#maybe this is oversimplified

[sarabethsilver]

One thing that frustrates me about Gilmore Girls is the way Jess is written between S2 and S3. Or more accurately, how other characters' reactions to him are written.

S2 Jess causes trouble, there's no way around that. But the townsfolk are way too hard on him, and the show is VERY clear about that. We're meant to see Taylor as hysterically overreacting about Jess. We're meant to see the Town Meeting about evicting him as a bad thing. We're meant to feel badly that the town blames him for the car accident. We're meant to think that Lorelai was completely unreasonable in that situation. Jess has FLAWS, sure. Even Rory and Luke, arguably the only two people who give Jess a chance, are pretty clear in sharing their thoughts when he's made a mistake. But Rory and Luke are not wrong when they speak about Jess' strengths and potential. And S2 wants me to know that!

But in S3? Suddenly the message seems to be that Jess was bad all along. Which is especially weird because S3 Jess doesn't really cause trouble. Instead, his minor mistakes in his relationship with Rory are blown up into catastrophes. Rory is SAD. She hates who she is with Jess (which is apparently Jess' fault, and has nothing to do with her own lack of communication skills). Rory stops defending Jess. She regrets ending things with Dean, and ultimately describes choosing Jess as a mistake. Jess flunks out of school, and it's presented like it was 100% his dumb fault. Jess then falls apart at Kyle's party, and it's presented like the obvious and unavoidable conclusion to his arc. (Dean? The guy who STARTED the fight? Is portrayed as justified, even honorable.) Luke steals Jess' car and kicks him out, and the show is utterly committed to portraying this as a necessary step in Jess' growth. Luke questions himself about that choice for exactly one second... and he's IMMEDIATELY assured that he did nothing wrong. A message the show sticks with, by the way, for the rest of the series. Luke HAD to kick Jess out. It was NECESSARY. Jess needed to HIT ROCK BOTTOM.

It just feels like a missed opportunity. S2 was such a fun exploration of the faulty judgments and assumptions adults can make about teenagers. The show highlighted the unfair pressure adults put on Jess AND Rory. We were exploring the idea of "good" kids and "bad" kids, and how both types of assumptions are reductive and harmful. Great stuff, and a big reason why S2 is my favorite season.

But then S3 rushes to "correct" that notion by emphatically concluding that Jess is BAD and Rory is GOOD and the adults were right all along. And Jess doesn't become good until much later. After he's "learned his lesson" by getting kicked out, thoroughly chastised, and silenced into the "right" kind of good behavior.

[tophat-69]

Viktor saw a student’s notebook, actually took the time to read it, saw merit in it despite it being totally worthless to everyone else, and showed up after hours while Jayce was struggling and went “hey so this is good but you missed this specific concept, let’s work through that together.”

You cannot convince me he would be a bad professor.

I will defend my to “Viktor is a great teacher, actually” headcanon to the death. Is he sarcastic sometimes too? Yes. But all the best teachers are imho.

[stardustedknuckles]

I am shaking the wizard Steel in my jaws like a squeaky toy. I've loved her since the beginning but we are beginning to really peel into what makes her who she is. It's the new world she believes in, not the emperor. I would venture to guess that she despises a man who would have her fly a damaged ship of wounded people over a military parade "just for morale." That's never been her. This was the first time we have seen the emperor or Steel interacting with him and his entourage and she fucking hates them.

And the wizard Gray calling out her ability to end a whole bloodline. All but threatening to tell on her to the emperor. Combining that with her telling Suvi that this new world has no need of a sword of the citadel and everything she does, but it will have need of Suvi.

A world without war, without fear. And I wonder, if she has no faith in the emperor and this new world has no need of her, what would that world need of an emperor?

Or, say, his bloodline?

[atlas-of-galaxies]

just a disclaimer that it is Very unlikely I'll do tma entity pieces for the whole prsk cast partially due to the sheer number of characters and also the fact that a lot of character conflict is with the self/identity/ability and there are only so many spirals/strangers I can assign lol. that being said I Do have ideas

[mushroom-pal]

i yap abt this constantly but being a bio major can be so infuriating. why did i just learn that bacteriophage therapy is wayyyyy better and (typically) cheaper at fighting bacterial infections, but we still rely on antibiotics primarily because you can't patent phage and it's less profitable. im going to snap

[alive-thanos]

nam gyu ATE mgcoin?? mad respect bro but did js likd tore chunks off flesh off w his teeth??

I MEAN. he didnt COMPLETELY eat him. he just had worms in his brain that were like 'yourehungryyandyouhavefoodgoeatyourehungryyandyouhavefoodgoeatyourehungryyandyouhavefoodgoeatyourehungryyandyouhavefoodgoeat' and hes like 'AUHHH GODDAMNIT FINE' and ate like. a large steak sized portion off him. [yknow. food size.]

[violinist-rachel]

Story Beats

[Past] Rachel and the Violin Makers: We meet the people who gave Rachel her violin.

Rachel and Karl: We see the state of the park, how these two met, their friendship, and the relationship that formed between them.

The Incident: We see what happened on the night Rachel and Karl had a falling out.

Aftermath: We see the immediate effects the incident had on both Karl and Rachel's lives.

Unease at Castle of Nations: A year's time skip - We see where Karl's at and how the incident affected him and the rest of the park.

An Intervention: Following the time skip, we see how Rachel's doing through a friend (the same one Rachel played at a wedding for).

--------------------------------------------------

[Present] The Gunman: We see what happened to the man that was present in the incident.

Looming Crisis at the Park: Flashback - We see Castle acting strangely and witness how Treacy got her head broken.

Rachel and Clarice: Rachel and Clarice meet; we see how they become friends.

Castle of Nations: Flashback - We see the park turning into its present state. The air is hostile and the residents are on-edge.

Rachel and the Violin Maker: Rachel visits them to reconcile and try to make peace with her past.

The Bucket List: Clarice and Rachel have a talk about their goals in life.

Rachel and Karl: Rachel and Clarice resolve to go to Castle of Nations together. Rachel and Karl have one final encounter.

The Final Concert: Rachel plays the song she was meant to perform on the night of the incident as her final performance.

[ragsandrascals]

Ann in the stage musical is not the “mom friend”

Okay no she’s the fifteen-year-old babysitter who’s been left with eight toddlers and thinks she's the mom friend-

And she is Not.

[gingerswagfreckles]

After intense international pressure, Israel has agreed to turn the water back on in Southern Gaza. This is a very very small concession that in no way erases the ongoing genocide the IDF is continuing to commit in full view of the world.

Nonetheless, this is an extremely important capitulation by the Israeli government in face of the worldwide blowback against the war crimes being committed. This will significantly alleviate one of the most pressing crises the Palestinian people are facing, and allow at least some access to the most fundamental of life's necessities.

It is important to note that this would not have happened without massive international attention. While posting relentlessly online often seems pointless, it's only pointless as so far as it isn't being heard. With so much global support and sentiment on a single issue, we see that change does happen and is possible. Keep donating, keep posting, keep sharing verified news. The Israeli government is not invincible and the world can hold it accountable. The more pressure the whole world puts on Netanyahu and IDF to end this genocidal aggression, the closer the Palestinian people are to peace.

[shoot-i-messed-up]

One of the hardest things about writing superlantern is figuring out what’s the deal with clois in this universe…they’re literally soulmates….why is clark with hal and not lois….

[ragnars-tooth]

i wanna go back and render the fuck out of these later but i'm Already procrastinating the rest of the video and should probably work on one thing at a time for once in my life.

anyway, haha mothers am i right or am i right? (sobbing)

[max1461]

ok i've seen you talk about oda nobunaga and also the westernization of japan in the Meiji period quite a bit and I'm wondering about that 260 or so years in between: what's your take on the Edo period? Deeply repressive isolationist state? Pinnacle of high culture and the golden age of nihongo? Both at the same time? Neither? Some kind of crypto-edoist stance that means you'll dodge my ask by not really answering the question?

Oh the Edo period is actually my favorite period of Japanese history. Maybe tied with Heian. It's hard to say if it was "good" or not, I mean... the end of a century of constant war was certainly a good thing. Sakoku was, I mean, in a certain sense obviously bullshit, it's bullshit to say no one can come in and no one can leave. That's not very nice. On the other hand maybe this was instrumental in Japan's ultimate rise, I don't know. Maybe keeping Christian influence and Western political meddling at bay was the right longterm play. I can't imagine that the spread of Christianity in Japan could possibly have been a good thing. So it's hard to say, hard to say what I would have done if I had been Tokugawa Ieyasu. I don't approve of the witch hunts against kakure kirishitan. They should have been allowed to chill and do their thing, man.

But of course this is not really the level on which I like to engage with history, especially history so dead as the shogunate. What's done is done, and so on. The import question is, was it Neat? And yeah it was pretty fucking neat. I'm obviously a huge ukiyo-e head which can be seen in #aestheticposting, that's all Edo shit. And I love me a good sangaku, and dope shit like that.

[stellewriites]

i think if i could change one thing about dog meat in hindsight it’s that i’d add to the scene where soapgaz are talking to reader about when they first moved up to scotland; kyle would talk about having to adjust his hair care routine after moving from london up to scotland bc the water was so hard and the quality change shocked him. like idk i think it’d just add a bit of believability to his character and the settings,, plus i find the differences of uk soft and hard water interesting lmao

[k423s]

playing hi3 made me realize just how low the writing quality is for genshin which is impressive since i didn't hold genshin's writing in high regard before this.

[lonesomedreamer]

another thing that’s wild about SNW is the way it treats Spock, the franchise’s most beloved and iconic character by far. it’s not just the weak writing (Ethan does a great job, and it’s obvious that he loves Spock—but there are times when even his best efforts can’t save the script).* it’s that almost none of the SNW characters themselves seem to like or respect Spock.

I’ve already pointed it out how often Spock is mocked and belittled by his fellow officers for just doing his (essential!) job as the science officer; that judgment and harsh treatment extends to his own fiancée (while in-character for her, T'Pring’s attitude is often portrayed as reasonable by the narrative). even Christine, Spock’s biggest supporter and the most understanding/sympathetic of his colleagues, ultimately shuts him down when he does his best to be emotionally supportive!

sure, there were plenty of times when the og Spock was teased—or even insulted—by his friends. Uhura sings about him in an early episode, but he’s obviously in on the joke, because he’s smiling and playing lyre while she sings. when Kirk does it, the audience can tell that it’s coming from a place of love. when Bones does it (whether or not you think he’s actually being racist or not), Spock can and does give as good as he gets—it’s mutual. and when someone else is judgmental towards Spock, their behavior is almost always called out by other characters (Bones included!) (“leave any bigotry in your quarters, there’s no room for it on the Bridge.” / “he has no heart.” “his heart is different!”)

an entire TOS movie is dedicated to the idea of Spock being so valued by his friends that all six of them would put their careers and lives on the line without hesitation just for the chance to bring him back from the dead! there are also plenty of other instances in the show itself when his friends refuse to give him up for dead (“shut up, Spock! we’re rescuing you!” etc.) though Spock’s linguistic precision and technobabble are sources of humor, they’re not usually used a reason to ridicule him.

contrast that to SNW, in which Christine has to beg two of his fellow Bridge officers, Ortegas and Uhura, to accompany her when she begs the inter-dimensional aliens to fix Spock’s broken genome, because she’s the only one on the Enterprise who seems to care that he’s been altered. his fellow officers also regularly make snarky comments like “plan on marrying that debris field, Spock?” and “can’t you just say ‘two moons’?” etc., as Spock is making scientific observations in his capacity as the science officer and even confront him (“are you just some heartless, pointy-eared computer?”) in traumatic/dangerous moments. and to make matters worse, the SNW writers rarely if ever allow Spock to clap back in this scenes the way he so often did in TOS.

I understand that SNW’s Spock is younger, less experienced, and less sure of himself. he’s a lieutenant, not the first officer. nonetheless, he’s the butt of so many jokes and looked down on/judged harshly by so many other characters that I can’t help but wonder if the writers have a similarly low opinion of him.

*to be clear, I don’t think that exploring the possibility of a romance with Christine Chapel is an example of the show or writers disrespecting Spock—but the way they’ve handled his relationships with both T’Pring and Christine (the fact that both of them are “love interests” at all, actually) evidence of their apparent disregard for and misunderstanding of his character, imo.

[julietasgf]

wow, if I had a nickel for every male character that ended up being my favorite from a book with messages regarding imperialism and criticizing an anglophone powerful country, and said character has suicidal thoughts because he can't deal with the guilt of being in a position of privilege and comfort compared to others of the same social group he's part of, and said character also has a deeply bigoted blonde friend, I would have two nickels

which isn't a lot, but it's funny it happened twice