#i love how 'us vs the world' s2 is. it makes for so many great whispered conversations

[gingerteaonthetardis]

The X-Files Season 2 + close talking

[moon-swag-tourney]

Propaganda below!

Princess Luna

Idk man, ponies? 

I just think she's neat.

I love herrrr. Both her OG design and the design they started using since s2 slap. She's so pretty. She's socially awkward-- understandable after being in isolation for a millennium. She just wants to make friends and also has a lot of guilt over becoming an evil being for a moment there and threatening to plunge the world into eternal night. She just wants to atone. Also pretty singing voice. 

horse :3

I think she's an interesting character. She had a corruption arc (albeit pre-series, though we did get a flashback at one point) and a redemption arc. There was at least one episode about people still being afraid of her and her having issues that she needed to work on and earn people's trust again. Idk it's like 2am and I haven't watch MLP in years but she's cool.

Princess Yue

She was blessed by the moon spirits than turned into the moon herself. No one can compete with that. 

The Sokka & Zuko "Well, my first girlfriend turned into the moon." / "That's rough, buddy." meme is referencing Yue - that's the girlfriend that turned into the moon!

THE moon character of all time like c'mon. she turned into the moon. will her sacrifice be for naught??? she's yue from avatar the last airbender c'mon guys

She sacrificed herself to save her people even though she had just found someone who loved her as a person and not a princess. She's all about sacrificing her own wants for duty, and right when she starts to realize maybe that's a little unfair she has to become the moon spirit and leave behind all the people she loves.

And she's pretty.

How many characters are the literal moon. How many.

Bro. She's the moon. She IS the moon. 

Vote Yue for Sokka's same

She's very much and selfless, becoming the moon spirit to save the world from permanent imbalance.

She IS the moon

That's rough, buddy

You know the meme "my girlfriend turned into the moon" "that's rough buddy". This is that girlfriend. This is that moon. 

She literally is the moon.

She played a major role for a one-off character

Victim of forced marriage

Her interactions with Sokka were really funny

She has white hair, what's not to love

Legitimately I love her, underappreciated in the fandom for how great she is.

"My first girlfriend turned into the moon."

"That's rough buddy."

"My first girlfriend turned into the moon."

"That's rough buddy." 

She died in a main character's arms & it fucked him up SO bad. It affects him thru to the end of the show & keeps coming up. LOVE it when main characters get traumatized!!

[butterflydm]

wot rewatch 1x4: the dragon reborn

spoilers for s1 of the show plus the s2 teasers and trailers, plus through The Dragon Reborn ish in the books. And one casting spoiler for S3.

I really do love the cold opens. This one tells us so much! We're introduced to Logain but we're also introduced to the corruption on saidin, to how much power can be wielded by users of the One Power, and to how the corruption can both influence someone but Logain still has the choice of whether or not to listen to the voices talking to him.

We see the madness in Logain but also his own strength of character and ability to show mercy even when he's hearing whispers that he should just kill those opposed to him. Great preview of the future for Rand. Especially since Moiraine is going to later on believe that Logain hearing the voices of 'the previous Dragon' to be a sign that he isn't the Dragon Reborn, but it's another thing that she's got her wishful thinking goggles on for.

"There's a place for anyone at my side, even my enemies." ; "The last Dragon broke the world; I plan to bind it." I feel like we're seeing the seeds of some of the choices that Rand will also make in the future here, already being set up (the benefits of being able to tell the story knowing the ending). Logain understands the assignment... he's just not the actual rebirth of the last Dragon.

So we go from Logain at the height of his strength to Nynaeve looking over the camp where he's captured. Having the Greens join the Reds on this hunt makes a lot of sense -- we know that this specific one was requested for by the White Tower, and we can see the difference between this approved hunt to take down a false Dragon (where he gets shielded and put in a cage to stand trial back in Tar Valon) vs the Red-only "gentle ASAP" approach from the cold open of the first episode. Authorized vs unauthorized hunts.

It makes a ton of logistical sense for them to scale down the number of people required to hold the shield on Logain. Just from a 'how many characters we're going to have in this scene' standpoint. Jordan could have as many characters in a scene as he wanted, because he didn't need to have any actors playing them. Plus, this way, we can focus more on the characters that do exist and really get to know them better.

So we already have two factions set up -- Kerene supporting the Amyrlin and Tower Law, and Liandrin arguing that they have the right to administer 'field justice'. Will the fault line of the coup fall along similar lines? I also think it was a good idea to have the Vileness currently happening rather than having happened in the past.

I love all the insights we get in these episodes about Warders, and Warders having their own subculture within the White Tower. And the fun confirmation that Moiraine and Lan are Just Like That and are closed off even to other Aes Sedai and Warders.

Also love all the Lan & Nynaeve build-up that we get as well. <3 a lot of good bonding time and banter and I love that she just clicks with the Warders.

The time that Egwene and Perrin spend with Aram & co is very lovely and charming. Removing Elyas from the equation and putting the hesitation on Perrin was a good move, because it lets the Tuatha'an explain themselves rather than having them explained by an outsider who disapproves of their ways.

Everything about Rand and Mat's roadtrip with Thom is so great. 10/10 would have loved another episode of it but since Amazon didn't let them have one, I do think they did a great job of boiling the trip down to both the narrative and emotional essentials. It really does make me curious about how Thom will be weaved back into the story because he only has connections to three characters now (I'm assuming the backstory with Elayne is intact), rather than knowing the whole troupe, so it feels like it needs to be Rand or Mat that bring him back into the story, but we'll have passed the canon moments when that happens.

There is so much useful lore information in Alanna and Moiraine's convo that show haters just flat-out ignored because it didn't fit their narratives - Alanna straight-up talks about not being able to see Logain's weaves!

Protective!Rand really begins to peek out in this episode, even here at the start with the farmer but more and more as Mat gets worse. Also poor Rand and Mat are covered in mud.

13. Mat and bonding with little girls! If we do get Olver, I hope we get a young girl instead of a boy, to keep on theme. And Birgitte namedrop, still exciting to hear.

14. Last episode, Thom bonded with Mat and, this episode, he bonds with Rand (over concern about Mat). Thom also helpfully puts the idea into Rand's head that Mat has 'all the signs' of being a male channeler, accidentally enabling Rand's massive case of denial that lasts until Moiraine heals Mat and tells them it was the dagger causing his issues. Oh, Thom's story is so heartbreaking here. And Thom promises here to try to keep the two of them safe, and away from Aes Sedai. Really really curious how this setup will play out when Thom returns in s3.

15. Nynaeve getting through her moment of poly confusion now is a great little moment of setup for the viewers too -- showing that this can be acknowledged as a valid relationship in this world. And we will maybe get a hint about Aiel culture next season as well.

16. Poor Moiraine and her pangs of uncertainty over Logain. Uncertainty that will only grow once Nynaeve's power is revealed.

17. Last episode, it was Rand's turn to remind us about his relationship with Egwene -- this episode, it's Egwene's turn, during her private conversation with Aram. I do love Egwene falling into a new culture and immediately finding things about it to love and appreciate. And Perrin is taking the Tuatha'an more seriously than in the books, because it's so much more grounded in the reality and the faith of their world and culture.

18. Rand trying to comfort and reassure Mat, I'm fine. Totally fine. Not emotional at all. And even before they know that the Fade is there in the farmhouse, Thom and Rand are just wanting to get Mat out and safe. Thom is ride or die for these kids after knowing them for a handful of days.

19. Nynaeve is SO curious about Lan and so hesitant to admit to it. You are not intruding! He already has a big crush on you! It's such a lovely moment between them.

20. Moiraine taking advantage of the attack to interrogate Logain... Lirandrin taking advantage of the battle as a reason to justify gentling Logain... they get to be shadows and mirrors of each other too. (Did Liandrin let her part of the shield drop to try to manufacture an excuse, once she realized that his army was attacking or was it just her genuinely taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity once she's able? If Liandrin is being sincere then that lends weight to the speculation that she isn't Black Ajah yet and we'll see her wooed into it over the early parts of S2)

21. I do think it was, again, very smart of the show to actually show us the effects of an Aes Sedai and Warder's bond being severed before it happens to any main characters. And we actually get to see Greens being the Battle Ajah here too.

22. Nynaeve's power burst here really creates another point of uncertainty for Moiraine about the identity of the Dragon Reborn. If Nynaeve is stronger than Egwene, then Egwene cannot be the Dragon. But Nynaeve is too old to fit the prophecy. So now Moiraine has some thinking to do.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

My Top 12 TGaMM S2 songs (in no particular order)

Kinda like in Centaurworld, I found more songs in S1 than S2 that I liked but that's not to say that the songs weren't enjoyable. It's just a shame I won't be able to make a S3 list T_T

Anyways, here's my Top 12 TGaMM S2 songs in no particular order:

12. Frightful No More [A Doll to Die For]

It's great to hear Lord Hater again and a song that's an homage to "Everything's Coming Up Roses" (Gypsy) and "The Rain in Spain" (My Fair Lady)...at least that's what it make me think of.

11. It's Just Your Masterpiece in You [Faint of Art]

This episode was a pretty nice message on art block and a fear of failure that a lot of artists face, especially when they haven't done anything in years. I tend to procrastinate by snacking, which of course I can't draw with food fingers (even when using a napkin) so I gotta wait till it goes away, oh whoops, now the days ended, oh well, tomorrow...

10.Thai Culture Cram [100% Molly McGee]

A fun song showing the lengths that Molly is willing to go to learn half of her culture. Granted she didn't realize that this stuff takes time but she's on the right path.

9.Me & My Dad [Like Father, Like Libby]

Kid's who have an absentee parent def felt what Libby is singing about in this one. It just sucks when someone who should be important in your life, doesn't take it as serious as you'd wish they would.

8. Hit Restart [Perfect Day]

Gotta love how relaxed the singer is while describing the continuiously hectic attempts Molly and Scratch make at having a perfect first day of the year.

7. Identity Crisis [Davenport's in Demise]

It's a shame we didn't get more from Andrea this season, especially after this ep. I know we would've gotten her and Alina in S3 but still, I would've liked to see how her and Molly are friends

6. Maybe Next Time [The End] (Spoilers)

Scratch's backstory was a gut-punch, especially for those of us that feel like we're wasting our lives away. It does kinda remind me of a more sad version of "I Remember It Well" (Gigi)

5. Enjoy Your Afterlife [The New (Para)Normal]

A fun song with the Ghost Council about life after the Chairman's defeat that kinda reminds me of "Go Back to City Hall" in S1

4. You Got to Be Low-Key [The (After)Life of the Party]

Jinx is such a little shit in this song. Not to mention this was the ep that confirmed that Geoff and Jeff are married

3. Back to Misery [Jinx vs the Human World]

Gotta love a villain song. Just a shame we didn't get more.

2. Trying to Find [All in the Mind]

Love the abstract visuals of going through someone's mind and the soft vocals and instrumentals.

Honorable Mention 1: You've Been Jinxed [Jinx!]

Honorable Mention 2: Feeling Like MY Old Self Again/Small Town America [Kenny's Falling Star]

Honorable Mention 3: Happy Happy Death Day [The Many Lives of Scratch]

1.This House is Haunted [Frightmares on Main Street]

Love this homage to "Thriller" but it's also to see ghosts being able to let loose. A great Halloween special

As stated before, it's a shame that we won't get anymore eps but at least what we've gotten were great. Idk if I should do an overall list

[liesmyth]

do you see any RJK / artashipatrick parallels? ive been thinking about it a lot lately and wanted to get ur viewpoint

hi hi hi! I actually saw this opinion a couple of times in Ted Lasso fandom, but personally I don't share it. I AM very curious about your reasoning for it because I love looking at ships from different angles and seeing what people take from them.

my tldr is that I don't think RKJ has anything in common with the Challengers trio, beyond the fact that they're about two men ostensively fighting over a girl while also engaging in the kind of simmering homoeroticism that permeates elite men's sport. (this Marylin Frie quote says it better) I get why this can seem a parallel by itself but, to me, it's just a function of both ships being set in a Sports Media canon. When it comes to characters and their dynamics, these ships are built very differently IMO.

relative to each other:

the Challengers trio all start out as peers, both in age and in relative success level of their careers. They're all finalists in the Junior US Open when they meet. RKJ as a dynamic is absolutely hierarchical in comparison: you have Roy being a Legacy kind of Big Name in the sport, Jamie as the talented up-and-comer who idolised him growing up, and while he has promise, there's non guarantee he can come even close to the kind of career Roy's implied to have had. And then there's Keeley, who's absolutely an outsider in their world, and on a systemic level is much lower down the pecking order. I think Ted Lasso, especially in S1 and S2 does a great job giving an overview of, like, how transactional footballers/wags relationships inherently ARE, even to people who aren't already familiar with the context — not just the financial asymmetry and stark difference in career and life prospects but just, like. She's the girl peeking into the changing room and saying, Hi Boys. Jamie makes a joke about oogling her ass because they are both in on the joke that they fulfil a very specific stereotypical relationship dynamic.

Even if on a personal level both Roy and Jamie really respect and admire Keeley, she Does Not Belong in their hyperfocused sport-as-sexually-charged-rivarly world. Art and Patrick want to fuck Tashi first and foremost because she's a tennis phenomenon, they value her athletic abilities and coaching insight. That's a whole completely different dynamic from what's going on between RKJ. Compare Art and Patrick complimenting Tashi's performance at the US Open to Roy and Jamie "fighting over her" in 3x12 where it's all about who she likes more. As someone who actually liked the bar fight because I think it shows a very realistic ugly side to these characters (*) it's just. two men fighting over a girl. vs two athletes being so impressed by someone who is a girl and also a star athlete in her own right.

(*) asterisk because I absolutely loathed so many writing choices in S3, like, even if I like some seeds of plots I hate how they were executed. Oh my god typing this out is making me want to completely AU S3 of TL. anyway; I have beef with the pacing and stuff around that scene but I like the existence of the scene itself.

Keeley and Tashi couldn't be more different

Tashi is just. Her personality is most similar to Roy's, imo. She lives and breathes tennis. She needs to be around that world to live; she struggles to fill the void left with coaching (and living vicariously through Art to an extent). Keeley, meanwhile, makes fun of Roy feeling like the world is ending when he finally admits to himself that he can't go on any longer. Mind, I think that lighthearted "it's not the end of the world" attitude was precisely what Roy needed to hear at that point, because he takes himself too seriously and needed someone to tell him that he can live without football, actually — but the fact that Keeley just Doesn't Get It on a fundamental level, again, marks her as an outsider to the kind of all-encompassing elite athlete attitude Roy and Jamie share. She doesn't even like football! She's occasionally flighty (good for her). She's turning 30 and doesn't know where her life is going (SO valid). She's a completely different personality than the kind of single-minded all-or-nothing attitude you NEED to make it as a pro athlete. Again: her dynamic with the two men who are into her couldn't be any different than Art/Tashi/Patrick, BECAUSE she's a completely different personality. If she was in Challengers, she'd be one of the normie Stamford kids Patrick and Tashi make fun of.

IDK. I think any similarity between Tashi and Keeley starts and ends at "they're both women". Maybe I'm being uncharitable here! I'm someone who thinks that Keeley's portrayal in fanon flattens her a bit (in the way female characters in the periphery of a m/m ship are often put on a pedestal and shoved off the way) so I'm definitely bringing some of my own baggage here; that's why I'd love to know what parallels others see. But I think she and Tashi have very different neuroses. THAT SAID. If I was writing a crossover Ted Lasso / Challengers fic, I really think Tashi/Keeley would be my ship of choice

[vestaclinicpod]

Audio Drama Sunday - 24th December ❄️✨

A very festive Audio Drama Sunday to you all! I think Christmas has come early this year because so many of my current fave shows gifted us new episodes this week! 

🤠 OUGH I’ve made it up to ep 9 in @caravanradio and this is where it starts absolutely punching me in the heart. I’m so excited to listen to ep 10 but then it’s over AGAIN. All I want for Christmas is S2 of Caravan to be perfectly honest. 

🧳 Travelling Light by @monstrousproductions (7) This episode made me feel homesick for a culture that doesn’t even exist. I found the philosophy discussed so interesting and keep mulling it over! I don't know what metaphorical shoreline I'd be considered part of!! 

👁️ I bloody loved Benevolent by @malevolentcast. They absolutely nailed the cheesy Christmas special vibe and I was so happy to hear the long-awaited return of arguably the best character in anything ever at the end there.  

🌒 @monkeymanproductions I loved the answers to the MTO Q&A! I just adore this show and it’s always so interesting to get the behind the scenes scoop!! I really do want that Cass-only episode though. Pretty please? 

🎙 Welcome To Night Vale (240) ahhh!!!! What does this mean?! If this is going to be an exploration of nature vs nurture I am so here for it. Let’s . . . maybe let’s not kill our doubles this time? 

🏛 @the-mistholme-museum RUINOUS. Oooh I love a twist on a fountain of youth story and this one was particularly gripping. There are so many new revelations so far this season and I’m thrilled to hear that we’re getting two more episodes! I don’t want it to end!

🎧 Yay more The First Episode Of with @starshipqstar. It was absolutely fascinating from a very indie creator POV to hear how people with talent and experience found approaching audio drama for the first time. But I also think it’s important to address the DEEP SADNESS that there will not be a Starship Q Star season 2!! What?!! Christmas is CANCELLED. 

🐬 The dolphin emoji I use to denote @patterspod has never been more apt as we met Big Wave Dave in the latest episode. If you like weird and you’re not listening to Finding Pattersby, I just don’t know what to tell you. It’s just something else. 

🌨️  @thewhitevault (4) oh MAN I love this show so much.  I refuse to believe that a certain character is really dead but … maybe they are, I just can’t accept it. It sounds as though something absolutely monumental is happening to the show’s main family and I need to know how the stories are going to entangle!!! 

❤️‍🔥 The Love Talker (5) Jeeeeesus this show almost makes me regret listening to it every episode. I love this set-up where we get a new character’s perspective each episode, every new piece of the puzzle is even more disturbing than the last. 

🏢 @somewhereohio (S2E3) oh no! It’s spreading!! It’s honestly a little funny to me to listen to the show as someone who has no context of what makes Ohio, Ohio. I’m sure I’m missing a lot of cultural context but also, after listening, I’m probably not going to visit . . .  also it’s great to hear Rae Lundberg popping up in new shows - they always do such a good job!

🧬 Regina Prime - What a fun departure from the world we think we know in this bonus Regina Prime episode! I feel like the next season is going to be even more expansive and I’m very excited for it!! It’s also made me realise that I no longer trust W Keith Tims in anything after listening to The Love Talker! 

I hope everyone’s having a wonderful festive season! I’m going to be doing the #12DaysofPodmas again where I post an official review of a show I love every day until Jan 5th as a little gift to the amazing creators who’ve made my year so much better! I’m sure they’d love it if other people did the same! ☃️

[pynkhues]

you're caught up! Tell me all your thoughts on Hacks S2 so far!

I have! Mmm, mixed feelings? What I've loved, I've really loved (especially 2.06!), but what I haven't loved, I really, really haven't.

I think overall I've found the season to be unbalanced and lacking in the clear focus it had in season one, which has in turn lessened the stakes and the emotional impact of not just Deb and Ava's relationship and character arcs, but the ensemble moments that I think defined the first season. Deb and DJ's relationship, Ava's with her ex and with her parents, and Marcus' struggle with his identity and life outside of his career were pivotal to making the world of Hacks feel realised and full to me, and allowed for a really clear thematic exploration of partnership, career, parenthood, and independence vs isolation, and the relationships all of that had with each other.

Having the really clear external conflict of Deb's residency being at risk of cancellation was this perfect way to contain all of that as it allowed itself to be this catalyst in so many different ways - her residency was at risk and so she had to mix it up and so she hired Ava and so Marcus felt threatened and so and so and so. It was all clear cause and effect which had real and varied emotional ramifications within a specific context.

Season two has felt pretty sprawling, and not in a way that I think has elevated the stakes and conflicts, but rather detracted from it. Deb's on tour! Great! But what's at stake? A maybe-residency somewhere off the strip which we haven't seen and have no context for? Her reputation? Her brand deals? Who knows! She's doing drop ins, so it doesn't seem to really matter if she misses one, her shows doing badly don't seem to impact audience attendance at other shows, and while it's having an emotional impact on Deb, it's not an emotional impact that's really having any effect on the narrative overall.

God, we don't even know how DJ feels about having so much of her life and addiction and trauma being shared with half the country!

It's not just Deb either - there's a real aimlessness to Ava and Marcus' arcs this season too, which to me leaves the season feeling saggy, a particular contrast to how tight s1 was - and again, without clear stakes. Ava having no career options outside of Deb and having a father who was dying, and Marcus feeling pushed out in s1 gave them real emotional resonance, but their arcs this season have felt superficial to me. Ava feels guilty about the email and is being sued by Deb, but that's effectively a punchline and offers no source of narrative tension, and Marcus is lost without Deb, which, again, we knew that already, so I don't know what we're supposed to be learning.

That said! I did think the last two episodes were a lot better, in particular because the show finally started using the tour itself as a source of narrative conflict, in particular Deb running into Susan and that becoming a vehicle to look at the sacrifices these women have made between them - one for her career, and one of her career - and in Deb finally having a breakthrough that recaptures, I think, some of the joy of the show, but also establishing some new stakes and goals that have been so sorely needed in such an aimless season.

So yeah! I still like the show a lot, but I guess I'd describe this season as loose and lacking in authentic tension, which is a real bummer given how tight and ripe with genuine conflict s1 felt. I'm hoping it sticks the landing and can reground itself in an s3, but we'll see!

[minsarasarahair]

I need to put my thoughts here bc I’m so overwhelmed by how good the current arc is. This is now my favorite arc in the whole donghua! Take note that my thoughts will be all over the place! 

Shao Nian Ge Xing (Great Journey of Teenagers) s2 episode 31

- Our favorite main trio is now reunited! Wuxin arrived to protect Xiao Se in the right time! I love the small smile Xiao Se did when Wuxin is being cocky against the enemy. Also, when Xiao Se was tired and sat down suddenly! Wuxin is like “You okay?” and Xiao Se is like “I’m just tired.” Then Wuxin just nod and smile. Love this soft interaction! I miss them! I really hope Xiao Se didn’t ate that strange pill from the doctor please. It will endanger his life!!! 

- For some reason, I find the Dark River’s top leader in this episode very attractive. Maybe bc I’m so used to his usual empty expression? And seeing him in haggard state where he can’t win is intriguing???? I’m weird okay!?? I don’t know why but it seem he really want Xiao Se to be dead? I wonder if that’s their main mission or objective hence why they joined the Tang guys to fight against the Lei in this arc? He escaped so I’m so happy he’s still alive meaning we can still see him in further episode. 

- I love seeing the brother-sister dynamic of Tang Lian and Qianluo. What happened is they are spared by the Dark River assassins. I’m happy seeing that Qianluo is not just a love interest for Xiao Se but she is her own person. She showed anger in her own weakness in this scene.

- Lei Yunhe, this handsome man explained to the kids what exactly happened after the Tang and Dark River guys left. Basically the current head of Lei is now dead and the Tang’s old leader also died. Only two persons(their leaders) died during the fight of Tang against Lei. Tang also hired Dark River assassins to help with their plan but in the end they backstabbed the Tang resulting the death of the old Tang leader. Then Lei Yunhe quickly hit Tang Lian to make him lose consciousness bc you know Tang Lian is a Tang so he’ll not handle it very well. I love Lei Yunhe’s character development. He’s no longer trying to run away from responsibilities. Lei Yunhe added that even though that’s what happened, they need to tell the world that its a Dark River vs the Lei battle. Qianluo was confused bc its so obvious that the Tang play a part in the dispute but Lei Yunhe simply said “This is the martial arts world”. His answer can be interpreted in many ways. Maybe he’s saying this is how dark the jianghu? or maybe they need to value the relationship with the Tang despite all that bc of reputation and politics? 

- The episode ended with Lei Yunhe saying that a sword deity has fallen(I think its Zhao Yuzhen!??? He dead??? But he just taste his freedom for first time!!!??) and Lei Wujie being confused bc his elder sister(Li Hanyi) went missing!! It turns out Li Hanyi, the sister fought with the Dark River assassins before the fight!! With Zhao Yuzhen maybe?? The assassins are not sparing the kids! They are already injured bc they are involved in a big fight before they encountered the kids!! No wonder they keep saying that the result is already decided! It will be revealed next episode!!! 

BONUS

Umbrella Ghost, I STILL LOVE YOU! Even though you barely talk and has short screen time!!! I’m so happy he’s still alive!! 

[lucemferto]

I talk about the current troubles of the Dream SMP.

If you want to help me out, please reblog! You can also retweet my tweet and upvote my reddit post. Thank you.

Script under the cut

I really hope Technoblade succeeds in breaking Dream out of prison.

Now why would I say that? Well, it’s because there’s this feeling in the fandom right now that Dream SMP Season 3 is … going slow. That there’s not much happening. Some have blamed it on the pace of how lore streams are doled out, saying we get too little lore stretched out over too much time. Others postulate that it’s the quality of the lore – that the individual plot points are badly told or that the high production value of certain streams prevent the story from gaining momentum.

Now, because I’m me, I think I identified the problem as something that’s structurally wrong with Season 3 as opposed to Seasons 1 and 2. In order to explain that we must look at one of my favourite narratological theories: the Three-Act-Structure.

But before we get into that, here’s your obligatory reminder to please like this video, comment your thoughts down below in order to help me with YouTube’s algorithm and subscribe if you really like my stuff. Please feel free to check out my social media presences and share my videos on there so that more people have the chance to see them. Thank you so much.

Let’s get back to the video:

 Chapter 1: The Three-Act-Structure Explained

The Three-Act-Structure as a model to explain narratives finds its roots far in the past with its earliest recorded instance being in the fourth century by the Roman grammarian Aelius Donatus though similar ideas were also expressed by everyone’s favourite Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Since then, the model has been continuously evolved and used throughout recorded history. There are also alternative models such as the Five-Act-Structure, the Six-Act-Structure, the Eight-Act-Structure, the … Nine-Act-Structure, Jesus Christ. But the Three-Act-Structure has reigned the undisputed champion in modern-day creation and analysis of narratives.

The particulars of the Three-Act-Structure as we know it today were codified in Syd Field’s 1979 work “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting”, which has since become the Go-To-Work when it comes being a screenwriter in Hollywood. You want to write a script? You need the read the “Screenplay”.

The modern Three-Act-Structure is comprised of the following points/sequences:

-       The Backstory/Exposition: Exactly what it says on the tin. Sets up the Ordinary World that the characters inhabit, let’s us know about what character’s general deal is. It serves as an introduction to the story and world of your narrative.

-       The Point of Attack: This one is not often talked about and doesn’t feature in every story, but it’s still worth mentioning. This is where the major tension/conflict/dramatic question (structurally, these terms fulfil roughly the same function) is set into motion. It usually doesn’t include the protagonists of the story, but rather the antagonists.

-       The Inciting Incident: This is where the protagonists are sent on their way. We are introduced to their personal conflict and given a reason as to why they would have to leave the Ordinary World behind.

-       The Turning Point: This marks the end of Act I, where the personal conflicts of the protagonists and the major conflict of the overarching story intersect and coalesce. It is the natural fallout of the inciting incident, the big dramatic status quo change that we need in order to get the story going.

This naturally leads into Act II, where all the minor character conflicts are resolved and integrated into the larger conflict. This is what is referred to as the Rising Action: through the resolution and incorporation of the minor conflicts into the major conflicts, the story gains momentum. The action rises.

This act has two big culminations:

-       The Mid Point: The first culmination or Mid-Point sees some sort of shift in the major conflict. Maybe all the minor conflicts set-up in Act I are resolved and thus the major conflict becomes the full focus or the major conflict gains an additional factor. Instead of defeating the evil bad guy, the Heroes now have to defeat the Bad Guy and save the Damsel

-       The Lowest Point: The Lowest Point marks the end of Act II. Here the villains are just short of victory or maybe even achieve victory. In a romantic movie, this is the cliché end of Act II fallout which naturally leads into chasing the Hero chasing the love interest into an airport.

With the Lowest Point, the Heroes begin the third act almost or fully defeated. The stakes are high and everything seems hopeless. But then comes:

-       The Twist/Resolution: Usually, the twist coincides with either the protagonist or some sort of character having a eureka-moment or resolving their personal conflict – their Want vs. Need.

-       The Climax: With their problems resolved, the protagonists can venture forth to stop the villains or antagonistic force or save their love life.

-       The Dénouement: After the villain’s defeat/the resolution of the final conflict, the protagonist returns to the ordinary world, but changed by their experiences. The Dénouement is the one part of Act III, that can really drag it out – think the many, many endings of Return of the King for instance.

Up until now, I usually focused on that end of Act II/Act III-part when discussing the storytelling of the Dream SMP such as the Final Disc War, November 16th or Doomsday. Because Doomsday wasn’t just the Lowest Point in terms of storytelling quality.

But for Season 3, I instead want to focus on this section, The Inciting Incident and The Turning Point. Because this is where the current storytelling falters. The narrative has failed to pick up momentum, something that is achieved through a successful Inciting Incident and Turning Point.

So, I want to make the theory palpable and apply the Three-Act-Structure – with focus on Act I and early Act II – to all three Seasons of the Dream SMP to see where Seasons 1 & 2 succeeded and Season 3 failed.

 Chapter 2: The Three-Act-Structure Applied

Despite being much less written out and planned and more focused on the roleplay-aspect, both Season 1 and Season 2 somehow stumbled into recreating the Three-Act-Structure pretty well (S2 had its problem, but on the whole, it was still generally discernible).

I’m not here to discuss why narrative conventions and tools of literary analysis are applicable to something as seemingly idiosyncratic as the Dream SMP, I will do that in a future video. For the purposes of this video, we will simply have to take it at face value that these tools are applicable.

Season 1, which was probably the most consistently and competently written out of the three seasons thus far, has a very clear major tension/conflict: Who gets to steer the fate of L’Manburg, whether that be through stewardship or dissolution. It ties deeply into the personal conflict of our protagonist Wilbur as well as the external threat as represented by our villain JSchlatt, the best character in the story.

And not just that, basically every character whether that be Tommy, Tubbo, Niki, Fundy, Dream or Technoblade is invested in seeing this major tension resolved.

All this is achieved through a wonderful inciting incident and turning point. The inciting incident, the personal conflict for our protagonists, is Wilbur calling a presidential election. He wants to solidify power; his personal conflict being gaining full control over L’Manburg – I will talk about it more in my Wilbur-video.

This leads to the Turning Point, which in this case is a very natural cause and effect: Wilbur loses the election his sense of self shattered and JSchlatt, best character, takes over L’Manburg declares himself Emperor and exiles Tommy and Wilbur. The protagonists are forced out of their Ordinary World and the dynamic of the server is changed forever. The Main Tension or Major Conflict has been fully established.

This has server-wide consequences that every character is impacted by. All the many personal conflict are now framed by this all-encompassing major conflict. Thus, everything feels like it’s building up towards the same climax. Whether that be Fundy’s personal conflict as a deep-undercover spy, Niki’s conflict as the resistance in Manburg, Quackity’s struggle for power under Schlatt or the threat of Schlatt trying to expand Manberg into Dream SMP territory.

This even applies to the most disconnected conflict in Act II: The War between Sapnap and Tommy. Because even here, Sapnap’s stated goal is to gather enough power to take over Manberg. Now, that the power dynamic has shifted once it has signalled to other antagonists that the power dynamic can shift once more. The Balance of the Ordinary World is disrupted.

And from the Pogtopia-side, this conflict serves as a great way to not only build up their team, but also as a mini-version of their major conflict. If they cannot defeat Sapnap, what chance do they stand against Big Bad Emperor Schlatt.

Season 2, in spite of all the problems that it has, also managed to pull off the inciting incident and turning point rather well. The Inciting Incident here being Tommy burning down George’s house – his intent being to gain some leverage to win his discs back – which then again lead very gracefully into the Turning Point: Tommy being exiled from L’Manburg.

Tommy’s personal conflict – regaining his discs – was folded into the major conflict: Breaking Dream’s grip over the SMP (and in effect creating a new power dynamic on the server).

Tommy’s exile led to Tubbo being pushed by Quackity to institute the Butcher Army – an antagonistic force intent on making L’Manberg the strongest nation on the server; in effect dethroning Dream. This would of course lead to Hog Hunt and Technoblade’s involvement; ultimately bringing a lot of momentum into the narrative.

Now, Season 2 doesn’t pull this off as graciously as Season 1: You will have noticed that both the Inciting Incident as well as the Turning Point are pretty exclusively focused on Tommy which leads to the major conflict revolving mostly around Tommy and the characters in his orbit – which is not ideal when dealing with an ever-expanding ensemble cast.

While Season 1’s Inciting Incident and Turning Point also had Wilbur as their centre point, they were open enough to allow for other characters such as Quackity, Sapnap and most crucially Schlatt to naturally integrate themselves into the narrative.

What also doesn’t help is that the Rising Action up until the Midpoint is almost exclusively focused on Tommy as I discussed in my Philza-video. There is dramatic and narrative momentum, but it comes at the expense of basically every other character or storyline. The Butcher Army and New L’Manburg are painfully underexplored.

But still, despite its flaws, Season 2 managed to get the ball rolling. So where did Season 3 go wrong?

The main problem that Season 3 has is that it presented us with a large number of potential inciting incidents, but no concrete turning point. We have a lot of personal conflicts, but are as of yet missing the big major tension or conflict that ties it all together; that gives the framework in which the personal conflicts of the characters can intersect and resolve.

I think just to showcase how scattershot Season 3’s storytelling is right now; I’ll have to list all the big plot points of the season as they happened:

1.    Tommy meets with the Egg and shows an immunity to it. The Egg orders the Eggpire to kill Tommy in order to proceed with their plan

2.    The prison gets into lockdown mode, while Tommy is visiting Dream

3.    Tommy gets killed by Dream

4.    Tommy gets resurrected by Dream

5.    Technoblade and Ranboo come into contact with the Egg

6.    Quackity comes into contact with the Egg

7.    The Syndicate meets up and checks out Snowchester

8.    Tubbo loses a nuke

9.    The Red Banquet

10.  Tommy breaks into the prison

11.  Wilbur gets resurrected

Now, quite a number of those could have worked as either inciting incidents or turning point with some narrowing the scope of the narrative more than other. The early points involving Tommy for instance would have pushed him again into the role protagonist akin to how it worked in Season 2, while others like the Syndicate, the Red Banquet or Wilbur’s resurrection would have established the respectively involved groups or characters as the drivers of the major tension.

But none of these avenues are taken. All these conflicts are still insular; their resolutions don’t build to anything.

Tommy’s resurrection – which in my opinion is the first plot point that could have been used as the Turning Point relatively easily – changes the course of the prison and Las Nevadas-storyline, but has little to no impact on the Eggpire, Syndicate or Nuke-storylines.

Similarly, Tubbo losing the nuke could have led to the major tension becoming every faction hunting for the missing nuke in order to fulfil their personal agendas. But again, no dice.

And this just keeps adding up and up. Each new plot point subconsciously leads the viewer to expect that this will be the one to establish a major, unifying tension for the season – and then nothing comes of it. Though the volume of “lore” is still relatively high, the narrative momentum that is needed in order to make the viewer invested in the storyline is diminished with every potential turning point that is ignored in favour of more set-up.

And this structural problem of Season 3 when compared to Seasons 1 and 2 is made the most apparent when looking at …

 Chapter 3: The Eggpire

Oh, my poor boys. Where did it all go wrong?

To give some context: The Eggpire or Crimson-storyline actually started in the middle of Season 2, where they managed the impossible: Establishing a storyline with some narrative momentum and impact outside of the major conflict.

So, how did they do that and do it successfully at that?

The first thing we need to understand is that the Season 2 Eggpire-storyline basically involved no one from the “principal cast”. As such, the story was not chained to the developments that were going on there – such as Exile, Hog Hunt, the Green Festival, etc. – and instead had more freedom to do their own stuff.

The Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 was for the most part self-contained. So much so, that people were viewing it not as a part of the on-going narrative, but rather in the vein of Tales from the SMP: A story that stands alone, the resolution of which would have no impact on the server as a whole.

And, to be fair, they could have gone that route. But the writer(s) behind the Eggpire-storyline decided to be more ambitious.

The Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 follows its own mini-version of the Three-Act-Structure, with BadBoyHalo serving as its protagonist. The big narrative movements coincide and are influenced with dramatic movement in his own personal conflict. He is the Wilbur of this storylines – the once good man (relatively speaking), who falls from Grace.

Now, the thing that makes the Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 quite brilliant is that they ultimately tied the resolution of their tension into the major conflict/tension of the Season 2.

Doomsday saw the Lowest Point of the main storyline of Season 2. With L’Manburg’s destruction and Dream’s future imprisonment, there was a huge power vacuum on the server – a power vacuum that BadBoyHalo, now fully under the control of the Egg, was ready to fill.

The climax of the Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 saw the rise of the Eggpire as they spread the seeds of the Crimson in the L’Manburg-crater, intent on taking over server – thus adding onto the dramatic tension that Doomsday already established, making the Lowest Point feel even more foreboding and successfully linking their erstwhile separate storyline to the main tension of the overall narrative. The villains for Season 3 seemed to be perfectly set-up.

And then Season 3 rolled around and they … bungled it completely.

Though the Eggpire eventually came into contact with almost every active character in Season 3 – such as Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, Technoblade and Quackity – they completely failed at driving the major conflict and establishing themselves as the main antagonistic force of the storyline the same way Schlatt and Dream had done in the Seasons prior.

The biggest missed opportunity in that regard is without a doubt the Red Banquet. Now, I talked in the past about how the Red Banquet failed just on its own – at least a specific aspect of it – but now we’ll have to talk about how the Red Banquet fails in the context of Season 3.

Because this was the moment that all the storylines could have been brought together. The Eggpire could have succeeded in their endeavour and established themselves as the most prominent force on the serve. This event would have impacted the server as a whole and thus the entire storyline.

Immediately we would have had a major conflict to drive all other storylines – such as Tommy’s storyline, Snowchester, the Syndicate, Kinoko Kingdom and Las Nevadas – to stop the Eggpire from fully taking over the server. All the character-specific conflicts could have then happened within the framing of this major tension.

Maybe Tubbo and the rest are hunting for the nuke, because they think it’s the only way to stop the Eggpire. Maybe the Eggpire wants to free Dream, because he could be of use for the Crimson. Tommy could get abducted by the Eggpire because he is some sort of chosen one or whatever and the onus would fall on the other characters to save him and stop the villains – so Tommy would become the damsel effectively.

Maybe they decide that the only way to defeat the Eggpire is to bring back Wilbur and that’s how that storyline gets integrated. Maybe the disparate forces disagree on that or other plot-points and there’s some infighting between them.

But still: All conflicts would be unified by this one major tension. The Red Banquet would have been the Turning Point to lead into Act II of Season 3, where all the problems would be viewed with the knowledge that the Eggpire and the Crimson was looming in the distance.

Alas, we did not get that. Instead, the Red Banquet turned out to be just another plot point in a long line of plot points that promises more in the future. Smaller personal conflicts are resolved just within the limited scope of their individual storyline and a major tension is yet to be seen.

When Bad says that there’s just one more Egg-stream planned, I hope he’s either misleading or not being clear enough on what he means. Because if this was it; if the Eggpire-storyline just kinda dies here – too connected to all other storyline to be seen as standalone and yet too separated to be enjoyed in the context of Season 3 as a whole – then it would be a worse writing choice than Doomsday.

 Epilogue: How the Prison Break can bring it all together

To bring it all back to the sentence I opened this video with: I hope Technoblade succeeds in breaking Dream out of prison, because this could finally be the Turning Point that introduces a major tension to the narrative of Season 3.

I hoped that Wilbur’s resurrection would fill that role, but disappointingly that plot point is again relegated to driving the tension of a few chosen storylines instead of providing a major tension for all players involved.

And with five months into Season 3, this Act 1 has gone on for far too long! For comparison, the entire written storyline of Season 1 encompassed 4 months. Season 2 took place in only 2 months. Season 3 has already exceeded both their runtimes and still seems to have yet to truly start.

Whether Technoblade breaks Dream out or Quackity succeeds in trapping Technoblade in Pandora’s Vault – there needs to be a turning point somewhere in sight.

Because my biggest fear is that we’re already past it. That the Eggpire-storyline will just fizzle out and that some other plot point will retroactively reveal itself as the turning point – because that would mean that Season 3 would have a horrifically unfocused, saggy and just generally unengaging second act. And that would be a shame.

Thank you so much for watching. Once again, please feel free to like, comment and subscribe. The links to my social media are all in the description down below. I have a bunch of stuff planned for the future including a very long video on Wilbur as well as two videos that have nothing to do with Dream SMP.

Until then, please be excite.

[chuckaf]

Chuck Fic Rec List: Updated

So my fic rec post was in my notifs again the other day, and I noticed a while back that the formatting on the post has gotten all messed up and it’s also had like three reblog additions to it anyway meaning there are three versions out there lol. so, I wanted to do another list of chuck fic recs! I’ll keep the other one up still, so I’m not gonna repeat every fic here, just some I really recommend. I’m also adding the fic summaries, which I didn’t on the old post, and some more of my own opinions so, buckle up for a long post!

Chuck Versus the Steampunk Chronicles | Steampunk.Chuckster

1896. A world powered by steam, where humans and machines coexist, and airships are the fashionable mode of transport. The US Empire's deepest and darkest secrets arrive at Chuck Bartowski's doorstep. Have they fallen into the wrong hands? Or will the inventor prove his mettle, even while he's forced to hide from the very people he's protecting? AU, ongoing chronicle, Charah.

A genuinely incredible AU story, with an entire crafted world and universe, so detailed it frequently blows my mind. There is heart and family and infuriatingly brilliant slow-burn, plus a buttload of danger and super fun historical/steampunk action. Oh how I LOVE it.

Chuck vs the Charade | somedeepmystery

When computer nerd Chuck Bartowski returns home to an empty apartment and a dead girlfriend he finds himself embroiled in a deadly game of espionage and deceit. Everyone around him is playing a part to get what they want and when he starts falling for the new woman in his life, he can't help but wonder if he can trust her or if she's the one he should fear the most.

An action and twist-filled AU based on the movie Charade, which is just such a brilliant fic concept I absolutely adored it from the start.

Two Sides of the Same Coin | dettiot

When you're a spy, there's all kinds of occupational hazards when you work with another spy. For Sarah Walker, though, one mission becomes a life-changing experience. Because working with Charles Carmichael leads to protecting Chuck Bartowski.

The first time I read this fic my mind was just blown to its genius. Such a brilliant interpretation of what the Intersect and its concepts set up in the show could be, and ooooof the Chuck/Sarah interactions, my HEART. Related to it, its companion piece:

A Flip of the Coin | dettiot

What made Charles Carmichael agree to become Chuck Bartowski? Well, to start, it wasn't as much of a change as you'd think. A companion to the early chapters of Two Sides of the Same Coin from Carmichael's perspective.

Chuck vs The Butterfly Effect | n7agentbartowski

Chuck Bartowski is a normal guy who just hit rock bottom. No girlfriend, no career and no super computer stuck inside his head. It isn't until Chuck meets a gorgeous stranger on the beach that he begins to think his life is about to change for the better. An AU Chuck fic without the Intersect. "Change one thing and it changes everything."

I said it on the OG post, but this story has one of my top 5 Chuck/Sarah fic meetings. So funny, so... very Chuck. The story is a little angsty overall, but a great read.

Chuck vs the Rogue Spy | Crumby

When a rogue spy from Chuck Bartowski's past shows up to help him during his first solo mission, Chuck hopes that he'll finally find out what happened to Sarah Walker. Post-S2 AU.

There’s a lot of Season 3 fix-it fics out there, which I don’t usually read bc I actually love season 3 lol, but this one’s a good one! A twisty deviation from canon, but still feels really true to character.

Chuck Versus the Nerds Rewrite | Steampunk.Chuckster and David Carner

What happens when two nerds talk endless hours about their favorite TV show? A new take on the show you know, but with the flair, twists, and turns you've come to expect from Steampunk . Chuckster and david . carner. Somewhat canon. Charah.

As the summary says, a different take on the show, which honestly makes a couple changes I would too, but also adds a bunch of fun twists and plots that make it totally new and fresh. Seeing Chuck and Sarah’s thoughts in the more canon sections is just delicious, too.

The Trapped Assassin | SarahsSupplyCloset

After a mission goes awry, the CIA's most lethal assassin is ordered to take vacation while her superiors figure out what to do with her. But when she meets a disarming tourist, their immediate connection only adds to her disillusionment with the agency and her career. Will he be enough for her to finally take the plunge and leave the only life she's ever known? Charah AU

A warning for the very justified M rating if you don’t like that sort of thing, but this is definitely a plot-heavy fic, too. A really neat Sarah-heavy AU, with a whole lotta Chuck/Sarah fancy French vacationy goodness.

Chuck vs the Second Chance | malamoo

AU from mid-season 2 and onwards. Chuck and Sarah part ways only to be reunited years later. COMPLETE.

Literal, crying-at-my-screen angst. Not even a super happy ending. But a brilliantly written, part-reflective/flashback fic, exploring what would’ve happened if Chuck and Sarah’s relationship really was an assignment all along-- and the aftermath. It’s heartbreaking. But if you want a little heartbreak, this is your fic.

Ready at Your Hand | dettiot

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a Catholic plot against the queen comes to the attention of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. To protect Elizabeth, he develops an unusual plan: hide the passing of intelligence between two agents by a false romance. When Lady Sarah Walker and Chuck Carmichael meet, though, their pretend flirtation becomes much more.

I love Chuck fic for the very reason that it’s inspired such adventurous and totally unique AUs. Here’s some Elizabethan fake-dating Chuck and Sarah! They have to be so Proper, it’s like that hand moment from Pride and Prejudice but Elizabethan and times a billion. The pining!!

Sarah Versus Getting Married | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker is getting married. Canon. Charah.

I’d recommend all of SC’s fics if I had the room, and I’m already recommending a ton sksks but most of my fic recs are AUs, and this one isn’t! It’s canon, and covers some of in the gap in 4x24, with Sarah just before the wedding itself. Super sweet, heart-tugging, brilliant.

A Chuckmas Carol | Mikki13

A new twist to Dickens' beloved "A Christmas Carol". When Sarah begins to shut out the world around her, three spirits come to show her the error of her ways. Season 3 AU.

Another Season 3 AU, this one written pre-series so it definitely doesn’t fit to canon, but it’s still wonderfully rich in character depth and angst and it also made me cry. Plus, festive!

Chuck Versus Thin Ice | Steampunk.Chuckster

On the doorstep of the Olympics, top American curler Sarah Walker has lost her mixed doubles partner and her boyfriend in one fell swoop. Her coaches throw newbie Team U.S.A. curler Chuck Bartowski onto her team and thrust them into the Olympics, hanging America's curling hopes on two people who only have a short amount of time to learn to trust one another. Charah AU.

Do you like curling? Or the Winter Olympics? It doesn’t really matter because somehow this fic made me extremely invested in both of those things, as well as Chuck and Sarah and them being INSUFFERABLE. Catch me now knowing a ton about curling thanks to this fic.

Walker’s Eleven | Moonlight Pilot

Not the same plot as the movie. Sarah Walker never got out of the con game or became a spy, and now she's on her final con. What happens when true love and betrayal get added to the mix? Twists, turns, and Jeffster!

Con!Sarah always interests me, and this fic is full of her. Lotta con plot, lotta Chuck and Sarah.

The Detective and the Tech Guy | thecharleses

Sarah Walker is a Pinkerton detective. Chuck Bartowski is an electronics genius. They wouldn't have met except for a case of mistaken identity and murder. Will the detective and the tech guy solve the mystery, distracted by the riddle in their own hearts? An homage to The Thin Man film series. Formerly co-written by Steampunk . Chuckster and dettiot, now ONLY Steampunk . Chuckster.

Everyone in this fic is so damn cool. There are so many martinis. But also great heart and family and like, standing up for who you love, and later also Chuck with Baby Clara content which frankly the show robbed us of. Also, PI!Sarah!!!

Gravity | Poetic4U

AU. Sarah makes a decision that altered her life forever.

This is just a one-shot, which many of these stories are not, so a good one if you don’t fancy a big read! Just because it’s short, though, doesn’t mean it’s lacking; a really awesome what-if AU, and heavy on the Chuck and Sarah.

A Yuletie Tale | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker was dumped the day before Christmas Eve, and her Plus One at her work’s annual Christmas Eve Soiree is now officially a Plus Zero. Her best friend Ellie Bartowski has a solution to her problem, and Sarah finds she isn’t quite as sure about it as Ellie is. AU Christmas Charah.

I’m particularly in love with this fic because, instead of beginning with a meet-cute, it involves Chuck and Sarah already two years into a friendship-- Sarah is Ellie’s best friend. And she’s been crushing harrrd on Ellie’s brother. Also Chuck is in a tux. It’s pretty.

Set, Spike, Dive! | Frea O’Scanlin

Chuck never expected to even make it to the Olympics. Everything is working against him: he's too tall for a diver, too inexperienced for a medal, too much of a wildcard to really make his mark. But an unexpected meeting at the airport, some intriguing new friends, and a whirlwind romance on the sand just might set up London 2012 as the time of Chuck Bartowski's life.

A London 2012 AU, because why not. This is just a fun Olympic-y ride!

OTP (One True Pairing) Prompts | David Carner

A series of Prompts I found online about different times and places in Chuck and Sarah's life. Mostly AU, mostly one-shots. I assume mostly fluff, but I might get deep. I doubt it, it's me. Charah...ALWAYS (It says complete, but if an idea strikes me...)

If you’re not so into long stories, this fic is perfect. Individual set-ups and stories, all Chuck and Sarah, and all super cute. You could dip in and out and just pick a scenario you enjoy.

Chuck vs The Frontier | ninjaVanish

AU: Chuck was enjoying a simple life as a 19th century watchmaker until an encounter with a beautiful Secret Service agent thrust him into a world of intrigue and adventure he never wanted. But then, with Agent Walker around, it can't be all bad, can it?

This fic gets props for being historically-set but still including the Intersect. Again, a historical AU, so the pining!! the need to be Proper!!! But besides all that, there’s a lot of action fun as well.

Chuck Versus The Crosswalk: Remastered | WvonB

Will a last minute mission help our two favorite characters finally get together? This is the remastered version of my first story.

The original version of this fic is on my first list; this is the updated version! It’s not a complete AU, instead a story that diverges from canon, so if you’re more into canon characters and setting than a new AU scenario, this is a great fic for that.

Little Girls, Paper Wreaths, and Choc Chip Cookies | DanaPAH

Very AU: Sarah Walker is a single mother whose Christmas spirit needs a boost after a tough divorce. She isn't quite ready to go looking for romance, but her little daughter's affection for their new neighbor may lure it right to her doorstep, anyway.

An incredibly sweet AU one-shot where Chuck and Sarah are new neighbours, and Sarah has a super cute little girl. So much sweetness and love and hope. I love this fic so much it literally led me to write my own neighbour-kid-AU, so, not to toot my own horn but I’ll link it here anyway.

May Your Walls Know Joy | halfachance

Looking for a fresh start after some tough times, Sarah and her three-year-old daughter move to LA. When they meet a sweet curly-haired nerd who lives next door, though, Sarah realizes they might just find more happiness than they'd ever imagined, if only her past doesn't catch up to her first. AU.

It’s what the summary says; if you wanna read, feel free!

Chuck vs the Sound of Music | quistie64

AU. Chuck, nerd extraordinaire, is a man with seven children and Sarah must protect them all from Fulcrum's evil designs. Warning: there will be singing.

I mean. Not much mystery as to the concept with that title and summary lol, but this is a super fun, soft ride with a lotta sweetness, and yes, singing.

Just Two People | David Carner

Meet Sarah Walker PhD, Psychologist, specializing in personality traits. Meet Chuck Bartowski, man who has left THE electronic company of 2020. When Burton Consultants tries to figure out what is wrong with the morale of Orion Industries, what happens when a guy named Chuck meets a woman named Sarah. I'll give you a hint, it's me writing.

David’s done something pretty special with this fic. It’s Chuck and Sarah centric, but very much an ensemble piece, too, with a lot of Team Bartowski and other familiar faces throughout.

Chuck Versus the Con Game | Steampunk.Chuckster

AU. Chuck and Sarah are partners in the con game. It's an existence wrought with danger and violence. Every day could be their last. Every mission could be the end of the line.

This is where I freak out SC and declare this fic the reason I ever got hooked on Chuck fic and then wrote Chuck fic, and the reason I still love it today but. that is true lol. Just so. so good. It’s also written with the chapters out of chronological order, which is super fun from a reading perspective. But con!Sarah AND con!Chuck?? Best. The kind of fic you will be thinking about for days (if not, y’know, years).

As you can tell by the repeats, I highly recommend just about anything by Steampunk.Chuckster, dettiot, or David Carner, but there are a TON of amazing Chuck fics and authors out there. I’ve never known a writing community so wildly creative-- there are so many unique AUs and canon explorations and story concepts that this show has manifested, and it’s all so much fun.

Most of the Chuck fic community is still over on FFN rather than AO3, so if any of these whet your appetite, feel free to have a browse there for more stories. I’m sure you’ll find something great. Personally, all the incredible writing there has also led me to write a buttload; I’m at halfachance on FFN, so if you see any of my stuff or wanna chat fic, feel free to message me there or here.

Happy reading, folks!

[everybodylovesrand]

Rafe Judkins Q&A after season 1 wrap

Q: What’s the average running time of each episode?

A: Amazon is great because each ep doesn’t have to hit an exact time like you do in network TV. And these eps are epic, so we are clocking in between 50-65 minutes each

Q: Congratulations on S1 wrap!! Blink twice if a trailer is coming soon…..

A: one blink :(

Q: Do EF5 actors perform stunts on their own or do they have stunt doubles?

A: Everyone on the show has a stunt double, but most of our actors are really amazing with the physical stuff and doing their own stunts. I’m the only on who’s always falling.

Q: How are you feeling having wrapped S1?

A: To be totally honest, it hasn’t fully hit me yet. There’s still so much to be done to get the show ready to air and get S2 shooting, taht while I was drinking my celebratory champagne on set after the last shot Tuesday, someone grabbed me to tackle three new problems that had come up and I had to leave ha

Q: What character that didn’t appear in S1 & does appear in S2 are you most excited about?

A: Starts with an EL  (So Elayne is in season 2. No Trakands and Caemlyn in season 1?)

Q: Do you have the plot of all the seasons roughly mapped out?

A: Yea, between Season One and Two we made a rough map of how the series could break down into seasons. It can always change obviously, but important to know where we are going and how we are getting there so we build it right if @amazonprimevideo keeps us around for the long haul

Q: Will we see the actual weaves or just the end result of channeling?

A: You’re gonna see it if you’re a woman who can channel

Q: Most difficult part of creating TWOT during a global pandemic.

A: The human aspect. We’ve built a family here in Prague with cast and crew and keeping everyone safe has been top priority. Everyone’s ability to adapt and meet the stresses of a time like this has been amazing to watch.

Q: How far should we get in the books if we don’t want Season 1 to spoil things for us?

A: This question is so cleverly worded to trick me that I have to respond to it out of sheer respect  😂

Q: How are you balancing the numerous POVs in the book vs focusing on Rand?

A: As I’ve always said, we are adapting the whole series not just Eye of the World, and I really think this is an ensemble series, so the first season is as well

Q: Will we see forsaken in season 1 (wotseries question)

A: Some people see forsaken everywhere  😂

Q: Will we see Narg?

A: Yep

Q: Did any of the actors end up becoming fans of the book series after getting cast?

A: I’m not going to spoil who, but two of the core cast are in read off right now, and I think one of them may have finished the series

Q: How many “brands” or trollocs did you create for the show?

A: We leaned into the books and tried to have the trollocs have as much individual character as possible. My favorite is the one we call Betty  😂

Q: Will S2 take us to a lot of new locations? How big can the world get?

A: Best thing about Wheel of Time is the world keeps getting bigger and deeper. And we’ve gotta deliver on that in the show

Q: Please ask Amazon Prime if they’d do a sweepstakes for a fan to be an extra on the show

A: @amazonprimevideo and @thewheeloftime

Q: Loved the first look at the Trollocs! When are we getting more?

A: Sadly there hasn’t been a first look at the Trollocs yet. That was some accidentally leaked raw footage. We work hard to make the show it’s always a shame when you guys see stuff outside the way we have it planned. I’ll tell you one thing, when I met with directors for S2 who’d seen the pilot, they all had one thing to say – “THOSE TROLLOCS!!!”

Q: Excited to progressively spiral downwards into raving madness?

A: It’s so funny that you think I’m not already there

Q: Are you planning a book per season or are there adaptations and inclusions from multiple?

A: We have to combine. @madeleine_madden and @joshastradowski would be 45 when we finish otherwise   😂😂😂

Q: WIll Lan’s cool cloak be featured in the show?

A: I love Lan’s cloak in the show. But much like Aes Sedai agelessness, if it’s an effect that’s going to cost a fortune every time a character is on screen, it’s a bad use of our money. Unless you want to see all of S1 in the Winespring Inn. Then you can have color changing cloaks

Q: Who has been the hardest character to write so far?

A: Perrin is the hardest. His interior monologue in the book is the biggest part of his character, so bringing him out in the show is always something we have to build really consciously. Luckily @marcus_rudda just exudes Perrin every minute so it makes our lives a lot easier

Q: Have you started writing S2?

A: Yeah! The awesome S2 writers have been working throughout the year and we already have a bunch of great scripts ready to go.

[chidoroki]

In Defense of TPN S2

Okay, so before y’all start throwing your salt shakers at me, let me explain. Yes, I’m just as upset and annoyed with how the second season decided to cut out so much content that us manga readers were finally hoping to see: no Yuugo, Goldy Pond arc or GP Resistance, Lucas or Glory Bell escapees, Adam, poachers, or Cuvitidala Search. Since this season also (sort of) reached the 2047 time skip, we were also denied of the Paradise Hideout, Jin, Hayato, Ayshe, the Seven Walls & Imperial Capital Battle arcs and Alex due to the anime’s so-called “original story” idea. While some manga events still took place (B06-32 getting blown up, the trio’s reunion, Norman’s time at Lambda, the cursed blood and the Grace Field raid), they were all significantly changed and barely held the same emotional impact, as we see very little to no build up to these moments. Several volumes were skipped completely and despite others being touched lightly, we unfortunately missed out on major character development for everyone, most notably for Emma, but also the lighter side of things such as chef Ray, medic Anna, Rossi learning morse code, Minerva!Norman, etc. There’s honestly so much of the main story to talk about and I totally understand why we’re all so ticked off, especially since that darn slideshow did absolutely nothing to calm our hearts at the end of ep11.

However.. I’m not gonna stand by and say this season was worthless. Highly disappointing given everything I just mentioned of course, I get it, so don’t curse me out just yet. People can trash talk it all they want and I’ll sympathize 110%, but I personally won’t do so. I love this series too much and that’s a huge reason as to why I didn’t drop this season. Usually whenever I start a new series, it’s because I become interested in a character or two. I find that no matter what happens in that series, whether the story intrigues me or not, I’ll continue it if only to see more of that character. If the story is good, it’s just another plus for me to stay addicted, so while this season totally missed their chance to adapt the wonderful source material of my favorite series, I stayed to watch Emma, Ray and all the other children I’ve grown to love over the past two years. Another reason why I stayed on this train wreck was because of how thought provoking it became as turned into yet another guessing game for me. After first watching the OP and even more after ep3 aired, I kept wondering what would they include or leave out. How would they handle this scene if this and that were already changed? How would they fix this problem if so and so isn’t here? It felt like I was watching season one blind all over again; seeing all these little clues sprinkled everywhere and yet not having any idea on how the story was going to continue or end got me excited. That’s why I came to love this story in the first place, so having the chance to feel that again alongside characters I love so dearly.. it was fun for me (until the slideshow punched me in the face). While many people will look at this season and declare the manga and first season are both superior (which they are, I agree), I’m still sitting over here like “oh look, more content!”

With all that nonsense out of the way, I thought I would go ahead and ramble about everything I believe the second season did well enough, because if I can take any heat off this adaptation then you’re damn right I’m gonna try. So if you’re wondering why on earth a manga reader even mildly enjoyed this season, it’s honestly just the little things such as a decently adapted or improved panel/scene, any new, interesting elements the anime may have included, or other personal favorite moments of mine.. which there were a lot of.

So no negativity past here kiddos, we’re gonna be as optimistic and lively as an orange antenna.

(mild manga spoiler warning, I guess? but I’m sure it’s nothing y’all haven’t heard us readers mention/complain about already)

- If you’ve read any of my reactions to this season, you would know how much love I have for “Identity.” Not only is the song still an absolute banger, but the opening sequence itself is fantastic. From the contrast between human vs demon, the cameos, the symbolism, the match cuts, the build up to the chorus.. just everything. I could talk about it endlessly and watch it several times over and still be impressed.

- Lani’s stupid fall.

- How clearly it shows Emma’s condition becoming progressively worse.

- Her scream.

- Ray’s apology, especially how soft his voice was when saying “sorry, Emma,” and the smile he gives after she tells him not to worry about it.

- And his entire promise to keep everyone in their family safe. Oh I was so happy to finally hear him say that.

- This exchange between Don and Gilda.

- Rossi and those darn faces he gives us. This boy is such a mood.

- How involved the younger kids were so they don’t feel like they were just.. there, which served as a reminder that everyone from Grace Field is smart, not just Emma and Ray.

- How pretty the demon forest looked at night when all those odd creatures started glowing (even those darn goowee).

- So happy with how this panel was adapted. That smirk of his is everything.

- The fact they remembered a small detail such as the bell.

- Knowing now that they cut so much out of the manga, I’m glad we at least got the hug.

- The ending sequence gave us a small look at Sonja and Mujika’s travels by themselves. “Magic” is also so very calming to listen to.

- How the children hug both Emma and Ray, as manga only had our girl receiving the hugs.

- Sonju & Mujika’s voice actors fit them perfectly.

- How impressed Ray was when he first tried their cooking. No wonder he was so eager to learn how to cook.

- Sonju’s story about the demon world from ch46-47 practically adapted word for word.

- While the manga also shows us how frighted the duo is upon learning they’re living in the worst case scenario, it’s seeing them and their hands physically shake that help push this scene a little bit more (not that you can tell this by a still frame but trust me).

- Their synchronized smirks and how well their excitement was not only animated but how genuine and real it sounds too. Emma’s laugh and the fact they made Ray of all people sound hopeful is fantastic.

- They kept the small Ray from this panel and made him better.

- I just love seeing him be optimistic.

- The entire scene when Emma & Ray are both scolded by the younger kids for acting so recklessly is perfect.

- They kept this tiny comment of Nat’s.

- Finally getting chef Ray and hearing how confident he is with his cooking skills already.

- Seeing other children like Dominic pick up archery and be surprisingly good at it.

- Anime pushed Emma’s quick learning ability further with archery by showing us how easily she could land a bullseye even after hitting something midair.

- How well they animated Emma’s first kill, from following the arrow as she pulls it back to when she releases it as it flies towards the bird’s eye.

- The fact that this scene and the next both used a water droplet to symbolize death just like we saw during season one with Conny and Norman’s shipments are so satisfying.

- The gupna scene and how well it emphasized Emma’s reaction to taking a life and how upset/bothered she was in doing so. The addition of a butterfly helps as well, as it’s another way this series tends to convey the idea of death. (you remember how many the OP had, right? tons.)

- I only just noticed that Ray is seen looking at a similar butterfly in the following scene as well.

- The anime doing this panel justice. Ep2 is probably the episode that follows the manga the closest and did real well in regards to that.

- Ray beating Sonju at chess.

- Chris knowing exactly which way to go without using the compass, which makes sense as he was seen mapping out the surrounding area in the previous episode.

- The kid’s adorable little freak out.-

- Giving us a better idea on how large the reference room of the B06-32 shelter truly is.

- Finally being able to hear our boy Nat play the piano. The fact that his first song is named “Nat King Cool” as a possible reference to Nat King Cole is also great.

- Rossi being an accurate representation of the manga readers while watching this episode.

- Chris being his cute self.

- Seeing Ray’s sleeping face after the manga denied us so many times by hiding it.

- It’s.. close enough. We love our chef.

- I love the idea that Nat plays a couple songs before everyone goes to sleep. That’s so precious.

- SHE!! With her hair down!

- Rossi teasing Don and the fact that just mentioning Gilda is enough to scare him.

- It remembered that Gilda has a tendency to count all the children.

- The level of confidence Isabella has in her kids.

- Ray being oh so close to shooting a human with an arrow.

- This hug.

- Chris leading the group through the underground tunnels, which he also does in manga but we learn earlier in this ep it’s due to all the time he’s played down here.

- Because of his extensive knowledge of the shelter’s layout, Chris also guides everyone to one of the secret entrances to escape after he realizes the intruders are only stationed at the main two.

- Ray’s first demon kill is smooth as hell.

- Curse this scene for being so dark because that damn smile Isabella gives us is amazing.

- Since Andrew was cut, Chris and Dominic survive the aftermath of the shelter’s destruction without any injuries.

- Although we weren’t expecting to see their older 2047 selves this soon, they look good okay?

- The emotion in her voice throughout this entire scene (probably the closest we were ever gonna get to Emma doubting herself in ch109/114 too).

- Please just let me enjoy this moment when Ray noticed her negative thoughts and stepped in to help just as I expected.

- Vylk and that goofy smile of his.

- Watching the duo communicate without words during the chase through the demon town.

- Our girl clearing this jump effortlessly.

- Norman’s squishy cheeks.

- Ray’s slap could’ve been better, I know, but at this point I’m happy they still included it.

- The fact we can see Ray’s face during the reunion hug this time.

- And this hug.

- Remembering the small panel of Ray noticing Emma’s bluff.

- Finally hearing this conversation because both voice actors do a wonderful job with it and thankfully the dialogue is on par with the manga as well. Also that one moment when the shadow falls across Emma’s face like that.

- Gilda comforting Alicia after her nightmare.

- The scene is very dear to me so of course I appreciate every little panel we can get.

- How carefree Ray sounded with his “Nopes.”

- How I only realized just now that this panel was also adapted.

- Okay so who’s brilliant idea was it to have the sun rise towards the end of this conversation as Ray helps Emma regain her confidence? I just wanna personally thank them because it was a genius move and I’ll treasure it forever.

- They kept Barbara’s slip-up.

- Like our demon friends, I think the Lambda crew’s voices fit them rather well, although Zazie’s was totally unexpected, like dude you’re 5, why is your voice so low?

- Another “it could’ve been better but at least they included it” moment.

- Vincent’s smile here cracks me up and I don’t know why.

- Barbara’s anger.

- The short snippet we get of the ch126 conversation when the duo was visiting Chris.

- The table from Barbara’s outrage was never magically fixed like it was in manga, so we get this nice shot of Norman reflected in the broken surface.

- The trio’s conversation about the royals and cursed blood follows manga relatively well.

- Anime did this panel better, I’m sorry. Thank you for showing my girl getting angry.

- This frame of Ray.

- This comment of Norman’s that made me wanna slap him.

- How Norman’s face is constantly in the shadows during this scene, which is something his office at the Paradise hideout probably wouldn’t have given us, so hurray for this location instead.

- How he and Emma bicker over how many days their deal should last.

- When the camera shifts in and out of focus during Barbara’s seizure.

- How this scene hid Norman’s face until they revealed the demon the crew killed.

- It really is the small details that make me happy.

- This smile of Don’s.

- I’ll take all the hugs I can get.

- Emma and Gilda’s little headbutt.

- Why does my boy look so grown up and handsome here? Hello??

- I suppose I have to give credit for Peter’s voice actor too hm?

- Actually making Smee a bit more relevant.

- Since the fight against Legravalima was cut, this shot of Zazie is the closest we’re gonna get to seeing him without his paper bag, but it does improve on that one panel of him at the start of ch153.

- Seeing more of Norman’s time at Lambda as well as the aftermath of the explosion.

- While this scene pales in comparison to its manga counterpart, having the sun set behind him while Norman delivers his famous line was still a decent touch. It’s a nice contrast to the sunrise in ep6 and I enjoy it very much.

- Wild demons managing to somehow successful jump scare me not once, not twice, but three times in a single episode.

- Emma getting back up to protect her family despite her injury. (i mean, it’s no ch93 comeback but oh well)

- Ray getting in another decent shot at a demon.

- This face of his.

- Seeing just how quickly the drug causes the demons to degenerate and all the chaos it causes.

- Actually showing Norman attacking a demon rather than just saying he killed Yverk off panel in ch153.

- Hate me all you want but the anime did this panel better too.

- The ch153 discussion is more or less the same but the fact they added in Norman looking to Ray for help and just having him snap back instead was priceless.

- Sonju’s grin.

- The scene when Norman stops Zazie’s attack may only last like five seconds but it’s wonderfully animated and I find myself replaying it countless times.

- How to make the manga readers and anime-onlys panic with just one sentence:

- Isabella being clever as ever by leaking false info into the radio the escapees have to lure them back to Grace Field.

- I just think Emma looks so mature and pretty here?

- Had Norman actually apologize to the demons.. or was just about to anyways.

- Demon Emma is precious and must be protected.

- The adorable mixup between both Emmas.

- I haven’t a clue on where or how the kids managed to gather all the supplies to create several hot air balloons and explosives.. but they did, somehow, and I’m impressed because I’m assuming that all happened within a day.

- Ma’am, could you be any more smug?

- Simon! And he ends up surviving!

- Having Sonju fight alongside the Lambda crew.

- Which reminds me that this is possible since the Imperial Capital battle didn’t happen (yet, in this timeline), so the three of them never received their injuries from Legravalima either.

- The smoke bombs, only because I remembered how Sonju used them back in ep1 while rescuing Ray so it’s nice to see them being used again.

- Showing Norman actually use a bow and arrow this time. He also hits his target on the first try through a smokescreen.

- Ray having enough strength to knock out two demons with a simple metal pipe. In ch169 he’s seen holding down a grown man so yeah, I can believe this as well.

- Having Jemima, Yvette, Rossi & Mark disguises themselves as shipments in order to rally up the other Grace Field kids. Mark’s face and the noise he makes upon seeing Naila again is also precious.

- Peter actually falling for Vincent’s trap.

- Getting one young child to listen to you is hard enough, but Emma manages to get about 183 of them (yes I counted, give or take the four who also disguised themselves) to follow her orders in no time flat.

- Phil helping with the plan to lead all the children to the elevator.

- It made me nervous upon seeing it but they made the Day & Night ceiling real pretty.

- I knew the reunion was coming and still cried.

- Take all my hell yeahs.

- I could listen to her say this on repeat and be overjoyed every single time.

- She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll point at gun in your face.

- Getting to witness someone shoot at Peter since no one did so in the manga? Wonderful. Having that person be Isabella who literally lands a perfect shot not even a full second after he pulls out that disc? Perfection.

- Mujika and Vylk bringing in hundreds of civilian demons as reinforcements.

- James!

- Those real quick shots of the ancestors because I had given up on thinking we would’ve seen them at all since the Seven Walls arc was skipped.

- I’m actually surprised they kept his death in and it’s as harsh as the manga.

- Ray confronting Isabella with the addition of this line.

- This panel being animated along with Emma’s thoughts from ch177 towards Isabella even though that chapter’s major event didn’t happen.

- I certainly can not forget about this hug.

- At least anime!Emma told the boys her plan before reaching the door, or didn’t keep it a total secret? If not then I’ll praise the boys for accepting her crazy idea regardless.

- Boy, do you know how much I love you and your smirks?

- SHE. STAYS. ALIVE!!!

- Vincent and Norman’s little fist bump.

- Different but close enough. Still cute though.

- The amount of emotions this one shot makes me feel is limitless. Catch me crying tears of joy over it for the rest of my life.

- Having Phil not only getting the chance to see a train but to ride one as well.

- This pretty shot of Gilda.

- As well as this beautiful one with Emma and Mujika.

- They gave us older Phil. Not sure how much older but he’s still adorable.

- Lastly, the goddamn soundtrack! Of course we heard a bunch of the songs from season one, but the new ones such as “The Evil-Blooded Girl” and the Arabic version of “Isabella’s Lullaby” are absolutely fantastic. I still have to listen to full soundtrack but from what little bit I heard of such songs such as “Nat King Ballade,” “Crisis,” “Norman’s Lament,” and “The Temple Ruins,” I’m sure every track is an absolute joy. I’m so happy we had Obata back for this season.

And that’s the end of it, I guess? Of course it’s not a perfect list, as the majority of it was just personal favorites of mine but oh well. (this is just as long as ray’s birthday post too, oh lord)

I’m not gonna be one of those manga readers who continuously nag people to go read the original source material, because that’s annoying and I understand that some people just might not be up for it. They might watch a series, take it all in and then move on to the next one. Others might want to find out about every little detail and invest more time into the story. It’s totally fine to enjoy a series your own way and you shouldn’t feel pressured to continue something you’re only mildly interested in or feel bad that you love something others might despise. Just do whatever makes you happy. If you wanna check out the manga and see why us readers love it to pieces, then I promise it’s worth it, especially if you enjoyed the anime or wish to see more of any character.. or the entire story. If the manga ain’t for you, then I hope the anime did something for you. It definitely could have been better though, I can’t argue with that.

Whether you’re anime-only or manga reader, can we all still hope for a remake? This season had more flaws than any amount of praise I could give, but if years down the line we get the FMA: Brotherhood or Hellsing: Ultimate treatment where the next anime adaptation follows the manga perfectly, you know I’ll be all for it. I’m too deep in this TPN hole and I’ll probably never leave.

[butterflydm]

wot on prime rewatch: 1x4 - the dragon reborn

spoilers through the end of season one of the wheel of time. I will do a reblog of this soon after I post it, with additional book-related spoilers. 

1. I love many of cold opens (#7 & #8 are very high up there for me, of course, and I am quite fond of #6 as well), but this one is also particularly fantastic. Seeing a hint of Ghealdan under siege by Logain! Seeing him win the King over to his side with compassion. But first we get to see his power and we can contrast it against what we saw Moiraine using during the battle on episode one. Big difference in what we see is that Logain doesn’t wave his hands around to channel. He twitches his fingers at times, but we don’t see the big, showy arm movements that we saw from Moiraine in 1x1 or that we will see from the Aes Sedai later in the episode. Much more subtle movements. Accurate to the books but also just a great illustration here of the difference between the formalized weaves that are taught by the White Tower vs the raw “making it up as we go along” stuff that Logain has been needing to do. I do think they do a good job making this opening scene feel chaotic and like a battle without actually having very many characters on-screen for very long at any point. This is the very end of the battle, after all the possibilities have been exhausted.

2. And we get another (somewhat different) look at the madness and how it presents in Logain (I actually loved seeing the white threads get coated over with the corruption but I look forward to how they might be reworking the weaves for S2 as well - I was genuinely baffled by arguments that I saw about how they shouldn’t try to improve any of the vfx if they get a chance, for continuity reasons, which I don’t understand at all; tv shows generally try to refine & improve on things like this as they go along). I wonder if the fact that his voices are created by tendrils of the corruption is meant as a hint that he’s ‘not as far gone’ as the man at the start of the show, who saw a fully realized companion. The voices, here, are urging Logain to violence and paranoia (connecting it back to the corruption and the Dark One) and he has to fight through that to access his desire to be a savior and not a monster. I feel like it does a good job setting up that conflict for... ah, male channelers who believe they are the Dragon Reborn.

3. This episode, in general, is just so full of helpful foreshadowing and laying down elements for the future, as well as just being a great experience. In general, I feel like the show has been doing a good job of building up the world for the audiences without being too heavy-handed with the exposition.

4. “What does a crown mean to the Dragon Reborn?” I love how full this episode is about conversations about what it means to be the Dragon Reborn; what the Dragon Reborn’s goals would be, what their purpose is. And Álvaro Morte does an amazing job giving Logain a cool but commanding presence, and making him feel sympathetic and complex. This is really the episode that I would point to in how we’re likely to see Rand’s own struggles and growing corruption/madness treatment in the future, and I think it bodes well. And the little headtilt that Logain does when he/we start to first hear one of the voices that speaks to him -- I love that we see this from the King of Ghealdan’s perspective first, and just see that subtle movement from Logain that shows he’s listening to two different voices here -- a real one and one created by the madness -- before we see things from his perspective and actually see the... corruption spirits? Not certain what to call them.

5. Love the moment of struggle, where Logain turns the knife on the King but then makes him drop it. And, instead of killing him, he heals him and then releases him, drops down to his knees in front of him and offers him a place with him instead. Side note: I like the design of the Ghealdan dagger. It’s pretty. But, yes, Logain says that he plans to ‘bind’ the world together instead of breaking it again.

6. After the credits, we go to Nynaeve up on a rise, studying the Aes Sedai camp. We learn SO MUCH about the Aes Sedai in this episode and I love it. Each of the Ajahs present gets to lay out their philosophy, essentially, and since we already have named Blue, Red, and Green Sisters, we can probably guess that those Ajahs will be particularly important for us going forward. The overview of the camp itself tells us so much -- Red and Greens are split into two camps that sit side-by-side and they are not mixed together. We see the Green Ajah Sisters mingling with their Warders, while the Red Sisters stay in their female-only groupings. I love the variety in the different Sisters that we see, though I’m not going to try to guess which countries they’re all supposed to hail from in the Westlands. But we do see both sides essentially in the ‘uniform’ of wearing their Ajah’s colors, with the Red Sisters almost in the same shade of red, while there is more variety in the shades among the Green Sisters.

7. Speaking of the Green Sisters, that’s the camp that Moiraine was taken to for healing, and we meet Kerene here. And this scene is also set up to contrast us against the healing later in the episode -- Kerene’s healing of Moiraine left a scar, but when Nynaeve busts out at the end of the episode, she does a massive AOE heal that doesn’t leave any scars behind and she barely seems winded. Nynaeve is supposed to be the most powerful Aes Sedai potential in hundreds of years (as we hear later in the season) and this episode does a good job showing that to us imo.

8. And now Moiraine gets the rundown on the new false Dragon. We learn that “thousands” of true believers are following him. Of the Sisters in the camp, only three of them (Kerene, Alanna, and Liandrin) are strong enough to shield him from touching the Power, and two of them are guarding him at all times. Liandrin says that because he was planning on marching on the Tower, that they don’t need a trial in order to “mete out the proper punishment”, and Kerene immediately pushes back on the idea, saying that they have been ordered to take him to the Tower for the Amrylin to judge his fate. The viewers already know that Liandrin has been taking some of her Sisters and going off to perform extrajudicial gentling on other male channelers.

9. Moiraine volunteers to take over part of the shielding, which is a nice way of just sliding in there that her power level is equivalent to these three Sisters in here rather than the rest of the Sisters out in the camps. She takes over Liandrin’s position in the shielding. And the shielding here does look exactly like what ~the Man at the Eye~ does to her at the end of the season, so I’m still on Team Shielding.

10. Warder bonding! Lan and Stepin do some training together and Lan gets caught up on the Tower gossip - “more problems; fewer Aes Sedai to handle them” - discreetly finds out that ‘the Amrylin Seat’ is doing well and confirms that the Tower still believes that she’s ‘not fond’ of Moiraine. Stepin comments on Nyaneve’s addition to Lan’s traveling group, and Lan says, “She’s not a traveling companion; she’s barely company.” lol. Stepin sees Kerene approach and goes off to hang out with her. 

11. Once Stepin and Kerene are alone, they gossip about Moiraine and Lan. This is our first hint in the show that Moiraine and Lan are not typical Aes Sedai. “Even if we had something in common, I’d never know it. It’s hard having a conversation with someone who won’t say anything.” I really love that we get to see different types of relationships between Aes Sedai and Warders in the show. It feels like, even just in season one, the Warders as a whole were given so much more depth than they ever got in the books, and I am here for it. Stepin is also here to share his concerns with Kerene that Liandrin might manage to talk the others into gentling Logain without a trial, and that there are rumors out there that the Reds have been doing just that with other (non-famous) male channelers. Kerene doesn’t believe that it’s really been happening: “Even Liandrin won’t cross the Amrylin Seat”. But I really love how... comfortable and lived-in this relationship between Kerene and Stepin feels.

12. Swapping over to Perrin and Egwene’s storyline, as the Tuatha’an prepare to set out for the day. Perrin says that he doesn’t trust them and Egwene reassures him (with a touch to the arm) that if either of them decides to leave, then they will both leave, “no questions”. Aram comes over to let them know that the caravan is heading east to Tar Valon which... hmmm. I have some Thoughts about that in the spoiler reblog. Ah, Aram also confirms that I was right that Egwene and Perrin had wandered onto the Caralain Plains. Perrin pokes at why Aram & the others are willing to trust them -- they could be bandits! Aram is basically, “lol, you are two young people starving and alone. why would we think you are bandits?” Aram (like Thom) pegs them as villagers from the Mountains of Mist and he is SO amused when Egwene lies and says they’re from Whitebridge. Aram is so charming here. I love this actor. Infectious smile, for sure (tho Perrin, The Most Heterosexual Character in Wheel of Time, is unaffected, of course). I also love the symbolism here of how Perrin has already taken off the blanket he was offered by the Tuatha’an, while Egwene is still wearing hers. Egwene is so good at blending and assimilating into any culture that she lands in. And Egwene DOES wait for Perrin to nod before she heads over to join the caravan; much like we’ve seen Mat and Rand wait for each other’s buy-in before actually moving to do something on their journey, Egwene waits for Perrin’s buy-in here.

13. Speaking of Mat and Rand, we now join their journey with Thom. They’ve all got horses again; thanks, Thom! Mat’s horse is NOT HAPPY to have him riding her, but Rand is more concerned about whether or not Thom is trustworthy. This episode basically gives both Mat and Rand similar symptoms, but Mat’s are a bit more obvious and overt (especially to Thom) -- Mat’s horse is being skittish, but Rand here lodges the same suspicion against Thom that he had against Moiraine at the end of episode one -- gosh, isn’t it convenient that this person happened to show up right before horrible trouble started and positioned themselves as our escape from the trouble? (Rand does not yet know he’s ta’veren, after all).

14. I really do wish we had another road trip episode. I like what we got, but another full episode with Thom would have been fantastic. Ugh, Amazon, give them 10 episodes for season 3!!!! They deserve it.

15. Interesting to me how Rand now characterizes what Thom did last episode as him stealing “our money” and not “Mat’s money”. Mat is now the one who has more experience with Thom, so he does argue that Thom is trustworthy specifically but approves of Rand’s suspicion of randoms in general. Rand and Mat basically bond over shared paranoia here. But this is also just a nice moment where Rand and Mat are talking very frankly and earnestly with each other about the situation that they’re in, and another good place where you can really feel that they’re friends with history behind them - Mat is able to make Rand smile here, even though Rand is fretting over whether or not they can trust Thom. But this also shows us that a pattern is potentially beginning to be established -- Rand has a hard time trusting strangers who show up to save him out of nowhere. First Moiraine, now Thom. I wonder if that pattern of mistrust will show up again in S2.

16. Back to the Aes Sedai plotline, we get to have a conversation between Moiraine and Alanna as they guard Logain! Very exciting. We confirm that women don’t see men’s weaves; we confirm that it’s difficult for the two of them to maintain the shield on him.

17. “When I chose Green, I thought it was so heroic. The Battle Ajah. Warriors trained to defend humanity from the Dark One at the Last Battle. But I never thought I’d see it myself.”  - Moiraine points out that there have been false Dragons before, and Alanna counters that Logain is stronger than anything she’s seen before. “It’s just another sign. The end of this Age is here.” And Alanna also worries over what will happen to the world if the Dragon is meant to be fighting with them at the Last Battle but the Red Sisters have gentled him and taken him out of the picture. And I do wonder if there’s a moment here where Moiraine considers the idea of hinting a bit of the truth that she knows to Alanna (but then Logain attempts to break out, and the moment is lost). Side note: I am personally absolutely FINE with the show getting rid of the background detail that dogs hate Aes Sedai.

18. Nynaeve is still up on the rise, watching the rest of the camp. She’s trying to eat her lunch, when she gets interrupted by Liandrin trying to make nice with her. Nynaeve just Does Not want to engage but, since she is being forced to, she immediately takes charge of the conversation and says that she wants Liandrin to answer HER questions, starting with how long she’s known Moiraine.

19. In Mat & Rand’s storyline, they are stopping near a farm, and Thom suggests sneaking into a barn for some rest. Rand’s mistrust has eased somewhat, because he suggests simply asking instead, while Mat fights with his horse, who is not even wanting to follow him anymore. The local farmer shows up, bow in hand, the challenge why three strangers are on his farm. Thom tries to talk his way out of things, and we see him notice that Mat has his hand on his dagger (Thom has already seen Mat flourish the dagger at him, after all -- I’m not sure Rand is even aware that Mat has it at all yet?). Again, after letting Thom attempt to be the face of the group, Rand steps in once it’s clear that he needs help, just like he did with Mat and Dana last episode. I’m going to keep an eye on that as well -- Rand tries to allow his traveling companions to take the lead, and steps up to be the leader if they fail, essentially, is the pattern than appears to be forming here. There’s an interesting musical cue that happens right before Rand steps up to take control of the conversation. I’ll try to keep an ear out to see if I hear it in other places where Rand might be influencing people by being ta’veren.

20. This is also another place where we get the pattern of “farmer man has a weapon that he doesn’t enjoy wielding” as he says “I never liked this thing much” - I feel like I can pair this with Tam hiding away his blade from his days as a soldier. He could also easily say “I never liked this thing much”, I expect. They DO get permission to sleep in the barn after mucking out the stables.

21. Haha, Liandrin’s description of the Blue Ajah really does crack me up: “They’re nothing more than little spies who exaggerate their own importance.” Someone is bitter about the Amrylin being raised from the Blue Ajah imo lol. And we get to hear Liandrin set out the Red Ajah’s public philosophy - if Greens are meant to be soldiers for the Last Battle, the Reds are the policing-arm of the White Tower: “We protect the world from people who would misuse the One Power. Even other Aes Sedai.” lol, the second Lan shows up, Liandrin is OUT of there. She doesn’t want man-cooties, even if the man can’t channel. I do love her boots, though. That coin-like row down the front. Like it. Liandrin tells Nynaeve “The Red tent is open to all women; please feel free to join us for dinner,” which tips her hand a bit imo. I doubt Nynaeve failed to notice the choice of words. Liandrin is also wearing pants here which, again, I’m very excited and happy about.

22. I love that we can see Nynaeve’s yellow skirt here underneath her coat. The Yellow Ajah is actually the one other one that we’ve seen visually represented on screen at this point (though I don’t believe their purpose was stated) -- it was a Yellow Sister who was burned by the Whitecloaks in the episode 2 opener. Yellow with a coating of Green on top is a perfect description of Nynaeve, imo, and I love getting to see that expressed visually in the costuming.

23. As soon as Liandrin is gone, Nynaeve reveals that she was not taken in by her attempts to play nice -- “That woman is a snake. Is the White Tower full of women like her?” Lan tries to pitch to Nynaeve why this detour was necessary -- it will be quicker and easier to travel in a group and the resources of the White Tower will make any further searching for the others much easier. He also invites her to the Warders’ fire on the Green side of the camp - “If you promise not to shove anyone into it.” lol. Her little eyebrow raise after he says that is delightful. And it’s clear that she vibes a lot more with Lan’s directness than Liandrin’s fake attempts to get into her good graces.

24. Perrin tries to figure out if the Tuatha’an have seen the others and finds out about the Way of the Leaf, forswearing violence. “We run if we can; endure if we cannot”. The show did another good job here of tying the Way of the Leaf into the belief in the Wheel of Time -- which makes the Way of the Leaf instead make a lot more emotional sense. Ilya does a very good job cold-reading Perrin’s reactions here to lead her into having a better sense of what his internal struggle is.

25. Rand and Mat muck out the stables while Thom drinks. Mat is struggling and needs a break from mucking out (to go throw up black ooze). Rand doesn’t take Mat skipping out on the chores the same way that he did in the last episode -- it’s clear that his worry has now overtaken his frustration when it comes to whatever is happening with Mat. Thom also appears concerned. The black ooze is very much like what we saw in Shadar Logoth. Mat has an encounter with another aged-down daughter here, the daughter of the farmers, and Mat is able to pull himself together enough to be very sweet and soft with her, thinking of his own sisters back at home and worrying about them.

26. Rand tries to convince Thom (and himself) that Mat picked up a bug in Breen’s Spring and he’s just a little sick. And now we get the conversation between Thom and Rand about Thom’s nephew Owyn, and I love it to pieces. Hearing this personal loss from Thom shows another side of the tragedy of being a male channeler in the Third Age -- we hear how it made Owyn into a different person, snappish and paranoid and “sour”, but how being gentled straight-up made him suicidal. Being a male channeler in the Third Age is absolutely a lose-lose proposition. You will go mad (and potentially kill everyone you love) or you will get stripped of your power and lose the will to live. And those are your only choices. That’s awful! Very good conversation here, and I love how it’s laced both with worry for Mat but also Rand is relating to himself and worrying/wondering. And Thom basically says here exactly why Rand isn’t confessing his fears over himself to Mat (or even himself). But the stressor here about keeping Mat away from Aes Sedai, and especially Red Ajah Sisters, being delivered to Rand like this, compounds what Dana said in the previous episode, adding to the don’t trust Aes Sedai drumbeat. I am very very curious about how that will continue to progress in S2.

27. Alanna has taken her own break now and it’s Moiraine and Kerene who are watching Logain. Silently.

28. Fun times out at the Warder fire! Stepin is teasing Lan, and Nynaeve fits right in when she also straight-out teases him. Nynaeve watches as some of the Warders split off to join their Aes Sedai at a gesture, and Nynaeve (who has been having a LOT of fun with the Warders and I hope we get more of her choosing to spend time with them in S2) essentially asks them why they serve the Aes Sedai. “We don’t,” she’s told. “No bond is closer than that of an Aes Sedai and her Warder. Not husbands and wives. Not parents and children. You know what Aes Sedai means in the Old Tongue? Servants of all. It is they who serve the world.” Getting a Warder’s eye view of WHY they would choose to become a Warder is such a useful and good thing here. I feel like we can add “Warders” to the groups of people that the show does a better job exploring, along with Tuatha’an and Darkfriends. In all cases, by grounding them in the reality of the world. We hear WHY a Darkfriend might choose the Shadow for reasons other than Being Evil; we hear WHY the Tuatha’an philosophy of peace is based in their spiritual understanding of the Wheel of Time and reincarnation; we hear WHY Warders would choose this life, to support this group of women, and the reasoning behind it. If the Aes Sedai are servants of the world, “then what does that make you?” Nynaeve asks. And Lan is the one answers - “proud”.

29. Alanna drops by to pick up her two Warders and a needle drops for Nynaeve, realizing that there’s a threesome going on over there. And I do wonder if she currently is believing that Lan and Moiraine have a romantic/sexual aspect to their relationship as well. I do like this little drop here of polyamory existing in the world of WoT already. Poly relationships & representation are SO rare in... any kind of TV show, really.

30. Back in Moiraine and Lan’s tent, they are NOT having sex but instead having a conversation, because they are platonic life partners. This is a great conversation. Lan points out that Logain is too old to be the one, but Moiraine is worrying. She’s even wondering if her main point about thinking it had to be one of the Two Rivers’ folk because of the Trollocs might be off because she’s not sure if the Dark One has any idea who the Dragon Reborn is either. I love seeing them as a team here, with Moiraine saying, “Your losses are mine and mine are ours.” And Lan saying that Moiraine gets emotional when he drinks, is something that I appreciate for Secret Spoiler Reasons, lol.

31. Egwene is dancing with the Tuatha’an while Perrin watches from the sidelines. She asks him about the song and gets the story out of Aram about how their people are searching for the Song that will bring harmony to the world, a song that was lost in the Breaking. Egwene tries to bring some hope & optimism back into Aram’s view of his own people here.

32. Meanwhile, Perrin is working on fixing some wagon wheels and has a private conversation with Ila. The show does a good job of grounding people in their experiences and how those experiences interact with the culture they’ve grown up with and the cultures that they encounter. I do really enjoy this conversation between Perrin and Ila, where she tells Perrin about the loss of her daughter. “What greater revenge against violence than peace? What greater revenge against death than life?” I really love the intimate one-on-one conversations that the show has given us so much. I think Rafe has said that he continued to fight for those one-on-one scenes in S2 as well, which is definitely a good thing.

33. Egwene and Aram have a private conversation, where Egwene is feeling melancholy over being seperated from Rand. She’s certain she would know if he were dead. We also get more hints of Aram’s unhappiness with his people and I think it’s implied that he’s not quite twenty, because that’s the age that he would be expected to go out and experience the world.

34. Meanwhile, in Rand and Mat’s storyline, he’s obsessing over Egwene because she’s all he can think about... oh, wait, no, he actually isn’t, because that’s just a thing that the internet decided to believe about his character with no evidence. He’s actually worrying over Mat, who is right there and obviously not doing well. He reassures Mat here, “I’m here. You know that, right? No matter what happens, I’m here.” (amazingly enough, this is NOT the moment that made me ship them!)

35. Then we are in Rand’s dreams. I kinda hope we continue to get to see Rand’s dreams in the future, fingers crossed. I think we will. Anyone, in this dream we have: Perrin, hammering on his wife’s dead body; Mat wandering by with the camera focusing on his right hand covered in blood; and Egwene getting snatched by Ishamael. The nightmare wakes Rand up and Thom is there to reassure him, but Rand immediately notices that Mat is missing. They run into the farmhouse and see people lying dead and Mat standing there in the center of the room.

36. I will note, at this point, Rand and Thom have zero reason to think that something other than Mat killed these people, not until Mat lifts the dagger and calls out the Fade hiding in the shadows, but Thom was 100% going to bundle Mat out of there anyway. Anyway, Mat does call out the Fade and Thom attacks it/distracts it while Rand grabs Mat and pulls him out of the house. So this is the first time Rand’s seen the dagger, I think. We get to see some hint bits of Thom’s fighting skills and then Mat sees that the little girl from earlier has been murdered as well, and the two of them are done, with the protector Birgitte doll left behind.

37. The next day, in the Aes Sedai camp, Nynaeve notices Lan going off into the woods by himself and follows after. She sees Lan performing a private ceremony for himself, but he soon spots her. He’s more than willing to share with her the details of the prayer, a prayer for the lost of Malkier. In exchange, Nynaeve shares her own private prayer/ceremony for the lost with him - an Old Tongue prayer that she doesn’t understand, but the last thing that her parents said to her. And Lan is able to give her a piece of her parents back by translating the words for her. “We shall go into the land, so our children can always hold us and won’t be alone.” They share a moment of connection, where Nynaeve says that Lan is more than she’d assumed he was.

38. Kerene confronts Liandrin about her trying to talk all their fellow Aes Sedai into extrajudicially gentling Logain. With Kerene, Liandrin makes the argument that Logain is too strong to try to haul across the country, but Kerene does not budge. “The law applies just as much to us as it does to him.” And Kerene also kinda confirms that the Reds are the cop Ajah: “And you, a Red, should be reminding me of that, not the other way around.” So we have soldiers, cops, and spies so far, out in the world.

39. Logain’s army arrives to free him. Love what we get to see here of Alanna & the Green Ajah and their Warders in the fight. Very good start. At this point, Logain breaks out... my question... did Liandrin help at all? She suggested the idea of Logain breaking loose, as they would then have the ‘right’ to kill him, which Kerene rejected. But, yeah, love seeing the Warders protecting their Aes Sedai in this battle and the way they work together. We also see Nynaeve’s relative helplessness and how much she hates it (she does get in a couple of good stabbings tho).

40. Moiraine sneaking in to see Logain here is a great scene. Feeling his power against her shield has made her doubt herself, and so she needs to establish for herself that he is NOT the Dragon. He tells her that he hears “a thousand Dragons who have preceded me”. “They are teaching me to do better this time. Isn’t this why the Wheel turns out spirits out again and again? To learn?” Moiraine tells him that the Wheel doesn’t want anything (viewing it more as a force of nature, I think). Moiraine has heard enough to decide that he is definitely not the Dragon and that the true Dragon will be much more powerful than he is. Kerene and Liandrin recover at this point and attempt to reshield Logain, but one of his attempts to break free almost kills Liandrin and Moiraine, and Kerene deflects the weapon, leading to her own death instead. In the battle outside, we see Stepin’s reaction to feeling Kerene’s death.

41. Lan, Nynaeve, and Stepin race towards the cave with Logain, while Alanna & the rest hold off the army. We see that the King of Ghealdan died in the assult. When Stepin races in and sees Kerene, he makes an attempt to kill Logain, which causes Stepin’s axes to shatter, and the majority of the people in the cave start bleeding out from their wounds. Nynaeve heals everyone (with her main focus on Lan) and her power is very impressive to everyone (including Logain). And then Liandrin links with the other sisters and gentles Logain (Nynaeve is a witness to this but not involved). It’s a really epic ending, which definitely was so mindblowing for me in first viewing and I still really really love it.

[kaypeace21]

i’m a survivor too, and i found that certain scenes/stuff will said just really struck me as ‘csa-survivor’-like? i felt a bit uncomfortable about headcanoning it happening to someone else, especially for a fandom as wild as this one, but your metas have really been a comfort to me because they’ve been able to pick out and explain things that i couldn’t necessarily find the words for myself.

and yeah, i would love to have a character like me that is powerful and who finds love and who gets a happy ending. the people who call the theory disgusting always kinda hit wrong with me because although csa is a difficult subject, we shouldn’t be ashamed about sharing it. they sound like they’re trying to say that it’s a bad topic to talk about and implying that it can’t happen to kids, which uhhhhh-

(i’m sure that’s not what they mean, precisely, but it’s still what they sound like, and i wish that they would stop implying that we can’t exist, especially in popular media. we do, and i’m not gonna pretend we don’t, and if they feel uncomfortable with the topic they can just use the block button. we deserve to have some well written representation just as much as anyone else. also, i really really hope that will gets a happy ending.)

anywayyyy i love your theories and i can see your post in the tag so i think you’re fine?? have a good day ❤️❤️❤️

SORRY, this ask took so long to respond to. It always warms my heart to hear other survivors speak and say they found comfort in my theory.

Yes, I think I and a lot of c*a/r*pe victims (subconscious or otherwise) were triggered by some of the symbolism/visuals in s1-3. And s3 made it hard for most of us to ignore the past imagery- since s3 wasn’t as subtle.

I get why people have reservations about the theory. But the debates to the contrary are usually just plain offensive. Or people trying to be respectful but being the opposite. There’s the obvious bad-apples . I got many anons after part 1 of my DID theory saying it “ruined/tainted byler”, and “if that happened to Will i’ll stop shipping byler” , or that it  “ruins the best gay character” ,  and to “remove the post immediately”. And this was when I was open about being a gay c*a victim. I obviously blocked them. Many survivors don’t come forward because they’re afraid people will see them as “tainted”, “ruined”, “ just their trauma”, or blame them for what happened. So yeah, it pisses me off when people say similar stuff about Will (and thus other c*a victims). Not even diving into the messed up psychology about byler/mileven shippers (knowing i was a lesbian c*a victim) but purposely spreading bs rumors about me being a p*do that was into Will/Noah-all because of the theory. -_-

Then there’s the people who try to be “respectful” but literally do the opposite.

I’ve heard numerous times it’s somehow “less offensive” to just use r*pe imagery to make monsters scary. Rather than have  the monsters have that imagery cause Will created the monsters from his memory/imagination-and st is a story of Will healing from that trauma. SORRY- I disagree. Using the worst experiences of peoples’ lives (and triggering their trauma) for no real purpose- except to make their monsters scarier to the normal/general audience who haven’t gone through it so won’t be triggered like us - is MORE OFFENSIVE to victims! NOT LESS! At least to me.

Then there’s the people who say “c*a should never be talked about (in stories).” Which I disagree with. V*ctims have already been told by ab*ser’s  and enablers of the ab*ser- to never talk about what happened to us  . So it rubs A LOT of us the wrong way when people say this.  Because (subconscious or not) you remind some of us of the people who used to hurt/silence us. People say this -simply for their convenience (like ab*sers) and cause deep down they’re uncomfortable with our existence and equate the despicable act to us the innocent v*ctim ...or just want to deny the horrible reality of the situation (like many enablers who deny the truth and hurt us because they don’t want to accept reality) . And 1) It brings us back to a time where they told us to NEVER talk about it- and makes us feel like we did something wrong when we didn’t! 2) Every psych professional says with-holding/keeping the ab*se a secret is detrimental to our mental health.

Plus, there’s a HUGE difference between sugarcoating/minimizing trauma or WORSE glamorizing, condoning, or romanticizing C*A in stories (ex: pretty little liars) VS showing how the action is wrong, causes trauma, but showing recovery and happiness is still possible for v*ctims.  if the story shows how accurately traumatizing it is (instead of minimizing/glamorizing it)- it’s incredibly rare for that character to get a happy ending. Having a story about recovering from that type of trauma and finding happiness despite such hardships would be amazing for US survivors! We rarely get stories with a happy ending-  it’s more harmful to us survivors to never see ourselves get happy endings in tv/film/books. How can some survivors (in a dark place) think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel- if it’s never shown?Also if Will has DID too- it’s good mental health rep, along with queer rep (and survivor’s rep.) All 3 groups rarely are treated well or get happy endings in media. A lot of people may feel more heard, seen, and a bit more hopeful for the future - If Will (and other characters) get a happy ending.

And even though st has many themes- like say homophobia. To try and hand-wave all the disturbing  r*pe imagery away  as ‘Will is just gay so the monsters are like that”. IS SOOOOOO offensive. Trigger warning for examples. I’m sorry what part of Max saying when Billy had c*nsensual s*x it’s “good screams” but when possessed by the mf he causes Heather to do “bad screams” read as gay???! Having the possessed ch*ke/dr*g people before throwing them in trunks (like it’s implied Lonnie did to Will -since Jonathan checked Lonnie’s trunk for Will in s1)?Tying their arms and legs up/ g*ging  them and  getting on top of them and saying “stay VERY still it’ll all be over soon”-before a monster shoves it’s tentacle into someone’s mouth and inserts a goo - just gay??? Similar to the sentient vine/shadow monster forcing itself down Will’s throat. Let alone Will saying things like “he made me do it”, “i felt it everywhere”, or being tied to a bed and screaming “help! stop! it hurts! let me go!” While Jonathan is the only one who’s visibly triggered by this and has to literally turn away and hug someone . Or barb, billy, and El spiting up a white liquid from their mouth (similar to will spitting up a slug and lying to his mother about it ).El/billy touching a suspicious looking slime with their hand and looking at the substance confused . El drawing Papa with 3 legs (the middle one being shorter) ,  trying to undress in front of the boys , and Benny saying “I think she’s been ab*sed or something”.The theme of ab*sive dads- brenner , Lonnie, and Neil . Even when the demogorgan (called in d&d the “deep father”/ in the show “a man without a face”) attacked Barb it’s chopped up with scenes of Nancy having c*nsensual sex (the monsters are doing the opposite symbolically). There’s way more examples but NO- to try and hand wave /equate ALL OF THIS to just “gay imagery” or an “a*ds metaphor” is WAY more problematic. And just offensive (specifically to gay people) than just admitting what it may actually represent. R*pe imagery and gay imagery is NOT THE SAME THING!

Also ST has never been a kid show- maybe rewatch the show and see the rating of tv-14 . Goodness sake- s1 has a st*ged su*icde, k*dnappings, m*rder, discussions of physics, h*mophobia, and s*x (with stancy in s1 & jancy in s2-s3). S2/3 discuss at their finalies recovering from tra*ma . S2 had gra*ic de*ths,  a man causing a women br*in damage/ and faking her m*scarriage, and a gang of vigalantes k*lling criminals. s3 had critiques on capitalism /media/s*xism, many d*eaths, and questionable imagery like the prior seasons. The Duffers constantly reference  movies & events from the 80s (capitalizing on 80s nostalgia /subverting 80s motifs that middle age people  from that time remember)! Those people were their intended age demographic . Most 80s centric refs go over most kids’ heads (heck a lot went over my head too since I wasn’t alive in the 80s XD).The Duffers even said in the book “worlds turned upsidedown”  “it’s not a kid’s show despite having kids”. And maybe it’s a coincidence but when Lucas in s3 hands Will the “devil’s baby” firework (a hint about Lonnie) he says “18 and over only.” Which idk is a weird/random af line unless it’s foreshadowing that the show will get darker about various themes- and maybe even change ratings.

I get people wishing nothing bad ever happened to Will or Jonathan. And being apprehensive and not trusting the Duffers to do such a story justice (cause it’s difficult to do). But personally i trust them to do so tastefully with tact and not be exp*itative, (overly gr*fic) or offensive to v*ctims. You can disagree and think the show is about something else (or not trust the Duffers)- but it’d be great if people could stop using these other messed up talking points. While trying to appear ‘(fake) woke’ and like they care for victims- cause we see through it that you really don’t.

Have a lovely day anon ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Update- I just really agreed with and appreciate the tags in this reblog

[panharmonium]

Merlin and Naruto

I did Merlin here, so here’s Naruto! :D

[disclaimer for everyone: I have only watched up through Season 10 of Shippuden (the arc with the Five Kage Summit), and I am trying to avoid spoilers for everything after that point, so please don’t interact with this (including tags, because tumblr shows them to me automatically) unless you are avoiding ALL spoilers.  For me, this includes discussion about whether you like/dislike future seasons, comparisons of various seasons in terms of quality, etc.  Thanks, everyone! <3]

My favorite parent-child relationship: I know they’re not blood-related, but Iruka and Naruto have me crying every time I see them together.  Naruto straight-up says that when he’s with Iruka he feels like he knows what it’s like to have a father, and honestly, Iruka loves Naruto so much at this point that he would insta-adopt him if Naruto asked.  I love how Naruto always cites Iruka as the first person who cared for him even later in the show when Iruka hasn’t had as much screentime, and when I saw Iruka cry because he’s so proud of Naruto at the end of the Pain arc, it was just...too much for my little heart to handle.

My favorite sibling relationship: You know, thinking about it, almost all of the people in Naruto are only children, as far as we know!  But in terms of just that sibling vibe - Sakura and Naruto definitely give me that feel.  I know he has a crush on her, but their relationship has always felt more sibling-like to me, and I especially love how deep their bond has become by the time we get to Shippuden.  They are just so comfortable with each other now - the depth of the love and friendship they feel for each other is palpable.  

My favorite family relationship (other): I adore Naruto’s relationship with Jiraiya.  That scene where Naruto falls asleep against his back almost killed me, and Jiraiya’s later line, “Your smile is my salvation” - that was too much.  It absolutely destroyed me.  The way Jiraiya kind of gave up on everything after his old life went to hell - neverending wars, Orochimaru gone, his original students dead, his student’s students dead, Minato dead - he just ran away after that, and it was meeting Naruto that kind of rekindled that spark of hope in him and helped him reconnect with his community and rediscover a sense of purpose in his life.  Naruto enabled him to finally come home, and I think that’s beautiful.

My favorite friendship between two people: There are so many friendships in Naruto that I love (one of the greatest things about this show for me has been how little focus is given to romantic relationships, at least so far; it’s very much a friendship-oriented show), but right now I’m in a bit of a Kakashi-Yamato hole.  I was super primed to not like Yamato when he first showed up, because him being there meant that my favorite character WASN’T there, and also he ended up replacing Kakashi on the one mission where the team finally found Sasuke, but the guy won me over in the end.  He is one of my favorite characters now - my heart just swells every time I see him - and I think his relationship with Kakashi is super interesting.  I’ve written before about how Kakashi’s only truly intimate friendships are with people who are dead, and I do think that applies when it comes to Yamato, too, even though the two of them are obviously very companionable and close.  There is still a level to that relationship where Kakashi is a bit of a mentor figure, the “superior officer,” which results in a degree of (still friendly and affectionate) distance.  And as with all of his other relationships, Kakashi doesn’t really confide in Yamato about his life or open up to him in the same way that he does when he talks to his dead friends - but at the same time, there is an element to their relationship that doesn’t exist in Kakashi’s other friendships, and it’s the fact that Kakashi trusts Yamato with his kids, implicitly and without reservation.  Kakashi’s entire life right now is very much enmeshed in what happens to his students, and even if he doesn’t necessarily talk about that with Yamato, Yamato is still deeply involved in that work.  Yamato VOLUNTEERED for that work.  And he continues to dedicate himself to it even when his first mission as Kakashi’s stand-in ends up going completely off the rails and turning into WAY more than he signed up for.  He keeps doing his utmost for Kakashi’s kids without it even being his original responsibility, and that is such an unusual thing, for Kakashi, who in every other circumstance is always the one stepping in to help other people, the one who always shoulders his burdens alone.  Nobody ever asks Kakashi if he needs help with these incredibly high-needs children, and neither does Yamato - but the difference is that Yamato jumps in to help regardless, and he stays no matter how complicated things get.  That’s huge, and it’s only going to become more important.  It’s just - it is difficult for Kakashi to have intimate friendships with people who don’t share his history, and this rules out almost everybody else in the world, because all the people who truly share his own history are dead.  But the degree to which Yamato has altruistically and irreversibly entwined himself into the most important parts of Kakashi’s new history - the chapters being written right now, the ones that are going to define the rest of Kakashi’s life - means that Yamato is well on his way to breaking through that wall and becoming the first exception to a universal rule. [There is a lot to be said on Kakashi’s side of this, too, like - every time Kakashi refuses to call Yamato by his code name I lose my mind just a little bit, and I have MANY thoughts about Kakashi basically dragging folks who’ve been victimized or exploited or experimented on out of ANBU and then absorbing them into his own team, where they become a part of a family-type unit that respects them and cares about them and treats them like human beings.  I mean, there’s a huge difference between the Yamato we meet in S2 vs. the Yamato we know in S10 (and the same thing goes for Sai!) - and that’s something I think about a lot.]

My favorite friendship between a group:  I love all of the team dynamics, but Team Gai is a fave XD  The absurd contrast between oh-so-serious Neji vs. Gai/Lee’s incredible goofiness (with Tenten’s exasperation in between) is comedy gold.  I screamed with laughter in S1 when Gai was trying to get Neji to put his hand in the circle and do their “shout a slogan like a sports team” thing - I’ve never seen anything funnier on this show than jonin!Neji trying to put up with Gai’s antics.  

My favorite mentorship: My favorite mentorship is always Kakashi and whichever kid happens be onscreen with him at that moment, but I’ll be honest and say that Kakashi+Sasuke was the first dynamic that got me actually invested in this show (as opposed to me just watching it because it was on and not really caring what happened to any of the characters).  They are still the mentorship dynamic about which I have the most complex feelings, and that is especially true after the last season we watched.  I will probably end up making a separate post about this, because I still have not written down all of my thoughts about the end of Season 10 and I am still trapped in my feelings about this very lost child and the only adult who ever tried to help him the way he deserved to be helped, and I know I have way more to say about them than I can reasonably fit in this bullet point.  But - the short version is that I am super compelled by the way that every tragedy that’s befallen Kakashi is precisely what shapes him into the only adult who can help this particular kid, the way seemingly senseless events ended up putting Kakashi in a position where he’s the only adult who can intervene on this kid’s behalf many, many years later.  The way Sasuke’s plight (and the potential that Kakashi has to help him) suddenly grants meaning to the worst parts of Kakashi’s life - that knocks me on my butt.  

My favorite rivalry: So I probably would not have said this until the episode where Kakashi comes three seconds away from being made Hokage, but I’m gonna say Gai & Kakashi, solely to express my love and appreciation for Gai in that episode.  This is the ep where Gai challenges Kakashi to a race through the entire village (as a sort of “last hurrah before we can’t do this kind of silly shit anymore” thing) and Kakashi is initially kind of reluctant to do it, because he’s stressed out about a lot of things, but he does end up agreeing to it, and then he has SO much fun, and I LOVED this so much; I can’t even tell you.  This moment takes place immediately after Kakashi returns from that horrible, awful confrontation with Sasuke, and everything preceding this scene was very hard for me to see, because everybody is just asking Kakashi to do more and more and more for them without giving him even a hot minute to be like “i almost just killed my own kid.  i almost just had to kill my own kid, who was trying to kill my other kid, who was trying to kill kid #1 first, so i wouldn’t have assume the burden of killing him myself.”  Nobody checks on him, nobody asks, and Kakashi has to just hold onto that horror and also fret over the uncertain yet chilling secrets that Madara Uchiha disclosed and also prepare to shoulder the crushing weight of an office he never asked for - AND THEN.  GAI SHOWS UP.  And even though Gai doesn’t really know what happened, he still checks Kakashi over from top to bottom to make sure he’s in one piece, and then he drags him into this stupid competition, and it makes Kakashi LAUGH.  They go running all out across the craterized scene of devastation that used to be their home, and they have FUN doing it, and Kakashi straight-up tells Gai, “This was just what I needed,” which - god.  It would be great if Kakashi had somebody he could actually talk to, sure, but there’s also a space in our lives for people who just cheer us up, no questions asked.  It’s like when you tell someone you have a problem and they ask, “Do you want to talk about it or do you want to be distracted?”  Sometimes you don’t need to talk about it.  Sometimes you just need people who will take you for a goofy footrace and make you feel like you’re running too fast for any of your troubles to ever touch you again, for a few minutes. 

My favorite hatred/antipathy: The answer to this question used to be Kakashi and Itachi, and while I’m even MORE fascinated by their dynamic now than ever, it’s taken on a whole new dimension, given that I think Itachi is (secretly) thrilled to see someone like Kakashi so committed to taking him down and keeping Sasuke safe.  So, in place of that, I’ll just say that I love how much all of the Akatsuki cannot stand each other XD  Almost none of them get along, and it makes me laugh every time - I can’t believe they ever get anything done, though I guess that’s to be expected when you get that many super-criminals together in a room.  I especially love how they all think Orochimaru is so stupid...cannot get over them laughing at him and his body-snatching immortality schemes.

My favorite potential relationship between characters who never talk in canon: Okay, these are both silly answers, but - I would have KILLED to see Jiraiya interacting with Minato’s team.  Like, I’m certain they spent time together, but honestly, what I wouldn’t give to have witnessed some of it.  All I could think about during that mini-arc where Jiraiya teaches Naruto how to sync up with Gamariki was how little!Kakashi would have taken one look at the dancing frogs and decided he would be using dog!summons for the rest of his life; meanwhile Obito would have already been in the frog’s mouth begging to be launched into the air like a cannonball.  Also - my sister said the other night how it is a CRIME that we never got to see Sasuke forced to interact with Jiraiya and honestly, that is too true.

[cloveroctobers]

GENEVIEVE ALIU —

IG info/bio: @/genevealiu1 | 19k followers | currently on a journey as a junior doctor living in 🇦🇺🤎 | blm.card.co🖤 | sk💛

26 years of age

Born and raised in Glastonbury, England

Pisces sun? + libra moon?

Mother is Guyanese and works for a non-profit organization

Her father is Nigerian and works in property management

has one older brother who is a Prosthetist and resides in Nigeria with his pregnant fiancée

She can’t wait to be a auntie!!!

And a younger sister who is a medical laboratory technician

To say the least, their parents were happy that their children fell into the medical field. Based on their cultures it was a honor to have their children in these professions

Vieve grew up with a sassy demeanor and her parents have old videos on their camcorders to prove it lol, it never fails that the pair brings out the embarrassing vids during the holidays but vieve genuinely appreciates them 

Although thanksgiving is a RACIST American thing, vieve never misses the opportunity to share what she’s thankful for in life and counts all of it as blessings! But it’s still fuck the pilgrims

Has held a friendsgiving before, loves any moment where she can host gatherings or attend them! either is quite fine. She loves being around people

the only time she likes to look back on the past is to see how she and her family carried themselves then and how the evolved into who they are now, it’s interesting to see

Loves “how it started vs how it’s going” posts and might have participated in a few

Always knew from a young age that she wanted to help people in some way, she was always doing something to help around the house and especially her aging/sickly grandparents

Felt offended that many people around school that she thought were her friends would stab her in the back labeling her as this “fake saint” since she rather spend her time volunteering instead of going to house parties in hs

Don’t get it twisted, she still went to those too & had her fun but definitely felt like it was the same routine and nothing ever felt fulfilling at these functions after awhile

Well known with all the cliques around school but had her own group of friends that fit into many of those cliques but she never felt obligated to stick to one social group. If you were nice and cool with her, she was the same to you, if you weren’t? Depending on her mood, she’d ignore you/say things under her breath or be “fake nice” as a form of being the bigger person

Has a curly hair routine that she consistently follows (after struggling to find the right products to make them flourish) and gets annoyed with if her curls don’t turn out the way she knows they can, it’s always frustrating when things don’t turn out the way you want them to but isn’t afraid to at least try

Three times is the charm! Is one of her mottos

loves bright colors, flowy attire, big hats, brimmed hats, bucket hats, berets, etc...

Has faced racism/prejudices and bullying growing up in public spaces—mostly school/uni & some of those same hatred actions online now that she’s dating seb

Because of that there were times where she felt insecure but deff grew to forgive, heal, and rise above the hate, she knows her worth

Has never been happier in a relationship than she is with seb, he’s her “moody long-haired, soft-hearted bby”

they’re both complete fools for each other and vieve is more vocal about her being in love/finding her soulmate whereas seb doesn’t mind showing it rather than speaking it—even tho he’s on a podcast but we mind our business okay?!

Seb is thinking of moving to Australia with vieve, he’s ready to risk it all for this woman, HIS woman 🤩

canon: gives more than she should/taken advantage of/not reciprocating in relationships... ex) how she dated a guy that she did everything for! especially financially and also struggled to find her worth but once she did? Her aura shined brighter than before— Ik chill out there Rocco

Also believes in loving yourself first to attract what you need in this world and found that in her career and seb. I hope they’re endgame! Since they’re the only couple I rooted for this season? Except for tai & ciaran maybe? They’re probably not endgame but whatever

They still get nervous/shy around each other even tho they’ve been together for months now + are in a long distance relationship which is too cute! I think since they’re in this for the long game they can look back on moments and still feel the way they felt in that moment. You know if you get the chance or have already heard elderly people talk about their relationships and how they get all starry eyed? That’s vieve & seb, that shit gets me right in my feels ew

Vieve’s love language is quality time, it’s what she shows and likes along with acts of service from her partner

Makes the best jollof rice & her fav dish is Metemgee

Trying to be on a plant-based diet only but will have her cheat days on occasion—mostly when she’s drunk and forgets her diet plan lmao that’s me getting double cheeseburgers or anything with dairy drunk af

now living in Australia, she tried to like vegemite but...the it’s a no for her, respectfully ofc! She never wants to disrespect anyone

besides the food, the atmosphere is much nicer since she feels like she’s on a holiday almost everyday and that there’s much more to see and do when she has the time

Loves the beaches and is thinking about surfing lessons

yes she enjoys those doctor shows and can agree that most scenarios are not the same as rl ofc but great question!

Since she’s a junior doctor now, and on her way to graduation! She feels so accomplished and having this chance to complete what she’s wanted her whole life in a different place, makes her super emotional

All those stressful all-nighters will be worth it. She mostly did it on her own but is nothing but humble and Is thankful to those that have helped her along the way, what kind of person would she be if she didn’t mention them?

and when COVID hit, she was one of many already on the frontlines. Her studies became altered but this wouldn’t stop her for her mission on this earth, this was her purpose and she knew we would conquer it all—but definitely has empathy and gets angry with how it’s being handled from time to time

She’s been exposed to it first hand which aboustely worries her parents, seb, her friends, and friends from the villa

Keeps up to date when all medical news, has a whole app dedicated to health

Learning French with some of her free time and is doing well at it

It was only natural for her to become closer to elladine since their men are homies and have a podcast together

They’ve hung out a few times on a double dates before the boat vacation & once just as girls before vieve left to Australia

Vieve is always offering advice but knows that every relationship is different and what works for her and seb won’t work for elladine and Nicky, she loves them together and knows everyone has bumps in the road

feels there’s some sort of tension between her and Harry now? Which she found a little off putting since they were supposed to be friends but she realizes that Harry has a condition but it’s also not an excuse for him to treat her shitty sometimes which he does and feels like it comes out of nowhere most times but he always apologizes yet vieve is slowly getting tired of this unhealthy habits

So they’re talking less these days, which he notices!

She wants Harry to find his happiness too! If he hasn’t found it in mc first that is

has met Tim— he’s a great laugh and seems like a nice guy—they follow each other, talia and jake in person when she was out with seb—they were also super nice and congratulated them on their win, she went up to miles once on a night out—he’s still a arsehole, priya reached out to her via dm about her new boutique that she wanted her to model in someday, Hope was just as stunning in person along with Siobhan, Chelsea & mc s2 were also kind, and a couple of the guys also wished her and seb well

She’s also noticed some of the shit talking coming from Elisa, Allegra, Lucy, and mc s1 (subtle shade from mc, basically about how vieve reacted if mc decided to give Harry a go but that was only brought to her attention thru fans) online but again, vieve peeped it and felt majority of it didn’t require a response. She was too happy in life rn and she had a man and they don’t

Plans to get a komondor, thinks they’re super cute! — seb does not “if you love me, you’ll love our child.” “It’s a bloody mop dog! And I’m a cat dad, you know that!” “Don’t talk about him like that, he’s got feelings just like your cat babies!”

I feel like she’s a matcha & Frappuccino lover, tries to keep her drinks simple and feels guilty when she has to make adjustments but the heart wants what it wants

Mini Countryman owner, she also drives like a “granny” better safe than sorry! She hates fast drivers, there’s absolutely no need for it!

Minimal makeup: eyeshadow, moisturizer, & a nude lip and she’s good to go

Secretly obsessed with among us, second life, and SIMS!!!

Celeb crushes? Heath ledger, Tyler posey, KENDRICK SAMPSON, Jordan fisher, Algee smith, Donald Glover, Mack Wilds, Khleo Thomas, Robert Ri’chard, Tahj Mowry, & Hasan Minhaj

Listens to: DaniLeigh, ABIR, Mary J. Blige, TORI KELLY, Us the duo, 11:11, Jacob Latimore, fifth harmony, joya mooi, & Greentea Peng, etc...

Anthem: The Cheetah Girls — Cinderella