#like zheng said in ep 3

[everyscreentoobeseen]

Maybe im just Stede-pilled but I didn't see him doing anything wrong in ep 6&7 till the Zheng Confrontation.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Killing Ned was inevitable and a good thing because it rid the world of a monster. Him getting praised and respected by other pirates isn't a crime. Him burning a dude is just a more direct version of burning the party boat. Plus the dude wanted to kill him. It's not shown that he died either so he's probably fine.

Not once did he act mean or nasty for no reason. Especially not during ep 7. He was just basking in receiving validation from the community he so desperately wanted to be accepted by.

The only reason he wanted to fight Zheng was because he not only lost Ed, but he was also losing Olu/Jim/Archie. His family. Which Zheng had no problem mocking him for. Then Steak Knife got pinched to ??death???unconsciousness??

Of course he's gonna act irrationally and draw his sword. Everyone is acting like Stede was becoming evil and corrupted but none of the shit he did even touches what Blackbeard did in his Kraken era... Not here for the Stede slander.

He's my little meow meow that can do no wrong.

[amuseoffyre]

Since insomnia is kicking my arse of late, I naturally tilted into the thoughts about the nature of the 3-act structure and why S2 of OFMD may have felt off and incomplete to a lot of people.

I am fully in agreement that we lost a lot of valuable time with only 8 episodes and a lot of it did feel rushed, but for the amount of story and set-up and growth and development they needed to fit into 4 hours of television, they did astonishing things.

DJenks has said from the very start that this is a story that has been planned out to take 3 seasons. It's literally a 3-act play and we are currently right in the middle of the worst part of that timeline according to every traditional 3-act structure.

Act one/season one is self-explanatory. Like New Hope in the Star Wars Trilogy or Fellowship of the Ring, this is the set-up. We're introduced to our protagonists and antagonists, the relationships are given a foundation.

The beginning is Stede's journey to becoming a real boy. The inciting incident, the one that actually pushes his change beyond "playing pirates" is meeting Ed. The second thoughts come together in episode 8/9 after his confrontations with Jack and Chauncey and episode 10 is the climax.

Act 2/season 2 is never going to be as smooth and simple as act 1/s1. A big part of the A2/S2 job is set up for A3/S3 and this is what we're seeing and why a lot of story threads seem to have been left dangling.

Again, to call back to Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers, the structure is much the same: the original batch of people are divided and scattered, the big enemy from A1/S1 is looming, new allies make themselves known. In SW, this meant the introduction of Lando and Yoda as allies plus the hint of the Emperor lurking in the background. In LotR, we have the Rohirrim, Gondor and the Ents as allies and the expansion of Sauron's forces in Helm's Deep, Osgiliath and the winged wraiths.

There's a clear trajectory following the A2/S2 structure:

obstacle 1 - the crews separated and struggling

obstacle 2 - the end of episode 2 and the repercussions of his actions

twist - just when things start to settle, the Ned Low situation happen and Stede kills for the first time

obstacle 3 - Ed's struggle with his identity leading to him leaving

disaster - Ricky's assault on the Republic

crisis - do-or-die battle because they have no other choice

climax - the last 15 minutes of ep. 8 live here.

As with SW and LotR, there's an ending, but weighted with the knowledge of a story that is meant to continue. Each of those act 2 films end with the heroes still aware of the looming threat, some of them heading out on new missions, and some of them resting and healing. There's brief pause, brief respite, a moment to take a breath.

We have all the characters in place now and the battle-lines have been drawn. Luke still needs to confront Vader (I see you, impending Ed and Hornigold confrontation), Frodo still needs to destroy the ring, Aragorn still needs to lead the army against the Black Gate, the second Death Star is still hanging in the sky.

I'm so excited to see what S3 brings because we have so many arcs ready to go: Zheng's vengeance trip, the inevitable enforced out-of-retirement arc for Ed and Stede, Hornigold, Ricky trying to maintain his tenuous control of the republic given how many of his people were killed when the crew escaped, the pirate rebellion gathering forces.

Also how often do we get shows/films where the supporting cast are given this much storyline? We have a named/speaking-role cast of upwards of 15 central characters. That is a staggering amount of people to work with, when most shows would only focus on the leads and a couple of their friends. Six is the average for most TV shows, while comedies can inch higher because ensembles, but most ensembles don't get as much as our crew did.

I know a lot of people aren't happy about Izzy's death. I know I would have liked to see him a lot more, because he's such a grumpy old bitch and I love him and him affectionately roasting Ed and Stede would have made my entire month. But I'm also aware that narratively, as a figurehead of the old ways of piracy and "we were Blackbeard", it was a symbolic death as well - a sign of the death of the old ways of piracy and of Blackbeard as was.

(Also, they Obi-Wanned him. I'm not over that. Gave him the "if you strike me down I will become more powerful" speech. I'm just... guys, your star wars nerdery is showing XD)

So while it was flawed in places and pacing, given the scale of the story they're telling, the number of pieces and characters they had in play, and the arcs they have been setting up while also still keeping the humour, I am giving a standing ovation for a remarkable piece of work.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Season 2 OFMD: Replace Prince Ricky with Benjamin Hornigold

Hear me out.

S2Ep1: Introduce Hornigold in disguise to Stede. Make 'Ben' an old trusty sea dog who still knows a bit too much about Stede Bonnet. Have Ben compliment Stede in the same way Ricky did. -HAVE STEDE TRUST HIM- Ben being an old pirate who misses the life, the adventure, the brutality. Make Stede sympathise with him.

Make him wear a shitty disguise at Jackies until he's caught near the end of the episode (and gets away), because DUH. That's Benjamin fucking Hornigold, Jackie fucking hates him(we see her shoot at him as he runs). Maybe have Jackie tell Stede he's dangerous, only for Stede to reply 'that's just an old man' and brush off her concern.

NEXT WE SEE HIM:

S2Ep3: ED'S DREAM SEQUENCE

It's finally revealed to the audience through Ed's dreams that the old man they left behind is the infamous turncoat Hornigold. Change the line about abandoning Ed's body at a beach, to at a port town, and the 'Ed was mutinied' lie can be told like how it was in ep 3. But now we as the audience can catch hints that Ben isn't acting right. Ed still sees him as the brutal pirate and not the old man Stede met a few episodes ago.

THEN(replacing Ricky's speech on that British ship):

Hornigold discusses how brutal pirate life is to the British sailors under his command. Focus on how best to hunt them down. We can even have another sailor remind Hornigold that he's a pirate hunter due to Ben's signing of the act of grace.

Him and Zheng on Zheng's ship: Keep the scene the same. Auntie points out that Ben betrayed his pirate crew to go serve the English. Have both captains talk about how pointless this all is, but make it clear that he's willing to negociate. Have Ben roll his eyes at the British's gifts(clocks), but say it's all a formality and they can 'sell them off if she wants'. Knowing that she won't have the time to in the next 24 hours and that this will be her ships downfall.

The Zheng and Stede Fight: I hate that she gives this whole speech about defeating idiot men, only to get defeated by Ricky- an actual idiot. From this scene on she's less 'Pirate Queen/Captain' and more 'badass side chick that fits in with the crew'. BUT in this write, she lost to a pirate legend. Who sold his crew out for his own freedom. She lost because she was outmaneuvered, and she SHOULD have known better. (seriously though, why did Zheng trust Ricky, he was a british fucking officer, GOD I hate that shit)

NOW THE FUCKING PAY OFF:

Hornigold captures the crew post ep 7. We can keep Stede and Zheng getting away. BUT HORNIGOLD AND IZZY INTERACTING? Izzy siting up and defending his family from a person from his past????

Look, we know Ed has been a pirate for at least 20 years (he's known Fang for 20 years), so there's a very good chance Ed and Izzy were together on his ship.

Let Izzy give the speech about crew being family, about how you sacrifice everything for your crew. Spitting in the face of the piracy Izzy himself once lived his life by. Of this dog eats dog world.

Also: Izzy would have absolutely searched Benjamin fucking Hornigold for weapons. Now. We can keep Ben killing Izzy, maybe he runs up and grabs a sailor's gun, I don't like it. (Izzy didn't need to die for the story to work) But at least NOW Izzy died to a man whose haunted his every life's decision. A person he said he would never be, and slowly did become through years of trying to survive. It's not a good ending, but now it has a bit more meaning than Ricky getting a lucky shot he didn't earn.

Make Ed furious over Izzy's body, but show him visibly holding back from getting revenge. That throwing himself back in won't fix Izzy. So he fixes himself. This also pays off the consequences of signing the Act of Grace. Showing that this might just be the end of piracy as Ed knows it if his former bastard Captain was willing to turn coat.

This also means a BIT more for Stede, as his blind trust in Ben in episode 1 meant a dangerous pirate got away. Maybe in episode 1 Stede tells Ben about Ed. About how worried he is his 'friend' has gone off the deep end. Ben of course, actively hunting down Blackbeard and doing anything to get to his old prodigy. Have Stede regret that his 'plan to sell off Hornigold to the English' got Izzy killed. Have Stede learn to hold his cards closer for next season, to be slower to trust people. This would be a better arc than 'stede learns to be an excellent captain for his family and gives it all up in the end as soon as he can get his dick wet'.

It's still REALLY shallow, and I don't like it. This season should have had a better villain than trying to introduce the possibility of Zheng hunting them down, Ned Low, AND the British. But now, at least it fits better thematically for Izzy and Ed's arcs as growing past the traditional pirate life and Stede for learning to control his ego, showing him that he STILL has a lot to learn.

[cardiganloser]

will probably try and script more coherent thoughts on ofmd s2 tomorrow and my opinion is overall very positive but i really don't like the way they're handling jim/archie and olu/zheng. to clarify i would be 100% okay with a more open/poly version of jim/olu, esp since vico ortiz is poly irl, but this just feels underbaked.

1) jim and archie only interact a few times in the first episode before one of their first scenes in the second episode is their kiss. i think archie will be a fun character and her banter with jim was decent but to me there really wasn't enough build-up to pay off a kiss, esp after jim/olu was a well-done plot line last season that was built up by a series of good, genuine moments across all ten episodes. i don't think a slow-burn is always a definite requirement for a good romance but more than like three scenes of build-up is.

2) olu fully admits in ep 3 he had no idea that zheng was flirting with him. full honesty i was expecting zheng to be a lesbian (idk why just vibes) but really? she apparently grows a crush on olu through all his visits to her soup stand, of which we see one where they have a normal, polite conversation. then they join up with the revenge, jim and olu reunite and five minutes later olu is making out with her in her office? i'm aware olu was probably still surprised by the jim and archie situation but it genuinely felt so out of nowhere to me. tbh her random crush on olu was the only thing abt zheng i disliked, other than that she was fantastic and i'm very excited to see more of her. her feelings read like an unrequited crush to me.

3) jim and olu were a fantastic couple in s1, i was and still am obsessed. again, poly/open relationship is fine if done right, but this just reads like they forced relationship drama. we are only three eps in and maybe they aren't even going the poly route but in that case why make this a thing in the first place? why have jim and olu make out with other people when ed and stede are clearly giving us all the relationship drama? yeah, they thought the other person was dead/didn't know if they'd see them again but surely they'd be holding out hope or still grieving after what's been a year at most.

anyways, like i said, overall a good start but this plot point is rlly dragging down the early eps for me. hopefully it resolves quickly.

[three--rings]

So it turns out there were a lot of things from S2 I was waiting to pass judgement on until I saw how they played out and...I ended up not thrilled about. And it's all these little things that keep bothering me.

Things I'm not happy with in OFMD S2:

-Jim and Olu feel retconned into not being in love. Like I know we want to talk about happy polycule but it feels like they aren't even very close this season? They were even more of a secondary ship than Lucius and Pete in S1 but we got essentially no good Jim/Olu stuff in S2. Instead we got the Olu/Zheng Yi Sao romance which on paper sounds good, but lacked chemistry. Especially from Olu's side. I feel like they kept repeating that "break in your day" thing cause they didn't have anything else. IDK weird weird decisions were made. I don't mind the Jim/Archie stuff at all but that was also not given any real romance time. They kissed and then I guess that was that?

-While on the subject of Zhang Yi Sao...why was she there? Like, don't get me wrong, I love her character and her inclusion in the show, but while the build-up in the first few episodes was great, then...they did basically nothing with her. Her entire plan was foiled by a moron in a split second and then..IDK she's now just riding on the Revenge and not even in charge? She's come way down in the world and I don't like it.

-Izzy dying. I don't mind the death scene itself, (though i wanted Izzy's friends on the crew more involved) but I think having him die shifts the genre and is disappointing in a way that feels unlike this show. more to be said obviously but not in this post.

-Speaking of that scene I grow more and more annoyed with Izzy saying "they love you, Ed." Not because it's not a great sentiment that would be narratively meaningful, but because it's NOT DEMONSTRABLY TRUE. Who loves Ed on that crew? Maybe Fang? There was absolutely no moments between Ed and crew after ep 3. They tolerate him for Stede's sake is all I can say. They love Stede. They love Izzy. And then Ed just leaves them and they are probably relieved.

-the way the central problem the whole season with Ed and Stede was communication but they never actually do anything about that, just declare victory.

-the way there was no climax or resolution with any antagonist in the last episode, they just barely escape, swear revenge like they're gonna head into battle, and then retire. Which makes ZERO sense and it bothers me SO MUCH.

-The lack of Stede and Ed costuming. IDK if it's because I've been writing a fic for a year centered around the clothing but like the show feels incomplete if they're not getting to dress up. I was looking forward to Ed wearing more than his leathers and we got a rice sack. This is entirely a personal gripe and not important but, yeah.

-Zero focus on the crew and no new info about any of them. I was really, really looking forward to getting more backstory, more personal info on characters like Roach, Frenchie, Wee John, but no.

And yanno, the thing is that I'm not unhappy with what S2 GAVE us. I like most of it. I love eps 1-6. Though 6 is showing the pacing issues badly. But what I miss is what we DIDN'T get. None of the stuff on screen was bad per se or couldn't have fit into a very excellent, cohesive season of TV. But I feel like all the connective tissue, all the thematic resolution, all the stuff that would have made it shine was missing.

Like they had a bunch of notecards of great scenes and filmed them but forgot to write the parts to connect them in a meaningful way? IDK this season feels a little like a first draft?

Not eps 1-3 though. I feel like they were perfect, and then they ran out of time/energy to polish the rest. (4-5 were also great, but they could have fit in with the rest better ultimately.)

I feel like people who are happy with this season are like 'we got this moment and this scene!' and that's great and cool and I also love that moment but I'm still left unsatisfied by the whole, yanno. Sigh.

[asgardian--angels]

just rewatched s2 in its entirety back to back tonight (of course I've been rewatching each week's episodes every single day lmao) and just a few thoughts:

while I think the episodes do split out well by tone into the groupings they gave us weekly, they also definitely flow very well into each other and the pacing between and within the episodes seems much more normal upon review

I still think eps 1-3 are the best of the whole season and the entire series, they are like a mini-season unto themselves, and they're imo some of the best television I've watched in recent years

I can definitively say Red Flags is my favorite episode, followed by Fun and Games, then The Innkeeper

yeah Red Flags literally gives me chills, that episode has me on the edge of my seat the entire time. also taika's committing crimes looking that good in that ep

"ALL LOVE DIES, I'M JUST HASTENING THE PROCESS" is still one of the most badass lines i s2g

Izzy's death comes across as totally fine and not anything overly surprising when all the eps are put together, it made sense and flowed well

Similarly what I initially felt was too long an absence of Ricky and Zheng didn't feel like nearly as long when the eps are watched together

I do see where a couple more episodes would have given them breathing room to explore Ed and Stede's dynamic post ep5, I think maybe one between eps 5 and 6, and then between 7 and 8. but it's not a big deal. like I said everything flows well, I just wish there was more of it

Same with Zheng, I would have liked to see more plot with her, instead of just her relationship with Olu; I think they set up something really cool in ep 2 with her fleet heading over land, would have been neat to have her in a subplot where she does more pirating. But we'll probably get that in s3 as well so it's fine

I really love how many kiwi comedian cameos we got, it's really one big acting family over there for Taika and Rhys, and I know if they get season 3 (WHEN they get it) they'll film there again and it will be awesome

Next I plan to start over on season 1 and segue right into s2. I do so miss the lighthouse symbolism, but I wonder if Stede left behind the lighthouse imagery when he left his old life, same as Ed leaving behind the kraken when Izzy died. still thinking through some of that. Can't wait to hear folks' thoughts once things settle down. now time to campaign for renewal!!

[warren-keplers-funk-band]

OFMD FINALE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

okay so tf is everyone complaining about? there's so much negativity around the finale and idk why?? like eps 6 and 7 i got the criticisms for because they were clunky and rushed but the finale was literally the best case scenario on all fronts (apart from izzy not getting kissed)

like, the crew get to go be pirates and start plotting revenge and live and love and be a whole big polyamorous snuggle pile, which i think is very much what the show is about, loving each other, finding where you belong and who you live for, along the lines of what jim and izzy have said about the crew

izzy's arc got cLOSURE he understood that he fed into blackbeard's negativity and even though he was self aware of that, he also understood that he needed blackbeard in order to have purpose and he was happy to die and surrender that purpose in order for ed to just be ed and be happy because he LOVES him, and yeah maybe i wish he hadn't have had to die because he's my skrungly but i think that it was a smart choice for the story! he was such a huge part of what held ed and stede back from being happy in season 1 and got such a redemption arc in season 2 that the only rational progress is to be free of him in order to move on, but value and remember who he was and what he did for them and their feelings for him (the headstone!)

ed and stede got to retire!!!!!!!! they are retiring !!!!!! together!!!!! happily! in love!!! like how is that not the ideal scenario. how is that not what everyone was hoping for. sweet domestic bliss! ed's entire character motivation this whole fucking show was him finding who he was outside of piracy and outsides of the blackbeard persona. stede was a fucking terrible pirate who found where he belonged, and it wasn't at sea! it was with ed! wherever ed was. them getting to chillax and finally he happy without anything hanging over their heads is deserved. and i'm sure if we get a season 3 that there will be obstacles explored including cabin fever especially on stede's side because i think he will have a residual longing for adventure moreso than ed who's just ready to be done with it all, but for now??? i think a break had been a long time coming for them.

lupete's wedding!!!! it happened! and it was short and sweet and subtle, but their love is so real, their chemistry is just so lovely, and they also deserve to be happy. somehow i have a feeling something terrible will happen to them is season 3 but i don't gotta think about that rn

so overall i loved it i think everyone was hot as shit i think the fighting and the piratey scenes were cool, i LOVED the misdirect of zheng asking to team up only for the ship to leave without stede and ed i thought that was BEAUTIFUL writing

the LETTER SCENE !!!!!?

everyone was SO HOT

but yeah you know what izzy didn't get kissed so maybe i hated it after all

[saltpepperbeard]

WAAAAAAGHHG HEY ITS ME AGAIN IM SO SORRY I HAVE A THOUGHT AND DONT KNOW WHO ELSE TO GIVE IT TO: Im going to try really hard to be quick!! Still reeling from ep 8!!! (I have so many thoughts and emotions- tldr I know it struggled with pacing but I just really loved it. I’m so glad this show exists. Not going to recover anytime soon!! Excellent.)

I think the ending is a great setup for what could be coming next! Looking back at this season as a whole it feels to me like they had two major points they zeroed in on: 1- Edward’s state of mind. We spend a lot of time with him when no one else is- we’re with him in his head while he tries to process what he wants and how he’s going to get it. We see him wrestle with feeling unlovable, and then we sort of sit with him in his pov while he starts, (STARTS!! He’s not done yet!!) to understand that he IS loved and there ARE people waiting for him. 2- The Golden Age of piracy is ending. They lost The Republic of Pirates, they lost Spanish Jackie’s bar, Zhengs fleet, and they lost Izzy, the most pirate to ever pirate. After the couple of weeks(??) season two takes place- the OFMD cinematic universe is going to be different for pirates now.

ALL THAT TO SAY- after Izzy’s funeral, (rip king I sobbed lol) when Zheng asks Ed and Stede to team up- Stede says something like, “He needs a minute”/“Maybe give him a minute”. So they agree to help- but they stay behind to build their inn. (“It’s a fixer upper, but the bones are good.” ITS THEM ITS THEM THEYRE EACHOTHERS FOUNDATIONS THEY JUST HAVE TO BUILD ONTO IT TO MAKE IT A HOME IM GOING TO TURN TO ASH) this is a decision both of them make- this will give them time to just be. I think Ed still has a ways to go, and talks to have, and maybe needs some time to grieve Izzy, but Stede is there, and they love eachother, and they will be ok. Shit will still go down, and they’ll get involved again eventually, but they’re going to take a minute. NOW. That wraps up this season as a part two of a Three part show- we have a setup for the next big bad, and we’ve focused a lot on Ed (accompanied by Stede’s) issues/insecurities with a focus on Ed having to deal with his issues directly. He had to sit and talk, honestly talk. Do you know. Which half of our main pair. Has not done that?? The guy who the show still deliberately makes a point of showing us he is STILL. NOT OK. Granted, he had the end of season one to realize what he wanted and what he felt, but then we had so many moments this season of him reacting to those feelings but not actually talking about them to anyone. SO. What if the last season is meant to be point 2 revisited- piracy is still ending, the world is changing so how do we deal? And point 1, but FLIPPED. WHAT IF. Season three is Stede’s turn revisited??? Season three with Ed AND Stede TALKING and Stede genuinely coming to terms with the fact that the people he loves are not better off without him- that he doesn’t have to earn the love he thinks he doesn’t deserve?? What if he gets to take that final step into a new world where being a pirate can’t be the same as it was before, but that spirit carries on and now he knows he’s loved and has worth regardless?? I STILL WANT THAT MAN TO BE THROWN IN THE EMOTIONAL BATHTUB IS WHAT IM SAYING. I don’t know if this is anything, or if this is true or accurate!!! Do I just want to see them kiss and cry some more?? MAYBE. Aaaaagh I just really hope djenks gets to made season 3- he deserves to finish his pirate story and I would very much like to be here when he does. hbo max count your days.

Also I once again want to thank you for your thoughts and screams over the course of this season- you really are incredible at character analysis and it’s been an absolute pleasure to come running over to this corner after each episode to see what you think. Thank you for posting. YOU. are WONDERFUL THANK YOU <3 <3 (also. Also also. THEY KISSED SO MANY TIMES ED READ STEDES FUCKIN LETTER ED SAID I LOVE YOU AND THEY ARE NO LONGER SEPARATED. MARRIAGE. I CANT BELIEVE THIS SHOW IS THE WAY IT IS. There is still an owch but!!! It’s a good owchie now 😭😭)

I AM ONCE AGAIN HONORED TO GET SUCH A BEAUTIFUL STRING OF THOUGHTS IN MY INBOX??? <3

PARTICULARLY EXCITED, HAPPY, POSITIVE ONES SJDKSDS LIKE I AM HUGGING YOU SO SO TIGHT <3 <3 <3

AND ALSO, I'M SHARING SO MANY OF YOUR SENTIMENTS TOO SDJKJSHDKLS LIKE-

*INHALES* So seeing the little house in the BTS footage ~*~fucked me up~*~ because I just had a FEELING it was going to be both literal and symbolic for them and their relationship. A little house that's struggling, and falling apart in some places, but is still standing after years and years of battering. It's been through the wringer, yet it still flourishes with so much life and beauty. And it has the potential to grow into something even more beautiful and strong with some mutual effort and tender love and care.

AND THAT'S THEM!!! THAT'S THEIR RELATIONSHIP!!! Like, as you said, they're BOTH still so hurt. They BOTH still have issues to work on. But now they're there, together. They're standing on the same, rickety, wooded floors. They're there, ready to patch things, side by side.

AND YES, I've very much thought it was going to be Stede for Season 1's focus, Ed for Season 2's focus, and then both of them for Season 3's focus, but I do like your idea of it looping back around to Stede! Or maybe like, SHARING the focus. Because, as you said, Stede needs his fRIGGIN BATHTUB, and Ed still needs time to figure out who he is.

It's just such a delicious setup indeed, and I am crossing my fingers so so hard that it gets greenlit quickly for us here. There's just so much MEAT to their dynamic that's still left, still so much to be EXPLORED AND GROWN. AND ESPECIALLY, LIKE YOU SAID, WITH THEIR WORLD COMPLETELY CHANGING AROUND THEM TOO!!! THE BRITISH!!! THE REVENGE BEING CAPTAINED BY FRENCHIE!!!! ZHENG AND AUNTIE WANTING TO GET AT RICKY!!!!!! SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!

BUT anyway, thank YOU so much for taking the time to come in here and share YOUR thoughts, too! It's been such a delight reading them, and I'm so glad we could MUTUALLY SCREAM SDJKSDKLS <3

[kay-claire]

Ok let me put my OFMD ep 1-3 thoughts in one place (this is straight after watching all 3, so I haven't reflected on anything, so you know, my opinions might change over time)

Surprise, fuckers, your favs are problematic. They're ALL problematic. They're fucking pirates.

This was less light comedy and more... existential than season 1, that's for sure. Like, PHEW, all of that just happened, huh?

I fucking looove Zheng Yi Sao. She's so cool. I hope she's in more eps after this.

Kinda disappoint we didn't get Lucius in the walls. That was the one season 2 theory I really wanted to be true. That said - glad he is alive! Loved his entrance into the show!

I love Fang. I'm sad Fang cried so much. Also rest in peach Ivan

That fucking scene of them eating the seagull - like wtf

As much as I love Olu and Jim being together, I can ALSO totally ship Olu with the Pirate Queen, and Jim with Archie. Like I'm a multishipping slut, I'll take any ship and be happy with it

(I hope the Swede is happy with Jackie. We'll see more of them later in the season but like yeah, hope those two and all of Jackie's husbands are doing good)

Lots of Izzy feelings but I don't know how to articulate them

Lots of Ed feelings but I don't know how to articulate those either

I enjoyed merman Stede

[autotrophwannabe]

My thing with the ofmd s2 finale is that each scene was so well written, so well done. But it was like they wrote all these significant scenes and had to fit them all into one 30 min episode, so we jumped from plot point to plot point without letting the previous one breathe.

Ed’s realisation that he was stupid to run away from Stede, and their subsequent reunion was PERFECT. But we definitely needed to see more than “sorry I was a dick, no life’s a dick” to believe that their innkeeper / living together ending makes sense.

Izzy’s speech about piracy to Ricky was beautiful and everything that the show is about. Izzy’s death scene, (while I REALLY WISH HE HADN’T DIED, like I honestly don’t get why he had to die) was good! What Izzy said about how We Are Blackbeard was very interesting, I just wish it wasn’t just ed mourning him?? The crew bloody loved him. “They love you, Ed.” I don’t know about that but they love YOU, Izzy. And no one was crying?? Okay.

Also I don’t hate that they used Izzy’s leg as his tombstone. I did feel put off by it, it was a little messed up, but they are pirates after all, and this show often juxtaposes heartfeltness with macabre / messed up shit. I personally wouldn’t have handled his funeral that way but I get it lol.

Then Zheng’s proposal. Felt like the tone shifted way too quickly after someone as much of a linchpin as Izzy was, died. But anyway. Zheng asked to team up with them, and yes they had a lukewarm response, but from that to the wedding to them at the Inn was such whiplash?? I was like, oh okay, cool we’re doing this now, oh and then this. They could have had a conversation where they really talked about Zheng’s proposal and how they actually don’t want that, and how they just want to be with each other.

The wedding it self though, was so sweet and Ed’s look to Stede?? Literally all of that could have been a whole episode.

I can totally imagine all of ep 8 having been At Least two episodes. I think the budget cuts fucked them. And I get that it’s not worth it to wish a piece of art had been made differently, I should be trying to understand and appreciate how it actually Was made, but I love these characters and the relationships and the scenes these writers craft, and I would just love for everything to have had more breathing room. Like ya I’m no TV writer but I KNOW WHAT THESE WRITERS ARE capable of. S1 was so GOOD at pacing. All arcs and characters were given their due.

I just wish they get more time and money to play with in season 3.

[the-jupiter-knight]

ok im watching ofmd s2 and its. fine i guess? kinda fun. could've been better. it's only 3 eps in but it starts off a bit sour already and reminds me why i shouldn't expect much beyond just looking at hot people on my screen.

it needs to be said that they did a terrible job with not having a warning about the MANY suicide ideation/attempt depictions. im not one to be affected easily by those and they still put me off. incredibly irresponsible decision and reminds me why i distanced myself from this show, they're just not Very Thoughtful

zheng yi sao's writing was fucking weird! i was excited to see the charismatic feared leader they teased for a second but then she was reduced to an incompetent captain because she was ~in love~ with oluwande

come the fuck on dude lol

also does her first mate (?) having this Sense not go along with like. the orientalist asian people have powers shit. idk maybe its not my place to say since im not asian but it made me go hmm don't like that!

ofmd can you guys write women in a way that doesn't somehow link her to some fucking guy

this is only 3 eps in but i didnt like what we started on very much! maybe i should turn my brain off about it but i wish this show was better lol

[jayswing101]

Jayswing101′s Guardian Bingo Masterlist

@guardianbingo​ card and badges made by @highlynerdy. Fest coordinators: @tehfanglyfish, highlynerdy, and @sasamelons.​ 

One Fill – Longevity Dial

N1- Fic: [3+1] Did It Hurt?: 3 times Shen Wei asks Zhao Yunlan if it hurt when he fell from heaven, and 1 time Zhao Yunlan asks Shen Wei.

One Line (Any Direction) – Mountain-River Awl (N1-N5)

N4- Fic: Ohkwarikó:wa: The stars are visible one summer night, and Kunlun asks Shen Wei to tell him about the Bear Stars. (Onekwà:tara 1/4)

N2- Fic: Teiothahó:ken: Zhao Yunlan learns about the Bear Stars, and finds out why Shen Wei seems to care about bears so much. (Onekwà:tara 2/4)

N3- Fic: Ken’niwahkwaritá:’a: Weilan happily ever fluff with a side of bears. That's it. That's the fic. (Onekwà:tara 4/4)

N5- Art: Zhao Yunlan as Kunlun on a motorcycle. 

Bonus Prompt (Five Bonus Fills) – Merit Brush

Tiger (February 2022)- Art: Cat Da Qing in a tiger costume

Birthday (April 2022)- Fic: Born to be Wild: Zhao Yunlan has no idea what to do for Shen Wei's birthday, so he asks Ye Zun for help. The result involves longer hair, old clothes, and a motorcycle.

Time Travel (May 2022)- Fic: All of these years you've been lonely: Ye Zun follows Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei into the wormhole. It shows him what really happened on the cliff where gege abandoned him.

Dragon (June 2022)- Fic: Just A龙 For the Ride: A stranger with Shen Wei's face shows up at the SID, panics, accidentally sets off the hallows, and Zhao Yunlan gets yeeted 10,000 years to the distant past. He finds a tiny dragon that's not actually a dragon, somehow acquires a second dragon-that's-not-really-a-dragon, helps the stranger with Shen Wei's face deal with his trauma, finds some lost hallows, and then gets yeeted back to modern Haixing. It's... a lot, even for Zhao Yunlan. At least now he knows why Shen Wei and that not-Shen Wei kept calling him Kunlun.

Meeting Again (July 2022)- Fic: The ̶c̶a̶t̶ human came back: Da Qing is trying to have a nap when a curious human kitten starts petting him. Da Qing doesn't mind so much when he realises who the kitten is, or at least, who he will become.

Two Lines – Unlit Guardian Lantern (N1-N5 and I1-I5)

I3- Fic: The Best Laid Plans: Ye Zun introduces Shen Wei to the world of Tumblr in an attempt to scare him off the Internet. It doesn't work quite as planned, but it also works exactly as planned.

I5- Art: Illustrated gif of Shen Wei and Ye Zun with various “masks”

I2- Fic: Ctrl Alt Del (All your files):  Wang Zheng volunteers to teach Shen Wei and Ye Zun how to use modern technology. It's not as easy as she expected it would be.

I4- Art: Watercolour of Shen Wei and Ye Zun walking off into the void wormhole of possibilities at the end of ep 40

I1- Fic: The Noodle Incident vol 2: Sweet Ramen Disasters: Zhao Yunlan stood in the corner in front of the microwave, a broken plate and a charred lemon on the floor just in front of him. He looked startled, but also guilty, like a child who’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t have.

“Zhao Yunlan,” Shen Wei said in the same tone he used for students he’d caught plagiarizing.

“Hi,” Zhao Yunlan answered.

Looking around the kitchen pointedly, Shen Wei calmly asked, “What are you doing?”

“Ah.” He scratches the back of his neck and ducks his head. “I, um, Imighthavesetalemononfire.”

Shen Wei blinks. Zhao Yunlan sighs, nudging the crispy lemon on the floor with the toe of his slipper.

“…I might have set a lemon on fire...” he mumbled.

O3- Art: Tiny dragon Shen Wei next to the Merit Brush for size comparison

Or, Zhao Yunlan is left unsupervised and attempts to cook again. It does not go well.

Card Blackout - Lit Guardian Lantern:

O4- Fic: Tsá:ta nihá:ti tehatinonniáhkhwa:  The power goes out, and Shen Wei tells his little family another star story by candlelight. (Onekwà:tara 3/4)

G5- Art: Watercolour of Shen Wei’s pendant of pining

G2- Fic: Episode 33: Shen Wei Needs a Cat: When Lao Zhao returns from Dixing with a defeated-looking Shen Wei, Da Qing knows just what he needs to feel better. Shen jiaoshou needs a cat. He needs a cat to purr at him, and head-butt him, and Da Qing, King of Cats, is the best cat for the job.

B2- Fic: Episode 37: Almost Goodbye: When they return to the SID, Lao Li is lying on the floor. Da Qing isn't ready to say goodbye, and he can't help but hope he can be saved somehow.

B1- Art: Mixed Media portrait set of Zhao Yulan. Matches Shen Wei's portrait in B3.

B3- Art: Mixed Media portrait set of Shen Wei. Matches Zhao Yunlan's portrait in B1.

G3- Art: screencap redraw of Shen Wei and Ye Zun holding hands from their reconciliation scene at the end of ep 40.

B4- Fic: by ghosts or gods: As Kunlun walks away from him, Wéi can't help himself. He's a ghost, it's in his nature to be selfish.

He calls out Kunlun's name. When Kunlun turns back to face him, Wéi steals his soul.

O2- Fic: Cereal, Crocs, and Colossal Mistakes: Shen Wei should've known not to trust Zhao Yunlan when he said he wanted to go grocery shopping with him. Alas. He wanted to spend more time with his beloved and didn't think to question it. Shen Wei has to take drastic measures to save his sanity, but now, Dixing's fashion sense (and Shen Wei's dignity) are under threat instead, and it's all his own fault! If only he'd told Zhao Yunlan to stay home...

(AKA, the long-awaited Cereal Crocs fic)

G4- Fic: Fear's Purpose: Shen Wei hates how much people fear Heipaoshi, but the fear keeps Dixingren safe.

O1- Fic/Translation: 如影随形: 有一天山神碰见小鬼王。从此，小鬼王追随和效山神，如影随形。/如影随形 (rúyǐngsuíxíng): One day, a mountain god finds a little ghost king. From then on, the little ghost king follows the mountain god, like he's the god's little shadow.

B5- Art: Watercolour painting of the four Hallows.

O5- Fic: Forbidden Suit: Zhao Yunlan wants to do something special for Shen Wei to celebrate the anniversary of their first meeting. Well, Zhao Yunlan's first meeting, Shen Wei's first meeting post-dirt nap. Ye Zun's suggestion works a little too well (Zhao Yunlan has no complaints, Shen Wei is just jealous other people also saw what he was wearing)

G1- fanARTifact (modified hanfu cosplay): recreation of modern Heipaoshi’s cloak.

[mysteriouslybluepirate]

Can't send asks from my sideblog, but this is @chewing-the-drywall

I feel like much of s2 fell into Frenchie's "we put it in the box and then lock it and don't open it again" in the sense that it set up A LOT that I was intrigued about how they would address it, but it either never was mentioned again or was handled poorly.

Examples range from light, like how I wish we saw more of the crew interacting with each other in ways that built on their characters from S1, where in S2 they didn't feel any more developed, or even regressed. (Example, Fang used the word Fingies 2-3 times through S2, and it felt like they were using it almost as a shorthand for his character, rather than making him feel more real and multidimensional as a character.)

100% @chewing-the-drywall. When I first heard that line I had I was so excited for the story to prove Frenchie wrong. Or show how important it can be to put aside problems to stay alive in the moment. But in the end, this one line summarized how the season handled everyone, besides Stede and Ed. Below, is an in depth discussion on where this season decided to spend it's limited amount of time. Instead of focusing on the characters and plotlines they'd already established.

This season had so MANY ideas it wanted to touch on.

Izzy trying to deal with his unrequited love and opening up to a new way of living. The traumatized 'Revenge' crew trying to adapt to a softer way of life again. The abandoned crew learning how to help their traumatized friends. Introducing new characters like Zheng, Auntie, and Archie into our main group. Setting up a conflict to resolve in season three. Along the way, referencing Pirates of history like Ned Low, Mary Reed, and Anne Bonny.

Notice, I've said all this and we're not even at our romantic leads.

Which is fine. Stories are fluid things. As long as the story knows how to flow from our leads to our side characters. Which leads us to how I feel this show took a lot of time away from establishing our central crew-

[Warning- this will be a controversial opinion- I want to know what y'all think about this] Zheng/Oluwande. This seasons habit of retreading old plotlines and referencing scenes from S1.

What S1 did so well was paralleling the side stories with what was going on with Ed/Stede. Usually, highlighting how well Stede/Ed worked by showing how much Ed/Izzy DIDN'T work. Or general hijinks that tied into the plot (Oluwande and Frenchie on the French ship).

Season 2 chose to parallel our main story with what was going on between Zheng/Oluwande as a budding romance and Izzy's slow recovery. The reason Zheng/Oluwande scenes felt like a waste for me in that the story was JUST a retelling the story we watched from S1.

A frustrated first mate(Auntie), and a legendary captain(Zheng) fighting over the captain falling in love with an idiot(Olu). In season 2, much like every callback for me, it felt like it slowed down the plot by pulling us out of the story. Like...yeah, you did the thing again, do you want me to applaud you for it?

I LIKE Zheng and Oluwande as a couple! I like that Oluwande was debating leaving Stede and taking Jim and Archie with him. But at the same time, I didn't care about Zheng until episode 7 when she beat up Stede, showing that yes. She's not just some all powerful woman taken down by a mix of love(the crew in ep3) and thinking that she was above it all (ep 7). She's fast on her feet, smart, and willing to stab someone who gets in her way. She's her own person. But.

Every other scene that established her was about her romance, felt like we could have put Rhys and Taika in there. It didn't feel...unique. It's as if the show only knows 1 way to write a romance between a badass and a bumbling idiot. Again. Oluwande in season 1 wasn't dumb in the same way everyone else was. He was protective of Jim, a bit nervous overall, but he was the person the crew chose to lead them. The season just dumbed everyone down a bit and called it a day.

This comes to the larger issue. When we only have eight episodes I don't want to rewatch the exact same plot beats with different characters. Time spent here ends up taking away from other stories we could have told about trauma and growing as a family and other forms of growing as a family. We didn't need another romance plot line. Imagine taking this time instead to show Lucius reaching out to Pete AND the crew for help. Or Frenchie finally feeling safe enough to play his lute. Or Roach helping Fang get over his thing with cakes-you get my point.

The fact we took all the found family stuff from season one, and pushed it onto only Izzy in S2 means when he dies, all the found family shit falls away. His death makes us realize we've been ignoring the central family we were supposed to care about. Because in so many words, their trauma was ignored.

[I even theorize if Izzy was alive and sailed away with them. Showing how he was taken in and loved by his crew, the ending wouldn't feel so hollow. This crew doesn't feel like a caring family. The person who protected them for months died, wasn't mourned, and then they threw a wedding the same day. Not even a full day to mourn. The 'New Revenge' feels like a heartless crew of characters we barely recognize because they aren't a family like they were at the end of S1. More like coworkers who sometimes fall in love with eachother.]

Trauma, Timelines, and Tonal issues when jumping from Episodes 1-3 to Episodes 4-5.

When the crews meet up, the story chooses to focus on the fun plot. Ed and Stede recovering their relationship, only dipping back into that serious tone when Izzy or Lucius come on screen to 'make things sad' again. I don't think the transition from 'serious' to 'comedy' was handled well.

I don't have an official timeline of the events of season two. But from what I remember, everything happens within 2 weeks.

In episode 4, Stede ignored the vote of his crew- to let the man who was torturing half his 'FAMILY' for at least 80 days- back aboard. This rubbed me the wrong way, as it showed Stede being a selfish prick in a way that could seriously harm his crew. That's when I started to see how not adding a *single* time-skip mid-season would hurt S2.

Imagine if we had a one-week off-screen time skip between episodes 4 and 5.

Maybe it's implied that they stay in that town for a bit. Izzy would a bit more time to learn to move on his new leg and start to open up to those he already trusts. Include a scene of Izzy WITH the crew, maybe laughing about something with the old traumatized crew, even if it's just a 30-second opener. Imply that the traumatized crew would have more time to settle in with the family they miss. Show that yeah, the traumatized crew needs more time to heal. Imply at the start of the 'Ed apology' that Ed and Stede have had more time to talk their issues out.

THEN have Ed apologize. You can even keep the bullshit corporate to show that Ed still has to work for this.

Healing takes time. Setting a series over the span of two weeks after half your cast was tortured by your lead love interest? After five of your main crew thought they would sail off into a storm and die after months of stress and life threatening battles? Why did that shit get shoved to the side so quickly?

Framing episode 5 as the START of Ed making amends with the crew, only to drop the plot by episode 7? Not a smart move. Because let's be honest, 'poison into positivity' in episode 6, referring to the fact that they sold all of Ed's loot to pay for the party, ignores the sacrifices the crew made to live that long. (The death of Ivan, and intense trauma they all need to work through). In a way, Ed throwing this party was him asking the crew to start putting everything away in that imaginary box.

It's Ed retroactively letting himself say 'hey, that time I spent torturing my captives was worth it because we got something good out of it' while still ignoring his own guilt. Ed needed to take accountability for his actions. No more 'I took 'a' mans leg' bullshit. The reason his arc feels so unsatisfying is that the plot easily forgives him. Fuck. I hate what they did for Ed's arc, but that's not the point.

Overall.

My issue with this season is not that it chose to do these topics, it's that it didn't think about the implications of what they were bringing up. It didn't dare to think 'maybe it's fucked if we quickly brush off a trauma like this'. Again. I know we have to blame MAX for cutting off two episodes. But I don't think 2 additional episodes would fix a tone problem seen going from episodes 3-4.

Fucking hell. Each member of the revenge had the potential for their own arc, so it's baffling to see them all reduced to 'well meaning idiot' when they all felt so fleshed out in S1.

When izzy gives his speech about belonging, there's a reason the only image in the show of the crew all together was from S1.

At the end of the day, Season 2 didn't let our surviving side characters grow. This is a mean spirited bit on how I feel the writers see the their own characters.

Stede and Ed are our leads. They won't die, not in this genera. Their shitty actions will be forgiven because it's a comedy, and as long as it's joked about, it holds no weight. They won't die. They won't get fatally hurt. Their trauma will be taken seriously, but it's a 50/50 on if they'll talk about it before breaking up again. They will eventually get a happy ending, their trauma looked at head on, because duh.

Jim, Olu, Lucius, Pete? Characters who used to have defined personalities in S1, but haven't been defined much beyond their relationships with their partners? Whose trauma might be mentioned, but will quickly be 'resolved' in one scene? Shame. Seems like they're only useful as set dressing, But we might make you useful as interchangeable side characters to riff against. Oh, and you're in love! Isn't that cool!

Izzy? I'll just quote Jenkins here. "To have him become a father figure to Blackbeard, and on some level to the rest of the crew, and to see him become the heart of why we’re giving pirates the chance to stand for being able to live how you choose. In reality, they’re thieves and criminals, but what our pirates stand for is a life of belonging to something larger than they are in the face of a crushing, slightly fascist normalcy." So...Is Izzy a pirate and accepted into the Revenge family? Or is he still an outsider? Jenkins gave us a romcom but still defines Izzy's character as that of one stuck in a drama/tragedy. Point and laugh, because tonally these two things clash HARD and will make an audience lose trust in it's writers unless well established. Leading us to the entire issue we've pointed out of not letting your characters actions hold in dramatic weight in your story.

Frenchie, Wee John, Roach, and Fang- Ah. No love interests again...shit. Well. Background actors it is... for now. We'll see. But we need 2 more scenes of the couple breaking up, so MAYBE you'll get some backstory hinted at in dialogue. You all have 1 thing your good at, so that's easy enough to put you where you belong.

Buttons and Swede? Well. They're still alive!! Don't be sad, fans :) The actors just couldn't show up anymore. We don't want our silly happy queer pirate rom com to not end on a happy ending! (Closes the lid of the trash can where they're keep Con O'Neill a bit tighter, thanking God Con was silenced by a strike this entire season from social media)

Do you agree, or disagree? Leave any lingering thoughts down below!

I'd love to chat down below.

[wuxiaphoenix]

TV Series Review: Fox in the Screen

Don’t mind me, I’m just here for Yu Yan.

Ahem. I’m giving Fox in the Screen (aka 屏里狐, Ping Li Hu, The Screen Foxes) about 3 out of 5 stars. Because this is a stunning example of having a neat concept and potentially interesting characters and not being able to tell a coherent story.

The concept: Young lady painter Zheng Xuejing wakes up with a hangover and three strange handsome men in her house. The hangover is totally explainable. Last night her long-time fiancé broke it off because he’s marrying her best friend Qionghua instead, there apparently being a child on the way. On top of that her landlord demanded the rent (which she didn’t have ‘cause another screen shop’s been deliberately ruining her business) and said if it wasn’t paid in full by the end of the month, she’d be out on her ear with nothing - she wasn’t a “real” relative, just a daughter of someone’s concubine, after all.

So. Drinking ensued. And in the process of said drinking she apparently stumbled into a yao contest for a magical screen and paintbrush. And won it, because she is a painter. She painted three foxes, Red (Yu Yan), White (Bai Sheng), and Black (Xiao Hei) - all of whom happened to be huli jing trapped in the screen, now bound to her by contract for ten years. The screen apparently is a yaoguai trap, and there’s all kinds of “people” who want it for the spirits trapped inside.

On top of that while Bai Sheng and Xiao Hei are just relieved to be out, even if it means serving a human, Yu Yan is a full demon lord, had been in the screen almost a hundred years, and apparently was one day away from being set free by the limits of the screen’s own power when... suddenly ten-year contract to a mere human. He is beyond ticked off. The only reason he doesn’t kill Xuejing for the insult is he’d still be in servitude to whoever ended up with the screen next. And at least a human painter isn’t an evil Daoist or Japanese mage out to drain yao energy to fuel his own spells.

(Yes, both of those show up later.)

Me after the first ep: “Oh, awesome! We’ll get a slice-of-life of an ancient Chinese painter building her business up to success, interspersed with magical mishaps, yaoguai attacks, and Yu Yan and Xuejing working out how to work together without killing each other. Sounds cool!” In short, I was hoping for something along the lines of Chef Hua, only with painting and fox spirits.

That is... not what happened.

I’m three-quarters of the way through and just to cover some of the wild tangents so far, Xuejing’s been in a painting contest with magical cheating, been poisoned, effectively died, was brought back by a magical flower that was itself poisoned and rescued by magic, took in the girl who poisoned her (yes, the former best friend - turned out not pregnant, and has made at least one more attempt on her life so far), suddenly declared she had a vow to find out why her father died, ended up insulting the emperor by saying her father had been sentenced unjustly, was sentenced to be executed if she didn’t clear her father’s name... and found out she was actually adopted, her birth mother being killed by some eunuchs literally minutes before she could meet and talk to her. (I won’t spoil you on who her actual parents were in case you want to be surprised; I will say the plot twist was overdone and unnecessary.)

There is almost no painting, and definitely no “this is how a screen shop works and becomes successful in this time”. After Chef Hua and My Heroic Husband? I am incredibly disappointed. I was hoping to see painting stuff!

At this point I’m just watching it to take mental notes of “okay, interesting bit to possibly salvage for other stories” and “Oh dear how did they go off on that tangent?” It’s like the writers were incoherent mangaka trying to cobble together each next episode on a few scraps of the last three scripts, ideas discarded from palace dramas, and sooooo much caffeine it isn’t funny.

I honestly think the actors are doing an excellent job with what they have to work with. The costuming department is on their game, and whoever chose the look for the three foxes deserves all the thumbs-up. Instead of giving them more obvious inhuman traits, each fox has streaks of their color in their hair. (Black has purple streaks.) It’s subtle and very pretty. Also the gradient of red to black in Yu Yan’s outfit is classy. As far as characters go, Yu Yan is the Honorable Demon/Defrosting Ice Prince, Bai Sheng is the gentle homemaker with a dark past, and Xiao Hei is... a puppy. So much a puppy. (It’s explained early on that he’s still barely more than a kid, and while his mother was a proper huli jing his father was actually a dog martial god. Which may explain why his approach to problems like “must win contest!” is “kidnap contest judge and threaten him for the right result”.)

I think this series is a cautionary tale about writing too much by the seat of your pants. If you don’t have a clear image of where your story starts and where you want it to end up, you end up throwing in things at random just to keep the plot going. And I hope Luo Yun Xi (Yu Yan) gets more roles with... better plotting. Because he’s a definite bright spot. And he can sing!

This is the guy who plays Yu Yan, and yes, he does sing the end theme himself.

[dangermousie]

Ooooooh!

Gets out a big spoon to slurp this up.

One of the things I love is this drama MOVES! It doesn’t go so fast as to feel you are watching Cliff’s Notes crossed with St. Vitus Dance a la Palace of Devotion, but it doesn’t drag either. We are only on ep 3 and we have already gotten to his lies, which she was willing to forgive, but then the whole “road to hell is paved with good intentions” embroidery thing and his leaving to go back and just - yes, for good pace.

I also happen to love both our protagonists. They are good-hearted, smart people (even if Chumu is immature as hell, you can tell he’s talented and not a bad person) and the casting really helps. I adore Li Yitong and Xu Kai in general and have often checked out a drama I wouldn’t otherwise because of one of them being in it. LYT always comes across as smart and vivid and intense (in some ways, if they ever did a Chinese take on Pride and Prejudice, she’s who I’d cast), so I adore her character and am willing to believe someone would fall for her at first sight.

And Xu Kai I always find so immensely likeable on screen. I love some of his dramas (The Legends, Arsenal Academy), don’t care for others (Once Upon a Time, Dance of the Sky Empire) but I always enjoy him in them - and you have to get someone genuinely charming on screen as Chumu because when he’s being bratty and goofy and spoiled, you should still like him, you should believe someone as smart as LYT’s character would be swept off her feet. And also, he’s reformed as of ep 3/4 out of ep 55 drama so points for not dragging it out.

A lot of people dislike Yu Zheng and his dramas for a variety of reasons, some of them very justifiable but I have always liked them - some of them are good and some of them are not but to me they are always very very entertaining, whether they are insane OTT melo like Four Women Conflict or lighter fare. They are rarely subtle but they always always move and keep my attention.

Anyway, four eps in, and it not only looks like Court Lady saved drama April for me, but that it’s only four months into 2021 and I already have to eat my second giant heaping of crow this year - first after being reluctant to watch Word of Honor due to disliking Zhang Zhehan and then becoming a total fangirl for him after WoH and now thinking CL would be a shrill trainwreck and falling in love instead.

This said, that terrible terrible trailer did it NO favors. I was going to check it out until that trailer, then saw it and noped out so fast my head is still spinning and only went back out of morbid curiosity after I saw who the screenwriter was.

[yiqiie]

I am not sure why they make boys sit outside in first ep. that was little weird since some of outside boys ended up doing well. but now I think about it, I think they did those kind of things to encourage boys to work even harder. IP boys (esp Kun, Nong, Justin) kinda have things handed over. This season, nobody have it easy. Li Wenhan's team almost lost to Casper's team. "Tough" Rappers did a cutesy vocal song. Casper's team and team A of vocal song got too comfortable and didn't work hard (1/?

you can see it in ep 4. Rappers and Li Wenhan’s team worked hard and kept practicing while other teams (who suits the songs better) didn’t stay late. I actually find myself losing my respect for Casper. He was very cocky and confident because his team have rappers while Li Wenhan’s team are vocalists who have to rap. This season show that you still have to work hard even if you’re good. Also, I heard that all new rules was due to copyright issues (mnet threw hissy fit) so IQIYI have to change all rules. unfortunately, that includes allowing both teams perform on stage. there’s nothing IQiYi can do about it. personally, I like new rules. it fits the reality. idol industry are brutal. if boys can’t handle QCYN, then they are NOT ready to be an idol. idk if you watch ep4, but I am impressed with losing teams’ reactions (except for casper’s). a lot of them took it as a lesson and put their best in practice video. IQiYi did good job at giving losing teams screen-times they also released the practice videos so fans can vote for them as well. I just checked the result of first elimination and I saw several boys from winning and losing teams being eliminated. personally, I think IQiYi show less favorites in this season. Their favorites are those who worked their asses off. those who fools around got less screen times and I am totally fine with that. Dream’s Team A is an example. Mingze got a lot of screen-time even if he’s from losing team because he worked hard while his teammates (who received less screen-times) didn’t work hard enough until it’s too late. lol im rambling now. anyways. HOWEVER, I do agree with you that there’s a lot less of fun scenes like playing games, etc. idk about bts videos since I relied on lovely subbers lol I think it’s because IQiYi actually tried to give all teams decent screen-times 3 hours and it’s still not enough lmao. hopefully, it will become more funnier since there’s less boys now. don’t give up yet!

i’ll put my answer under a keep reading so this doesn’t clog up people’s feed! 

the first episode seating was based on preliminary voting, i.e. lower ranked boys were forced to sit outside and to me, personally, that was pretty unfair. Trainees with established fanbases are obviously going to get more votes, company fans are going to stick to voting for trainees from the company they stan (bigger company trainees have a better chance of getting more votes) and new fans are going to vote for those who they consider to have the best ‘visuals’ so it ended up turning into a kind of ‘visuals ranking’ / previous popularity ranking which i didn’t really like as much as last time which was just they got to choose for themselves 

i think it would be very unfair to say that IP boys, esp Kun, Nongnong and Justin, have things ‘handed over’ to them. Kun had a previously established large fanbase, yes that’s true, but that doesn’t just devalue all the hard work he puts into his training and all the shit he went through. He voluntarily handed over a position he could have easily won in ‘Dream’ Team to let Qian Zhenghao stay, he let Zheng Ruibin take center in ‘Listen to What I Say’ and when he won that evaluation with the most votes, it was because he worked his ass off with the team to help them improve. Nongnong is the same, he started off in A grade and fell down to C because he was an inexperienced dancer and truly couldn’t keep up at that stage. He worked his ass off all the same for the evaluations and still, he wasn’t guaranteed placing first in his teams. To say anyone had anything ‘handed over to them’ or had it easy in S1 would honestly not be true. 

I also don’t think it’s necessarily true to say that Casper’s team ‘didn’t work hard’. Maybe in comparison, they didn’t stay as late as Li Wenhan Team, but I think it would be harsh to conclude that they didn’t work their asses off all the same. Personally, for me, I think Casper’s Team had a tiny bit better stage presence in the end but then again, I knew Li Wenhan team would get in (more on that later). 

This seasons’ showing that you have to work hard even if you’re good is not any different from last year. They’ve emphasised it differently with the new rules, but I don’t think we should take away all the hard work that the final top ranking boys put in in S1. The Mnet think makes sense because Mnet is a shithole so welp 

Now, with the whole losing teams thing. I understand why they used that new rule. Like you said, it’s realistic. But for their first stage, I think it’s a bit too unfair. There are people who have barely had like two minutes screen time altogether, and we all know how much live performances can influence someone’s elimination result. I think at least for the first live performance, everyone should have an equal opportunity to win some new fans on a live stage (which is way better than a practice room). If they used this for a later evaluation, I wouldn’t have complained. 

Another thing, I literally could predict every single team that was allowed to perform (except maybe one I think) based on the team members. @linm0mo basically covered what i want to say about this so here’s the link 

I have to disagree with you on screentimes. When I said iqiyi was being unfair with screentime, I wasn’t really referring to only the losing teams. Yeah, they showed their practice videos in the episode (because they have to) but I’m kind of talking about individual screentime. I’m not sure if it’s just bc I’m hypersensitive to this now (because of S1 criticisms) but I felt that those teams with more popular members were given just more time with behind the scenes footage in general . We are always seeing the same few faces, whether that’s a close up for reactions, interviewing them or just in general editing to show more of their conversations in favour of other people. It seems exactly the same as last season which was the one thing I hoped they would improve. 

After experiencing iqiyi for a whole year, i have a better feel of what they’re doing. The popularity and trend of s1 is something they want to continue and how would you do that? giving people who have previously established fanbases just that little bit extra screentime because they know that’ll secure more people to watch. It sounds really bad when I say it like that, but you can’t deny it’s true. I have nothing against the top ranking boys (i stan guan yue for god’s sake and i’m an ikun lol) but i guess i’m just disappointed iqiyi isn’t at least trying to hide the fact that they’re slowly playing favourites again. 

I’m going to continue watching because I already have boys that I’m supporting again and I hope they do well. Hopefully, iqiyi can up their game in providing more content about their developing relationships like they did in s1.