#netflix is right and they should say it

[moonlightsapphic]

Edvin Ryding and Omar Rudberg, friends best behind the scenes of Young Royals S2 (2022)

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

so howd you like it what are your thoughts

Anon, I hope you don't mind it but I'm going to use this ask as an excuse to do my Full On Rambling post about my honest thoughts. I'll try to keep is as coherent as possible, but I can't actually guarantee it :')

Also putting it under a cut because some of it is going to sound negative (as I said, I want to exorcise any critiques I have so I can go back to Vibing asap) and I know many people (undestandibly!!) won't want to read that, and I don't want to burst anyone's happy bubble :) . And also because of s3 spoilers. Bear in mind that it's not a rant post, I still had tons of fun with the season. But since I'm going to be talking about the things I enjoyed forevermore and gonna try to keep all my 'didn't really like this :/'s contained in this post, it may come out sounding like I enjoyed it less than I truly did. Here we go, get ready for some Thoughts

-> Content

Okay, listen. This season was fun. I had a nice time watching the newest shenanigans. New characters (with one notable exception) were a joy to watch (yes, even the thing. We're in a toxic situationship) and I was greatly amused by their adventures; most of them kept me on the edge of my seat.

(ok, here's where the negativity begins. Please don't take me for someone who wanted everything to be done for Their Specific Standards or who thinks they know more than the professional and extremely skilled team that was behind the series. I'm just throwing around thoughts about how I feel, but in the end, the only thing that matters is that Luke Pearson and the team got to tell the story they wanted to. If that was achieved, I'm happy regardless)

However, I couldn't help but think that some of it felt... like it was "thrown" at us, in a way? To be fair, I think most of the negative points I'll discuss in this post are a consequence of this season being 6 epsidoes short of what the writers originally planned because, as I've mentioned before, I do think the show's writing is great and that the team puts their heart and soul into making this the best cartoon possible. Anyway, what I mean is that at times I thought the episodes seemed so worried with delivering all the information they could that a lot was left behind and some stuff didn't really tie together with the rest.

For example; I still cannot understand why aunt Astrid and Anders had to be these big surprises that had never been mentioned before if Hilda, the character who we see this world through, already knew about them? Don't misunderstand me, I am well aware that these nitpicks of mine are subjective and only my personal opinions that may very well simply be a consequence of not understanding what the writers were trying to achieve. I just feel like Johanna's family and Hilda's father are topics that have been discussed so at lenght in the fandom, precisely because they'd been so carefully skirted around in the previous seasons, that the reveal that nothing really dramatic had happened (between Johanna/Astrid and Johanna/Anders, at least) feels anticlimatic to me. It just feels (again, to me, personal opinion) that if this was going to be the case all along they could have mentioned these characters before, and it would have made the narrative make a little more sense.

(This is especially true to me in Anders' case. Bc it felt to me like they had been trying to highlight how irrelevant Hilda's dad was to the story in the first seasons by not bringing him up at all, by not even pointing out his abscence. But I can't really see the point in that if you're gonna bring out the man either way)

Ironically, at the same time I felt like some of the arcs were a tad overachieving, especially the Johanna's parents one. I just felt like it was Too Much Too Quickly, which once again is likely because of the season having been shortened. I feel like if they really wanted to do that arc, and that way, it would have been helpful to cut some other storylines so they could begin fleshing out this one earlier. They way it was done I just personally (can you tell I'm terrified of being taken as a hater?) felt like there was no time at all to get either used to the idea of Johanna being half faerie nor to get attatched to her parents. Like. I know the episode was the season's emotional peak, but it just didn't hit me the way I know it should.

Not sure if this was a me problem, but I felt like the audience wasn't given enough time to process what had even happened when they got stuck in the fairie island, nor to even consider that they'd truly be stuck there forever, much less to fully process the sacrifice Johanna was making when she left it with Hilda. I didn't get to get attached to Johanna's parents or to the dynamic they have with their daughter. I didn't suffer the way I wanted to when I saw them having to part ways, because I couldn't become invested in their bond when I was still trying to wrap my head around what their backstory even was and pay attention to the action heavy scenes that were to come.

What I'm gonna say here is way meaner than the people behind the show's writing deserve and I know, I can absolutely tell it isn't the case because you can see some of the foreshadowing once you have the benefit of hindsight, but it felt to me like some of Johanna's backstory was written for shock value alone. Which, considering the previous components of the season that I have already mentioned felt underwhelming, was even more jarring.

Another thing is that I feel like a lot was sacrificed in order to do these overachieving arcs. This maaay just be the side character lover and change hater in me, but I do feel like in order to present to us all these new concepts that would be necessary for the backstory to make sense, we were deprived of some elements in Hilda The Series that are arguably what the show does best. It felt like they all but scratched all of their previous stories, characters and components to switch them up for new ones. Pikablob has said it better than me, tbh.

However. I do feel like saying that none of the fears I had for the season came true. No character feels ooc, no one was left with an incomplete arc, and though I can't see how Anders contributes to the story, if he had to be there I feel like the way that was it done was the right one.

-> Pacing

Frenetic. Run for the hills kind of thing sometimes. Which, once again, I can't bring myself to believe was the writers' fault, not when they had other 6 episodes planned that they didn't get to do. I absolutely understand that they had to condense everything they wanted to show us into half the runtime. But it did become an issue (to me) when instead of the trademark Hilda Idyllic Tranquility I usually feel while watching (even plot and action heavy content like TMK), I felt like I was watching a completely different cartoon. Carmen Sandiego, or something like that (please note that I do also love Carmen Sandiego). Many times it just felt like there was no breathing space, which isn't necessarily bad when done well, but I hadn't gone into the season prepared for that.

It wasn't a problem that was all around present, though. I do want to point out that imo "The Giant Slayer", "The Laughing Merman", "Strange Frequencies" and even "The Forgotten Lake" still felt like Hilda to me. Which is where I realize what the main issue I had with the season was. That a lot of it just felt like a different show.

-> ~ vibes ~

I am bringing back the disclaimer that if the team told the story they wanted to, then good for them, I'm pleased as can be. I do enjoy that the series played with some different concepts. The musicality and colours in The Laughing Merman, for example, were absolutely delightful to me. Seriously, I want an entire Hilda musical now.

But some things I just couldn't help but feel were so disconnected from the previous feel of the show that it felt to me like they didn't belong. You can sum the rest of this post up by saying that season 3 would have been one of my favourite ever cartoons if it had been its own thing. But it's not, so I can't help but compare it and try to understand how all of the installments work when together.

The faeries, for example. I was so excited when I saw the trailer and knew it was going to be one of the plots, because I thought it was going to be another adventure of the day type of thing that would span over three episodes max. And listen, I've talked about how much I love Celtic folklore, and maybe this is just my consistency loving brain being annoying, but it felt a bit... clashing? that this season was based on tales and creatures and treaditions that weren't the scandinavian ones that inspired the rest of the series. It just felt like a major shift in tone that I don't really understand (once again, me problem, may very well be a skill issue on my part & I'm not saying they shouldn't have ventured so far just bc I didn't quite vibe with it). It just feels a bit off to me, knowing that Johanna's backstory was likely planned from the start, that there wasn't any celtic lore at all in previous seasons to make this sudden detachment from nordic folklore feel less out of the blue.

You know that joke that Disney movies like Aladdin and Raya take concepts from different cultures and smash them together like they're not completely different? I felt to some extent (bc OF COURSE Hilda is much better researched and has a lot better quality than that /gen) like they did that this season. But with white people. Which, fair, I can appreciate the irony.

Back to the topic of bold storylines, I understand what the Hilda team did with all the Johanna backstory. I understand that it's something that everyone wanted to see soo bad and they wanted it to be great (and it was). The thing I got stuck on is just that it ended up changing the vibe of the show to me. Whereas previous seasons feel like "slice of life in a magical place", I felt like this time I was watching a magic centered fantasy. Especially when they got into trying to explain the origin of magic and everything. Which is ironic, because I enjoyed the concept a lot and will explore it in the future, but it still felt like something that I wouldn't have expected Hilda the Series to tackle. Like there was a giant shift from folkloric to fantastic that isn't bad, but it is different and I hadn't been prepared for that lol.

God, I feel like I just wrote all of that and just to be A Bitch. I just wanted to get these thoughts out but I don't expect you guys to agree or anything. I genuinely liked watching this season, and I will continue to reiterate this in the future. And even if it doesn't beat s1 or s2 in my heart, I'm still grateful we got a final season at all, and everyone who was involved in it deserves all the praise <3

[mskatesharma]

Do you ever just randomly think about how at 18, Mary ran away chasing her own happiness by leaving her home and family (and their expectations) with the love of her life (as was her right)?

But at the same age, Kate was suppressing her grief at losing her father because Mary was too lost in hers, and was stepping up to become a parent to Edwina (and somewhat of a guardian to Mary) when she was still a child herself, as well as trying to make sure that she and her family didn’t end up poverty-stricken and destitute? That Kate suppressed and forewent going after anything that she might have wanted to make sure that Edwina (and Mary) had a decent and comfortable future where they didn’t have to toil and struggle.

And that even after all that, Mary had the audacity to say the words “I forgive you” to Kate? Because with respect, forgive Kate for what? Yeah Kate made some mistakes, but she’s also the reason the Sharmas survived that long, relatively comfortably (seeing as Edwina had no idea that they were struggling financially). Kate who warned Mary (and Edwina and Lady D) about Anthony in the first place but they chose not to listen.

Mary who never really paid any proper attention to Kate, who had no fucking idea that Kate was struggling; Mary who leaned on Kate and sought comfort from her, but had no clue her daughter felt unworthy and lonely and thought it was better for her family if she removed herself once they were settled, as opposed to “wanting her independence”.

Mary who had no idea about her daughter’s dowry or what they (and Mary) would do once Edwina was proposed to/married, only to feel ‘betrayed’ by Kate because she did what she thought was best (when she was 18 and her father had just died) when Mary hadn’t even given it a second thought.

Mary who heard a man refer to her daughter as “a thorn” and said nothing? Mary who instead of going to find the daughter she threw out of the room to see how she was went for a fucking walk. Mary who admitted her mistakes to the man who caused pain and strife to her family before her own daughter (a man her daughter was right about).

Mary who let her daughter who was still a child be burdened with ensuring the survival of their family? Who let said daughter extinguish any hopes and wants for herself without any sort of protest? That Mary having to forgive Kate for something? Mary who is supposed to be Kate’s mother? That Mary having to forgive Kate for something? The lack of self awareness is staggering. Fuck all the way off.

[hatterstan-shameblog]

every character in aib has a life lesson attached to them and hatter's lesson is to be an unapologetically funky little freak every second of the day 🩷

[habrina-was-wronged]

Let Chilling Adventure of Sabrina have another chance now that the *worthless* Riverdale is FINALLY ending

[cinna-bunnie]

dude... movie tickets prices r kinda crazy (⁠´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`⁠；⁠) i bought two earlier for a basic 2D showing and it was $35 like HUH? and like... it's for a date and i do want some snacks so i will get food too, but I'm also like uhh I'm generally just. not going to go to the movie theater and will probs avoid it going forward especially since things only seem to get more expensive in this stupid country instead of ever getting cheaper.

I'm sure it'll come out to somewhere around $60-$80 total when like. I have a ceiling mounted projector in my living room .... for no more than $20 bucks I could get a similar experience here AND we can smoke n cuddle and get trashed in private. and what, I just have to wait like a few months for it to come out or keep an eye out for a 3P stream.

i do not mind paying for the date itself at all, i am very happy to actually - i just think abt the strike going on and how these selfish bastards (studios and theaters) are squeezing EVERYONE for the most profit they can get.

paid streaming services suck, theaters are ridiculously pricey - as someone who stopped going almost entirely since 2016 - and it's just like y'all are BEGGING for us to just pirate and stream ur shit (⁠ノ⁠｀⁠⌒⁠´⁠)⁠ノ⁠┫⁠：⁠・⁠┻⁠┻

we need more theaters that aren't Regal and AMC, we need way more resources pumped into indie studios, we need new distribution networks that get the finished work to people who would want to see it without having to go through these greedy giants.

anyways. i just wanted to rant at no one in particular, I think I'm gonna start trying to host some movie nights at my place after figuring out what my friends are into.

[beesarthur]

Mae Martin

SAP (2023)

[1tsjusty0u]

honestly. i almost want to make an isat + botw au. key word being almost

[louderfade]

exene talking about the state of the world. the good stuff starts at eight minutes. or you can just read the transcript complete with the usual errors that accompany robot transcribed speech (the irony of which is not lost on me). maybe it's not about transhumanism and living forever (or maybe it is who knows), but there's definitely an agenda of surveillance and control at work which is designed to keep the powerful in power. cash rules everything around me and you will own nothing etc. the future is worse.

[bowtiestash]

god. i watched one ep of helluva boss and i wanna post my thoughts here.

i fucking hated it, man. i unironically find it cringe i really dont wanna be that guy thats like, "ITS CRINGE!!!" but the humor just doesnt click with me (i dont even know if its supposed to be funny).

and the thing about this show that irks me is that the show is Very Adult but it looks to be its targetted for edgy teens. which makes me kinda uncomfortable...?? i honestly dont know how this show is so fuckin popular, man. at least from what i can tell from the first ep, it just made me die inside from how... Overly Edgy and Corny it was.

[maddy-ferguson]

making us wait five weeks for volume 2 was such a strange questionable decision it made it seem much weaker than it is it was so underwhelming. the episodes are fine but they were like you are gonna lose your MINDS it's gonna be CRAZY and then it was just the regular thing except it lasted thirty hours this time. having to wait made it feel like volume 1 was a set up for volume 2 which was SUCH a set up for volume 2 (see what i did there). seeing it as setting up season 5 instead makes it seem much better but the wait just made it really hard to think of it that way. and them saying that it was gonna be mind-blowing and a carnage (?) made it sound like it was gonna be epic and then it was. it was literally normal except it was longer.

[frankensteincest]

perhaps an unearned hater moment but I do despise it when people say reading and watching shows are their hobbies. like. that’s just something you do innit & ik the real reason people say this is bc they have no hobbies

[dappercritter]

Really love how corporations all decided that the animation community was the next community to persecute.

Thanks for nothing ya’ capitalist pigs! :D

[stopiwanttotalkaboutcheese]

Stranger Things is a Musical, Actually

Stranger Things 1: Will sings “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

Stranger Things 2: The boys sing the “Ghostbusters” theme

Stranger Things 3: YOU KNOW WHICH SCENE I’M TALKING ABOUT

Stranger Things 4: Tammy Thompson in episode 1. Enough said.

What I’m saying is that if there’s no singing in Stranger Things 5, we riot.

[glitter50000]

bitches be getting so happy watching the darkling being portrayed as a villain and a toxic lover. It’s me, I’m bitches

[gay-pirate-anime]

How I view the OP live action, is that even if it turns out to be trash I want it to at least be trash which has heart, love, and passion put into it. Which from looking at how the cast love One Piece, and how the showrunners are such big fans themselves, and even how fucking Oda is involved and puts his trust into the team and has turned down movie deals and other stuff in the past, for him to do this. To me that's a green flag about it. I have my hopes and expectations about it, but even if it doesn't get the best reviews I at least hope the acting and intentions don't get shat on.

Hiya! I completely agree, I adore the cast/crew and also feel confident that they've poured their heart and soul into making it authentic! They're superfans too, not random actors/directors so you KNOW they understand the source material! Oda's personal touch on top of all that is even more assurance to me that this is going to go right. I don’t see how the LA can be bad in any way unless they grossly mischaracterize someone or change something super important plot-wise.

I am honestly extremely excited to experience a series I’ve loved since I was a literal child in a brand new light. I kind of got a taste of what it’d be like when I saw the live show at OP tower in 2018 and THAT production didn’t have the budget this has yet it was still incredible!

Personally, I am not expecting a carbon copy of the manga transformed to film. I actually encourage small changes if it fits the medium of live action better. For example, people going off with rage about Luffy’s loafers instead of sandals are ignorant of the fact that even if its a fantasy story those actors are still real people. I’d rather have Inaki be free to do stunts with shoes on than cut all the fun stuff or CGI it because folks insist on the sandals. The sandals aren’t important to his character like his straw hat is. I’ve also seen so many people commenting on Taz’s buffness compared to skinny East Blue Sanji. How do they expect him to do handstands and flips and not be jacked? SMH. Idiots.

I have SO much to say about this LA but yes green flags all around for me as well!