#i'm enjoying it a lot and this episode was much better than the premiere

[fallenalienz]

[angel-princess-anna]

Hugh Bonneville promises 'new elements' and 'thrills and spills' in Downton Abbey 3

The actor tells Yahoo UK that he thinks the new film is the "best" of the franchise

Downton Abbey made some big changes on the big screen with 2022's A New Era, but Robert Crawley star Hugh Bonneville assures Yahoo UK that the upcoming third film will be even bigger and better than anything that has come before it.

Speaking with Yahoo UK for a Role Recall interview, the actor shares that the film feels like a "lovely coming together of people". Fans will be rivetted by what is to come for Robert and the Crawley family because the film is full of "spills and thrills" according to Bonneville, who took a break from production to promote his new ITV series Douglas is Cancelled.

"For my character, I think the usual [can be expected], which is that he's a sort of dinosaur trying to be led into the future reluctantly, and then eventually he stumbles forward a bit," Bonneville teases.

"So as always, there's that rhythm of things changing with glacial slowness, and Robert finally accepting that things [are changing] — it's time to move the story on, so to speak. It's got the usual tropes, if you like, of thrills and spills in a very Downtown [sic] way, which means spilling a tea cup pretty much!

"People who've watched the show over the years and have loved it will miss Maggie Smith's presence. She doesn't step out of the shower and it's all been a dream, she is gone.

"But, I think there's so much warmth and fun to enjoy, and new elements as well — which I won't spoil — that I think it'll certainly be the best iteration of the film versions yet."

The third Downton Abbey film will see the original cast return including Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter and Laura Carmichael, while A New Era's Dominic West will also reprise his role as Guy Dexter. They will be joined by a host of new characters played by Paul Giamatti, Joely Richardson, Simon Russell Beale, and Alessandro Nivola.

Details of the story have not yet been revealed, but Bonneville's positivity about it seems like a good sign. The actor also spoke of how it still surprises him that the franchise has become as beloved as it has since the show first premiered in 2010 because it didn't originally seem like it would.

"It never ceases to amaze me, it did when it first started in 2010 and here we are, 14 years later, we're making a third movie," he explains. "At least one of our producers said, 'well, it's never gonna last beyond seven episodes anyway so don't lose too much sleep about this', and here we are all those years later still together.

"What's been really interesting is there's a whole new generation of people watching it and still finding it engaging, and also what's been rather touching, particularly over the pandemic, [was] when people were stuck at home and they revisited a show that had finished five years before.

"Each of us have had lots of letters from people saying: 'I used to watch it with my Gran', or 'my son who is now married', or 'my husband, who's now passed on', or whatever. It had an emotional resonance for the period of time that it was on, and people find comfort in it, and revisited it like a warm bath.

"I'm not complaining because it's been a wonderful part of my life and we're filming the third film at the moment, it's a lovely coming together of people I care deeply about, and that's just the fictional characters."

[sakebytheriver]

There was drama behind the scenes in Community? Do you feel like you want to elaborate?

Oh my gosh there was so much drama 😭😭

I'm surprised you haven't heard about it, it's like the biggest dark cloud that hangs over that show.

Okay, so here we go this is going to be such a long post,

Dan Harmon and Chevy Chase were both competing to be the biggest dick working on the show, in the end Chevy won, mostly because Dan recognized the error of his ways and worked to change, but the point is Chevy saw himself as this big time Hollywood legend due to being one of the first cast on SNL, and so his over inflated ego did not enjoy the long hours on set or the way they were writing his character (of course a lot of how they wrote his character was in response to his own bad behavior) and so he acted like a little bitch all the time, if you've seen the show there's an episode where Pierce throws a tantrum and then goes to hide in a trailer the whole episode, that's basically how Chevy would act on set, most of the cast ended up hating him too because of his behavior and the writers had to find ways to limit his on screen time replacing him with a body double because he did not want to work as long as the rest of the cast and because Community was this insane show that had off the wall concepts for their episodes and scene concepts that would only last two seconds in the final product but would take entire days setting up filming locations and dressing the sets the days and the hours were Long af and so the more crazy concepts the show ventured into the less Chevy wanted to be there and so in turn he ended up clashing heads with Dan Harmon the other dick in this story, now Dan Harmon was the show runner and creator of Community, he is the mastermind behind the whole thing, but at this time he was pretty much at rock bottom for his entire life and his behavior, he was an alcoholic, he was sexually harassing a woman who worked under him, and he happily provoked Chevy Chase's little bitchiness in public, going as far as to play an angry voice message Chevy left him into the microphone on stage at a fan convention to a room full of fans and the media.

In response to all of this bullshit the studio fired Dan Harmon and replaced him with two guys whose only experience running a show was a racist show called Aliens in America about a white family that wanted to get a hot cool European exchange student to make their nerdy son cool, but instead got a brown dorky foreign exchange student with a funny accent and weird food, the show lasted one season and was promptly forgotten by the entire world for very good reason 😬

Anyways these two guys were brought in to showrun the infamous Season 4 of Community, otherwise known as the gasleak year. Now, these new showrunners weren't enough to make Chevy happy and he was still a little bitch most of the time and his coworkers were very unhappy with him for getting the guy who turned this show into a cultural icon fired. But they did season four and it was a big pile of shit, there's a couple episodes from that season that are worth watching, the body swap episode written and directed by Jim Rash is one, but for the most part this season is a write off, it's not that it was bad, it was honestly a lot better than most shows out there, but it was really really bad in the context of the rest of Community. It was a season desperately trying to be the show that came before it and it just utterly failed, trying to capture the magic that was Community without knowing how to do that.

Anyways, after this Joel McHale, the actor playing Jeffery Winger and a man who calls Community the best thing that ever happened to him went to the studio and said, "you gotta bring back Dan Harmon" and ultimately, the new showrunners were sacked, Chevy left, and Dan Harmon was brought back to the show.

Season 5 premiered with an episode called, Repilot that brought our now Greendale six instead of seven back together in a way that felt like coming home again after your first semester at college, bittersweet in that way that makes you feel like everything has changed, but nothing has moved. They lost Donald Glover in the fifth episode of the fifth season playing Come Sail Away by the Styx and now the show only had five of the original cast that made up the community we follow and by the end of season five the show was canceled at NBC and even when the giant cult fanbase raged at them they still refused to bring the show back for that iconic Six Seasons and a Movie Abed so often proclaimed in the text of the show

Until of course a streaming service that no longer exists called Yahoo!Stream came in and spent $42 million dollars for one singular season of Community (and two other shows apparently) and the fans were overjoyed to get their final season even if we also lost another key part of the main cast Yvette Nicole Brown to get it. Now the show had lost almost half the original cast, lost its showrunner, had a shit season, then got its showrunner back, got canceled at its original network, and now brought back for an internet streaming service in the days when Netflix still mailed people DVDs, and so this is the mindset they went into Season 6 for. The final season of the show had lost the fun whimsical tone of the golden age of the first three seasons, but still had the wacky zany adventures now couched in this sad feeling of reality that the end is coming soon, but then the last episode flashes a black screen that says "and a movie" and the fans had hope

Of course until Yahoo!Stream goes bankrupt and blames Community for it and that movie never comes.

Dan Harmon goes on to make Rick and Morty and a podcast called Harmontown where he admits to his horrific behavior on the set of Community and apologizes to his victim in a way that makes her feel vindicated and satisfied that he has changed his ways and moved forward with his life crawling his way out of his rock bottom to make a career far surpassing anything Community ever gave to him. While Chevy Chase has all but fallen into obscurity as he still does not accept that he did a single thing wrong ever. And now in the year 2023 we are getting the final chapter of the Community story in the form of a Peacock streaming movie that will most likely bring back almost every character and actor except for Chevy Chase

And that is the very very abridged version of the bts drama that haunted Community for six seasons and now a movie 😭😭

[atopfourthwall]

Since everyone is asking for your Doctor Who recommendations, which Doctor's time and stories had your favorite aesthetics? For example, I love the very fairy tale presentation 11 had. Many of his stories really leaned into science fantasy while 9 and 10 were more science fiction (even if it was a bit loose with that definition sometimes). Even the inside of the Tardis was more like a home/clubhouse than a ship/control room when he was with Amy and Rory.

I loooove the gothic horror vibes of mid-Tom Baker. Grey coat era was a really good look for him and stuff like Horror of Fang Rock just worked nicely, plus of course the Victorian console room, as it was called (I admit I prefer the time rotor, but it still looks good). The 8th Doctor's upgraded version of it worked nicely, especially the ceiling viewscreen. I also enjoy late-Tom Baker's aesthetic (not necessarily his attire, the all-maroon was a bit much) for the episodes. Great music. While I'm not big on the stories themselves, I love the upgraded console room that Davison got in the Five Doctors - lots of buttons, everything clean and new. 7's aesthetic worked better for me, but that was a few years after the console premiered so things just looked better fresh for it when it appeared.

[tm-trx]

currents.24[2024]

selections from my week in media [9-15 june 2024]

[anticipating]

Khemjira - paranormal BL - I need it to premiere yesterday. Yes, "never trust a Thai BL trailer" but my hopes are so up. That trailer is amazing.

The Rebound - sports BL - The lead pair's acting has improved by leaps and bounds since their first drama together, so I'm looking forward to seeing them in something new. Meen is apparently a very good basketball player so that bodes well for a more than usual amount of on-court action in the show.

Sunset x Vibes - workplace romance with a supernatural twist BL - I'm excited to see MosBank in a new drama together.

[listening]

"Fancy" / Twice

"FWB" / Great Sapol, Wandee Goodday OST

"Like It" / SHINee

"Next Level" / aespa

"Satellite" / SHINee

[reading]

How a Resurrection Really Feels by LiarsandThieves22 - Steve/Eddie Stranger Things canon-divergence fix-it fic - I loved this story so much: nice and long, Steve-centric, and chock-full of all the found family vibes.

Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa {4 stars} - A queer YA Pride and Prejudice retelling - I enjoyed it a lot and thought the author did a great job reinterpreting the familiar story beats.

[watching]

House of Stars, ep 1-3 - I don't remember why I had this on my watchlist for the year, but I powered through the first three episodes and now I'm kinda hooked. Toey is the standout and I hope he gets his own little plot. I will never get tired of his reactions to Pitch's nonsense.

Lovely Runner, ep 1-4 - I am loving it so much, wow. The time travel mechanic is different than any I've seen before, so that is keeping me guessing. I'm curious to see how it evolves over the rest of the series now that the (seemingly) big reveal about how it works has happened. I didn't know that Kim Hye Yoon was the female lead or I would have started it sooner. I adored her in Extraordinary You and she's still a delight.

Wandee Goodday, ep 7 - Another great episode this week. The fake breakup for their fake relationship actually hurt quite a bit to watch. Yak taking his necklace back was physically painful. I loved it though. The less said about Ter, the better. ugh, Ter. But, I finally remembered to look up the theme song and discovered that Great sings it?! He sounds so good, I love it.

previous Currents posts

.

[lol-jackles]

I enjoyed the first episode of Season 4 of Walker, it's no peak SPN but it's grown into itself. I'm not an avid watcher but it's easy TV and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

So my question is, what number of viewers need to be on live and +7 for it to stay on air and with what demographic?

The live figures and demographic seemed to be falling, but that is the same for all CW shows.

Are you still expecting an announcement of an extended series announcement?

FYI, there is a picture of Jensen in Vancouver having dinner with some of the cast of Watcher, so the rumour is yet another guest star gig is on the cards...

With over 50% of total (legal) TV viewers in U.S are now online and catch-up services, Live TV viewers are only a small chunk of what advertisers use. Live TV viewings do matter, but the networks also look at how a show does in DVR (up to 35 days post-airing usually) and on streaming. Part of the reason why CW created the CW app was so they could get better user data, and optimize their content based on that (similar to the OG Netflix model), so it would make sense if they put less weight on Live TV viewership, as the OG CW had already done.  If one person watches twice on CW app then they would be counted as two content starts.   And if one person watched the full 40 min duration twice then they would have contributed 80 minutes of viewing to the show.  But if you want to a reach of unique non-duplicated viewers for a certain show, they’d be counted once.   There are a lot of different metrics but multiple viewings factor into plenty of them.  Same for actual true for linear tv - if you watch something on a dvr more than once they are all counted. It’d be cool if these streaming numbers were released, but unfortunately that’s a much less transparent process than Live TV, so non-industry people still base their ratings knowledge off of that.

The Nielsen ratings are still used and still matters and it helps that there’s industry transparency. Linear tv still sells mostly on C3 (commercial viewing live + 3 days). But networks will track digital viewing within the US.  There's a lot of metrics to measure “success” on digital platforms beyond viewership - how many new subscribers it brought in, if they stayed to watch other things, how long they spend on the platform, etc

Of course CW app doesn't have subscribers but downloads. On Valentines Day CW app officially crossed 100 million downloads across all platforms and was #1 in the Apple App Store for 3 consecutive years during fall premieres.

The rule of thumb is if an app has 10 million downloads, on average 30% of downloads are active.  So CW app has 100 million downloads, 30% are active, and a total of 30 million active users.  With ads, it's easy money for the network.

For context.  

Peacock = 31 million subscribers 

Paramount = 37 million subscribers

Max = 98 million subscribers

Disney = 111 million subscribers

Netflix = 260 million subscribers 

Of the Big 5's subscribers, we don't know the percentage of active watchers.  But streaming services actually prefer that you don't watch because that costs bandwidth.  Just like gyms make their money from memberships where most members don't go to the gym regularly.

At this point no, I don't expect series extension announcement. The whole industry is going, as they say in business downsizing, restructuring.

I said in another post, never say never to the idea of Jensen scoring a guest star gig on Tracker.

[tangledbea]

I remember when lots of videos and theories about Cassandra came out after the “Destinies Collide” cliffhanger, and when I saw one where Cassandra was Gothel’s daughter, I brushed it off. I actually had enough confidence in this show to believe that they wouldn’t sabotage Cassandra (and Rapunzel’s) characters by having Cassandra gaslight and blame Rapunzel for her own kidnaping. Clearly, I was wrong. The fact that I had faith in this show to give Cassandra a good motivation, angers me.

Here's the thing. There were people who theorized that since the moment she set foot on screen. Since the moment they saw black, curly hair and grey-ish eyes. Since the moment she was bathed in Disney Villain green light while sneaking Rapunzel out of the castle.

There was a guy at D23 Expo 2017 who tried to get Chris to confirm that Cassandra was Gothel's daughter, and Chris' response was something like, "Let's just say that you have no idea where her character is going to go," or something like that. It was a heavily implied negative, though. (You can probably find it on a recording of the panel on YouTube.)

And I hated it. Since the first time someone theorized that Cassandra was Gothel's daughter, I hated the very idea of it. I hated that they felt the need to not let Rapunzel actually escape Gothel. I hated that they thought Gothel not only could get pregnant (a rant to which I have written multiple posts in the past), but would carry the baby to full term even if she could, allowing her body to stretch out and get lumpy and swollen - Gothel, whose primary defining trait is her vanity - allowing herself to to be inconvenienced for the better part of a year, and then inconvenienced further when she had to take care of the baby with no guaranteed reward from it. If they had made it so that there was an actual reason for her to have a baby, I would have begrudgingly allowed it, but we weren't even granted a half-baked concept of "Gothel was ordered by Zhan Tiri to have a baby and groom it to become her vessel" or something like that.

I used the phrase, "I have faith that the crew will do it right," so many times, and I was so vocal about my hatred of the theory. So much so that when the reveal happened, multiple people asked me if I was alright. In fact, if I'm honest, I hated the reveal so much that it was difficult for me to enjoy the S3 premier the first time I watched it, because I was just so full of anger that they chose such a stupid way to go. I had to watch it again later and skip past "Crossing the Line".

And I still hate it. Of a thousand options they could have gone for, "Cassandra is Gothel's daughter" is the one they went with. And what's worse, this wasn't one of their hairbrained course-altering decisions that they'd been known to make. Cassandra was imagined as Gothel's daughter from the start. In fact, even as they were finishing production on the first few episodes, they had not yet decided whether or not she already knew she was Gothel's daughter and was out for revenge from the start or not.

And honestly, the fact that they chose 'not' makes it even worse. If her plan had been to get revenge on Rapunzel all along, but she gradually grew to like her until Zhan Tiri prodded her into action, it would have made a lot more sense than her heel-turn because of the reveal.

Everything about Cassandra, from her concept to her design to her villain design, was supposed to be cool and edgy to the detriment of her character development and motivations. They were so focused on how cool they could make her that it didn't matter if anything about what she was doing made sense. (And please be assured that by "they," I mostly mean the showrunner.)

Cassandra had so much potential, and she was utterly flubbed. I'm glad there are some people out there who enjoy not only her character but her story arc, but I am not one of them. I like her potential, but not much else about her.

[emiemi345]

🚨Spoiler-filled thoughts on the new Total Drama Island from someone who just bingewatched it (me)

I went into this season with zero expectations so I wouldn't be upset when my favorites left, and I'm kinda glad I did because it was kinda mid tbh

Ripper should've been out first. He should've been the filler character designed to go early that everyone immediately turned against.

That WAS too early for a merge WTH

When they got down to the last marshmallow in each episode, I predicted the character I liked more would get eliminated and, not counting Zee, I was right 5 out of 10 times

Chase and Emma 2 were about as interesting to me as Devin and Carrie were (i.e., not)

Imagine making a whole episode about farts 🙄

It was around episode 12 when I realized "damn this show's really still going isn't it"

The use of CGI was interesting! On a related note, this season has a lot more cinematic shots in general - I like it!

If Camp Wawanakwa's back, does that mean its sinking has been retconned? (Can we retcon the rest of All Stars too while we're at it? 😆)

The only characters I really enjoyed watching were Scary Girl, Damien, Bowie, Zee and MK

Zee is pure and wholesome and I didn't expect him to be so funny!

MK had soooo much potential and they did almost nothing with her. If I got attached to her I would've been so pissed

Every time they say gay my heart melts 🥰

"Chris Better Have My Honey" is a banger of an episode title but it feels like the episode was written for it and not the other way around

Since when does Chef care about the contestants' wellbeing so much?

Why were they allowed to re-vote just because Zee was being stupid?? That's literally never happened before and it's one of the least fair eliminations ever (it also would've been funnier if they just moved on with the initial marshmallow ceremony without acknowledging his plan)

That TAPEWORM (WHY) is the most messed up thing in the entirety of this franchise imo (and of course it talks, were you expecting it to stay quiet? /s). I legit couldn't even look at my screen when they were eating it, and there are people that had to animate it 🤢

I guess I appreciate that the v*m*t was rainbow this time (I use the term "appreciate" very loosely)

We should be getting another ending where Bowie wins, so I'm interested to see Priya's reaction to losing

I feel like the reboot's Season Two will be more of a Part Two than just a Season Two, like I'm starting to think some characters were deliberately intended to be fleshed out over two seasons instead of just this one

Scary Girl is fun to have around, but her only purpose is to be creepy and funny, and she has no business outlasting better characters. A hypothetical compromise could be her getting booted earlier next season then staying as an intern!

If I had hopes for the next season, I would hope that Zee and MK make it to the finals!

Chris said it's been 15 years since the first Total Drama Island premiered. The Ridonculous Race takes place around just three years after the first TDI. A HUGE IN-UNIVERSE TIME SKIP JUST OCCURRED.

[geoffreytoday]

As a Star Trek fan, I've always been kind of ambivalent about DS9.

I remember when it was on its way. There was a lot of hype, which in retrospect is interesting to think about in a pre-internet era. Back in the day when our sources for sci-fi entertainment news were things like Entertainment Tonight, or magazines like Starlog. No social media, no websites, just a half-hour "news" show that was mostly a vehicle for industry puff pieces, and... I've gotten off track, I apologize.

I was a huge TNG nerd, and I could not wait to have another Trek series. This lead to, I think, the first incident which potentially soured my experience with DS9. Through no fault of the show mind you.

Coming up on the premier of DS9, the Home Shopping Network (is that still a thing? I haven't had cable for like 26 years. If it's not still a thing, for those not in the know, it was a tv channel dedicated to showcasing shit you could buy from home. With the advent of online shopping, I can imagine it might no longer exist) featured the show's writing bible. I was so excited about that. What a thing to have! I managed to convince my mom, and she purchased it. What arrived was a small packet of badly xeroxed, barely legible pages, stapled together. The disappointment was huge, and in fact my mom returned it and got a refund.

It was certainly unfair of me to hold that experience against the show, but I was barely 14 at the time.

DS9 did not immediately grab me. Politics were not a thing I was interested in, or much enjoyed. Religion even less so. The changeling effects which had been much discussed leading up to the series premier were underwhelming and kinda embarrassing. At 14, it was just not the Trek show for me. I gave it a few episodes, and then abandoned it for the comfort and familiarity of TNG.

Round about, I think either the season 3 or 4 premier, I gave it another shot. TNG was gone now, and Voyager failed even harder than DS9 had at grabbing my attention. The commercials were exciting. Worf was coming to the series, and supposedly the peace treaty between the Klingons and the Federation was going to end. I was sold.

That lasted all of two episodes before the Klingons and the Federation were pals again. I felt manipulated. I was annoyed that they had pulled the ol' bait and switch on me. I had given DS9 another chance, and it had played me for a sucker. Regardless of whether that was the intent, or how the rest of the season played out, I was miffed enough that I was done.

In the decades since, I've come around. I no longer think poorly of DS9. In fact, I've reached a point where I am actively interested in giving the entire series another chance. The problem is, I am still afflicted by an inability to watch shows alone. It's gotten marginally better, but it's still something of a struggle for me (I legitimately wish I knew how it got so bad, as it didn't used to be a thing for me)

I need a DS9 pal. Someone who would actually be interested in hanging out on a regular basis to watch through the series. Unfortunately, my social circle is practically non existent these days. I see people socially once or twice a month if I'm lucky, which I'm usually not, and honestly, the majority of that is an rpg game that I run, which while I love it and it's super fun, is not the same as having a simple one on one hang out.

Am I talking too much? I'm talking too much.

[millennialdemon]

Unironically, I Wholly agree with your criticisms of the Black clover anime, entirely because the first 50/2 or 3 seasons of the anime were done so dirty by the studio, you could tell this was NOT their priority budget project.

As someone who got into it through the manga, the amount of stuff they changed is so much, I'd be writing essays about it. There's a reddit thread SPECIFICALLY about how they butchered Gauche's entire character and its eye opening for someone who never watched the anime but read the manga. A comparison of both anime and manga showed that manga Noelle only hit Asta could be counted on hands (3-6 I think) while anime Noelle's numbers were over 60.

I cannot stress how that's reflected on the anime. They also cut out a lot of smaller detail scenes in the beginning while adding entirely unnecessary bits in some episodes.

I'm writing this mostly to say that, the reason why so many drop it is mostly because they start with the anime and the series does not get good until very much later, which a lot of viewers understandably don't want to deal with. No idea where the people writing about how the anime itself is good come from.

If you feel like you genuinely cannot stomach the anime anymore because it feels like the potential is entirely unused or parodied, I say this honestly, you are valid in this but I ask that you give the manga a try, at least. The art style of the creator is at least better to look at if the quality of the animation is the biggest turn off.

I do not liveblog/review manga on this blog, but even if I did, for me to pick up the manga and compare it to the anime I would have to make a whole new blog just dedicated to that like I did with Fist of the North Star back in 2017. I believe you could write multiple essays about the differences between them, and I would be compelled to do so if I read it, but that is just too large of an undertaking for me these days honestly. It doesn’t help that based on the cursory research I am willing to do, I don’t think I would enjoy the manga that much more than the anime.

I can believe the claim that the anime grossly exaggerates the gags and the most trope-ish traits of each character until they are literally parodies of themselves. But as much as the treatment of the characters in the anime specifically irritates me, it should also be known that I take issue with a lot of the fundamental narrative of Black Clover. I could presume that the pacing of the story is better in the manga because that is pretty much always the case, but I doubt that it isn’t more or less the same tired story that I have been scowling at since it premiered in 2017. I think the way the story handles its magical caste system is messy and underdeveloped, I think the aesthetic of the world is uninspired, I find the king and all of his magical knight captains wildly unlikable on the best of days and think their rank is a total sham that goes uncalled by the narrative. I think it’s absurd that our protagonist looks up to any of them, supports his insanely dishonourable comrades like Gauche and insists upon magical knights having honour by just, being magical knights I guess, and has no issue with promising the wizard king that he will hide the corruption of the magic knights from the citizens. I think all the comparisons to other, better shounen series preceding Black Clover are completely fair because it is so brazen with its “borrowing” and, as I have said on this blog somewhere before, I’m not holding out for a satisfactorily subversive shounen series. Based on what I have seen, I just can’t.

I can hold out for the possibility of it eventually becoming better though, even though I will criticize it forever for taking so long when/if it does get there, and I still probably won’t fall in love with it. Mostly because I’ve seen 42 episodes and the only character that has struck even the faintest of chords has been Noelle, and most of the time when I feel something for her, it’s just frustration at how bluntly her story is told – and that’s on the increasingly slim chance it isn’t being ignored completely in favour of tsundere gags. Considering most 12 episode anime have a handful of characters I like and that keep me engaged, that’s very discouraging. 

But I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to finishing things, and while I will stand on the street corner and hold up a sign that says “BLACK CLOVER IS INSANELY SEXIST LIKE UNIRONICALLY” for as long as I am on the internet, it isn’t despicable enough otherwise for me to drop. Though I came close👌 because of that Godforsaken arc with Gauche and the orphanage and the midnight sun. That took me 2 years to get through. I feel like I and everyone else who watched/read that could be financially compensated to be honest. 

(Speaking of Gauche, I scrolled the Black Clover reddit and came across a bunch of posts trying to explain why he is like that and how the anime plays it up way too much. But I still think he is utterly despicable in both the anime and manga and will probably write a long ass post about how deluded I think the person that wrote this one in particular is. Woof. I can agree he seems a bit less extreme in the manga but the excuses and explanations I have read in the reddit threads are not convincing insofar as proving to me there was all that much to butcher in the first place.)

Still though, there is some merit in being so transparently poorly written – it provides ample opportunities for me to wonder about what it could be like if it were better, or just different. I like transformative fiction and fix-its and redesigns, and I think Black Clover is a good candidate for that kind of engagement. I don’t hate Black Clover because I’m a snob or anything, I actually tend to become obsessed with less than perfect media (Marchen Awakens Romance is a similarly trope-ish shounen manga that dominated my teenage years) because it makes my brain work and it can be a lot of fun to try to fill in the gaps or write your own meta. I would love to read something in the tag other than y/n fanfiction prompts (sorry to everyone reading this and I will concede – it’s better than the nothing that would be there otherwise), especially analysis, critiques, and source comparisons!

So if you or anyone else would like to write essays comparing the anime and manga, I would love to read them.

[mayasdeluca]

Toot! Toot! from me once again for telling you to start watching NCIS HI. It wasn't my kind of show either but yeah they do write the personal side really well. I kind of get lost in the case just because I don't know military terminology and I find myself googling a lot of it.

I know you said Kai was your favorite but there's something about him that I'm not vibing with. He's likable I guess but I think I just didn't like all the times he went rogue in season 1 because he's a native and he thought he knew better. Alex also bugs me, maybe it's just his teenager attitude but that's something you'll see more why in season 2, I don't get why he's a series regular. And all the other characters are great. They all work well together no matter who they put together. And I hope we get to meet Jesse's wife. Heather sounds like a badass, I want to mentally cast her with like Jes McCallen or Lauren German; not a huge name but someone who would be available to pop in from time to time to make guest appearances.

As for the Lucy and Kate scenes unfolding, I've written to you already how it got annoying (to me) how stubborn Lucy was because yes the love was clearly still there. Like the immediate explanation from Kate about Cara at the end of 1x11 was reasonable enough. Kate seemed more career than relationship focused which I'm sure Lucy knows (from their whirlwind first weekend together) so it is feasible that in Kate's relationship inexperience thinking moving to another state would end a relationship. I might've needed a day or two to think but I would've forgiven Kate after that. And I probably would've forgiven Kate the other times she apologized too but most especially after 1x20.

The serenade was a little awkward (it was released as a sneak peek) but then after a while the more you watch it the less awkward it gets.

I am so excited that you get to catch up to watch live. I wouldn't mind doing a rewatch and finally discuss the 6 episodes of season 2 now that the show is on a hiatus for a couple of weeks. This week Tuesday and Wednesday and then the next to weeks on Mondays and Wednesdays? I want to leave Thursday/Friday free because of the bombardment of S19 chatter. What do you say?

Haha yes! Thank you so much, it was a wise recommendation on your part. They definitely do write the personal side well and I think that's what's keeping me hooked because yes, sometimes I'm kinda lost on all the military terminology as well and some of the cases just don't do it for me lol but since I enjoy the characters it ends up being okay for the most part.

Really?! That's interesting! I never really got that vibe from Kai but I could see it...to me it felt like he just kept to himself initially since he was the new guy but then he started warming up to them and opening up as time went on which I enjoyed seeing too. I didn't even know Alex was a series regular! I feel like he's not even in that many episodes lol but I'm curious what he's up to in Season 2 now! I've been wondering/intrigued by why we've never seen Jesse's wife at all! It's a little strange...you would think she'd show up at least once or twice...it makes it feel like the marriage is fake 😂 I love the idea of Jes playing Heather though! That would be perfect.

Yes definitely...I wonder if it was just their way of trying to drag it out a little longer and not put them back together right away. I mean I understand Lucy being upset and not wanting to forgive her right away but she did seem to be harsh with Kate at times, especially when they had to work together. And then after the scenes in 1x20 I was surprised they just didn't get back together! That's wild that they spoiled the serenade/reunion in a sneak peak though...that would've pissed me off. I mean I don't mind spoilers/sneak peaks to an extent but not if it's major things like that for my favorite ship lol save it for the episode!

That would be great if you rewatched! I actually ended up watching the Season 2 premiere last night since I had some time and was eager to continue lol so I think I'm probably going to want to catch up when I can but whenever you're able to watch them and want to discuss them, feel free to send your thoughts or see if I've watched them yet! I would guess that I'll be all caught up by the weekend though since it's 5 more!

[terrence-silver]

In response to your last post I think what happened to the bulk of Terry Silver stans is that most of them probably lost interest in the fandom not long after season 4 came out. This happens a lot with fandoms of netflix shows unfortunately since netflix releases all the episodes at once. Since they don't do the one episode per week thing like some other streaming services, after a few weeks of a season premiering there's not much to keep stans interested anymore and they just move on to a different fandom. I wouldn't be surprised if once season 5 comes out that the Terry Silver stans will come alive again only to disappear again after a few weeks 😩

I respect this...but I also think it is super unfortunate. 😔

I also feel that fandom-spaces online significantly changed in the last several years from when I was a teenager and in my early twenties, lets say. It is like fandoms and content consumption sped up to immense proportions where people neither have the energy nor the desire to focus on anything too long (which, not to delve in too deep, might have to do with the general state of...everything, everywhere), always looking for the fresh new thing, which is given to them, because people actually dish out immense amounts of high quality goodies all across the board for all of us to enjoy; That is splendid and we mustn't feel guilty for it, but also has consequences. Fanfics, stories, drawings, videos and imagines get read or viewed and people often don't interact with them in any capacity because there will always be more. Leaving notes? Nah, people don't even like. The reblog button is the devil, meanwhile. The situation on Ao3 is no better because reviews are hard to come by, at least for me. Could be a me problem. Fanart? I personally work on Terry-centric fanart and edits for weeks and have WIP's that are months old in-between commissions and when I finally post them, often, getting more than twenty-ish notes is just a given. It is what it is and I'm just used to it by now --- what can you do. With the Terry fanbase this problem is somehow even more amplified. I keep doing this because I love him, but admittedly, it is a bit...yeah.

I do have a handful of very loyal fans and they are truly treasures.

The situation is, given, still far better than it was a year ago in the Terry fanbase where it was literally empty. At the time when I started (I was called Villains-Are-Sexy back then) the Terry tag consisted of literally me and one really old post of someone shipping Terry with their male OC with face-claims on one of those edited collages, which I found amazingly endearing and they're still undoubtedly somewhere at the very beginning of the Terry Silver tag. There was also @atmostories who was and still is one of the earliest veteran Terry Silver writers (and they've some cool Terry McCain goodies too!) They're literally one of the OG's. But, for all it matters, this blog is a Terry hub for everyone's Terry (and John) needs, so there's that. The least I can do! ❤️

[manesalex]

Malex of course - What made you ship it?

What made you ship it?

Okay, so I don't remember exactly what hooked me, but it was my bday and I was bored waiting for the s4 premiere of The Magicians (yes, I know how a lot of you feel about s4, but this was coming off of the truly excellent s3). So I was looking to fill time and I had the first two episodes of rnm on my 'okay maybe I'll watch this if I'm bored and I have time' list. So, anyway, I don't exactly know what moment hooked me, but, by the end of the first episode, I was screaming at the TV for them to kiss. And then they did. And I was a goner. The only time I've ever been that far gone that fast for a ship was VM's LoVe. And they remain one of my favorite ships of all time.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I love how they both see the best in each other. These two people who often see the worst in themselves or don't think they're good enough... they see the other one as the best this world (or any other) has to offer. I find that especially beautiful, given both of their trauma. I love how much they're willing to sacrifice for each other, the way they put each other first in the most lovely of ways. I remember in s1 when we assumed Alex lost his leg in an explosion (still would have made more sense) and we saw him willing to stay with Michael as long as it took, even if the building came down around them. And in s2, we see Michael exposing himself and his abilities to members of the military and also, we assume at the time, helping to make a bomb that will kill him, his family, and his girlfriend. To save Alex. They both see the best in each other and love each other more than themselves. And I think that's really beautiful.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm sure I have many of them, tbh. I know there is a certain segment of the fandom who seems to think there is one true interpretation of Alex, that it is there's, and I know my opinions about him are unpopular there. But I have been in fandom long enough to know better than to think there is one true way of thinking or one true interpretation, so, tbh, I don't care if my opinions are unpopular. And, yeah, I guess the most unpopular opinion I have is that I was okay with s3. No, it wasn't perfect, yes, I could pick out all these things to criticize like so much of the rest of the fandom has, but, tbh, I'm good with it. I enjoyed it. And I'm coming out of it content. Sometimes having sub-basement level expectations helps.

[gothicprep]

i think it's pretty obvious per my posts that i'm a big fan of breaking bad & better call saul (the abqniverse?). anyway, like, someone in a group chat i'm in sent this chart of the ratings per episode of both shows. they're basically inverse of one another.

there are a couple of reasons for this, i'm guessing: the first of which being that breaking bad aired from 2008 to 2013, and this was before the streaming boom. the second being that saul is a more character driven story, while breaking bad is more event driven, so enjoying breaking bad doesn't necessarily translate to enjoying saul.

i also think that saul fumbled the premiere a bit, hence why there was such a big dropoff in viewership after it – like, tuco salamanca is literally in the first episode, and i was a bit worried when i first watched it that it was going to be fan service-y, as i'm sure a lot of other people were. but tuco turned out to be more of a guest star than anything, and the scene was functionally a means of introducing jimmy to nacho.

it's a shame too bc imo, saul is by far the superior show. i feel like my main beef with breaking bad is that there were too many characters in it, and a lot of their arcs are either incomplete or they just aren't characterized very well.

the whole thing with bb is that, while walt is absolutely the most egregious out of all the white/schrader adults, they all are guilty of doing illegal shit when it supports some personal end for them – hank having his distaste for due process, skylar turning a blind eye and helping ted cook his books even though she knows something is off (plus her later involvement with walt's meth shenanigans), and marie shoplifting as a bad coping skill.

but marie is, like, really underdeveloped. and it sucks because understanding marie is important to understanding the show as a whole – she steals shoes after complaining that her work sneakers are ugly and being embarrassed by a rude retail girl at the store, she goes to open houses and lies about who she is (and steals things because, like, of course she does) after hank starts lashing out at her because of his ptsd. i don't know what the baby tiara thing was all about, but i have this dumb pet theory that marie and hank can't have kids and this was some kind of power move related to that – it's not lost on me that marie lies about having children every time she makes shit up about herself during her real estate klepto bender.

she's sort of a low-stakes version of walt's fractured ego & dissatisfaction and she, by my interpretation, serves as a foil that highlights just how silly the heisenberg shit really is.

the white/schrader family serves the narrative as an exploration of "why do some people become heisenberg while others don't". but, like, as much as i love the show, i think it really fumbles the execution of this. or my read could be totally wrong, i'm not sure. either way, the pieces are all there, but they don't always explore them fully.

there's also a joke in some of the sillier abqniverse fan communities of calling walt jr/flynn "breakfast" because the overwhelming majority of his scenes are him eating breakfast lmfao. he's just kind of, like, There.

the character dynamics in bcs, though, are sooooo good. the relationships between jimmy and chuck, jimmy and kim, gus and hector, mike and nacho are all well-developed and textured. i love how lalo's audacity and gus's cold cruelty play against each other. and bcs uses the tragedy of inevitability to its advantage – we know almost all of the characters (barring jimmy/saul/gene... we'll see what happens with kim and howard) are dead in the breaking bad timeline. but overwhelmingly it's just sad to see. it's dramatic tension of a different kind.

plus, bcs establishes just how terrifying gus really is. if you liked him in bb, you'll be salivating in bcs.

i don't know, i think it's criminally neglected even though it's critically acclaimed. my child will watch better call saul.

[mythoughtsxxblog]

19 years ago today (September 23 2003) One Tree Hill premiered on the WB.

To celebrate I thought I'd post yet another opinion thread about my favorite show of all time.

Nathan Scott is quite possibly the best teen drama boy/man to ever exist. He had his flaws, but was ultimately the best husband, father, brother, and son anyone could ask for. Despite having a rough childhood, he managed to overcome and stop the toxic cycle of neglect/abuse. He made his children's lives something he had wished for himself. It takes a strong person to do that. Forever will love this man.

Lucas Scott aggravates me to no end.

3x20 is TV excellence. That no look shot is iconic and nothing will ever top that moment in TV.

Nobody does music like OTH. All those performances? Amazing.

Nathan and Haley >>>>> every other couple on the show. Idc what anyone says they were the #1 ship to come out of OTH. They went through hard times, but came out stronger in the end. I don't think there's any other TV couple with this much of a hold on me. And I've watched a lot of TV shows lol. They make me feel so comfy and warm inside. They're safe and overall written so damn well.

Going with what I said above, James and Joy's chemistry is what made Naley work tbh. They had such insane chemistry and it's mind boggling that they never even had a chemistry read when auditioning. OTH writers struck gold with them.

Dan is one of the best villains in TV show history.

Grandpa Dan....an angel lmao

It legit infuriates me that CMM was looked at as the heartthrob of the show when James Lafferty was right there. That man was and is still gorgeous. And if I'm being honest, his acting felt more natural to me than CMM. But that's a conversation for another day lol

We should've got more Skills than Mouth

Brooke's best seasons were the adult seasons tbh. Yes, she had iconic moments in the high school years, but her actual development doesn't really hit until the adult years imo

I'm convinced they only did the Nathan/Brooke sextape because they wanted the audience to sympathize with Peyton. Also Nathan and Brooke are quite possibly the most liked characters, the writers probably thought why not try destroying their development 🙄🙄

I loved Jamie 🤷🏻‍♀️ it seems like so many people find him annoying but I loved him lol I can understand why he might be annoying to some, but I really enjoyed him and thought he was a great addition to the show. He had great chemistry with all the core characters

6x03 is the saddest episode in TV history and if you don't cry watching it, you're not human

Nathan's NBA story arc is amazing storytelling. I loved every minute of it and believe it's one of, if not, the best story arc to come out of the show

Peyton was so much more likeable when she wasn't with Lucas. I honestly enjoyed her and Lucas being friends way more than when they got together

I didn't mind Lucas and Lindsay

Season 9 was so chaotic, but I loved it

I loved how Julian went from this hot mysterious producer to an absolute dork that loved chasing butterflies. Best development lol

This cast deserved an award for 3x16. The acting was on point. The storyline was on point. One of the most well done sch*ol sh*oting episodes I've seen a TV show pull off. It's a shame they barely got any credit for it

Never got the appeal to Karen/Keith. I honestly shipped Deb/Keith more lol

Nathan's depression storyline deserved better. The writers dropped the ball on a lot of mental health storylines, but this one in particular upsets me. First it was the race car incident in season 2. He should've gone to therapy. Then it was season 5 and his back injury. It felt as though he was being told get over it and "man up" when that sends a pretty toxic message. The scene with Peyton and him in the hospital pissed me off. As if seeing a child with cancer is supposed to make him feel better. I get what they were trying to get across, but it could've been done differently. Also Haley throwing dishes/bottles???? Why? Great acting moment from Joy, but unnecessary for Haley's character. I also applaud James for his acting throughout this storyline. Just wish it was written better.

Continuing with the above statement, Haley's depression storyline was done much better. It was a bit rushed, but it wasn't as frustrating to watch.

I always preferred Brooke and Haley's friendship to Brooke and Peyton's

Brooke and Nathan's friendship deserved more screen time. That scene when Nathan goes to check on her before Quentin's funeral will forever break me

Nathan getting harassed in the shower doesn't get talked about enough. Absolutely foul.

Although I loved Brooke getting her happy ending, I kinda wish they settled with her adopting instead of miraculously being able to have kids. Her adopting would've been more relatable.

Rachel deserved better

Quinn deserved better writing. I feel like she was treated more like eye candy than anything. Justice for Shantel VanSanten

FUCK M*RK S*HWAHN

I have many more opinions, but this is already long enough lol. Anyways, this show will always and forever have a place in my heart.

[morganupstead]



I don’t know if you answer these or read them but am I opinion this is the worst season premiere that they have ever had this also set up for me not watching after J leaves because I know that after that it’s going to be a absolute shit show. It already started off as a shit show this season but the rest I think it might happen. It’s just going to get 10 times worse but I cried, literally a full after Hour after the episode because of how out of character their writing jay like those last five minutes is what I started crying they’re ruining my comfort character my comfort character since I was 14 my comfort character since 2014 and it’s really killing me and it’s making me angry and it’s just not right I think as fans we deserve a lot better than that and I think the actors also deserve a lot better than that the exits going to suck. I think it’s going to be very out of character. I truly hate it here right now.🥺🥺

Anon I do read these, I don't get very many at all but every once and a while I get one and I'm glad that you sent one.

Everything you said is valid and I'm feeling it too. Personally, I thought Fire and Med ( i missed some of Med but from what I saw) were very comparable premieres to what they have been like in the past. I enjoyed Fire so much more than I had expected and I'm really grateful for that.

PD was disappointing in about 100 ways. Voight hasn't changed, and his behavior has always not sat well for me but damn that episode alone was just not okay. Is Voight currently grieving: yes but it's not an excuse to throw his baggage all over Hailey like his personal coat hanger. (it's only an explanation if anything) There were several moments where the way Voight spoke to Hailey was inexcusable to me. In the moments where Hailey did stand her ground, I was really proud of her because it's taken everything that happened to her last season to be strong enough to be brave and speak her truth. Trauma manifests differently in everyone and to see that spark back in her was great.

Now onto the Elephant on my chest and yours. I can't decide at the moment If I think Jay in that entire episode was out of character or if we are truly seeing the manifestation of what working for Voight for this long has truly done to him. I do agree that this does feel like they are ruining my comfort character in ways I always dreaded so truly I feel for you there. He didn't do a lot of talking so it was really hard to get a read on him, his face looked really blank a lot, and then the last 5 minutes still have me confused as hell. We went from Jay punching him in 9x09 to Voight literally saying "do what you want" and Jay following him.

Right now if I had to have a theory it would be this: I think Jay feels a responsibility to Hailey and to the entire unit to keep them together. I don't have a full complete thought on this yet but right after they came back from the ceremony that scene in the bullpen had a certain vibe I'm still trying to flesh out. We know he thinks that Voight will destroy himself and the unit without someone to pull him back and I think he's taken that responsibility entirely on his own for the rest of the unit's sake. And I think we really are seeing Voight change him, and I hate it because that part feels unlike Jay Halstead, but protecting the people he loves is his character.

I do agree Anon that this is hard to watch unfold, I started watching this show when I was 16 and I care about all of these actors and they deserve the world and more. I WISH we knew more right now because knowledge is power, so process this however you see fit. The best thing we can hope and rally for at this point is that this has an open door associated because THAT is what Jesse deserves above all else is the door open to this family again no matter what happens.