supposed to end with them (presumably) in the dark world? around a year ago, harlan said dark world arc soon. when is soon.

the lack of stakes in s4 has been a persistent problem for me i think, most conflict has been resolved either within the episode or soon after, especially jarthur relationship problems, which are like the core of the show

don’t get me wrong, i’m not saying i dislike s4, i love it, especially the first half, i think part 31 is the best malevolent episode to date. it’s just that with how well written it’s been, i was taken aback by this one just being…. ok?

i think that because every malevolent episode is such a banger, this one kind of being all over the place, especially with arthur’s characterisation, is kinda disappointing? ofc, ik basically all of harlan’s fam and himself were sick during november + they had a whole baby, so i’m hoping the shift in quality was a circumstancial thing.

[clustermuck]

here why I’m upset with Colin’s characterization in part 2: when this show is all about Romance and our romantic lead spends the last 1/4 of the season being sullen, not listening to his wife’s side of things, and even actively shutting her down on more than one occasion after finding out this secret, I worry that with the little scenes of them dancing or holding hands or talking about their relationship is the writers telling us this behavior from Colin is supposed to be…sexy? Endearing? Romantic?

It’s not really…

Does Colin have every right to be upset that the woman he just discovered he’s basically loved his whole life without even him knowing it kept this huge secret that hurt a lot of other people he loves and puts that same woman he loves in constant danger herself? Sure. Absolutely!

But Colin, babe, YOU chased her down. You stopped her betrothal to someone else. You declared yourself first. I know you were declaring yourself to Pen and not LW, but don’t then turn around and act like Pen was conniving to get you to marry her. Like what?!?

And then after his convo with Kanthony, he CHOOSES to still marry her because he’s obviously still in love with Pen even if he hasn’t worked out the LW feelings yet. If he had his mind made up to marry her anyway, then his coldness towards Pen needed to end then and there. He can still be frustrated or unsure of how they’ll move forward, but at that point, after “I do,” Colin needed to realize that this just became Penelope and Colin VS. the Problem—esp after the Queen’s interrogation. He needed to step up, NOT continue to freeze out or fire shots at his wife.

There can be conflict without fighting or frustration or cold-shouldering and I get so annoyed when writers forget that. The last two episodes could have been so interesting and still frought with angst only having Pen and Colin on the same side.

Instead we get a beautiful, but I think kinda tacked on love declaration after Pen’s reveal as LW (as such, as beautiful and appropriate as the words were, it felt hollow) and then give us less than 3 mins of Happily Married Colin and Pen?!?!

That’s not romantic, guys.

I could be reading WAY too much into this…probably am…but to me, reading this half of the season another way is Colin bordering on emotionally abusive to Pen (yes, I know Pen has things to atone for, I know she’s not 100% in the right.)

So yeah…I’m really upset.

(Though I should note, I’m blaming writing and editing the most here, Nic and Luke acting this season with all their hearts and I know they would have made a better approach to their character arcs SO BEAUTIFUL if they had been given the chance…alas…)

**EDIT: I love these characters so much that I am ACTIVELY looking for someone to make an argument for the other side. I want to be told I missed something and Colin was softer, more loving than I’m seeing right now. Please…

[quizmasterfred]

Thinking about Flux and Thamsin again, so as per usual I'm dealing with it by typing a full stream-of-consciousness into the nothing :D

Enjoy! (or, more likely, don't 🤷‍♀️ it's really long and I am prone to rambling)

Let me preface this by saying this is NOT a Dan Lewis Hatepost. He's fine (and John Bishop is a darling), but I think he's a bit bland and takes up a lot of screen time that could better serve our main duo if we just... didn't have to include Dan.

In Hallowe’en Apocalypse, he’s great. He’s the hook 13 + Yaz need to get into Karvanista’s ship and kickstart the main plot.

WotS

he gets sent back to Liverpool immediately, infiltrates a sontaran ship, and Skypes 13 to shut down their Tempura Shrimp plan.

Either, you could then have 13 (at the end of the episode) make sure he’s okay and alive, Karvanista says the Lupari are taking care of earth for a bit, and Dan now stays home, because y’know this is all really fucked and he’s some normal guy who shouldn’t be whisked off to fight ancient paranormal demons when he’s barely aware of space travel.

Or K takes over his role. Towards the end of HA, 13+Y can drop Dan off before they go looking for the flux. In WotS, K can board the Sontaran ship as he does in canon anyway, except instead of looking for Dan, he’s now there on an active mission to sabotage the Sontarans, and isn’t worried as much about Dan, since the Lupai have changed tack to defending earth rather than their original 1-to-1 human taxi plan. This allows 13+K to get on each others nerves a bit as they work together to stop the Sontarans, and interrogate their (forgotten) relationship from the Division days before 13(+Y) goes AWOL for three episodes.

Either way, Dan is now out of the picture. He’s a fun celebrity cameo/comedic relief role that doesn’t outstay his welcome and is just there to get the ball rolling. In the Karv-centric version of WotS, we get more info on Division, which is the Doctor’s driving goal for this series.

O,UT

Canon!Dan spends this episode in the time storm with everyone else. Without him, you can explore the other three characters more; that simple. Yes, Dan’s face is taking Karvanista’s spot in 13’s visions, but since we never find out the identities of Y+Vinder in those visions, we can cut one face without any change to the plot.

When they’re out of the storm, Dan has a moment with Holo-Diane in the Passenger, but this could have been one of the Khans! The Ravagers clearly know enough about Yaz, and that extra strain on 13+Y’s relationship would be more interesting than with Dan. Canon!13 yells at Yaz in her post-storm delirium, and now Yaz gets to push back because her family is in danger because of her relationship to the Doctor, which isn’t something the Khans have faced up to this point.

The Khans are SO well set-up in s11/12:

Sonya is the one who saved her sister when she ran away, and now Yaz has “run away” again in a different way

Najia will not stop interrogating 13+Y’s relationship, which creates tension with Yaz not wanting to freak her family out with the knowledge of aliens etc

Hakim is a CONSPIRACIST whose daughter has now run off with an actual real time-travelling alien!!!

But they don’t get the payoff for any of it. Each one of them is primed for an incredible reaction to the Doctor/Time Travel/Aliens reveal and we never get it! If we can’t get the full family episode-2.0, then at least putting one of them in the passenger gives us payoff for that character. (And ideally LotSD gets replaced with KhanFamily-2.0, but i'll get to that later)

Point is, a known 2ndary character related to one of our leads is more compelling than a tertiary character we don’t know related to a 2ndary character we also barely know. We get some major strain between our two leads because of it, but also, after the initial shock has settled, we see Yaz’s genuine trust in 13 to save her family, AND 13's care for Yaz + family in promising to save [whichever one]. They’re almost at each other’s throats because of 13 keeping secrets, Yaz pushing her too much, big pressure cooker episode, but at the end of the day, they trust and care about each other, and 13 WILL protect her companions' families.

VotA

Canon!Dan spends this entire episode with Yaz. He doesn’t have a unique plot role at all. If he's not here, Yaz can have a taste of a solo mission, again showing 13’s trust in Yaz to perform under pressure, but of course it goes wrong because they’ve underestimated/couldn’t predict the Angels’ plan.

Script-wise, we get more reliance on Yaz’s detective skills, and unspoken context clues for the audience, rather than bouncing off Dan. She can talk to herself a little bit (picking up a habit from 13), but the point is it focuses more on Yaz alone working things out. And once she finds the kid, there's someone to dialogue with anyway, so it's not like it'll just be a silent role for half the episode or something.

SotF

Now here’s where it gets interesting. We all know this is THE doctorification-of-Yasmin-Khan episode. Jericho and canon!Dan are very much her companions, and she is the doctor in 13’s absence.

Dan’s role can be taken on entirely by Jericho. The companion role can be absorbed without any major changes - canon!J already does half of that work anyway. Dan’s main character scene here is comforting Yaz after she watches the hologram. But I think we can retool this and even make it more effective with Jericho.

A surprisingly common headcanon is that J is gay, and here we have an opportunity to make it canon (though not explicitly stated - bear with me). In the canon version, JDY have all known each other for the same amount of time, so the strength of familiarity + friendship can be directly translated from Y+D to Y+J. J is perfectly able to tell how badly Y misses 13, and while he didn’t see HA, WotS or OUT like Canon!Dan, he did get a good look at 13’s brilliance and magnetism in VotA, so he kinda gets it. This woman is a bit mad, but clearly more than the average person, and these two have clearly developed a stronger-than-average friendship, so he’s just as capable of delivering the comfort that canon!Dan does.

And if we make gay!J canon, it creates a beautiful extra layer. J knows 13+Y are extremely close, so recognises that spark of atypical attraction in Yaz that he knows from his own life, but maybe can’t be certain. Certainly Yaz hasn’t come to terms with it herself at this point, so J has to tread carefully because he doesn’t want to force Yaz into any self-revelations before she’s ready.

But more importantly! J is from the 60s! His only experience with talking about LGBT stuff is mired in the risk of rejection and ostracism - he has NO IDEA that Yaz would just be accepting because she’s grown up in a better time! So he can’t come out and say it, he HAS to tiptoe under threat of losing his only friend in a terrifying time-adrift situation. Similarly, Yaz is both not ready to acknowledge her own sexuality, and couldn’t say anything to J directly anyway because he’s from the 60s! He’s “probably deeply homophobic”, so there’s no way Yaz could risk bringing it up even if she were ready to (which she isn't)!

J has to tiptoe around the suggestion because on the one hand, he can see that spark, but can’t risk losing his friend/lifeline, and Y has to pick up on something much more subtle than she’s prepared for (but won't - yet!). All wrapped up in the simpler ground layer of Yaz just needing some comfort - any comfort - as she’s been bearing the brunt of the work since taking on the role of “the Doctor” for an extended time now leading the pair of them through this insane mission to get back to their times, and just... because she misses her best friend.

This conversation now has the dual role of canon!Dan’s pep talk AND forming a bedrock for Yaz’s coming out as she can have a hindsight-realisation about what J was hinting at (during one of the 2022 specials).

Vanquishers

Canon!Dan is again with the group the whole time, so he doesn’t have an individual plot purpose for us to replace or work around. Canon!Karvanista doesn’t even care about Dan at this point, so his role doesn’t change either. The only conversation they have is a payoff to “fetch your dog”, which can easily be one of the (multiple) 13s going to fetch him for more 13+K dynamic, rather than both 13s going to Bel.

Obviously we get the Passenger rescue in this episode too, so our chosen Khan has the appropriate freak-out moment. Pick your favourite:

Sonya yelling that “this is where you’ve been and you didn’t tell me” + a sisterly ribbing about the romantic tension between 13+Y

Najia going into full “this is my daughter you’ve taken off to god-knows-where and I expect her back in one piece” @ 13 + “are you sure you’re not seeing each other?” @ Yaz

Hakim HOLY SHIT ALIENS ARE FUCKING REAL YAZ CAN YOU BELIEVE IT

2022 Specials

Dan's biggest contribution here is the “I know what you are” talk @ Yaz in EotD and playing (failed) matchmaker in LotSD, and then he fucks off for PotD anyway, so that doesn’t even need any changing.

In my ideal world, we would actually replace one of EotD or LotSD with KhanFamilyEpisode-2.0 (KFE2), continuing on from the post-passenger-rescue revelation in Vanquishers. I LOVE EotD, so I would replace LotSD and that’s the direction my ramblings will go from now on. But it could be either way round (or in magical get-everything-we-want land, it's just an extra 4th episode)

EotD doesn’t need to have Dan pushing Yaz to come out to herself. Admittedly, this is the dodgiest consequence we get from stripping back Dan so much, but bear with me. Combining the Sarah/Nick romantic B plot and Yaz pulling on that aforementioned hindsight to her conversation with Jericho, we can get the same effect without having a straight man effectively force a closeted lesbian into coming out. (As much as canon!Dan is trying to be nice, and I respect him for that, the actual result is cornering a closeted young woman into coming out to him, and then immediately outing her to someone else, which is not… the best thing to do)

We can replace it with more reaction shots for Yaz to S/N’s relationship and bickering, sprinkle in a bit of flashback to her conversation with J with new context, maybe an almost-confession that she chickens out of in the heat of the moment during one of the later loops. Something like 13 being reckless and Y yells at her for it and goes off about how she cares about 13 a lot and can’t just lose her if shit goes wrong - a direct mirror to 13’s “I will not let you die for my mistakes” moment. They each get an admission of care now. If we’re desperate, Yaz can have a self-annoyed talking-to-herself moment berating herself for said chickening out, but this is a bit heavy-handed and shouldn’t be necessary if the rest of it is played right.

In KFE2, one of the Khans of course has appropriate characterisation from Flux. I think Sonya works best here, since she’s the most likely to accept Yaz’s inevitable plea to “don’t tell the others anything about alien bullshit” (potentially including blackmail wherein Yaz has to promise to do sonya’s chores for a month or something, classic sibling hijinks).

Obviously Doctor Who shenanigans ensue and it probably results in the whole family finding out the truth about the Doctor. But the B plot is Sonya needling at Yaz over her now-obvious crush on 13, culminating in the equivalent to LotSD’s beach talk.

ALTERNATIVELY:

Swap KFE2 and EotD. The B plot in KFE2 ends in Yaz coming out to Sonya (instead of Dan), who is on the one hand, a typical sibling response of “yeah obviously duh, and i'm gonna make fun of you for being a dumbass about it” but on the other hand is fully supportive because she knows Yaz’s mental health history (+ potentially already suspected her sexuality from school years) and is, at heart, an actually good sister.

EotD can then have Yaz actually confessing to 13 during that aforementioned stressful late-game time loop, mirrored by moving 13's confession from LotSD to this episode as well. And then the equivalent beach talk.

Diane

Final note: I didn’t want to just delete Diane completely, because I do really like that she just exists as a disabled character who gets shit done. We definitely don’t need the will-they-won’t-they if we’re stripping back Dan’s role, so if you really want, we can just have them be an established relationship for that little bit of world building. Maybe D+D can have minor roles in Vanquishers as part of the finale if you rejig it a bit

OR we can just give Dan’s role to Diane wholesale. Diane’s actress was perfectly good, she can carry that role easily, and we get to keep a semi-prominent disabled character. I quite like what little we see of Diane, so I like the idea of keeping her over Dan, but narratively speaking it’s not important either way.

[real-total-drama-takes]

I don’t hate Owen Shawn and Wayne winning but I never liked how they would lowkey trash on the other non antagonistic finalist or portray them in a more negative light to prop them up.

Gwen trash talking everyone in the confessional completely ignoring her development of growing out of her shell and opening up to others more (why wasn’t Geoff mentioned as one of the “normal” contestants she met?) and then her promptly losing half of her supporters to Owen (also thought it was weird Bridgette was one of the ones who left because of how close they were.) And that’s not even mentioning how she didn’t even get to keep the money in her ending…

And then in Pakithew Island, when Shawn started winning every challenge after Scarlett Fever, had a girlfriend and resolved all his drama by the end of the first merge episode, and lied about sharing the money with her (and while Jasmine does show some reluctance in hindering Shawn and eventually reconciles with him, Dave fully revels in seeing Sky suffer) Shawn’s ending also feels more complete and realized. Sky’s felt super rushed and tacked on, and they had her trash talk and brag (Wow, English much?) to paint her as the less “rootable” finalist. I thought it was nice seeing her more competitive side though.

And of course, in the reboot, when Wayne has genuine support while Caleb’s team just wants to see Julia lose, and can’t bring themselves to shoot him down. Idk it just really feels like they skew more towards the side of the lesser developed finalist more and I wish it were more equal.

[bugeyedfreaks]

Hi! Uhm...I wonder....About the lovely interests of Mojo Jojo and HIM. I mean...I know Mojo was in love with Mono Joko and it seems HIM loves Professor Utonium...but is that true? And they personally take this point clear to us, please?

I’ll answer your question about Him in particular but I’ll also use your ask as an opportunity for me to do a bit of a deep dive into Mojo and Him’s love lives, because……. why not? 😆

So we’ve definitely seen Mojo in love before/knows how he acts when he loves someone. He’s a romantic goofball and absolutely dotes on whoever he likes (which is freakin’ ADORABLE). And he absolutely only had eyes for Moko. You could make some sort of argument that it was for the bit and it was to parallel how the Beatles broke up IRL, but there’s also a whole comic written before that episode where we see Mojo sending in tapes to a dating agency ~for the ladies~. He then gets so desperate because the ladies are afraid of him that he ends up Frankensteining his own bride. So… take all that as you will when it comes to Mojo’s romantic preferences. 😆

Meanwhile, yes, Him definitely has shown, um, interest towards the Professor, which I think is hilarious and great. I think the biggest example of that is the big ol’ wet lick he drags across poor Professor’s cheek in Tough Love. However, did he do it just to antagonize the girls? Is it because he really does think the Prof is a hottie (like any sane person should)? We just don’t know. I feel like with Him being Him, you can see him going aaaaany which way romantically, but how he acts towards the Professor is, like, the only indication in the series of where his romantic interests may lie.

I know I mentioned my dislike of Mojo/Him earlier today, and I feel like I can’t not touch on it while on this subject, so I guess I’ll tack this on because I don’t think I ever explained why I don’t like it. As far as the whole ship between these two… I mean, I get why people ship them. Because, you know, ~they hugged~ that one time. 🙄 They’re both also evil, and people want those evil couple goals. So I get it. But to me, it feels uninspired and just… too obvious, I guess? No real thought behind it aside from surface level stuff like with PPG/RRB. CMC likes to claim Mojo has high respect for Him, and… yeah, Mojo called him “sir” for, uh, ONE EPISODE. Otherwise they’re rivals, often seen sniping at one another, calling each other stupid, maybe occasionally band together to try to defeat the PPGs, and in my perspective? I wouldn’t respect or even love anyone who was lazy enough to just outright steal my evil creations and recolor them (i.e. with the RRB).

That said, I feel like I have to always have a disclaimer whenever I talk about stuff like this, because there’s almost always one person who flips out and screams at me about how, “I can ship what I want!” Yes. I know. You absolutely can. Personally, per my reasoning above, I just don’t vibe with it. But, as evidenced by many things, fandom is an unstoppable force, and I’m not out to stop anything anyway. I just do not dig the thing.

…so, yeah, sorry I went off on a bit of a tangent, but I hope this answered your question! 🤣

[en-lista]

🖥 ... ⃕  THE CIRCUS UPLOADED A NEW VIDEO !

description : on the latest episode of mirror mirror, the studio is blessed by the goddess of hearts’ presence. oh, and she brought a enchanting friend too!

warning : mentions of low self-esteem, cyberbullying, and other things that may be triggering. viewer discretion is advised.

“hey, i’m enhypen and pandora’s calista. thank you for inviting me!” the female idol bows to the camera before taking her seat. 

her fictional counterpart walks into view and shyly waves at the camera.

“my name’s naeva, it’s nice to meet you all.” she speaks so softly, and with such a pretty smile on her face, you can hear the staff cooing.

we, the editors, decide to leave that sound in because #relate.

“we’re here to answer some questions that you, the audience, have sent in.” calista looks over at the lavender-haired girl and holds up her fist in a hwaiting motion. “shall we get started?” 

“mhm, let’s do it!”

THE GODDESS OF HEARTS : CALISTA !

👤 : what do you want to be remembered as in the future?

“i’d like to be remembered as someone who, despite having the odds stacked against her, pursued her dreams. life’s too short to play everything by the standards, do what you love without restraint.” 

calista looks proud of her own answer, until she hastily tacks on, “of course, within non-harmful boundaries!”

do what you love without restraint, but within non-harmful boundaries — roh aejeong, 2023

👤 : favorite concept you’ve done so far?

“since i haven’t properly debuted with pandora yet, i’ll pick my favorite from enha. honestly, i really enjoyed the concept we did for dimension-dilemma. compared to most of our eras, tamed-dashed had more of a carefree.. summery type of vibe, you know?” 

she pauses to look at naeva, who nods; the latter obviously invested in her words. 

“we didn’t have to worry much about acting seriously or pulling dangerous stunts because we were given the opportunity act like people our age.”

👤 : who had the most negative impact on your life?

“i wish i could answer but..” calista pretends to clear her throat before continuing, “well third place would be those who claim to be fans. it’s hard to just act like those criticisms and negativity don’t exist because they lurk everywhere, acting like they enjoy our music and watching our content when they actually find joy in tearing us, and others who come to our defense, down. 

so while i acknowledge that they’re here, waiting for me to slip up or even just breathe, i refuse to fall to their level. because at the end of the day, they’re just insecure people hiding behind screens to feel better about themselves.”

👤 : who’s your celebrity crush?

“at the moment?” 

the production crew gasp dramatically, eliciting both girls to laugh. it’s adorable, the way they try to cover their mouth but end up revealing their angelic smiles between peals of laughter.

“i just wanted to clarify- okay, i wouldn’t call it a crush, but i really admire zb1’s jiwoong. i’ve been following him from his acting debut to boys planet. he’s so cool and confident i just wanna ask him tips on how to do that too.. maybe i’ll ask gyunnie to put in a good word for me..”

to hourglass’s gyuri, please introduce calista to zb1′s jiwoong. love, the circus ♡  p.s. everyone here on this channel loves your group, never stop being queens! 

👤 : an idol you’d like to collaborate with?

“i’m stuck between seventeen and txt.. and no it’s not because i have friends in both groups.. okay maybe a little-”

calista pouts, causing the staff to fawn over her.

“seventeen are such exceptional performers that if i ever got to collab with them, i think i saved an empire in my previous life. at the same time though, txt are well-rounded idols with fantastic concepts to match so yeah-”

👤 : pandora or enha?

“or.”

calista’s smiling, yet it doesn’t quite reach the corners of her eyes. she fidgets with the ring sitting prettily on her index finger, the golden rose acting like her anchor. the memory’s still vivid—she scolded the guys after seeing the price tag they forgot to discard.

“i’ll never choose only one of them, not when they’re all amazing, talented, sweet people. and while i haven’t known my girls for as long as i’ve known my boys, the time that i’ve spent with them so far makes me certain that choosing to debut with them isn’t a regret.”

she sheds a shaky breath. one of the producers ask if she’d like to take a break. calista shakes her head. “thank you for your concern but i’m okay, don’t worry.”

nevertheless, a staff member walks onto the scene to give her some tissues and water. 

👤 : would you like to continue acting as a full-time career?

“if you asked me this three years ago, i’d have said yes. but when i get on that stage with my members, and i hear the cheers of our engenes and planetes, i feel like i’ve found my true calling. but i am still open to receiving acting gigs. who knows, maybe you’ll see me in the next season of all of us are dead..”

“wait, are you implying that you didn’t..” naeva hesitates for a second before making some motions—a sequence of gestures that hopefully won’t give away the story for those who haven’t watched the show yet.

the idol merely looks at the camera with a smirk.

👤 : what’s your favorite song to perform?

“in terms of enha, i love performing drunk-dazed. it’s got these hypnotic beats, along with a bold and energetic choreography to complement it. i can’t deny that at the end, i’m absolutely winded from all the jumping and spinning on the floor, but it really is fun to perform for engenes.”

“what about pandora?” naeva asks, then initially gets silence as an answer.

“it’s hard to pick because again, i haven’t debuted with them yet..” the idol drifts off again, head tilted while she looks up at the ceiling—seemingly expecting the answer to fall from up there. “i’d say, mainly because we’ve practiced this song several times, blue & night is my favorite.”

👤 : which country would you like to perform in?

“oh that’s easy, the u.k!” calista smiles fondly as she recalls, “while chobao and i were hanging out with chiara unnie, she told us a lot about the country, especially the cities she grew up in. thanks to that, i’d love to perform there and have a few days to explore the places.”

naeva raises her hand. “if it’s not too much to ask, who’s chobao?”

“it’s not, don’t worry—that’s lanfen! she might come off as mean and blunt but beneath that impression is a considerate and hilarious fluffy cat.”

“when you put it like that, she reminds me of jaan. maybe they could be friends..”

“maybe, but they could also butt heads due to their similarities.”

“at the same time though-”

this commercial break is brought to you by the guests who spent five minutes engaged in a debate about whether two tough softies can get along, and how long can they last. 

👤 : if you could go back to the past while knowing your future, would you change anything?

“as cliché as it sounds, i’m the type of person to believe that everything happens for a reason. decisions may not bear good things right away and that’s okay. while i have made some choices that make me go ‘i shouldn’t have done that’, i wouldn’t change any of them because i did get something precious out of those.. admittedly at times.. dumb decisions.”

the answer receives applause that resonates throughout the entire studio. calista’s bottom lip juts out as she jokes, “can i keep everyone here in my pocket? you all are so sweet to me and nana.”

“you’d need a very big pocket for that.” naeva giggles even more when the determined female looks past the cameramen and clasps her hands, “please nayoung unnie! pretty please!”

to be continued.. 

THE HEART’S REFLECTION : NAEVA !

👤 : who is your best friend?

“how do you define a ‘best friend’?” she wonders, looking over to calista for guidance. of course the older girl readily provides it, “it’s someone who, among your friends, you’re closest to.”

“then that’d be solon. he’s always there for me no matter what. when i need to talk to someone about something, he’s ready to listen. or if i’m confused about a certain subject, he’ll break it down so i can understand. he’s quite protective too—nowadays, i rarely ever go to the sea without him or jino accompanying me.”

“it sounds like he really cares about you.” calista approves before gesturing to the camera. “why don’t you leave a message for him, just in case he watches this.”

naeva shifts in her seat and beams warmly. “thank you nono, i really appreciate everything you do for me. i’ll always do the same for you so please don’t be afraid to approach me.”

👤 : what is your favorite subject at school?

“i have two, but one isn’t an official subject, is it okay to mention both of them?”

when one is so polite and soft-spoken, how can the crew say no? 

translation: of course it’s okay, anything and (almost) everything is okay when it’s for naeva the sweetheart.

“i really like creative writing. there’s something enjoyable in being able to unleash your imagination on a piece of paper, as well as stirring ideas around to see what can be made out of them. at the same time though, i enjoy after school because nightball practice occurs at that time, and it’s pretty much one of the few occasions i get to see my friends together so that time is really important to me.”

👤 : does it feel like you don't fit in sometimes?

similar to her human counterpart, the hybrid hesitantly nods and strains her rosy lips to show a smile. “yes there is. it’s not easy being a supernatural creature, let alone being the offspring of a common and rare species. maybe that’s why i don’t have much friends outside of the brothers and sooha—everyone else is scared that i may use my allure on them.”

naeva falls silent shortly after that, her head hung low as she stares at her lap. it only lasts for at least 30 seconds before she hastily fixes her posture and rubs her palms against her skirt.

“i don’t mind it that much, my little group is more than enough for me. they may have different personalities, and sometimes they hang my sanity over the edge of no return, but none of them have ever made me feel like i don’t deserve to be in decelis; like i don’t deserve to have them as my friends. they trust me, and that’s what makes me happy.”

👤 : are you and sooha friends?

“yes we are!” the excited lilt in her voice makes everyone’s hearts flutter; some even acting like they got struck by cupid’s arrow. she doesn’t notice as she’s busy rolling up her sleeve to reveal the beaded bracelet sitting snug on her wrist. “unless my memory’s foggy, we made each other matching bracelet during our first girls’ night. granted, we live in the same dorm building, but we hadn’t really been able to hang out one on one until then.”

out of the blue, a sheepish aura begins to surround the student. “don’t get us wrong, we love our other friends but..”

“..but it’s nice to have a girl friend to spend time with, discuss and do things you can’t do with guys?” calista guesses, though the twinkle in her syrup-tinted irises says she’s far too familiar with naeva’s struggle.

“exactly! she also doesn’t use me as an armrest or suddenly leap on me to get a piggyback ride so my head and back manage to get a well-deserved break.”

what an.. interesting taste in furniture and transportation..?

👤 : what is your biggest secret?

“if i tell you then it won’t be a secret anymore, right?” she jests, the apples of her cheeks lightly heating up when her joke is met with laughter and agreement. “i’ll tell you a wish of mine.

when i was younger, i met this boy, and he became my friend for a day. i don’t recall much about him—just that his eyes were so pretty, i felt like i was staring into the sun, and he had a tendency to give more than he should.”

her fingers instinctively rose to her necklace; specifically, the silver pendant that hung on the middle. with nostalgia injected in her smile, she summarizes, “if i ever meet him again, i’d like to thank him for showing me that even if the world turns its back on me, there will always be someone waiting for me with open arms.”

👤 : are you a day or night person?

“oh, i’ll have to think thoroughly about that one.”

how to think thoroughly and look cute while doing it, according to naeva:

first, play with your sleeve while you ponder about it. next, begin to mentally compare the pair of times. finally, snap your fingers as you come to a satisfying conclusion.

“i’ll say night because that’s when my mind’s will to be productive is at its peak. i mean, i do manage to complete tasks during the day, but it tends to feel like i’m fighting tiredness while doing so. meanwhile, when the moon is hanging above me, i have so much energy that i genuinely enjoy the things i do like watch the nightball practice, practice writing a novel, play around by the sea—those kinds of activities.”

at the end of her explanation, she notices the look of awe some of the crew are giving her. while she attempts to ignore the urge to curl into herself, she meekly asks, “did i say something wrong?”

“have you ever considered becoming a rapper?” someone pipes up.

..hiding her face behind her hands shall suffice for now.

👤 : have you ever wished that, even if it was temporary, you could be normal?

“yeah, definitely, but that’s in the past. i’ve stopped caring about people’s impossible ideals, and now i’m content with who i am.”

it’s not hard to tell—not when she speaks confidently and exudes it. of course, calista sounds like she supports the ‘younger’ girl.

“i like that you mentioned embracing yourself, regardless of whether you fit others’ definition of ‘normal’ or not. at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is your own, so be kind to yourself. never be afraid to be your own monarch.”

be your own monarch — naeva & calista, 2023

👤 : do you have a crush?

naeva purses her lips and looks at everything but the cameras. the mannerism doesn’t fall short on calista’s radar, and her lips curl into a cheshire smile.

“who is it~?” she playfully prods efore leaning closer to the blushing girl. “you can whisper it to me if you’d like.”

lavender tresses momentarily create a halo around naeva before they fall against her back once more. she hastily explains, “it’s just a silly little infatuation, i’ll get over it sooner or later.”

“let’s check in later to see about that..”

all of a sudden, there’s a sly kitty and bashful puppy in the studio.

👤 : what are your abilities?

“i have quite a few, yet the most notable is imitation. what that means is i can copy others’ abilities and use them how ever i wish.” naeva recites it without much thought, it sounds like she’s explained it before.

her companion hums, thoughtfully nodding along. “you mentioned allure before, is it okay to explain what that entails?”

“oh yes, i have this special song that when heard, lowers a person’s guard enough for me to take control of their mind.” her voice falls a little towards the end as she adds, “but i swear i’ve never used it unless absolutely necessary, like in a battle.”

calista pats the lavender-haired girl’s armrest, a small gesture of assurance. despite that already being enough, she tells her, “we believe you.”

👤 : heli or jino?

the girls share a look of confusion before one falls into a stream of laughter. it doesn’t matter if she covers her mouth, everyone can tell calista’s gigging at the question. on the other hand, a mortified naeva slouches in her seat and stares up at the sky.

fly high naeva’s spirit!

once she’s calmed down, calista can’t help but note, “that’s such a random question, what on earth..” 

“it’s not when you know someone who’d definitely ask this.” naeva mumbles, the face of a certain troublemaker immediately popping in her mind. but before she can begin plotting what to do with the culprit, she recalls the question. 

she thinks about saying the name of the boy with the pretty golden eyes; the boy who’d stay up with her, talking about everything and nothing while her lithe fingers played with his ebony tresses..

“jino. in terms of people i’m close to, he’s right on solon’s heels. even though he can’t be near water, he always comes with me to the sea to make sure i’m safe. whenever i don’t feel good about myself, he’s popping out of thin air to dispel the negativity.” 

she wanted to say more, but the words don’t get past the tip of her tongue. instead, she beams with a crescent eyed smile.

“to my candlelight, let’s stay together forever, okay?”

“we have made it, thanks for sticking around ‘til the end!” calista bows in gratitude, her companion shortly following suit.

“if you enjoyed this episode, please tap the like button..” naeva send a glance to calista to check if she’s doing the outro right and gets a thumbs up in return. “then subscribe to this channel if you’d like to see more, thank you.”

“this was enhypen and pandora’s calista..” 

“accompanied by naeva..”

“..and we flipped your heart.”

taglist : @stealanity​ @lost-leopard-beanie​ @annoyingbitch83​ @starmaniic​ — send an ask / dm to be added !

[alyssacat013]

I have now watched episodes 17-21 of Twin Peaks season 2, it’s been such a journey and I can’t believe there is only one episode left!

So, again a lot has happened in these past 5 episodes. A big one being now we know why Windom Earle is actually here, he wants access to the black lodge and was tricking/distracting Cooper and the police force with his whole chess game thing. So, Windom, Cooper, and the police found a drawing in a cave that somehow tells them how to get the the black lodge. We then discover it must be done at a specific place in the Twin Peaks woods at just the right time when Saturn and Jupiter overlap and there must be a lot of fear present in order for the doorway to open. So, earlier we found out that Windom Earle was looking for a queen to help him open the door and was going to pick whoever won the Miss Twin Peaks competition and originally it was going to be either Donna, Audrey, or Shelly. But then Norma’s sister Annie came back in town and her and Cooper struck up a romance and then she ended up winning the pageant and getting taken.

To talk more about Annie, I actually really like her. I think her and Cooper are actually quite sweet together and they’re very similar. I wish we had more time with them and their romance though instead of it being a little tacked on in like the last 5 episodes. Especially since it seems the season finale will resolve around Cooper saving her. Because I think I could have really seen myself loving them. But it’s okay, enough was set up for me to still be interested.

Also, some other things we had going on is Benjamin Horne is now trying to turn over a good lead and be a better father and person in general. I actually liked this and I thought that seeing his and Audrey’s relationship grow more was sweet. Also, Audrey struck up a romance with the other business guy Jack. I was worried the whole time that he was secretly bad and going to hurt her, but it seems like he truly loved her.

Also, with Ben Horne was have a huge kinda random reveal that Ben is actually Donna’s real father. I don’t know if this was hinted at earlier and I just didn’t pick up on it, but yeah. Not sure what is going to come of this but at least this means Audrey and Donna are sisters which is cute.

Also, we have a few other small things happen like Lucy decided that regardless of who the baby’s biological father she wanted Andy to be the baby’s dad which was cute. Also, we have what seems like Nadine getting her memories back maybe? Also, Leo went though a bit of a redemption and he set the General free so that he could save Shelly even at the expense of himself. Also, episode 16 ended with Josie dying and her soul being trapped I guess well anyways we saw Pete talking to the wall at the great Northern hotel and said he could see Josie’s face. Also, we have had Pete, Cooper, and a random lady at the diner get these weird intense hand shakes all of a sudden. Not sure what that is. Also, these past couple of episodes we have seen Harry really struggling over Josie’s death and the scene in the cabin where Cooper helps put Harry’s gun down and hugs him was one of the best moments between them in the show. I love small character moments like that. Another thing is that Eckhardt left Catherine a box with a key in it that presumably opens some mystery lock. Wonder what that will be.

Anyway, I’m excited but sad that I have only one more episode to go. I feel lol there’s still so much to wrap up with all the characters and I’m excited to see how they pull it off.

[skylarynn-ninjago]

Plot concepts/canon divergences

Continuation of this post over there.

01 - Masters of Spinjitzu

The pilot season.  As mentioned there are not major changes in overall plot, however I am adding in an episode [called “A Brother’s Shadow”] to cover what’s going on with Nya in the Underworld since we literally never see what all went down between when she was captured and when she was chained up in the Fire Temple.  Also I will be giving plot to the mini movies, which tacks an additional 5 episodes [“New Masters of Spinjitzu” is getting thrown in the fire] onto the season, making it a nice round 10 episodes.

02 - Rise of the Snakes

Season 1.  As mentioned it’s not overly different from the original, though there will be seeding for concepts I introduce later, such as Lloyd’s aunt Koko and the Kagami family of professional dancers.  

03 - Legacy of the Green Ninja

Season 2.  Lloyd’s aunt Koko is introduced in the same episode Misako is, and she participates in shenanigans from then onwards for the season.   Also I will try to come up with some explanation of Dr. Julien leaving Echo on the Lighthouse so he’s not an utterly Terrible Parent™.

04 - Rebooted

Season 3.  Hopefully I can try to iron out/rectify most of the pacing issues they had, as the show was going to be 4 episodes, then 13, then 8, and you can kinda tell with the way the plot’s tempo fluctuates.  Also there will be reference to Koko having traversed Hiroshi’s Labyrinth because she’s Like That™.  Koko might get involved in the season, but if so it will be towards the end.  Also also Cryptor won’t be blown[frozen?] to bits exactly, there will be salvageable remnants of him left for reasons To Be Seen.

05 - Tournament of the Elements

Season 4.  The Ninja board Chen’s ship to find shock! horror! Koko is here for some reason!  She’s then revealed to be the Master of Sand, which is why she’s so helpful on Misako’s digs.  We’re also introduced to Viridian Kagami, another oc and the alleged Master of Glass, though strangely no one actually witnesses him using his element... Oh and at the end I add a reference to Skylor having a little brother.

06 - Possession

Season 5.  Koko gets involved once word reaches her of Lloyd being possessed and she spends most of the season helping Misako figure shit out because those two are Nerd Siblings™.  Also two other original characters are introduced/referenced: Cerulea Kagami, or just Lea, who was kicked out of the Kagami family of professional dancers for breaking a mirror [It Makes Sense In Context™]and was promptly adopted as a sister by Ronin; and Kaiya Mori, Ronin’s biological daughter who’s only really mentioned in passing.  She is roughly Nya’s age and, as her name literally means “forgiveness”, has a lot to do with the mistakes Ronin references making.

07 - Skybound

Season 6.  Still haven’t rewatched it [which I really should do] but I did some critical thinking about the ending and decided to completely rework it.  Functionally the season holds the same narrative space, but I found it kinda counterintuitive that in the season where it’s heavily emphasized wishes do not solve problems, the entire season is fixed with a very poorly-worded wish.  So instead Jay does not make a final wish, but the plot is resolved by other means.  If y’all are curious I will gladly explain the Shenanigans™ there, but I don’t want to spoil it quite yet.

08 - Escape from Tera Uragiri

The first [of many] of my fan seasons.  As previously explained it is inspired by Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. and tells how the Imperial Family of Ninjago got the Mask of Deception before Sons of Garmadon: Ronin.  Also introduces Fugi-Dove 5 seasons before his first canon appearance because a friend suggested it as a joke and I cannot say no to the bird man.

09 - Echoes of Memory

The second fan season.  Features Ronin accidentally adopting Echo Zane and Echo joining the Ninja’s funky family.  Also features Jay and Nya explaining what the hell was Skybound.

10 - Day of the Departed

The holiday special.  I’m throwing in Li’l Nelson to help Cole, because evidently the writers originally planned on it based on his presence in the sets.  And Yang doesn’t get a redemption because that man’s motives make no sense [why are you afraid of getting forgotten when you know for a fact you’re well known for creating a martial art?  You literally possessed the portrait of you hanging in the museum, there’s no way you think no one remembers you] so instead Morro sticks around and helps yeet Cole through the Rift [and maybe accidentally crosses it himself...].  Also, I really didn’t get why Pythor hopped on the murder train so quick when he has no reason to do so, and instead changed it to Pythor trying to warn Lloyd of the Shenanigans™ [much like Morro] purely to spite Chen for culturally appropriating his tribe and wearing their remains as a hat.  He still almost gets killed by Lloyd because he’s proven himself Untrustworthy™.

11 - Hands of Time

Season 7.  There’s...a lot of pacing issues in this season, and the dialogue kinda suffers throughout, so hopefully I can fix those things.  For once, Koko is not likely to be around.  Also there will be episodes about Dareth and Ronin post-Dareth breaking Ronin’s leg because Dareth found this anemic emo teen in the street and decided to adopt him.  Yes it is Morro, and no he is not happy because he Did Not sign up for mortality again.

12 - Decoded

No idea if this season is canon or not frankly, but it’s a thing, so.  I’m just adding Echo to it pretty much. Though now that I think about it this might be when I have Echo give Gizmo/Tai-D [that adorable glorified roomba tea bot Dr. Julien had at the Lighthouse] an upgrade in body and sentience, and he has now become a young child with built-in rollerskates who likes to help fix things.   Unlike Zane and Echo [and PIXAL I guess] Gizmo isn’t big on the whole fighting thing and would rather stay at the Monastery, but heaven help you if you try to attack the Monastery because there’s now a devious robotic Kevin McAllister living there.  

13 - Obsession

The third fan season where I stole the concept from The Fire That Burns Too Brightly.  It’s on AO3, go read it. Gist is Kai gets a stalker who’s trying to destroy the Element of Fire and murder Kai for Personal Trauma Reasons™ and Lloyd contemplates Murder™.

14 - Apex Predator

The shiny new fourth fan season.  Stole this concept from an AI actually, a TannerFishies YouTube video where he was generating potential Ninjago seasons.   So the pitch is that one of the 16 Realms is just the Old West, from whence originates the villainous Talon, an outlaw of some ilk that the Ninja have to defeat.  Talon is based on Great Horned Owls, which makes him rather terrifying to be frank.   Also this will be a Nya/Koko focus season because I didn’t realize I didn’t have those yet.   Oh and there will be a wonderful episode called “Holstergeist” [stole that from Reddit] where the Ninja tried to get help by bringing back ghosts in the Caves of Despair from the prospecting era [got that idea from tumblr’s very own drawtice].

15 - Sons of Garmadon

Season 8.  There’s now a total of 6 Oni Masks, 3 Greater and 3 Lesser.  The Greater 3 are those from the show - Deception, Vengeance, and Hatred - while the Lesser 3 are similar concepts - Fear, Cruelty, and Corruption.  There are also 6 Dragon Amulets, one to counter each Mask as follows: Deception/Loyalty, Vengeance/Forgiveness, Hatred/Compassion, Fear/Bravery, Cruelty/Kindness, Corruption/Justice.   Also there’s a 4th general amongst the Sons of Garmadon called Tempest; no one’s really sure where he came from, but he never takes off his mask.  He just casually showed up with the Mask of Cruelty as well [that’s not the mask he wears constantly] and he won’t tell where he got it.   Oh and the Falcon mysteriously vanishes.

16 - Hunted

Season 9.  Lea and Koko join Lloyd’s resistance, and about halfway through the season Tempest just disappears on the Sons to Harumi’s great befuddlement because they’d been Bonding™.  Not really sure what Echo’s role in this will be, so that needs to be ironed out. Also Morro finally reveals his alive-ness to [what remains of] the Ninja, which nearly gets him drowned by Nya.  He’s captured by the Sons of Garmadon before the other Ninja return from the First Realm, which is really fun because he just pops up after the jail break and all the OG Ninja have a freak-out before Lloyd and Nya can explain It’s Okay, He’s Chill Now.  

17 - March of the Oni

Season 10.  Definitely adjusting the pacing because so much happened in so little time.  Totally having an entire episode dedicated to the introduction of the Oni and calling it “The Bringers of Doom” because kickass melodrama is the flavor of the day.   Also Echo and Morro have been added, and Morro very nearly yeets himself off the Bounty when Cole falls, only not also falling into the cloud because Jay catches him by the collar, because up to this point Cole was the Ninja closest with Morro and he was Not about to lose his Only Friend™. Also also the Falcon reappears, now in a shiny new body as another sentient Nindroid but with wings because bird go brr and calling himself Merlin.  He helps evacuate people and integrates into the group after the Oni shenanigans.

18 - Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu: The Fire Chapter

Season 11, part 1.  Gizmo and PIXAL become best friends building stuff together and Merlin helps them sometimes. Unlike the other Ninja, Morro did not go out of shape and thus is not being harassed by Wu.  In fact, he’s definitely helping Wu prank everyone.   Kai isn’t super out of shape, as, post-reforging the Golden Weapons, he’s taken up blacksmithing again and has in fact made all the Ninja’s weapons.  He has been slacking off in the combat training, however. Lloyd also isn’t completely out of shape I feel, but he is definitely slacking somewhat.   Oh and, while Echo and Gizmo stay behind, Merlin is definitely going into the Never-Realm to get his brother back.

19 - Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu: The Ice Chapter

Season 11, part 2.  Morro actually kinda enjoys the Never-Realm because he Does Not like really hot environments.  Sorla gives him some advice about the PTSD this man clearly has, and I might have him go after Cole to find the Traveller’s Tree because Only Friend™.  Also this is where we learn he has Iron Deficiency Anemia because he starts fainting and such.  Not a fun time. Merlin has Bonding Time™ with all the Ninja and proves to be really useful as a flyer. Also Echo helps PIXAL during the episode with the Preeminent, but he’s incapacitated so she still gets her dramatic I’m The Only Line Of Defense moment.

20 - Prime Empire

Season 12.  Somehow Jay’s mother Liberty is being used for Prime Empire, I’m just not sure how.  Also the season might start earlier, with Jay getting a letter from his hitherto-unknown sister Ivy Gordon asking for help to find their missing mom. Also not sure how Echo and Merlin will fit into this season, but I’ll figure it out.  Merlin is going to be very pissed when the Mechanic abducts Zane.   Morro enters Prime Empire and probably dies between Cole/Kai and Lloyd.  Also he gets an alt avatar form that just looks like the depressed teenage offspring of Hot Topic.

21 - Master of the Mountain

Season 13.  Morro ends up with Zane and Kai among the Geckles, and his anemia comes up again because the glop shit they’re given does not contain enough iron to keep this man conscious.  Oh and during the whole Trial by Mino thing, Morro’s just Jedi Flipping™ over the thing to keep from getting gored while Kai and Zane try to dodge.  And he’s probably the one who makes the slug fly down the ice slick. Likely to add some episodes about what’s going on at the Monastery like how they did in the Ice Chapter, covering the jailbreak that supposedly happens before the Island.

22 - Malediction

The fifth fan season.  Focuses on Morro and features Clouse as the villain, actually revealing his familial origins.  Takes place on Chen’s Island and Much Shenaniganry™ occurs. Not all of the Ninja are present for it, as Kai is visiting his parents and Cole is visiting Lou.   Also Lea is there looking for Ronin because he’s mysteriously vanished while out trying to catch escaped inmates from Kryptarium and she’s worried about him.  And this is when it’s finally revealed that Viridian from all the way back in Tournament is not, in fact, the Master of Glass, but rather Lea is.  After the Shenaniganry™, Lloyd offers for her to join the Ninja so she can better master her element and she accepts.

23 - The Island

Either a miniseries or season 14, people count it differently.  Lea is now officially one of the team, but they have not yet found her missing adoptive brother [Ronin].   Oh and Koko was on the expedition team with Misako and Wu and Clutch, and she’s Very Much Done with Clutch’s Shit™.   When they find the fake Wojira there’s still the bit like this: Lloyd: Who do we know that uses weird vehicles to get his way? Lea: Ronin! Lloyd: Actually I was gonna say the Mechanic, but that works too-- But instead of ending there it deviates slightly Lea: No, I mean--Ronin! And we get the reveal that Ronin had been captured by these hooligans while doing his bounty hunting and in fact the real mastermind was the Mechanic, who is then sent to prison while Ronin’s taken to a hospital.

24 - Throne of Glass

The sixth fan season, and Lea’s focus.  The city has finally gotten its act together long enough to elect the Kagami family as the new Imperial Family of Ninjago after Harumi nuked her parents.  This upsets Lea, because that is the family that cast her out.   Much Shenaniganry™ occurs, though like in Malediction only a few of the Ninja are here:  Jay and Nya are visiting with Jay’s family [Ed and Edna but also Liberty and his sister Ivy] Lloyd has been kidnapped by Koko to go off adventuring in some remote jungle somewhere And Zane, Merlin, Echo, and Gizmo have gone off to Do a Thing in honor of their late father Dr. Julien, with PIXAL coming along with.   Lea and Cole have a lot of Bonding™ as we learn about their shared history at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts, and Lea’s family tries to have her assassinated because Reasons™.  Dragon Amulets are found and used.   Also there’s a big fancy Imperial Ball that happens so Morro wears a dress to hide more knives on his person and Kai wears a dress because he’s a Fashion Victim™ and not to be outdone.  

25 - Seabound

Season 14 or 15 depending on how you count.  Morro’s powers start going wacky just like Nya’s, and he goes with them in the HydroBounty but Does Not have a Fun Time because thalassophobia/aquaphobia residual from his Ghosty Days.   Merlin, Echo, Gizmo, and Lea all vibe at the Monastery with Kai, Ray, and Cole and have an absolute blast. Also, after Kai calls Maya and she starts annoying Nya, Misako suggests that since Ronin helped her figure her powers out the first time Nya should call Ronin.  So she does, and now Maya and Ronin are competitively trying to help her. When Nya goes to merge with the sea, Morro follows her and merges with the sky.  While Nya has her nifty water dragon form he has a white tiger form.  Also he’s not got the same ‘call of the sea’ thing Nya has going on, so he mostly maintains his identity’s integrity.  

26 - Cloudburst Elegy

The seventh fan season covering shenanigans between Seabound and Crystallized.   So, much like how Nyad had also previously merged with the sea, there’s an elemental Master of Wind who had merged with the sky before Morro had and was semi-stuck in the white tiger form.  He causes shit [and is the reason Jay ends up at the lighthouse].  No one has a good time.

27 - Crystallized, Part I

Season 15-16, part 1.  Morro is also un-merged with his element, though in the process a giant white tiger also pops into existence; the other Wind Elemental.  Koko names him Benji and he’s a menace once he wakes up but is thoroughly perplexed by Koko, She Who Has No Fear, enough that he actually listens to her commands because whoever has the audacity to tell a tiger “Bad kitty!  Sit!” is worthy of respect. Ronin is still in prison in this season, but that’s because he broke into places to find a way to fix Nya.  He’s quite relieved to hear that she’s okay now. The whole scene where Lloyd convinces an inmate to be better still happens, but rather than be Ronin, it’s someone else: namely Eugene Chen, or Gene as the Darkly’s kids knew him, Skylor’s younger brother that was fleetingly foreshadowed by me in Tournament.  While Sky took over the noodle production, he took over the crime syndicate.  Lloyd convinces him to Do Better, and Gene sneaks out of Kryptarium the same time Pythor’s busted out. Speaking of, the Crystal Council actually tries to recruit Nadakhan [the alt timeline had been explained by the Ninja in a press conference so it’s common knowledge by now] but he declined for reasons to do with how I end Skybound, so they opt for their second choice: Pythor.  Pythor also declines initially, but he’s strong-armed into it by them taunting him with information on his son, Clancee. Also I’ve made Clancee be Pythor’s son by the way.

28 - Crystallized, Part II

Season 15-16, part 2.  So firstly when the Crystal Council comes for the Golden Weapons, I’m changing the assignment slightly.  Pythor gets the Shurikens of Ice [and fights Nya in the finale] while the Mechanic gets the Nunchucks of Lightning [and fights Jay in the finale].   Morro’s in the same boat as Nya on the power loss front and is with her, Wu, Skylor, PIXAL, Echo, and Gizmo when the Monastery’s blown up.   Lea and Merlin are with Cole, Kai, Zane, and Jay in the subway.  Koko was at Domu with Misako because Nerd Siblings™. Garmadon’s subplot with Lloyd is changed. Also there’s a whole subplot about the relationship between Ultra Violet and the Mechanic and it’s kinda sad.   Only the OG Ninja get fancy new vehicles, so Lea, Koko, and Morro were all on the Bounty when it went down.  Echo, Merlin, and Gizmo were all with PIXAL and Skylor in the Sam X cave for those shenanigans. Lea, Koko, and Morro end up navigating the city together.  Merlin, Echo, PIXAL, and Skylor all entered city separately to try and avoid detection.  PIXAL found Zane first and then Merlin found her, Zane, and the inmates at Borg Tower later.  Echo ended up with Jay and Nya.  During the Distress Calls sequence, while Lloyd leaves a message for the Serpentine, Cole tries to broadcast to Shintaro, and Nya sends fish to Merlopia, Morro has the wacky idea to message the Never-Realm and manages to contact Sorla with magic Bansha taught him, while Kai suggest calling Faith for help and Wu does so with some Traveller’s Tea one of the paperkids found. In the ‘allies unite’ sequence, in addition to everyone who shows up, Gene appears with his crew of criminals, Nadakhan appears with his Sky Pirates, Akita and Kataru pop out of a portal from the Never-Realm, and Faith flies in on Firstbourne with some of her Dragon Riders.   The OG Ninja are the only ones who can do the Dragon Form since they’re the sub-elements of Creation, and when they release their powers it just gives Lloyd the Golden Power again instead of making a gold dragon for him to ride that just disappears at the end because my god that was so dumb... Harumi is sent to prison for her various atrocities, along with most of the Crystal Council.  Vania does come to collect her father and take him back to Shintaran prison.  Also we finally find out that Mr. F/Mr. E is actually the rebuilt remains of Cryptor that I hinted at in Rebooted.  And also that the Sons of Garmadon general Tempest was secretly Morro all along.   The inmates who helped [Ronin, Killow, Ultra Violet, and Fugi-Dove] all get their sentences changed so they can do ‘public service’ instead and they end up working at Skylor’s noodlehouse since Skylor becomes a full-time Ninja.  Killow cooks, Fugi-Dove does waitressing, and Ultra Violet handles customer service while Ronin supervises them.   The Sons of Garmadon [Harumi, Killow, Ultra Violet, Mr. F, and Morro] have a very messy and complicated reunion, but they all work out their grudges and rebuild their friendships, with everyone agreeing to work for good from now on.  Pythor is reunited with Clancee after centuries.   Akita and Kataru decide to stay in Ninjago while Faith returns to her realm.  

The story doesn’t end there, I’ve just not worked out everything following that.

[alaffy]

Bridgerton, Ep. 3x04 – Old Friends (Spoilers)

Again, I am grateful at the clip this season has been going.  There are things that need to happen for the story to make sense, but they don’t last longer than they need to.  Especially in the case of Penelope and Colin. We don’t need a long, drawn-out love story because we’ve been watching it for two seasons.  In season one, it was obvious Colin still saw Penelope as a friend.  Season two, it was obvious that his feelings were growing for her, even though he probably didn’t realize it at the time.

So, there’s no need to spend most of the season watching them fall in love.  They are in love.  Their feelings aren’t what the conflict is about, it’s what will happen when he finds out she’s Whistledown.  Which is clearly the focus of the next four episodes.

As for this episode, well, we find out the both Featherington girls might be pregnant.  The world is truly doomed.

Will is having a harder time adjusting to his new life.  Or rather, he’s having a hard time seeing why it might be best on letting go of the old one.  But, honestly though, it seems like people’s biggest issue is that he’s working as the bartender?  It seems like he could still own the club?  I don’t know, given this story usually only has a few scenes per episode, it feels as though it’s tacked on to keep the two characters in the show.

Benedict is still dallying with the widow.

Lady Danbury’s brother seems to have taken a shine to Violet.  I would like to know what, exactly, is going on between him and Lady Danbury.  It’s clear there’s been some falling out.  Or, at least, that’s true on Danbury’s end.  I would would wonder if he was the one who arranged her marriage, but that happened when she was three and he can’t be that much older than her.  He did mention that he ended up happy in his arranged marriage, and we know she was not…maybe that’s it? She resents that he found some happiness? Seems a bit of a stretch, though. So, what could it be?

The Queen thinks that she’s created the perfect match for Francesca.  However, it seems not the case.  Francesca seems to have found that match in Lord Kilmartin.  The Queen is not going to be very happy.  (On a side note, I like how we’re now seeing more of a connection between The Queen and Brimsley.)

I do think Francesca’s story is quite sweet, even though I haven't spent much time on it. The idea of finding someone you just enjoy being around. He literally was able to show his feelings for her by rearranging a song just like she thought it should sound.

Eloise, again, is more there to support Cressida.  But it’s very clear that Cressida is the way she is because of her horrible family.  The more I learn about what Debling really wants in a wife, the more I think she might be perfect if she’s just herself.

So, what does Debling want in a wife?  Well, the thing is, he wants a practical marriage.  He’s about to go away for about three years and he needs someone to take care of his household while he’s gone.  So, he needs someone he can get along with while he’s here, but someone who’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself and having her own interests while he’s away.  And Penelope seems to fit that role, which is why he plans to propose to her at The Queen’s ball.

However, first he must ask Lady Featherington’s permission.  Which she gives and then proceeds to tell just about everyone that he’s going to propose.  Meanwhile, Penelope has just sort of accepted the fact that her marriage is more of a business transaction. 

Colin, on the other hand, is trying to distract himself from his feelings.  Oh, look it’s the two ladies again.  Which again, I’m trying to figure out why suddenly we have a Bridgerton who…well, no, if this had been Benedict I wouldn’t have been surprised.  But it’s like why Colin of all of them?  Like is this symbolic of his going overboard with his newfound personality?  Anyway, even they can’t satisfy him anymore.  Nor can the company of his “friends” who he’s seems to matured beyond. 

Of course, this isn’t going to last long as his mother is Violet Bridgerton and she isn’t going to let any of her children miss marriage opportunities.  When Colin begs off The Queen’s ball, Violet goes for the fucking throat, saying that Debling is going to propose to Penelope that evening and Colin shouldn’t let opportunities pass him by.

So, yeah, Colin ends up at the ball.  And he’s sees Penelope and Debling dancing together and it’s clear Debling is about to purpose.  So, Colin asks to cut in, shocking the Ton.

Cressida uses the opportunity to dance with Debling and mentions how Colin and Penelope live across the street from one another.  This causes Debling to come to a realization.  Meanwhile, Colin tells Penelope that Debling is all wrong from her and she is, quite understandable, upset with him.  As far as she’s aware, Colin does not have feelings for her and is ruining her only chance to get away from her family.

Penelope sees Debling starting to leave and she goes after him.  He tells her that, even though love is not a requirement for the marriage; he cannot have a wife whose feelings are elsewhere as he will be gone most of the time.   I mean, I get it, but it’s clear this was just a way to get him out of the way. 

Anyway, Penelope is pissed and she leaves the ball.  But Colin chases after her and catches up to her carriage?  (I mean, I know it wasn’t moving quickly, but it had already left before Colin came outside.  And he stood there for a moment.  Dude must have full out sprinted after that thing). 

The carriage stops and Colin asks Penelope if he can ride inside so he can talk to her.  Penelope agrees, but tells the driver that they are dropping Colin off at his home.  She then tells Colin she doesn’t want to speak to him.  But he can’t help himself; he has to explain why he couldn’t allow her to agree to marrying Debling.  And he lets her know that he loves her.  Of course, she finally admits her own feelings.  And then they let their passions carry them away in the carriage (which would have been a more thrilling moment if they had closed the curtains in the carriage.  I, instead, got distracted by the fact that it seemed like that the same buildings kept rolling by in the background).

Of course, they aren’t able to go all the way as they end up at the Bridgerton home.  Colin asks Penelope to come inside with him.  Penelope seems surprised as it’s very late at night.  At which point, Colin just straight up asks her to marry him.  Again, this makes perfect sense. Why would he ruin her one chance at getting away from her family, if he wasn't committed to proposing himself? And why draw it out?

And now the fun begins…

[i-legit-dont-know-what-im-doing]

How Friendship Hates Magic would go in my “HDLW grow up with their Duck Cousins counterparts” AU (It is recommended that you read What Ever Happened to Della Duck (link to post), The Golden Spear (link to post), and Nothing Can Stop Della Duck (link to post) first for the Webby introductions because she is in this one):

The episode starts with Dewey taking Webby to the library •  When discussing their lives the Shadow Wars (Part 1, Part 2) were brought up and Dewey told her about Lena and how she had become a shadow and he showed her the books he had gotten to research ways to bring her back •  Webby asked if she could help him and he immediately agreed because he rarely gets to spend time with kids his age

Neither of them notices that Dewey’s shadow seems to have glowing eyes on occasion

Lena follows them around, boredly narrating Dewey’s routine although clearly bothered by the fact that Webby’s there now •  She makes several vague threats of what will happen if Webby is lying about who she is and where she’s been and tries to hurt Dewey since they were practically like brother and sister before she got banished to the shadow realm, but of course neither of the younger ducks can hear her •  Important Note: Lena and Dewey are 1000000% platonic in this, they see each other more as siblings. Any jealousy Lena shows towards Webby and Violet in this is purely because she doesn’t want them taking her place as Dewey’s best friend. He was her first friend and the first person to show her that how Magica treated her was wrong so she’s a bit possessive. Same reason for why she’s possessive of Webby in the show (although I know some people view them as romantic which is why I’m making it clear that here she and Dewey are platonic)

They go to ask for the book, finding Quackfaster working there, and Lena attempts to convince herself Dewey that she’ll be fine in the shadow realm

Quackfaster says they can’t have the book since someone else has already checked it out and points them to a purple hummingbird sitting at a nearby desk

Webby, without hesitation, goes to try and introduce herself only to be stopped by the girl putting up her hand, finishing her page, and finally putting the book down to see what Webby wants

She points out that the book is written in Ancient Syriac and might be a little advanced

To which the girl responds with “So am I,” in perfect Ancient Syriac

Dewey gasps and runs over and, in Ancient Syriac says, “You speak Ancient Syriac? Me, too! Along with Conversational Akkadian.” •  Scrooge and Beakley had several old language books laying around and Dewey was barely allowed out of the manor for the first ten years of his life so he had a lot of time to pick up the languages •  Although, his speech is slightly less coherent that Webby’s is in the show

The girl confirms she knows it and pulls out some old Norse and Dewey responds in kind

Webby jumps in with, “I know some Moon Landrian!” and gets some confused looks before the other girl just nods, and stands to introduce herself to Dewey and Webby •  I don’t know if the Moon Landers have a language in the show or what it’s called so I’ve decided they do and it’s Moon Landrian

Violet instantly recognizes Dewey as Turbo Dewford Duck of McDuck Manor, trusted companion in many of Scrooge McDuck’s adventures and his great nephew to boot

Dewey instantly confirms and asks if she’s a fan before remembering Webby and introducing her as, “Webbigail Vanderquack of McDuck Manor, trusted companion of his mother Della Duck while on the moon.

”Webby tacks on “Granddaughter of the Housekeeper.” at the end

Lena is immediately suspicious and wants to just grab the book and go, and is only made more suspicious when Violet starts asking about Dewey’s experiences with the supernatural

Lena is especially not happy when they end up planning a sleepover

Beakley is glad for a quiet night in with her tea when Webby and Dewey come bouncing into the dining room to tell her all about their sleepover

She’s happy that Dewey is getting back onto the friendship horse and that both of them are making more friends outside of each other

She’s especially impressed given how Dewey’s previous sleepovers have ended in magic fights

Dewey start to get nervous and Lena hopes that he’ll reconsider and cancel the sleepover with Violet, but Webby says that those sound awesome but she’s sure it will totally be fine this time and they’ll just make sure it’s a completely normal sleepover

She then immediately asks what a normal sleepover entails leading to Dewey panicking and deciding that they need to hide anything mystical, cursed, or adventurous

Beakley assures them that they should just be themselves, and Dewey says that unlike her they need friends •  This leads to the Beakley and Launchpad subplot that I’m not going to cover since it’s essentially the same and also it’s been half an hour since I started and I’m barely five minutes into the episode

Webby and Dewey finished hiding anything strange in Dewey’s room in the attic when they hear the doorbell and rush to get it before Ducksworth because, Ghost Butler

They invite Violet in and Webby is very interested in the pie (she grew up on black licorice gum), Lena however thinks Violet is up to something

When they get to Dewey’s, very empty, room Violet tells them about Tulpas •  “Manifestations of powerful emotions–hatred, jealousy, greed. They live in a dark realm adjacent to our reality.”

She explains that it’s the best explanation she has for what happened during the Shadow War

Dewey quickly interrupts and suggests they play Baggle

Violet points out that she’s here to review the book and Webby points out that they have plenty of time for books and they should play a game or do icebreakers since it’s a sleepover

Violet agrees and instantly asks what they know about Magica DeSpell and the Shadow War

Lena takes Violet asking about Magica as proof she can’t be trusted, but Dewey suggests makeovers to change the subject

Violet points out his weird behavior when it comes to the supernatural and Dewey grabs both of their hands and says that they have sparkles which gets Webby excited enough to help pull Violet along with them for the makeovers

When they leave Lena finds Magica’s amulet in Violets bag and runs to warn Dewey

She finds the three of them doing special effects makeup •  Violet and Webby have their Rakshasa and beaten up looks from the show, Dewey has a sort of zombie thing going on (I honestly don’t know so if anyone else has any ideas for his look let me know)

Violet says she thinks her fangs are off-kilter and Dewey says it’s because he has a crooked fang from a poker brawl and he has proof before realizing he said to much

Violet asks where and Webby panics and says “definitely not in the attic” •  Unfortunately Lena starts to wonder if Webby meant to say that and is actually working with Violet because why would she share her secrets

Violet runs off towards the attic and Dewey and Webby follow with Lena protesting that it’s a trap

Webby asks if Violet is weirded out by all the magical stuff but Violet says it’s fascinating and that she thinks there’s an ectoplasmic aura coming from Dewey’s friendship bracelet

Lena sees Violet touching it and runs over to try and push her hand away but of course she just falls right through them

Dewey quickly assures her that it’s nothing and takes the bracelet off and hides it in his pocket

Violet, Webby, and Dewey decide to play Rune-Baggle and Lena decides to try to use the runes to communicate with Dewey

After Violet repeats an incantation causing the runes to glow Lena attempts to hit them across the room and is shocked to find that it works

Dewey suggests it was nothing but the runes start to move as Lena arranges them

Violet tries to read the runes but Dewey isn’t as quick to jump to that, only moving to translate when Webby asks him about certain parts

Lena is very frustrated and starts thinking that Violet and Webby are either intentionally trying to distract Dewey from the obvious “Don’t Trust Her” message or they’re just giants nerds

Violet has the three of them kneel and hold hands which only makes Lena more upset

However Lena is quickly distracted by spirits beginning to form

She grabs a sheet and tries to use that to communicate but they can’t hear her and assume that she’s an evil spirit summoned by them

Violet tries to attack but is thrown off and into her bag, knocking the amulet free while Lena tries to get Dewey to see what's happening

Violet shoots magic at Lena and reveals her for just long enough for her to call out Dewey’s name

He sees Violet with the amulet  and tackles her to demand to know where she got it

Violet explains how she found it during the Shadow War and how it sparked an interest in the supernatural

She’s asks if they’ve ever felt sheltered when there was something just out of reach and Dewey and Webby each think back to their lonely childhoods spent listening to the stories of the incredible feats that their guardians did before they were born

Lena isn’t happy that Dewey is buying Violet’s spiel but Dewey just tells her not to mess with the amulet since he’s already lost one friend to the Shadow Realm

Webby puts a hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort and Lena puts one on the hand holding the amulet

Violet suggests that they might be able to bring Lena back using Magica’s amulet

Dewey and Webby agree to try it after a quick shared glance

The trio set up candles for the ritual and sit in the middle of them holding hands with the amulet between them

Lena tries to tell Dewey that Violet’s using him, and she should know, but the amulet starts to levitate and flies into her chest as more spirits form and take the shape of Magica, taunting her

The spirits surround the trio and Lena panics and grabs their joined hands in an attempt to warn Dewey that it’s a trap

The three are pulled into the Shadow Realm and Dewey tackles Lena into a hug when he sees her

Unfortunately Violet and Webby have to break up the reunion on account of all the Tulpas in the form of Magica drawing nearer

Dewey pulls away to try to introduce Lena to the other two but Lena interrupts and accuses them both of being spies and thieves and trying to replace her while the Tulpas surround them

Lena tells Violet and Webby to get away from Dewey only for the Tulpas to take Lena’s form and drag Dewey away from them

Lena, Violet, and Webby run after them and Lena blames Violet, saying that if she hadn’t meddled with magic Dewey would still be safe

Violet points out that the Tulpas are manifestations of great desire to which Lena says it’s Violet’s desire for magical power

Violet shoots back that it could be Lena’s desire not to be forgotten by Dewey and that the Tulpas took Lena’s form

A Tulpa attacks them and Violet says that they’re manifestations of Lena’s jealousy and want to keep Dewey with her

Lena admits that might be the case but tries to keep arguing only for Webby to interject with the fact that even if they have nothing in common they do all care about Dewey, just as he calls for help

Lena and Violet call a truce to chase after him with Webby

The Tulpas try to take him out the door and Violets says that if he leaves the manor they might never get him back

Lena says not on her watch and grabs Violet and Webby’s hands

She begins an incantation:                     “With the hands of my friend’s friends,                      We bring bitter jealousy to its ends.”

The amulet seems to glow in Lena’s chest and Violet and Webby join in and the three walk towards Dewey and the Tulpas as the Shadow Realm seems to fade into the normal world behind them

Dewey’s bracelet starts to glow in his pocket and causes the Shadow Realm to dissipate behind him as well

As the realm fades away it starts to take Lena with it

Dewey starts to tear up and Lena grabs his hand

He reaches out to Violet and Webby and the four join hands and are surrounded by a blue glow as the bracelet rises from Dewey’s pocket and circles them, creating blue smoke clouds

When the smoke dissipates Lena is standing there, back in her normal form and Dewey pulls them all into a group hug

The four return to their sleepover as Lena explains where she’s been

Dewey says that he’s got his old best friend and his new best friends, Webby says they’ve got pie •  The poor girl grew up on black licorice gum she deserves to get excited over pie. And yes, I know I’m the reason she grew up on it, shut up.

I spent nearly two hours on this Jesus Christ. So, the first post I ever made for this AU was made August 1st, 2020, so nearly three years ago. And the post I made for how The House of the Lucky Gander went (link to post) was made August 12th, 2020, so also nearly three years ago and I’ve left them on a cliffhanger for that whole time, but now I only have to get through What Ever Happened to Donald Duck before I can finally do [REDACTED] and I am very excited for both of those things so I am going to try to get there before August 12th this year so you all can finally learn what happened to Louie and Gladstone. I’d also like to do Doomsday Vault sometime since that episode would be extremely different since I left Della on the moon. I am genuinely sorry that it’s taken this long to get here, but as I’ve stated in a previous post the “how __________ would go in my HDLW grow up with their Duck Cousins counterparts AU would go” post take insanely long and a lot of energy because I watch the whole episode and pause for bullet points so that I don’t miss anything. Also, if you are someone who sent me an ask god knows how long ago, I’ve seen it, I know it’s there, I just didn’t have the energy to answer it when I got it and by the time that I did have the energy I had forgotten about them. Hopefully I’ll be able to go through and answer as many asks as I can. And if anyone wants to send me one now, feel free to but it might take me some time to get to it depending on the question.

Important Links/Info For AU

[forcebookish]

Sometimes I think. You know. I probably would have enjoyed only friends more if I didn’t see people saying stuff like “Boston and Nick had the healthiest relationship among all the couples!” On this hellsite.

I actually don’t think it was terrible. Especially after rewatching it. But I can see the flaws and things that could have been done better.

I saw someone say that it’s a show that feels like halfway through airing someone edited the episodes badly not caring about continuity. Like that there was meddling somewhere along the way. And honestly I sort of agree. Something feels. Off. About the way things were handled. Like if the Top and Mew smashing stuff scene was removed from its episode, why was it still in the trailer for that episode? Was it that down to the wire. That seems like a bad idea to edit major scenes out that close to air time.

I will forever mourn the loss of a scene of Force acting his ass off as Top while realizing he isn’t over Mew cause he can’t hook up with someone else.

Anyway. It was still nice to see the actors all get to stretch as performers and go outside of high school and tell slightly more mature stories, even if it was far from perfect.

oh, p'jojo literally confirmed that they were re-editing every week based on fan reactions. it doesn't just feel like it was meddled with, it straight up was! and definitely to the detriment of the story.

however, there are some glaring issues that still would have been present without the hack-job the series got, because it's not just the editing that goes off the rails in the end: the writing suffered as they ran out of ideas while also trying to cram ideas that didn't fit into the narrative (read: boeing's pointlessness). they should have spent more time workshopping and fleshing out boeing's character. in a series full of well-rounded, realistic characters he just felt tacked on and couldn't even serve the purpose of developing said characters. it's like they couldn't decide between being a show that actually explored these relationships and friendships or being a show where everyone just kissed for no reason. you can thread the needle between horny and well-crafted storytelling, but it fell apart.

it is HYSTERICAL to me that people think that nickboston was the healthiest. yeah, the couple where one of them bugged the other's car out of jealousy then listened to the sounds of him fucking another guy on repeat, leading to the other shouting at him and hitting him at his place of work... only to end up together literally only because nick was the only person left in boston's life who loved him... broke up because boston, despite saying he wanted a relationship, kissed some rando while on a date with nick. they only ever talked about what they really wanted out of the relationship in subtext and code or when it was too late.

yeah. picture of health.

i really need fandom, BUT BL FANDOM ESPECIALLY, to stop measuring couples based on their "health." although it can be a perk to certain ships, it's not the point. nickboston being unhealthy is what makes them interesting! they're both super fucked up and the unpackable baggage between them makes them fun to watch! that's not to say that a fictional couple who are healthy can't be interesting, but that just doesn't apply to nickboston.

THAT BEING SAID, topmew are easily the healthiest couple in the series, but a fandom that focuses on top having to "change" for mew (soooo, quitting drugs for someone is only good when ray does it?) of course isn't going to notice the way they navigate the relationship through talking about their feelings and desires while setting boundaries is what a healthy relationship actually takes. and even without the inciting incident, that dynamic was still interesting because there was still tension within the relationship. that's what actually makes relationships in media interesting: tension. the characters have a give and take, either they clash or play off each other. a healthy relationship is about wanting the same thing out of it and working toward that goal together: that goal can still be interesting.

and i'm not just saying that because i prefer them over the other couples, because I WANT TO REITERATE, THE HEALTH OF A FICTIONAL RELATIONSHIP IS NOT SOMETHING NEEDED FOR IT TO BE APPEALING. and it's really annoying how fandom will just say that a ship is healthy when really they mean, "i like it." you can just like things, mary.

and yeah, i probably would have enjoyed the series more if i hadn't seen this fandom's bullshit every week - but even if i'd binged it those last episodes would have driven me crazy with how much they lost the plot. and i just... really can't get over how annoying ray is. if i do rewatch it, i'm probably going to skip most, if not all, of his scenes because i truly cannot stand his whining. i see those "na, naa, naaa, naaaaaa" compilations and i go ????? really???? you all like this??? "you would give in too" no i would the fuck not

maybe i'll just stick to that topmew-only cut for the time being🤷‍♀️

as always, i wrote too much and i mostly just repeated myself, but thanks for stopping by and giving me an excuse to rant, anon!🥰

[sallysellsseashellssundays]

Disclaimer: This post is going to be Anti Moffat for anyone who’s reading and is a fan you’ve been warned.  

“The Wedding of River Song” is the thirteenth episode and aside from being a boring episode it was, unfortunately, also my least favorite season finale.

The Good: I haven’t watched Classic Who, but I do know the Brigadier is a very important person in the Doctor’s life and I saw his character in one of the episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Having his death in the show to reflect that of the actor’s was incredibly beautiful, and I liked that it seemed to be the moment the Doctor realized it was his time reminding me a lot of Ten and Wilf. The different settings where time is happening all at once looked really cool, and there were some funny jokes especially with Emperor Churchill.

The Bad: I think the reason I feel like I don’t know Amy and Rory that well is b/c instead of developing them as characters for two seasons now we keep getting fake/different versions of them, there’s always a plot twist of “oh actually that wasn’t the real version of them” and frankly it’s tiring. This finale felt like a rehashed poorly done version of previous concepts. All the “voices” saying they’ll help reminded me of everyone thinking of the Doctor at the end of S3, and the different realities reminded me of the end of S5. The Doctor leaving Dorium’s head again in that place was horrible, why not take him to his home or at least some fancy hotel? 

The River storyline being the absolute worst:  That comment about how River spends her days in prison and her nights with him was disgusting, if she didn’t really kill him why on earth is the Doctor making sure she’s serving time?? The fact that we’ve seen her slip in and out of prison easily so many times leads to the horrifying implication that the Doctor just takes her out whenever he pleases like she’s some sort of...idk but that was awful. I genuinely did go into Moffat’s era trying to keep an open mind when it came to her character b/c I was under the impression it was going to be an interesting love story with their timelines not matching. But this has fallen apart in the most horrible ways with everything regarding River seemingly being tacked on w/o any actual thought. How in the world did River convince Ten to trust her in the library? He said that she knew his name, but here he didn’t actually tell her his name...unless later he tells her to fulfill that paradox. But even then I really thought that he would grow to love her in his own way, but the way he treated her here was awful “I don’t want to marry you” and “you embarrass me”. The fact that she loves him when he acts like that with her is probably my least favorite thing Moffat could have ever done. On that same note River saying no one loves the Doctor more than her would feel far more impactful if we actually saw them interacting more in a healthy way, instead we’re just constantly told that they are going on trips and we’re to assume they enjoy spending time with each other when on screen I’ve never once gotten the sense that he actually cares for her. She wanted to rewrite time itself instead of killing him which I suppose I could understand her doing if they’d had a more believable love story, but her relationship with him seems more obsessive and toxic than anything. She knew them touching would cause time to move forward and fix itself, but she wouldn’t allow it until he married her essentially blackmailing him. And Eleven only marrying her to whisper his escape plan seemed horribly manipulative as well, it’s obvious it matters far more to her than him and for him to play into that obsession seems really dark. And I’m not even sure if that counts as their wedding if he didn’t tell her his name? I don’t know enough about the lore, but I was under the impression from the library episode that it was a requirement. 

The Unresolved: Apparently there’s a bigger story to tell with the Trenzalore stuff.

Overall I feel disappointed, I have now watched six series of DW and my biggest concern is that I was so unbelievably bored during this episode and several others in this series. The Doctor telling Churchill how everything played out felt like someone was reading the script out to me instead of me watching things play out on screen. I had a really rough time getting through these episodes, but I’m still staying optimistic that it was a dud and next series is better. I think the thing I feel the saddest about is that I don’t find myself loving the characters as much as I used to in the past, Amy has really grown on me, but even then I don’t feel the same attachment I do to the other companions I’ve seen.  

[mlobsters]

supernatural s14e12 prophet and loss (w. brad buckner, eugenie ross-leming)

feel like i'm just grinding through s14 at a decent pace. several times now they've made me had minor (to moderate) breakdowns and i just want to keep plowing through because i don't want the breakdowns to last more than one day 🫠 been a long time since a season made me cry so much. and especially with mid-season episodes? but it feels more.... hm. calculated. like when i bitched about 4 months suddenly equals 40 years in hell etc.

ranted about it in 9x09 because i don't think i was making my feelings known here for every episode back in s4

instead i just sighed because “trust me, kevin” and “i always end up screwed :)” so now dean’s gonna feel guilty. he’s already feeling guilty enough, did we need that too? when they push too hard on the excessive dean whump, i get annoyed. like the whole 4 months=40 years, i enjoyed torturing people, etc. edgelord bullshit :P

except instead of getting mad about it being edgelord bullshit now, i'm just feeling brokenhearted and manipulated. very not fun times. it's too much too close together to the jack thing and too similar to things they've done in the past, i think. is why it's pushing me away so hard.

dean's nightmare in the box / suicidal deathbed-esque convo also with interstellar-ish music / interstellar cornfield chase (c. hans zimmer) played by anna lapwood on the organ

well. dean's nightmare was awful. shades of him in hell calling out for sam. cannot fucking wait until this particular plotline gets snuffed out. and because i can't deal with not comparing this interstellar-ish music (it's in both spn scenes) i tacked it on to the end of this video too.

SAM Oh, hey. Didn’t mean to wake you. Sorry. DEAN No, it’s just a… bad dream. It’s fine. SAM You want to talk about it? DEAN No, I’m – No, I’m okay. DEAN What’re you doing? Why don’t you get some sleep? SAM You know, Dean, you don’t have to act like what you’re planning to do is just business as usual. I-I know you’re scared. DEAN Never said I wasn’t scared. But it doesn’t matter. SAM Doesn’t matter? We know we could die, uh, doing what we do. It’s always a possibility. But what you’re talking about is far worse than death. Michael’s an archangel. He could literally keep you buried in a coffin, alive, forever. DEAN Okay. I get it. But what’s the other option, huh? Michael gets outta my head and ends the world? ‘Cause it’s all right there in Billie’s book. SAM Yeah, but that’s only if we don’t find another way to take Michael off the board, and there has to be another way. DEAN And what is that other way? [SAM says nothing.] DEAN Exactly.

(but at least he wasn't sleeping in his jeans this time. oh and they're in an actual normal mid-price generic hotel room)

this reminds me a lot of the conversations in s5 about sammy going in the cage.

and like when i was watching the old guard, i'm like ah yes, stuck in a coffin in the ocean drowning over and over because you're immortal - i have heard this story before! on the vampire diaries! someone... stefan?? was stuck in a ...... safe? and pushed into a lake to repeatedly die and revive. 500 years and 3 months, respectively.

well this rando dude torturing and drowning a woman scene, also awful. jesus. we're committing to darker-than-usual i guess

CAS Sam. Maybe if I spoke with Dean… SAM It wouldn’t matter. Believe me, I-I I’ve never seen him like this. He won’t listen to me. H-He just – No. If we don’t find some way… Dean’s gone.

that interstellar-ish music again...

DEAN You ever think about when we were kids? SAM Maybe. Yeah, sure. Sometimes. W-Why? DEAN I know I wasn’t always the greatest brother to you. SAM Dean, you were the one who was always there for me. The only one. I mean, you practically raised me. DEAN I know things got dicey… you know, with dad… the way he was. And I just… I didn’t always look out for you the way that I should’ve. I mean, I had my own stuff, you know. In order to keep the peace, it probably looked like I took his side quite a bit. Sometimes when I was… when I was away, you know it wasn’t ‘cause I just ran out, right? Dad would… he would send me away when I really pissed him off. I think you knew that. SAM Man, I left that behind a long time ago. I had to. And if we’re gonna get through this, I-I have to do like you said and… try and keep my mind off of where we’re going. So, if we could not have conversations that sound like… deathbed apologies, I would really appreciate it. DEAN Right. Yeah.

listen i know this gets resolved somehow and i'm not gonna bail on this fucking project with a little more than a season left but i can't express how much i don't want to watch something that's making me cry so hard my head is killing me (more than it was already) on a regular basis. this is too many things that cut too close to home with characters i'm too attached to. sigh.

[moviemunchies]

[Doing another TV show review. This one can be found on Roku.]

Over a decade ago, the Sci-Fi Channel/SyFy was known for two things: terrible original monster movies, and great original television shows that it canceled too soon. Alphas was the first SyFy original series that I watched, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I was fairly impressed by it.

Alphas takes place in a world (perhaps the same world as Eureka and Warehouse 13) in which certain individuals, dubbed “alphas”, have enhanced physical or mental abilities–superpowers. Ordinary human psychologist Dr. Lee Rosen (played by David Strathairn) leads a government-funded team of alphas to investigate criminal cases involving alphas, especially regarding a secret activist group called Red Flag. Along the way, the team has to cope with their own problems–after all, each power comes with a physical or mental drawback.

This show came out about a year after the NBC series Heroes, I think? Do you remember Heroes? It was a show that everyone went nuts for even though I don’t know of anyone who has much positive to say about it after the first season (it also got hit by the Writers’ Strike in its run, so maybe not its fault). Alphas got a lot of comparison to Heroes. It had a much lower budget, but I think that it works in the show’s favor? It’s aiming for a more grounded attempt at superhero fiction, after all.

I do not want to call the superpowers in this show “realistic”; some of them are quite ridiculous! But they’re generally smaller in scale and the show works to create explanations that sound somewhat plausible. There’s an alpha who doesn’t turn invisible, as much as walk in people’s blindspots. There’s an alpha who can shapeshift, but he has to study his subject extensively before transformations. 

Leaning into that: a fascinating aspect of the powers in the show was that each one came with a disadvantage. Some of these are physical; on the team, for instance, Bill has enhanced strength that kicks in with his body’s fight-or-flight response. The problem is that his body can’t handle going through that for extended periods of time. Sometimes (and seemingly more often) the side effects are psychological; Nina, whose power is temporarily being able to mind control people, has significant trust issues and a tendency to use her ability for petty tasks like getting out of speeding tickets.

This adds a dimension to the powers–it helps build these characters, so that their powers don’t feel as if they’re just tacked on. The psychological aspects help the characters feel more grounded, as it questions how people would act if they had these powers, and the physical limitations puts boundaries on what the characters are capable of. There’s nothing as gaudy as time travel or throwing bolts of lightning here.

The main conflict of the series is between the government and the group Red Flag. It’s pointed out more than once that alphas have every reason to be antagonistic towards the US government, given its tendency to exploit and imprison alphas whenever they want. Many in Red Flag have sympathetic motivations and backstories, making the heroes wonder at times if they should really be fighting them at all.

If you decide to get invested in this series (which maybe you should, as it’s pretty good), you should be aware that it only lasted two thirteen-episode seasons, and it ends on a cliffhanger. Not one of those, “Oh, what happens next?” cliffhangers, a full-on, “Everything is screwed!” cliffhanger, that makes you think there must have been a really good plan for what happens next. That doesn’t change that the show is good, but you might end up deciding that it wasn’t worth getting worked up over a story that’s clearly unfinished.

But overall, Alphas is good. It’s really good. If you’re into superhero fiction, but won’t mind the lack of costumes or secret identities, this could be a good show to try. Or if you’re just interested in science-fiction series, it’d be worth giving Alphas a try.