#i saved most of season 1 to do this exact thing with but tbh i did read some of season 2

[thefrogdalorian]

I just laid out all my Mando comics and !!!! I need a second.... they look so pretty finally all together 🥹

A year and a half of collecting them, it's been so much fun. I'll miss it! 🤍

[yannig]

I need someone to theorize with me about the Pit Babe 2 trailer

Ok so I thought a lot about Tony and Way being back. And I think we've got 3 options, ranked in how likely I think they are to actually happen.

They are actually alive (faked their death, resurrected, or maybe even clones/evil twins).

They are ghosts/spirits/whatever. They are there but still dead.

They are not here at all. All of their apparitions are due to nightmares, hallucinations, paranoia, flashbacks, etc.

I am entirely uninterested in them being actually alive, one way or another. I think this is largely the most underwhelming option out of the 3, and yet also the one we're most likely to get. For me, Tony and Way being back from the dead would just negate most of the impact of the first season.

Oh Way sacrificed himself to save Charlie as an attempt to redemption? Yeah no he's still alive actually. Tony was finally put done by the son he always treated like a dog, and who at last managed to escape his hold? Nope, he survived.

Talk about a way to undo major character moments. (I hated Way's death, but it was still an important character moment. and Kenta turning on Tony was great.)

(for Way as his own character, it could actually be interesting. Like "yeah no, you don't get to just die and be done with the guilt. you actually have to work for redemption". but 1) I don't think it's where they're going; and 2) I'm not convinced it would stem interesting development for anyone else.)

The ghost option could be fun, I guess. I don't really have an opinion either way tbh, depends where they go with it. Ghost possession could be a fun threat.

I know what my favorite option is, and it's definitely n°3, which sadly I don't think we will get. Mind you, Babe would be perfectly justified to have nightmares or flashbacks about these 2, considering how much trauma they gave him. Also Way giving Babe trauma flashbacks might help me forgive what they did to his character. But well. The show hasn't seemed very interested in talking about trauma before so...

Basically, I think the most interesting option is for the show to toy with its characters' (and its viewers') paranoia, by leaving all 3 options open for as long as possible. Done well, it could make for a very good thriller.

Are they actually back or is Babe just hallucinating in broad daylight? Are they actually vengeful ghosts that need warding against or is Babe just having very justified nightmares? Is there a threat at all or are they all just paranoiac after everything that happened? Is it really paranoia if they're really after you? They all thought Charlie was dead, didn't they? Does anyone ever stay dead?

I'd argue that if that thriller part is done well, all 3 options could work as compelling endings. I also don't think (from the writing in season 1) that they could pull it off effectively.

Or even that they would try. Season 1 wasn't a thriller in the first place, and the S2 trailer isn't giving thriller either. My problem being: I'm not really interested by their return if it doesn't turn thriller.

Basically, what I'm interested in is what impact their return would have on the other characters, after thinking they were finally safe. Especially Kenta and Babe. Kenta who finally escaped, finally managed to turn on Tony, to get free from him. Babe who is finally safe after spending the last 10 years looking over his shoulder, after so many betrayals, after loosing his best friend in all possible ways, after thinking his boyfriend was dead. Imagine how terrifying the prospect of Tony's return would be.

But beyond that? I have no interest in what they would do as independent characters. Tony has plans? What does it change from S1? Way is being an idiot, either working for the villain or clumsily trying to earn his redemption? I don't care. That is the exact same thing they were doing in S1.

Basically, I'm afraid that by bringing them back, the show is just being lazy and re-creating the S1 status-quo instead of imagining new stakes. And I am entirely uninterested in sequels that just undo the original story's ending. Which is exactly what I'm afraid they'll do.

TLDR: the psychological impact of the potentiality of Tony and Way being back is much more interesting than them actually being back.

Sure, give me confirmed omega characters (Jeff and Kenta at least), give me AlanJeff and BabeCharlie being cute together, give me Sonic and North finally getting somewhere and maybe involving Kim (or aro/ace/aspec Kim, that would also work, but only if explicitly stated in the show), give me heats and mpreg and stop being cowards. I'll watch it for the relationships between the main cast if nothing else.

But I'm worried about what the big conflict is going to be.

[theangrycomet-art]

Finally did an About the Artist Page, more fun than I expected it to be tbh.

If you want to draw things from my AU's/Redesigns/OCs that's fine BUT you have to tag me (I wanna see it!)

COMMISSIONSt OPENED:

(I also now have a Kofi!)

I am also Tumblr/AO3 Exclusive so if you see my work ANYWHERE else that was posted WITHOUT my permission and should be reported!

I have an Instagram account but I don’t post anything there- at least as of Sept. 2023.

AU Master Post

TFA Blackarachnia is NOT Elita-1 AU/Elita-1's Squadron in TFA AU: Basically TFA renditions of the Female Autobots with my take on TFA Elita-1 and the (slight) changes resulting from it. Blackarachnia was not named Elita-1 but Athena. Otherwise her backstory is the exact same.

How to Do A Hard Reset on a Doomed Timeline for Dum-Dums/Chrono Hard Reset AU (Donbot and Mira get sent back in time by Future!Renet, Ol’ Lady Renet, to prevent the M-Bomb from detonating and wiping out humanity and repair that glitch in time. However, they quickly realize that they can save more lives then they initially thought. TLDR: S4.5/ Season 4/5 Time Travel Fixit/Rewrite of TMNT 2012 ft. their Mutant Apaocalypse counterparts)

Sonic Underground Reprise (TLDR: Sonic Underground reboot, with a grimmer turn of events, I take things from the games and comics ‘cause I can :3)-(@juicenjamtime)

Glamrock Kids (FNAF AU where each Glamrock gets a Kid ft Glamrock Bonnie and Glamrock Foxy and his crew!)-(@flyingfazfoxes)

Loonatics Unleashed Redesigns (has slowly become a rewrite)

Sooga Back Then (Pucca Prequel)

Crossing Wires (Pokemon Royal/Fantasy AU, Diodeshipping focused, AO3)

ZoREIark AU (Hisuian Zoroark!Rei AU,connected to most of my Pokemon works)

Murphyborg/ 2D Milo (Milo Murphy's Law in 2nd Dimension)

Ok KO Let's be Gems (Ok KO cast but as Gems from Steven Universe)

MisMasked AU (RC9GN, but if Howard stole the mask before Randy even knew he had it)

Functional Engines AU (Ben 10 Reboot Sequel/Crossover w/ Reboot!GenRex)

Madly Broken AU (explore Mad Ben's dimension, Crossover, AO3)

CN Gen 2 (Basically my massive cartoon network fankids Universe) (@cngen2-archive )

D Crew AU (Disney XD characters working to explore the supernatural that has several extensive sideplots- look basically this is an All Grown Up AU for my disney faves)

OC Lore: Tag that covers information on any and all my OCs

AU Lore: Tag that covers information on any and all my AUs

There's probably more that I am forgetting tbh...

[thestobingirlie]

Omg thank you!!!!! Every time I see the take that Steve has to die in s5 because that's the most fulfilling ending and that it makes the most sense for his character, I want to rip my hair out and scream. Like you said, Steve is sacrificing himself since s1, actual character development would be him taking a moment and see that he has people who love him and that it's better to stay alive than die. Also his character arc is all about finding love and family, while almost dying every season. If he would not make it out in the last second after enduring all of that what was the point really? It also doesn't make sense from the Dustin story arc, killing off Steve after taking away Eddie is too cruel and Dustin doesn't deserve it. I think he will fight for Steve to stay alive to not have to live through Eddie's death again.

Also people who say he needs to die for the love triangle to end, I don't want to hear it. Implying Nancy was the love of his live and he will never find anyone else he better die for her then. Thinking about it actually makes me sick.

yes! steve’s character development can’t be him doing the exact same thing he did at the end of season 1. that’s not development! it’s just steve still viewing his life as less important than his loved ones. and yeah, it would be fucked up to kill eddie and then the very next season kill steve. there just also wouldn’t be a point. we’re getting dustin after the loss of a brother figure in s5 already, we don’t need dustin after the loss of two.

that’s fucking weird tbh. like, steve dying wouldn’t even fix the love triangle, it would just mean that nancy picks jonathan because she hasn’t got anymore options. i also saw someone say steve should die for jonathan and nancy to prove he’s truly changed and wants her to be happy. as if he didn’t already run in to save them in s1, and didn’t already walk away from nancy so she could be with jonathan with no guilt in s2. these plot lines have already been done!! steve sacrificing himself would just be more of the same, but slightly more extreme. and it wouldn’t be good writing.

[kraekns]

OKAY THESE WILL BE SCATTERED LIKE MOST OF MY THOUGHTS BUT : here's my two cents on that garbage fire of a finale.

honestly. i thought it started off pretty strong. edward has always been rather strongly motivated by negative feedback, this innate need to prove others wrong enough a really big motivator for most of their largest accomplishments. i think that this was a good way to side-step out of the bullshit fisherman thing they'd put them in. on the fisherman thing, i have my own host of opinions on ed just up and leaving stede the second they have sex but i'll save that for another time.

from there on it was just fuckin' downhill. it was rushed, they were clearly trying to fit more storyline into this shorter episode run and wrap it up in a neat bow in 30 minutes. ed just ??? brushing aside the fact that someone he's known and loved for DECADES dying in his arms over an idea from the person he loves ? unlikely and downright laughable. to then just brush over any feelings they may have over it to hastily get rid of izzy and ed saying no to revenge ? yeah fuckin' right. ed would be burning the world to the ground in izzy's name over his death. razing ships and killing anyone they perceived to have part in this.

the inn thing is a cute thing to joke about but it is not something ed would ever actually do. i thought we'd gotten rid of that idea when we saw the exact thing that could happen to ed and stede in the mary and anne episode but i guess not? ed and stede are both too whim prone and horrible at sitting still for longer than a moment for this to lead to anything but fighting.

also !!! stede and ed just magically being all perfect again ? no. they've both hurt the other too much and we need to see them talk about this. give me fights, give me screaming matches over the things they've put the other through! give me something other than this picture perfect 50s household love story they're wrapped up in rn.

the sorta subtle bitchiness throughout the episode towards stede cause they just? ignored his character growth and had him acting like season 1 stede again??? i approve tbh

TLDR: i thought the finale was some fresh bullshit and i will be ignoring . . . all of it tbh. honestly tempted to ignore most of the season after ed's near - death experience. i'll vaguely follow canon but will be writing up where my ed diverges soon. they wouldn't have accepted stede back so easily, wouldn't have turned their back on izzy ever despite whatever either has done to the other, and we all know the crew wouldn't have just magically forgiven them for all the shit they've done in the name of loving stede.

[chirpsythismorning]

Rewatching s1 and… just being full serious for a second, I used to ship milkvan, like I thought I loved them in s1-2. Then when s3 happened I sorta lost interest. And in between the long hiatus between s3-4, I discovered the theories about the ending of s3 and byler and started to watch the show differently. Since then it’s just been a transition from thinking Mike and El were cute romantically, to being indifferent about it, and to just being sort of off put by it entirely by this point. Especially after all the analysis about Mike and him seeing her as a superhero with what we got in s4 in canon, it’s sort of ruined their dynamic for me.

If you guys thought the parallels between Brenner and Mike in s4 were bad, holy shit it somehow manages to be worse in s1.

There were literal scenes of Brenner forcing El to find someone for him, followed scenes of Mike, Dustin and Lucas basically doing the exact same thing to find Will.

Don’t get me wrong. I do think Mike did genuinely care for her as a person who was vulnerable and needed someone to protect her, because she was literally in danger.

But when she started lying to them about leading them to the gate, and hearing Lucas’ comment about how she was only doing what they asked because she needed a roof over her head, etc., technically, that wasn’t far off…

She doesn’t know Will, therefore she has no obligation to keep hurting herself in order to please Mike and prove herself worthy to Lucas and Dustin, by finding Will, just so that she can stay.

Do I think that makes them or her inherently bad? No. I just think that there was an obvious miscommunication here, where El wanted to be cared for, and to have someone to depend on, and she thought that in exchange she had to do these things to get it, ie. Find Will.

I don’t think Mike genuinely even felt like her only value was finding Will, but the circumstances were pretty bizarre. His best friend goes missing only for Superman to land on his doorstep and say that he’s alive. While it might not be his intention to use her, he is giving that impression and that’s undeniable watching s1.

What makes her sacrifice so sad at the end of the season, is that Mike had just gotten to a point where he was starting to see her as a person and not just a girl with superpowers. And right at that moment, she sacrifices herself to save them. A selfless act of the many she’s been doing all season. And now Mike feels awful. Because he’s realized that he used her for his benefit, to find Will. And at that point, they didn’t even find Will yet. So at the moment, her sacrifice was for nothing.

Whenever she wasn’t successful, he lashed out and pushed her away. And yet in the end she practically killed herself for him and his friends. I feel like if Mike had empathy and regretted his behavior, then his literal reaction in the end, to her ‘death’, does make sense and fits pretty well with someone experiencing survivors guilt.

Because although he’s got his best friend back, and that’s what he’s most focused on, he’s simultaneously feeling this immense sense of wrong doing on his part. He feels indebted to her now, in the same way she may have felt indebted to him for helping her and putting himself in danger to do so.

So I think s4 is just a part of this cycle, of Mike not understanding that he’s wronging her until its said and done.

So, more than anything tbh, I just want her soooooo badly to lash out at him in s5… and not in a dramatic way, but in a necessary way that I feel like is required for them to go from romantic to platonic without any bitterness.

I remember reading someone say that they hoped that we got a scene that paralleled Mike to El in season 1, when he said “You hurt me. Do you understand? What you did sucks!” And I don’t need or expect it to be word for word exactly like that, but something along those lines. Where as soon as El starts speaking and telling Mike how she truly feels, about their relationship and everything that they’ve been through, no bullshit, I just know as soon as it gets real, as soon as she calls out his idolization of her and his obsession with her powers, and how she hates that and she’s been through that enough, I honestly think it’s gonna click for Mike and he’s gonna listen and accept it and take responsibility for not being fully honest with her.

I am a byler truther forever atp, but it’s also really important to me that Mike and El end things in a way that feels true to what they both deserve out of it, in terms of closure. Especially El!

Which means that they’re both honest about everything from the beginning. And I think once we get that (if we hopefully get that), it’s going to give the audience closure too.

[thoughts-of-espoir]

i really want to add one thing that im so glad that the makers of the sex education didn't make the secondary romantic characters to the main cast to be complete assholes or bad guys for making the primary romantic characters to stand out more. while we're who's gonna end up with whom at the season finale, i really want to praise the characters of isaac, ruby & rahim to be such unique characters that made me so emotionally connected to them.

1. Ruby

so ruby williams, at first to most people like me, she definitely rubbed off as haughty & a spoiled brat who bullied people & never cared enough for anybody who isn't ready to take her orders. then by the end of s2 we discover she & otis have sex 'accidentally' & that leads to their 'casual relationship' in s3. but im literally shocked at how layered her character was. the makers really chose to save the best for later, she turns out to be a sensitive girl, a caring daughter and a really romantic person who hid all her good qualities with a bitchy-regina-george type attitude, when she is infact far from that. she did deserve better, but not as in otis-saying-i-love-you-back type better because otis actually never loved her. if otis had lied to her just to have sex with her, it would've been cruel & unkind to someone as honest as ruby. otis indeed did the right thing by telling her the truth. ofc it was hurtful but it was the right thing to do. i hope she finds someone who actually deserves her love in the later seasons.

2. Isaac

well well, what do we say about this character.? im completely gine for him. when i watched s2 i never actually thought id be writing something nice about him, who tried to have maeve by unfair means. who would've thought isaac would be this precious & this kind! he knows maeve inside out, he knows her favourite breakfast, he draws her face using his mouth & captures the exact look on her face, he cares about her & her family, he is like a best friend, a brother & a lover all wrapped in one for maeve. he is one of the most charming characters on the show ever, & i cant help shipping him with maeve even though i shipped otis & maeve for the past 2 seasons like crazy

bonus...

Adam

okay so i didn't mean to include him in this but how can i talk about sex education without talking about one of my most fave characters 😭😭😭😭 tbh, Adam's character had the greatest arc on the show. the character development from s1 to s3 was phenomenal & i can't help praising adam like my life depends on it! first we see an immature, big-dick-flaunting asshole & a bully in s1 who by the end discovers that he was confused about his sexuality. then he struggles with the confusion & his communication skills with his parents & friends throughout s2 & by the end he accepts the fact that he wasn't straight. then he goes on dating this guy he had a crush on since s1 but he also struggles to show his true feelings, but still tries to overcome his insecurities for his boyfriend. he educates himself, he accepts himself, he tries to be as good as he could...but he still struggles because if emotional negligence. ofc by the end what happens to him is...😔😔😔 but im so proud if my boy adam & my love for him has increased 10 fold! he's still a vulnerable baby in his heart who needs more care, love & attention. someone protect him pleaseeeee 🥺🥺🥺

[thebigoblin]

about 5.07

yes this is about 9 1 1 show, and yes I did write this in a reblog to one post that was one more too many (the post I am talking about), but I just wanted to reiterate my love for this episode, even if most people did not like it. 

This is an exact copy/paste of what I said in the reblog:

Buck and Eddie are not the only characters in the show.

Listen. I, too, kept wondering where Eddie was (most probably with Chris, after Bobby/his therapist forced Eddie to just take a day for himself, given his history), and felt rather bereft without that weekly dose of Buddie DumbSassery, but it isn’t a Wrong Move on the show’s part. It’s pretty clever actually to focus on the other characters, other plots (like the Jeffery one) while still moving forward in the most in-character way they can manage.

We see May handle her own, without Claudette coming to her “rescue”.

We see Harry’s trauma get resolved, and in a rather satisfactory way as well. Harry believes no one else has gone through what he has, that no one understands him, but the Detective talks to him, and wow I hadn’t thought of that parallel before, but that makes so much sense. Harry getting to see the Detective be at work again is the inspiration for him choosing to go back to his childhood home.

Honestly, I loved the Grant Family moments this episode. (Not adding Nash because tbh Bobby was just… there, this episode, nothing more).

Hen and Eva’s storyline got wrapped up. Yes, it seemed so out of the blue, but Eva has been a ghost to Hen and Karen for years now, in fact through Karen’s own admission Eva’s very existence haunted her. Confronting that fact this episode was a pretty neat, the theme fit, plus now we can be 99% sure Eva won’t be back! Plus this gives closure to them all.

We also see Chimney talking to Hen, and we get the confirmation that Chimney has forgiven Buck to some degree—"Buck said [Maddie’s location]“ is a clear indication that they talked to each other, that Chimney chose to finally answer Buck’s calls, was ready to face his friend after their last meeting (even if that was through a call).

Chimney is still connected to the 118, even as he chases after a ghost—Maddie. He hasn’t gone "off the rails” in his pursuit (which is a Very Real thing that can happen, and is a somewhat famous trope I believe, except Chimney has Jee-Yun, (and distantly Hen) to ground him) and is very much capable of logical thinking (proven by the fact that Chimney saved that baby).

What I’m trying to get to is this: We see Chimney’s progress in his goal. Literally. The show gave us Chimney’s progress in his own sub-plot. (And the ghost theme worked well with a blast from the past, aka Chimney’s former mentor, Eli).

Then there’s Maddie. She’s making progress, too, even if it’s off-screen. But we learn another vital thing here: she is where she had been once, with Doug, arguably her biggest demon (I’d say her Postpartum Depression is an even bigger demon, because this is internal, she has to get better and that is all she can do here, she can’t run away from her demon this time) and that just, again, fits with the theme. She’s chasing her worst memories to remind herself that she has faced worse before, that she has come up on top even then.

I’m sorry, but despite Buddie being one of my favorite ships too—because of the fandom, really, and the amazing metas I get to see, because let’s be honest there is a lot of jumping jacks of the brain needed when it comes to this show—I can’t get over how the fandom has been after this episode. 5×07 is definitely not a filler episode (unless your sole purpose for watching the show is Buddie only), it has great substance if you look for it, if you can get past your vehement need of having your OTP be in all the episodes. Season 1 wasn’t so bad, was it?

And oh, lest I forget, Taylor Kelly. We seem to be heading towards a “Taykay Begins” sort of episode, and I’m excited. She’s going to be given some backstory, something other than a “Career Focused Individual” and “Buck’s Red-Headed Hot Girlfriend.” Remember when y'all complained about Ana Flores just being a prop? Yeah, I think the show writers heard you. (Actually not, since changing scripts so fast would be hard I imagine, but still, you know what I mean).

So, yeah. 5×07 wasn’t a bad episode, it wasn’t a filler episode, and it wasn’t a flop. It just focused more on the other people on the show, and I for one loved it. 9 1 1 show is about humans and their path to healing and contentment even after the worst of tragedies have hit, it’s not a Romance show, even though romance does weave itself beautifully in the narrative that is the 9 1 1. So yeah. Good Episode.

[supergraphicultramoderngirl]

i’ve been seeing a post going around abt how jatp is probably cancelled but netflix knows they’ll lose money if they announce it so they just aren’t saying anything,,,,,, but like. here’s the thing.

i was in the andi mack fandom as the show 1) had the most popularity it ever had, and 2) was coming to an end, with both of these things happening at the same time. andi mack was bringing the most views (see: money) to disney channel out of any of the other shows that were airing at the time, and yet right in the middle of their third season, they announced its cancellation. while it was, naturally, upsetting to any watcher of the show, it… made sense. they’d told a lot of the story by that point, most of the loose ends had started getting tied up, and they didn’t have a lot of opportunities in what direction they could take the story next (regardless or not of whether the show was cancelled for homophobic reasons or just because it had already reached disney’s usual three season mark, ending the story where they did fit more than it would have, had they tried to continue for a fourth season).

this is not the case with jatp.

not only did the show end on a cliffhanger that needs resolving, but there are so many more directions the show can explore from where they left off. and from a viewer standpoint, any of the other shows that were cancelled after one season (teenage bounty hunters, i am not okay with this, and the society come to mind) didn’t have nearly as much fan+cast+crew support as jatp does. i never watched the society, so i don’t really have a say for that one, but for tbh and ianowt, they were both very much one-off concepts that would’ve had trouble in a second (or third) season, mostly because the entire shows were based off of concepts (bounty hunting and telekinesis, respectively) rather than plots. ianowt ended on a cliffhanger, technically, but really it was resolved in the final episode with the intro and outro shots being the same. obviously, more could’ve been done with it, but like,,,, how much more, especially with the success of stranger things, where a character there has nearly the exact same powers as the main in ianowt?

jatp is lucky enough that on the off chance it is cancelled, it still has a mostly resolved ending (ignoring the last scene). but there are still so many things left unanswered if you think a bit beyond what the story tells you— why did julie’s hug work? does her mom have anything to do with it? what will caleb do next? is willie alright? are the boys alive or just saved? will ray ever find out? when a show ends, especially if it’s cancelled, there are usually some questions, but it is never nearly that open ended. it’s why i figured a show like no good nick would get renewed for a second season, but not a third; because of how the seasons ended.

also, i’ve never heard of any of netflix’s most popular shows getting their own book adaptation, let alone three of them. ignoring the fact that the synopsis for whatever happens literally said that the events in that book would lead into a second season, netflix knows the show is popular. they know the show would make them more money. they have no reason to cancel it other than their own conservative reasons, and in the case that happens, there is likely enough fan support to get it picked up somewhere else, especially with kenny fucking ortega as a director.

it is INCREDIBLY likely that the only reason they haven’t renewed it yet is because of border restrictions. with such large productions in the show, making sure that every one can cross the border into vancouver for filming can be very difficult given all of the covid protocols that need to take place (rightfully so). they likely also can’t risk filming big production numbers like tosoh even if everyone is fully vaccinated, just because of the number of people. hell, the dining hall i eat at requires proof of vaccination and we’re still only allowed to sit three people to a table. once they get more confirmation that things can be done safely, we’ll be more likely to hear news about a renewal.

if anyone else has any thoughts on this please feel free to share, i’m just trying to remain hopeful and make sense out of all of it

[theravennest]

Hot Loki Take: Sylvie was Right

*Spoilers for all of Loki the series up to and including ep 6.

Sylvie was right to kill He Who Remains and free the timeline.

I’m deadass.

He Who Remains forced reality into an endless cycle between a time of Order (he rules as dictator) & a time of simulated and controlled "Chaos" (his Conqueror variants wage war). I say this “chaos” is simulated because when you think about it, it’s chaos that He Who Remains arranges himself by manipulating Lokis.

He Who Remains is so fucking sus but for some reason people are just tripping over their own feet to believe everything he says and vilify Sylvie for killing him. 

He literally tells them (and us) that his methods are deceptive and we know for a fact that he’s willing to murder trillions upon trillions of people, planets, and realities to get the outcome he wants. Yet some are still believing everything he says cuz he said maybe 4 things that were truthful, I guess, and cuz he’s cute. Some of us are so blinded by the fear/anticipation of Kang the Conqueror’s arrival, we are letting him bamboozle us.

He Who Remains perfectly and personally tailored the Ordered period of the timeline to produce this exact Sylvie and this exact Loki, had them meet/influence each other, and then had them travel to the end of time...to him.

Now Lokis by nature are agents of chaos and could suddenly swerve left, so to speak, for no reason. So let’s assume I believe that He Who Remains didn’t 100% know what they would choose once they crossed the Threshold (if the Threshold he described is even real, tbh). He also so carefully molded both of their entire lives for that moment in the Citadel. He may not have known 100% but he knew at least 90% of how they would react to everything he said and did when they were both pushed to this place/mindset.

Notice how he teed them up for the fight that ended in his death:

Manufacturing a scenario where they would meet via the TVA’s variant pursuit.

Manufacturing a scenario where they would travel to the Void and meet Alioth.

Kid Loki being in just the right place to give his sword to Loki.

Miss Minutes appearing to menacingly offer an obvious devil’s bargain.

Him slyly telling Sylvie that she can’t trust Loki, putting it into her head just before he gives them his ultimatum.

All of these thing practically gift wrapped that ending to the Loki on Sylvie fight.

Let’s elaborate.

What was even the point of Miss Minutes offering to re-insert them into the same Sacred Timeline with both getting their hearts’ desires there? 

Not more than ten minutes later He Who Remains told Loki and Sylvie to their faces that he manipulated all this for the sole purpose of making them choose between taking over as rulers of the TVA or killing him and ushering in a Multiversal War. Neither of those choices would result in re-inserting Loki and Sylvie back into the timeline.

So what is the truth? Why waste precious moments with a creepy Miss Minutes menacing them in that vestibule scene?

Notice how Miss Minutes’ words pushed Loki further onto his path of no longer wanting power or a throne but desiring to change his attitude about himself and the universe. Notice how her words conversely pushed Sylvie into balking at the idea of accepting another “fictional” life after a lifetime of being manipulated and made her double down on her mission to free the timeline and get revenge.

Sylvie has the ability to see memories but interesting how he kept her distracted by condescending to her and provoking her, just stoking the fire to make her react negatively. (Interesting how he was far more focused on Sylvie’s reactions than Loki’s, most likely because he needed her to kill him for his plans to work.)

Now I don’t want to completely shift responsibility for her choices away from Sylvie. In truth, if she had held in her vengeance for let’s say an hour and trusted Loki a bit more, they could’ve sat down to talk about things and maybe found a third solution other than starting a Multiversal War or ruling the TVA that still could’ve even allowed her to get revenge. (More on the ultimatum later.)

But I can’t blame her for losing her cool, either. He Who Remains made damn sure she would burn as hot as possible because he tailor made her life to give her the personality he wanted. And any other version of her out there who might have made a different choice would’ve already been pruned.

He Who Remains tells Loki and Sylvie straight up that he set them on their particular life paths because he needed them to be “changed by the journey” to ensure everyone in that room was in exactly the right mindset to do what was needed to “finish the quest” and presumably “slay the dragon,” aka Him. (Notice the parallels to the speaker narration just before episode 2′s fight at the Ren Fair.)

We don’t know! Sylvie never enchanted him to read his memories because she was so filled with rage and Loki was too busy trying to stop her, he didn’t think to do it either. And we’ve already established that He Who Remains trained them that way. Nothing that happened in that office was without He Who Remains’ influence and meddling.

Another nail in the coffin that convinces me that He Who Remains is a no good dirty liar is Renslayer.

If He Who Remains’ end goal was to either have the Lokis choose to rule the TVA or destroy it and thus end up with no memory of her previous TVA judge role/life, why did he send Miss Minutes to Ravonna with files that caused her to pack her bags and search for what she calls “free will,” AKA the one in charge?

I’d bet dollars to donuts that when the next season rolls around the only people who will know what’s going on and still have their memories will be Loki, Miss Minutes, Sylvie, and Ravonna. (Maybe Kang the Conqueror will know as well but I could see it going the other way too. I’m 50-50.)

He Who Remains was planning something by pushing Ravonna the way he did. Does he want her out of the TVA so she doesn’t lose her memories when everything resets? Does he want her to go find the Conqueror version of himself? I mean, at this point, practically everyone knows who she is to Kang in the comics, so let’s not pretend that’s not an option.

Another thing to think about...it’s super suspicious that he was so eager to make them believe he’s one of the “good versions” of Kang and all these others are much worse while giving absolutely no evidence of that outside of an interactive blob powerpoint, a quirky attitude, and a couple of sad, weary faces????

Who’s to say He Who Remains isn’t playing the long game and always manipulates his variants to eventually give him the chance to seize control of the multiverse?

Who’s to say he’s not one of the Kangs that wanted to conquer too? Funny how the “pure of heart” Kang is the one who still wrested control of all reality, killed off every other timeline with a weapon of mass destruction, installed a fascist time bureaucracy, and set himself up as the dictator. Sounds an awful lot like some conqueror shit to me, just saying.

Even wilder theory: what if this really is the same Kang the Conqueror but at the end of his life? We only have hhis word that he’s a variant. He Who Remains tells Loki that this fight is for the “young and hungry.” Maybe the “young and hungry” he’s referring to is not Loki and Sylvie at all but his literal younger self. Perhaps he set up this entire cycle of chaos and order so that he can perpetually live, conqueror, rule, die, and start all over again? Reincarnation, as he says...

But let’s set that wild theory aside for a moment. Let’s circle back to the Multiversal War debate and say it really is is caused by an infinite amount of his variants.

I think it’s hella sus that He Who Remains was so insistent that Loki and Sylvie only had two choices to resolve this riddle: Multiversal War or running the TVA almost exactly the way he did while maintaining only a single timeline. Those are definitely not the only two options they had. In fact, I could probably name 1-3 other options off the top of my head right now:

Keep He Who Remains alive while learning how he manipulated time and using those skills to slowly unleash the multiverse while killing every version of Kang to prevent him from existing as either conqueror or dictator.

Kill He Who Remains, take over the TVA, and slowly change it to something not horrific or even build a brand new system for governing time.

Kill or keep He Who Remains, still take over the TVA, slow rollout the Multiverse and kill or prevent every Kang along the way.

(I’m not saying these aren’t also morally questionable options, I’m just saying they are different from the two choices He Who Remains presented.)

But let’s say these options I suggested are not feasible. I just randomly came up with them ten minutes ago so it would be fair if they were picked apart logically. 

So let’s contemplate this, instead:

Why should we assume/believe that a Multiversal War is actually a bad thing again??? Why are we assuming that He Who Remains’ Sacred Timeline really saved reality from total collapse? 

Assuming he told the truth about his motives, maybe he was just...wrong about the end of reality. Maybe he saw what he thought was the conclusion to the Multiversal War coming and erroneously believed it to be the end of everything but actually it was the multiverse sorting itself out and everything would’ve been fine after.

We (and He Who Remains too) will never know because not only did he not show any evidence to back up his claim that reality was on the brink of collapse, but he himself never allowed things to play out naturally. Whenever the end of the war comes to the brink of something, he always panics, weaponizes Alioth, and traps the universe in his cage of Order with the TVA.

Even more controversial take...maybe the collapse of timelines and the end of everything should be allowed to happen. Maybe the natural cycle of reality is to build and build, splinter and splinter timelines, until it collapses and starts all over again from the void.

Nothing is created and nothing is destroyed, all things exist in a cycle so why should the multiverse be any different?

After all in all, in all three possibilities an infinite number of timelines is destined to suffer and die. Whether it be during the Kang-controlled Order period, Kang-controlled fake Chaos period, or the unrestrained natural Chaos that collapses in on itself...an untold amount of people are dying anyway. There’s only one of those scenarios that has actual unrestrained free will where those people get to exist how they want, make choices they want (even bad ones) for as long as they can.

(Personally, I’ll take that over what the Kangs have wrestled the multiverse into.)

I’ll just take this moment to re-iterate: trust nothing He Who Remains says. He’s a known liar and manipulator, and unlike Loki he has done absolutely nothing to actionably show he’s not still lying or to show that he’s trying to change outside of some sad looks. It’s all pantomime, bruh. Like, the pageantry of it all astounds me. 

Is he maybe telling some truths? Sure. But that doesn’t mean he’s not using the truth to manipulate everything. It’s an illusion, I’m telling y’all! He was up to no fucking good.

Sylvie was far more right to kill him than to not. Loki, Sylvie, & team (prolly also the latest Avengers lineup too) now just need to find a way to break this Kang cycle.

[ooops-i-arted]

I know that considering (TCW-2008) refs/characters in this episode that it won’t be your fav but can you please share your child development thoughts for S02E05 please??

They may have been stuff I wasn’t fond of but there were so many cute Baby & Dad moments to make up for it!!

First of all, the puppeteers deserves ALL THE AWARDS for bringing Baby Yoda to life!  Not just making Baby “come alive” in general, but also that sort-of-awkward way children move when they don’t have complete confidence in their limbs yet.  The are doing a phenomenal job this season and I hope they are all safe and healthy and have all the chocolate they want.  Not only is it fantastic from a special effects perspective, it really highlights how far Baby has come now that he’s not stuck in a pod all day and implies that Din is trying to keep him active and physically healthy, and giving him opportunities to develop his muscles and muscle control.  (Just imagine them playing a makeshift game of chase through the Razor Crest!)

I absolutely loved Din saying “Hey, what did I tell you” because I have said those exact words in that exact tone SO MANY TIMES and also his Dad Voice is getting so much better!  Baby actually listens to him and understands that Din expects him to listen!  Of course he still wants the ball (and apparently takes it enough that Din has been practicing his Dad voice on that too, “What did I say about that” is another phrase I also use at work).

Though there may have been another reason he wants the ball this time - as a comfort item, like a child bringing their favorite stuffie to the first day of school.  Baby was there when the Armorer told Din to find Jedi to bring the Baby to.  He has been listening a lot when Din talks about finding Jedi to train him and give him to.  I think Baby is very, very aware of the fact that the end goal is to leave him with the Jedi and is very afraid of leaving his beloved father.  He would’ve had stable caretaker(s) at the Jedi Temple but in the last twenty years who knows what’s happened to him.  His subdued, don’t-draw-attention-to-myself behavior in Season 1 definitely makes me think he’s been neglected, bare minimum, and possibly abused.  Din not only treats him kindly but actually takes care of his needs, is kind to him, and is the most stable presence in his life.  Of course he’d be terrified to leave him!

I think that’s also why he doesn’t play ball with Ahsoka, so to speak.  We all know he can lift a mudhorn, a rock is no problem for him.  He could do it in a heartbeat.  But I think he understood that if he showed off for her, Ahsoka might take him away.  So he refused for that, and because it’s very common at that age to refuse to do something to regain control of a situation.  (That’s why you get kids enjoying telling you “No!” and the whole terrible twos thing.)  If he refuses, he stays in control of what’s happening.  But of course Din knows exactly how to tempt him with his favorite ball, and kids do want to please adults they like.  Anything to hear that sweet, sweet positive reinforcement.  So it wasn’t just the shiny ball that convinced Baby - it was the fact that Din was the one playing with him, and that Din so enthusiastically tells him good job.  (And Din is noticeably more into it when using the orb.  Maybe he and Baby have played with it before?  So it’s more natural to both of them.  And he was truly so proud of his boy!!  It was adorable.)

It’s the same with hearing his real name, which he presumably hasn’t heard in twenty years.  He responds when Ahsoka says it, but when Din says it?  He’s instantly turned around, ears perked all the way up in “happy” mode.  It’s special when Din says it, because Din is special to him.

Which then ties into the whole attachment thing.  Baby is very healthily attached to Din.  There’s a reason we stick kids with the same teacher for a year plus at a time, it’s because kids are comfortable with a regular person they can get to know, just like adults are.  To Baby, Ahsoka is just some orange stranger and Din is his dad.  Of course he is more attached to Din and has fears over losing him, especially if he’s been deprived of that for the last 20-odd years!  It’d be different if Din was sticking around to transition Baby somewhere new, or just dropping him off for lessons.  But leaving a parent permanently and abruptly after likely previous trauma?  That would be horrible for Baby.

And re: The Jedi + attachments Ahsoka (and Filoni) are wrong on that.  The Jedi do not forbid attachments, only letting your attachments rule you.  Ki-Adi-Mundi is married and so were others, and there are plenty of Padawan-Master relationships to see - for example, Obi-Wan was attached to Qui-Gon and clearly loved him and was devastated by his loss, but it’s only when he conquers his emotions and calms himself is he able to defeat Maul, and afterward is implied/shown to mourn Qui-Gon and handle his grief in a healthy way.  Anakin doesn’t fall because he’s attached to his loved ones.  He falls because he’s willing to commit murder and genocide over his attachments.  So “I can’t teach Grogu because he’s attached to you” is bullshit.  “I can’t teach Grogu because he is attached to you and needs to be safely transitioned into Jedi life in an environment that is comfortable and safe for him, with your help as his adoptive father, and I have no way to do that here and/or don’t feel comfortable doing that” is much more accurate.  (This is probably what would’ve happened if the Order was still around, anyway, and/or how he was actually taken in - the 3D TCW episode with the Jedi children shows the bounty hunters tricking the parents to kidnap the kids, implying that a real Jedi would work with the family to transition the children in a safe and healthy manner.  The Rodian even says the Jedi have already spoken to her iirc.)

Of course even if Grogu is unhealthily attached to Din (which he isn’t, imo, he behaves like a child at a normal level of attachment to a regular caretaker he loves) then ignoring it and not doing anything about it is equally bad.... as we’ve already seen when he got upset with Cara last season.  Baby must learn to control his powers so he doesn’t hurt himself or others, especially since he’s so young he doesn’t always have full control over his own emotions.  “Big” emotions can be a lot for a kid; a screaming meltdown is bad enough when the kid can’t yeet you with their mind.  I’ve been hit, kicked, bitten, scratched, had toys thrown at me, even been hit with heavy wooden blocks.  A Grogu out of control with his emotions and using the Force?  Terrifying.  Yes, his attachment to Din makes him more vulnerable to his fears and anger - we’ve seen him choke Cara and while he only held back the mudhorn, in theory he could’ve done more.  But that is just all the more reason to teach him control.  Ignore harmful behavior and it will only get worse, and Din isn’t really equipped to help him navigate that since Din doesn’t understand the Force and can’t understand what Grogu says.

(Also lol at “He doesn’t understand” “He does.”  You can 100% tell when kids understand you perfectly and are refusing to do it, even when a parent is making excuses for their darling. xD  Especially since kids will frequently act/react differently to their parents versus other caretakers.)

“He’s hidden his abilities to survive over the years” I call partial bullshit on that.  No, I don’t think Baby has done any long-term planning or had thoughts along the lines of “I’m being hunted and need to protect myself by pretending not to be a Force-user.”  But I think he has probably figured out people react a certain way when he does Force things and perhaps decided “I shouldn’t make things float because then people will grab me/I will get taken away/other consequence I don’t like will happen.”  That’s more in line with a toddler’s level of thinking/comprehension.  And it adds greater weight to him saving Din from the mudhorn - he didn’t know how Din would react to him using the Force, if Din would try and hurt him or lock him in the pod or whatever, but he still wanted to save Din.  Overall though I think Baby’s Force-use is in line with a toddler’s thoughts.  “I want X to happen, I can make that happen with the Force, so I will make X happen unless I’m more scared of [consequence] happening.”

So overall a pretty revealing episode for Baby/Grogu.  (I’m not used to the new name yet tbh.)  Although I’m worried about how many times it will take Din hearing it to realize that yes, you are this baby’s father, get that through your beskar-plated skull.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

What do you think about the "Katara and Aang idolize one another" agruement?

it’s bullshit

I think this argument is a lot like many ship-related arguments in the A:TLA fandom: while perhaps it contains an inkling or two of truth, it is by and large an inaccurate assessment. Here’s the thing about Katara and Aang idolizing one another: they did! But only for a brief portion of Book 1. That is all. People who insist Aang and Katara idolized each other for the entirety of A:TLA are incorrect, plain and simple, and I encourage them to rewatch the show, lol.

Before I go any further, here is a definition of “idolize”: to admire, revere, or love greatly or excessively. Obviously, the qualifier of “excessively” is what demands attention, as “great” admiration and love are not emotions inherently bad.

So let’s jump right in - I’ll start with Aang, since fandom launches most of its “critiques” on him when they examine Kataang. Aang’s idolization of Katara in early Book 1 is pretty straightforward: he had a crush on her!

(Note that Katara had a crush on Aang, too, but her idolization overall presents itself in a different form that I’ll discuss later.)

But yes, Aang had a crush on Katara. And like anyone who’s ever had a crush, he definitely idolized her in the beginning! We see in “The Fortuneteller” the rose-tinted lens he views her with; the scene is cute and relatable, as a majority of alloromantic people have had That Moment where they’re a little bit overwhelmed by their feelings towards their crush.

But Aang’s perception of Katara does not remain this way. The idolization argument implies that throughout the entire series he saw her through rose-tinted goggles, but the fact of the matter is that he doesn’t! Aang sees Katara at her lowest points (just as she sees him at his, which I will expand upon later); to name only a few:

- her frustration about her waterbending abilities in “The Waterbending Scroll” that she unfairly takes out on him

- her anger as a result of sleep deprivation in “The Chase”

- bloodbending in “The Puppetmaster”

- and, of course, much of “The Southern Raiders”

Why is this relevant? Well, human beings are flawed by nature. To idolize someone generally involves either a lack of exposure to a person’s flaws, or to see but to then actively ignore someone’s flaws (and, for the record, ignoring a person’s flaws is entirely different from accepting their flaws). So, it’s plain as day that Aang has been exposed to Katara’s flaws, meaning the former doesn’t apply. But does Aang ignore her flaws?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: no, and the series clearly demonstrates this fact.

Example - Aang experienced firsthand Katara’s frustration about her waterbending abilities, so what does he do? When they reach the Northern Water Tribe, he sacrifices a night’s rest to teach her waterbending in direct defiance of Pakku’s orders, and would have continued doing so had Pakku not found them. Aang understands her struggle, he acknowledges her frustration for what it is, and he seeks to help her resolve it! If Aang still “idolized” her by this point, then chances are he wouldn’t have recognized Katara’s conflict in the first place, namely because idolization = rose-tinted lens that would have clouded his vision and prevented him from identifying her flaw/struggle.

To jump to the end of the series, “The Southern Raiders” is a titular example of how Aang does not idolize Katara. TSR is perhaps Katara’s lowest point; if Aang idolized her as some people like to claim, he probably would have shied away from her during this episode. He would have avoided confronting her anger and her hate, because acknowledging someone’s flaws means destroying the image of perfection one has created for that person. But Aang doesn’t shy away. He tells Katara, straight to the point, that she is going on a revenge mission. It hurts, but it’s the truth. That is the thesis of the entire episode, and it is what Katara herself comes to term with by the end of it.

Basically, my point is that Aang not only bears witness to Katara’s flaws, but actively confronts them. That is… pretty much the exact opposite of idolizing someone?

To put it simply: it makes no sense to say Aang idolizes Katara, seeing as he refuses to shove her flaws under the rug rather than pretending they don’t exist (which is what idolization would suggest). He sees them, he acknowledges them, and in fact he always seeks to help her resolve those problems, which is a sign of a healthy, mutually supportive, and respectful relationship. Over the course of A:TLA, Aang gets to know Katara (and she him), thus the series itself and plain logic demonstrate how his rose-tinted lens fades away with time.

Also, please examine the progression of how Aang looks at Katara throughout the series. He clearly starts with a cute crush, but by the end of the show? No idolization in sight. That’s acceptance and love, babey.

Now let’s talk about Katara. Her idolization is less related to her crush (there are aspects to look at there, too, of course; however, most of them track with what I just discussed about Aang) and instead is largely connected to Aang being the Avatar. And tbh, can you blame her? Katara had faith in the Avatar’s return well before she met Aang - of course she’d be a little starstruck after they first became friends!

Think about the very first episode, where Katara insists that Aang is full of wisdom. Yes, she is technically correct about that, but she really hasn’t known Aang long enough to justify that conclusion - she believes it solely because she believes in the hope and power of the Avatar. (I think technically she may not have known Aang was the Avatar at that point, but like, Katara isn’t stupid lmao. An airbender who’s somehow alive after 100 years?? And yet he’s not the Avatar? Sure, Jan.) Later, in “The Storm,” she defends Aang’s actions (or lack thereof) as the Avatar. And of course she would do so at that point (i.e. early) in the series! She doesn’t want her hope (read: her idolization) to be dashed that the Avatar will save the world!

But again, Katara’s perception of Aang does not remain this way. As aforementioned, Katara also sees Aang at his lowest points. To quickly name a few:

- in “Bato of the Water Tribe,” where Aang hid the letter from her father

- in “The Avatar State,” where Aang is trying to forcibly trigger the Avatar state (not good lol)

- after Appa was stolen; when Aang learned what had happened to Appa; when Aang tries to stop letting himself feel because of his grief about Appa being gone

- after the failed invasion, when Aang is heartbroken over his own failure

Again, Katara is exposed to Aang’s flaws as he is to hers, and just like Aang, she does not ignore them. She gets understandably upset when Aang hides her father’s letter, and after thinking about his action she recognizes what incited him to do so and thus chooses to forgive him. It is not an immediate decision (had she idolized him, it most likely would have been, as idolization implies there’s no way the idolized person can be in the wrong). Similarly, in “The Avatar State,” she disagrees with Aang’s decision, tells him so, and sticks by her opinion (a direct parallel to Aang’s advice to her in “The Southern Raiders”!). Later in the series, when Appa is stolen and when the eclipse invasion fails, Katara does not look away from Aang’s pain (versus to idolize him would mean to ignore any demonstration of his flaws); like Aang with her, she faces his negative feelings head-on.

So after a while? Katara still admires Aang as the Avatar, as any normal person does, but she knows him. She knows his flaws. And she loves him regardless. Not only that, but she seeks to help him address whatever problem is at hand (e.g. her comforting him after Appa is stolen and even her simple decision to put a hand on his shoulder after the failed invasion), just as Aang does with her.

(There is a FANTASTIC gifset here that demonstrates how whenever Katara and Aang disagree, they acknowledge their disagreement in healthy ways. Quite the opposite of idolization.)

And again, take a second to examine how the way Katara looks at Aang changes, too. That’s love, babey!

So do Aang and Katara idolize each other? Sure, they used to. For all of… ah, yes. A few episodes in the very first season. But by the end of the series? Sorry, that assessment couldn’t be further from the truth. Katara and Aang know each other better than anyone, from their positives to their negatives, and that is why their relationship is a titular example of healthy and supportive best friends to lovers.

[izziegs]

Okay so TMA 187 analysis here, a bit more “Jon’s judgment of Helen was not entirely correct” from another Spiral fan

1. I think Jon’s analysis of Helen is (ha ha) distorted by A) his desire to justify her death despite her friendliness, and B) automatically made untrustworthy by the fact that Jon has never understood the Distortion. Helen has expressed before that him Knowing things about her is not the same as Understanding things, and he’s made it very clear before that he does not Understand (MD and HD are fusions, essentially. Combinations of the Spiral’s manifestation: the Distortion, and a human. In the same way Garnet is a combo of Ruby and Sapphire but not truly either of them, Helen Distortion has Helen Richardson in her, but is not actually Helen Richardson. She is both Helen and not, and was never Michael, though the Distortion was. Honestly, Jon, it’s not complicated)

2. We even saw this with Michael - I can’t forget that Jon assumed the Distortion was just a manifestation of the Spiral, not an avatar, and he seemed to take the revelation that Michael Shelley was an assistant as a sort of...betrayal, almost? Something that definitely threw off his idea of good-bad, where even though avatars could be bad their humanity kept them from becoming as monstrous as Michael, and the sudden shock of hearing otherwise, of seeing what he could become...I don’t think he ever bounced back from that.

3. Jon has always seen the worst in Helen. In 115, she came back to him for emotional help/venting/advice/connection and he lashed out at her, scared of seeing her become like Michael, still sore from betrayal from the Stranger, etc. From the get-go he decided this was just a Thing using Helen’s face, and even when she immediately told him otherwise, he rejected it. (“I don’t believe you” - “I have never told you a lie”) He chalked her vulnerability up to manipulation, and has never truly turned his view of her away from that initial assessment

4. 131 shows a lot of the same (“You’re still wearing her face” - “I’m not ‘wearing’ anything”) This episode Helen deliberately pushes against Jon’s desire to neatly separate them into bad and good, something Melanie pulls them away from to refocus on Jared

5. 143 doesn’t have them fight quite as much, though Jon does still seem very suspicious. Helen just shows up to eat Manuela and give Jon and Basira a door home

6. 157 - aka the day Jon uses as justification he was right Helen was never on his side even though it is One Thing. They’ve met four times prior to this and he’s been mean to her every time. I can understand her abstaining from helping him, especially when she thinks the end result will help her, and double especially when helping Jon would put her directly on the bad side of two very powerful avatars (Also, as Helen said, “If that makes it my fault, then surely this is Georgie’s fault as well, and Melanie’s-”. AFAIK, he’s not upholding that as proof those two are bad and against him)

7. Post-apocalypse, Helen tries to give Jon the advice he refused to give her. When she was fully accepting her avatar status, she just wanted someone she thought could help her, and now she’s trying to be that person for Jon. Hearing her later desire to keep the world as is, it would also make sense that she might’ve been trying to get him to agree with her, however, unlikely, so they could continue “helping” each other/wouldn’t have to have that inevitable fight. Something else notable about her in the Eye’s world: she forces Jon to stop withholding info from Martin. She forces them to talk about difficult topics (Smiting powers, where’s Basira/how is she, Martin’s domain) and had essentially become a more reliable source of info than Jon is. While her popping up was beneficial to Martin, it was annoying to Jon, and possibly also part of why he continued not liking her.

8. Now all of that, looking at 187: Again, Jon very quickly establishes that he doesn’t understand how Helen works (“I am not [Michael], and never have been. Surely you know all this by now”) and then explicitly says he is currently making judgments based on feeling instead of logic (which is not a new development, looking at his choices since The Eye Opens). 

Here I’m going to go over a few of his specific lines from 187:

“Now you use her form, see her mind, but they’re just… tools.” - If that were true, there’d be no reason Helen would act completely differently than Michael did. If this were just a monster using a human’s mind for manipulation advice, why have a totally new personality? Helen is Helen, but Jon’s still stuck in his season 3 mindset

“Michael had nothing you could use but a razor-straight desire for vengeance, but you saw something in Helen that would work on me much more subtly. So you took her” - Bold of Jon to assume Helen taking over the Distortion was that influenced by him, lol. If the Distortion wanted you done for Jonathan, they’d have just kept Michael and let him eat you like he planned. Not everything’s about you.

“How long have you been working with Elias?” - This one is interesting because if he knows everything, he should’ve known whether or not Helen knew Elias (unless he assumed she could get into the Panopticon where he can’t see). Michael knew Elias, pre-Distortion, but Helen’s not talked to him. Jon didn’t think Jude Perry was working for Elias, despite her clear revelry in the new world. I think it’s weird he assumed that about Helen (unless he was also using that to justify her death)

Her commentary during his statement is funny, but interesting. The perfect time to attack him if she really wanted to, if she really had been building up to that like he thought she was, and she spends the time joking about him and Martin living in a Honeymoon Suite in her apocalypse hotel

“Is a friendship true, or is it reaching out with hands that cut you?” - Another interesting line to me because when Michael told Sasha he wanted to be her friend he deliberately manipulated his hand so that he could hold her hand without cutting her

“You worked to hurt us and help us, all with the same smile, until we can barely tell one from the other” - I think Jon is talking about Michael and Helen as one person in this part, but specifically with Helen she literally didn’t hurt you Jon she had one time she didn’t help 

“Never quite crossing a line we could never forgive, but never putting yourself on the line either.” - Yeah, Jon, that’s what most people would do, tbh. It’s not unforgivable that she didn’t put her life on the line to help someone who has only ever been mean to her. Actually, she helped him more than most people would if treated that way

“It’s not me I’m worried about” - Another interesting line because even as he’s killing her, Helen’s final threat is to hold him in the halls until the End eventually gets his friends. She never threatens to harm any of them (because they’re her friends) - Edit: I can see how it could be interpreted as her threatening them buttt idk if she can kill them in the new world so I assumed it was End related. Still no empty threats, no real lies from her yet - Also, I think she genuinely does not want to kill Martin or Jon, she wants them to turn so they can all be friends without those messy ~moral hangups~

“If you do this, everyone inside me is dead!” - I wonder if this is true. I can’t tell if Jon was the only one that fell out of the halls in front of Martin. It’s not like the other domains, where taking the avatar in charge may usher in a new one. The Distortion was Helen. If this sentence is true, then Jon just murdered that mom and very possibly orphaned that five-year-old. Not just gonna brush that one off there

“Its hidden teeth and the ones it wears so proudly.” - Even in the end Jon still Doesn’t Get It. He still thinks the Distortion is pretending to be Helen. Was pretending to be Michael. As much as he should be an all-knowing being, he clearly still rejects what he doesn’t like

I don’t have a specific quote but Jon acting like the Distortion has had a constant motivation or like, consistent desire (outside of “cause problems for fun”) is wild because Michael explicitly told Jon he didn’t want the Watcher’s Crown to happen. Michael was going to kill Jon to stop it. He was on the exact side Jon is on right now. But I guess it’s easy for Jon to paint him as evil when the roles were revered, huh?

If you’re still reading this, uh. Hi. I really really like the Distortion (Michael and Helen) and I am Very Upset with Jon right now

Edit: This is not an argument on whether or not Helen was evil or if Jon was right to kill her too to save the world. She was absolutely evil and I can see why Jon felt her death was necessary I'm just saying he was wrong about her lying to him

[poguesgold]

how did you feel about season? i know most people liked it better than season 1 but i’m not sure how i feel yet🤔 might need to rewatch it

okay this ended up soooo long so i'm giving a tl;dr review here and if anyone cares to read my insanely long thought dump you can feel free. this part is spoiler free also!!

cons: i think they should have further developed the s1 storyline rather than conjuring up an entirely new treasure and conflict; i don't think they did the characters justice a lot of the time, particularly kie and jj; too much yelling and running not enough hanging out; the finale cliff hanger was a stupid writing choice

pros: cleo!!; pope-centric plotline!!!; amazing jjpope moments in the improv sequences; never a boring moment; rafebarry oh my god????; neck kiss shirtless wrestling holding hands standing unnecessarily close jjpope rot; just a straight up nine hour long adrenaline rush and i love that shit.

overall: i definitely did not like it more than s1, but i still REALLY loved it. i think it's worth the watch, just don't go into it expecting good writing or realistic injuries or a comprehensive plot LMFAO. what saves the season is the pogues' chemistry and their improv sequences, for real. and cleo. you WILL get angry about the shitty script and characterization if you’re really invested in that part of things, but as far as vibes and dopamine high it was awesome. it was a fun watch and i'll definitely rewatch at least once to soak it in properly

please this is going to be soooo long i apologize in advance. but i have a lot of thoughts. also ⚠️⚠️spoilers ahead!!⚠️⚠️

most of this review is going to be criticisms tbh so sorry for that but this show kinda sucks (affectionately<3)

i thought season 2 was an absolute TRAINWRECK as far as writing goes. jonas pate was basically like. this season we're going to have an even BIGGER and BETTER treasure!!! but the exact same thing is going to happen. like. we already had gold. and that's what they were going to the bahamas for at the end of season 1 for anyway????? it would have been so easy to just develop the original storyline further, i just cannot figure out why they would completely abandon it for another mediocre storyline. (i LOVED that this other mediocre storyline was pope-centric and the main character energy he was given this season. but. they. could have done that?? with the first storyline?????)

i hate that they brought big john back so so much. SO much. literally it was the stupidest most idiotic lazy cheesy plot choice in the world. it doesn't make sense, we like saw his literal bones at one point like his lifeless corpse, and WHY would they bring back a key character from the PREVIOUS ARC when they created an ENTIRELY NEW CONFLICT AND PLOTLINE FOR THIS SEASON???? jonas pate stuck it in for shock value and cliff hanger in hopes of securing a season 3, and i hate him for it. he's such a terrible writer white men have it so easy

someone in the neck kiss truthers discord earlier pointed out that jb's dead father returning after like a year and a half of thinking he was dead would probably be more traumatic that healing at this point, and i agree so much. also, you know that they're not going to use it for good either way. they're going to use his dad coming back as a way to further traumatize him somehow because obx writers are jombeephobic. and i wouldn't put it past them to bring him back just to kill him off again. jonas pate wants to write john b torture porn and i am TIRED of it

my least favorite thing about season 2 was the characterization. they really did just disregard the characters they created in season 1. kie was completely ooc for like three episodes, and it wasn't because she was mourning. it was just shitty writing. she had no character outside of her relationships this season, which has been my fear from the very beginning and why i have never wanted kie with any of the pogues. season 2 diminished her character to the female love interest, and that just sucked so bad for her.

whether you're a jjpope or not, season 2 completely changed their friendship dynamic. the only time we got glimpses of the season 1 jjpope dynamic was in the improv sequences when rudy and jd took it upon themselves. also during their hugs LMFAO. which is also an acting choice. the writing completely disregarded their friendship and dynamic. it was weird as fuck it was all weird. i also hated that kie and sarah's scripted interactions were just them talking about boys. another case of friendships again being completely disregarded for the cishet relationships. 

i just really feel like all of the characters were handled poorly this season, which is crazy because literally ALL we asked for was backstory and character development and pogue screentime. but jonas pate instead decided to write ten episodes of nonstop running and yelling and fuckinf adrenaline, with an ooc script. for funsies

i feel like the magic of season 1 was lost. the vibe of season 1 that makes it so comforting and rewatchable and lovely is sort of just lost in all the silly plot. we see snatches of it here and there, but they feel crammed between unnecessary action scenes and stunts and shouting when we would have been happy with ten episodes of the pogues hanging out in each other's bedrooms.

NOW IM GOING TO TALK THINGS I LIKED OKAY OKAY

i seriously DID love watching it. we pulled an all nighter in the neck truthers discord and binged the entire season and the adrenaline of that kept me going for the rest of the week. it was literally fucking insane absolutely batshit and i LOVED it. the writing was horrible but like. it's obx we know it isn't good LMFAOO. it's part of the charm

i definitely don't like it more than s1, but i did still like it a lot. i LOVED how pope centric it was, like he fr had such main character energy this season and it was wonderful. even though the storyline was weird and didn't make sense jd did so well lolol he did so wonderfully. i loved seeing pope get the attention he deserves this season.

JJPOPE MOMENTS. i was definitely sad they didn't have an arc to themselves like they did season 1, but oh my god jd and rudy FED US with jjpope improv moments this season. the NECK KISS? the WRESTLING? every single one of their hugs?????? they're insane. it sucked that they really didn't have any scenes alone but we take what we can get.

SPEAKING OF GAYS LET'S TALK ABOUT RAFEBARRY. because?? oh my god??? first season it was like a crack ship and then season 2 came out and... what are we supposed to do ignore it? they are literally??? gay????? it's jarring they're insane. i am so so invested in them it's kind of unreal how deep i got into this ship in such a short amount of time (follow @rafebarry babies <33)

cleo. i love cleo. the best new thing to come out of this season for sure. clarah is coming strong i can feel it and i am SO ready. i know that they're most likely going to move toward a cleopope romance next season, which i don't hate? i'm bothered only because a) it's obvious it's mostly being done to get pope out of the way for jiara, and b) i think people often push two dark-skinned characters into a ship just because they're both dark-skinned, and that yucks me out. but i will say i really liked their moments together in s2 and i think they could be really good together if they're canon s3 (which they probably will be.)

overall like. it was a fun watch. i retained like 2% of the plot i was just there for the vibes and dopamine high and that was totally fine. i want to take the pogues out of jonas pate’s greedy little white man fingers and give them the character and relationship development they deserve, but we can’t have it all i guess. the cinematography this season i think i liked better than season 1, wasn’t a huge fan of that weird yellow filter tho. also the lighting. obx lighting guys get demoted challenge. umm yeah season 1 supremacy but season 2 had amazing vibes

[curestardust]

if you want: “group of young girls with special powers have to save the world” trope / very pleasing art style and animation / story and set-up had potential (but were wasted by inconsistent writing and pacing)

"Assault Lily: Bouquet” was a disappointing watch to me due to just how much potential this anime held that got wasted by bad writing, pacing and inconsistent tone shifts.

I’ve started dubbing certain anime “PMMM-likes” (you know like Roguelikes in video games) because these anime have quite a few things in common: a main cast of girl characters, who fight with magic or some sort of enchancement, usually in order to save the world from some enemy. And the “depressed, lone wolf” dark haired and “ditzy, naive, self-sacrificing” pink haired protagonist duo seems to also be a must. An anime I *really* liked that I’d put in this sub-genre is “Granbelm” (x) (which I’d urge everyone to watch tbh).

“Assault Lily” is somehow based on some kind of toyline and by that I don’t mean figures but literal barbie like dolls that you can customize and such. Although, I didn’t look much into it cause I’m not interested in that stuff. This whole anime feels more like a showcase than an actual story, almost like a build-up for a mobile game. We meet a shitton of characters, get exposition dumped on every little thing and see the workings and aesthetics of the fights on a few occasions. 

Again, I’m quite sad at the potential this anime could’ve had. I think the story, if well written, could’ve even lasted 3 seasons. 

In short for the story, there are some sort of weird lifeform called the “Huge” that’s attacking humanity. These creatures use a power called “Magie” to function and certain humans (yes, young girls as usual) were found to also be able to use Magie. These girls are called “Lilies” and they use special weapons called “CHARMs” to channel their Magie into and fight the Huge. The protagonist of “Assault Lily” is Riri (the ditzy pink haired girl) who wanted to become a Lily due to being saved by one when her hometown was attacked by a Huge. She meets this girl, Yuyu, but she has changed. She’s cold, uncaring and a loner. 

Instead of explaining the story in more detail as I usually do, I’d like to write things out as what each season could’ve focused on if this were a multi-season anime. The 1st season’s content takes place in like the first 3 episodes but spoiler warning from then on.

- Season 1

In this academy, 2nd years can become “Schutzengels” (Guardian Angels) who can take on a younger student to become their “Schild” (Shield) and help them improve. [Sidenote: the younger student herself is referred to as “Schild” even though that doesn’t make much sense to me. I feel like they wanted to go with “Kind” (Child) but that might’ve been confusing to English speakers?].

Yuyu has become a loner because she lost her Shutzengel in a fight and as her memories are fuzzy, she thinks she might’ve had something to do with it. Lilies have “Rare Skills” and Yuyu’s is called “Lunatic Trancer” where she becomes insanely powerful but also can’t differentiate between friend or foe and is thus seen as dangerous to be around on the battlefield.

This issue comes up twice in the anime for some reason, with the exact same conclusion as well. I think an entire season could’ve focused on Riri improving as a Lily, Yuyu getting herself in more and more risky situations as she uses her Lunatic Transfer during fights and then concluding with what the anime did; that Riri for some reason can “cancel out” Yuyu’s Lunatic Trancer state and then the 2 of them work together to take down a huge enemy. The season could’ve concluded with them making the Shutzengel/Schild pledge.

- Season 2

Lilies also create Legions which need to have at least 9 members. This anime also has an insane amount of supporting characters besides the Legion members so some of the characters we barely get to know. In season 1, while the main plot is going on we could’ve gotten close to certain side characters. As this is an in-between season, it could’ve been more low-stakes and relationship focused. Riri and Yuyu decide to create a Legion, we have the side characters from S01 join and meet more characters to create the 9 member Legion. These characters could’ve also been lacking in some areas so, training segments. Character improvement! Always better than being perfect from the start. Toward the end of the season could’ve been the introduction of what was supposed to be a huge character development arc for Riri: the meeting of a girl with amnesia who Riri takes care of and kind of becomes her “Shutzengel”, although unofficially.

<SPOILERS> - Season 3 

The most depressing shit left for last. The afformentioned girl with amnesia comes to be called “Yuri” and turns out to be an experiment in creating artificial Lilies. The government thus wants her back and Riri runs off with Yuri. This whole debacle is simply solved through a 5 minute long scene where the character responsible for exposition dumps reveals that Yuri doesn’t have any Huge DNA and thus that makes her human aka under the protection of the academy. This is great but like 2 seconds later, Yuri runs up to a Huge that appeared out of nowhere and gets herself killed. This doesn’t have the effect the anime wanted. We’ve only known Yuri in the original anime for like 3 episodes. Her loss doesn’t feel as depressing as it should and thus sympathising with Riri’s sudden depression is harder as well. 

So, the way I’d fix this, is to have the first half of the season more normal, with Yuri getting to be a part of the group. The second half of the seaosn would be the “depression/drama/conclusion” starting with Riri and Yuri running away. As Lilies fighting humans is a big ethical question in the anime, I’d want a stand-off that lasts longer with a Huge appearing in the middle of the whole thing. Lilies fighting humans on one side and the Huge on the other, leading to a struggle, where eventually Yuri decides that the only way to resolve this is for her to sacrifice herself. Cue Riri’s depressive phase and Yuyu’s hallucinations of her Shutzengel coming back. Their Legion’s atmosphere is also soured due to the loss of Yuri, the chance that they might need to find humans in the future because they disobeyed orders and their 2 leaders’s moods being in the dumps. 

Cue big threat, Riri and Yuyu coming to an understanding and accepting what happened, ready to take on the “Final Boss” where they might even die in the process, their Legion and other classmates showing up in that dramatic “Hey, you guys weren’t planning on getting all the glory for yourselves right?” and pulling of an incredibly powerful move that wipes the Huge nest out. (If you watched the anime, you know this is kind of sort of what happens, I just cut out some stuff I felt was unnecessary.)

<SPOILERS>

Well, anyway, now that I’ve finished daydreaming about what could’ve been, I’m still left with a badly written anime in the end. I mean, the art was there, the music was there, the set-up was there, the characters were there but the writing felt half-hearted, like whoever wrote it didn’t believe in the potential of “Assault Lily”. Oh well  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

EDIT: I just found out a mobile game called “Assault Lily: Last Bullet” was actually released so I was right about that.

[6/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | There was actual money spent on this

[pop-punklouis]

Ooh i didnt know you watched mare of easttown, i wouldve vented to you weejs ago! Do you also just get bad vibes from richard/guy pierce? Like i definitely feel something is up with him but it looks like the mystery's all solved for the final episode...

hi!!! yes i do. it’s the best crime show since true detective season 1 imo. the characters, the storyline, the undertones. it’s all SO fleshed out for only seven episodes. and the acting is superb.

and i thought the same trying to think of who it could be that we didn’t expect. but after seeing the trailer preview for next week, i doubt its richard. even though that would be a great twist.

tbh i don’t think it’s billy either. i believe they left us on a cliffhanger having us believe “the case is closed” but with that photo reveal at the end and how john and billy were acting on the fishing trip i have some....... theories.

1) it’s actually john who killed erin. i’ve always gotten a weird vibe from him past cheating on his wife, lori. i think he most definitely could’ve coerced a confession out of billy to save his own ass and then told lori about it as to not have suspicion fall back on him. he knew lori wouldn’t be able to keep it from mare, so it helps his alibi as being the good brother just trying to take him on a fishing trip before billy “confesses.” i do think this whole buildup to billy being the one is a massive misdirection. it seems too cut and dry for there to be a whole finale next week without some twists to it. we also have to take into account the gun that was in the tackle box. it didn’t directly state that it was john’s that he had stowed in there and billy stumbled upon. so, imo that could go either way. john could have stowed the gun to kill billy for 1) what he did to erin or 2) to stop him from talking— afraid billy might confess to john actually killing erin. OR billy could’ve stowed the gun to kill john for coercing him into confessing to something he didn’t do. that doesn’t explain the blood their dad found billy covered in the night of the murder, but they definitely could say he ran into a deer/animal, and he was disposing of the deer causing all that blood on him. john could use that against him saying “no one is going to believe you. you had to have killed erin.” so again it’s a tossup between those two.

2) the photograph revealed at the end by jess is a game changer for sure. if you zoom in on the back of the pic, the light shows a figure of a baby but not who else is in the photo with the baby. i’m assuming that’s DJ as it was in erin’s journal. the first thing i thought was “what if the dad was actually mare’s son kevin” and that’s why the captain told them to get mare on the phone immediately (idk the exact timeline of his death though, so was he passed before she gave birth?). or, if it proves someone else is the father that is close to mare, then it could obstruct who everyone believes to be the killer. i don’t know if the captain would’ve made that urgent plea to contact mare when she was on the killer’s path if it didn’t cast extreme doubt on billy’s guilt. maybe it’s frank after all? idk whatever it is, it definitely feels like it throws a wrench in all we think we know.

3) i still think dylan did something. he’s guilty of something and i despise him. i wouldn’t mind if he went to prison for the rest of his life lmfao. there’s a reason why he’s so adamant on not talking, threatening anyone who does, and then the burning of the journals?? there’s definitely something darker there that isn’t just him not wanting to look suspicious. he did some shit.

ugh i cant wait for the finale next week