#new girl season three screencaps

[twinsunstars]

Thoughts on The Bad Batch Episode 12 - Juggernaut - A Discussion Post

This episode had a lot of action, feelings, and a very unexpected return. Let's return to this week's episode filled with exciting moments and moments filled with worry!

(SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVE NOT SEE THE EPISODE YET! all screencaps from www.cap-that.com! https://www.cap-that.com/starwars/the-bad-batch/312/)

CX-2 returns to Mount Tantiss with Omega, Hemlock coming by to pick her up. He tells Omega to follow him, and CX-2 lets her go of her handcuffs, returning to his ship.

I'm being so serious, we have three episodes left. If CX-2 doesn't get unmasked by the next episode I'm going to lose it. If it ends up happening near finale or even in the finale, it's gotta be a character that's so important to the plot (*cough* Tech) that we had to wait so long for this. But I also feel like if this is Tech, shouldn't it have happened by now at least? I'm so confused.

I saw someone post about this and I didn't notice it at first, but if you zoom in on this shot above, you can see that Hemlock's glove is missing, showing both of his hands clearly. I rewatched the episode and noticed the error, but the second they go back into Tantiss he has it back on.

Hemlock immediately takes Omega to Emerie, wanting her to keep testing Omega to make sure she has the whole M-count thing. Emerie seems reluctant for a bit, but keeps doing her job. Omega tells her that she doesn't have to do this, but Emerie says she has to. But she is happy her sister is safe at least. Omega questions if she is truly safe, and she really isn't. Emerie likely knows this too, but she's still trying to open her eyes more to all the wrongs around her.

Hunter (with Batcher) gets back to Crosshair and a now awake Wrecker, feeling better after getting knocked out in the explosion from last week. Wrecker is upset Crosshair let Omega go, but Crosshair understood her choice and the fact that she let the Empire stop hurting the locals of Pabu.

I got so sad when Crosshair's hand started shaking again, he's so terrified of Mount Tantiss and what he went through. He tells his brothers that there is a way of trying to find Tantiss, and that is through the former Vice Admiral Rampart.

Phee shows up with AZI, having gotten here secretly away from the Empire's eyes. She finally meets Crosshair, and tells him that Tech has told her about him. My heart-

I would have loved to see all of the off-screen interactions Tech and Phee had, he really liked to talk with her, and she loved listening. Lula and Tech's goggles being visible behind Phee and AZI made me even more sad.

Phee goes with the boys to the Imperial labor camp on Erebus, making her ship fall to sneak into the planet undetected. Girl was over here driving in heels; she's such an icon. Wrecker and Crosshair were struggling in the back, and Hunter was worried. His helmet just flying freely when the ship is falling was so funny. Tech would adore Phee's flying since she drives like him. Phee manages to get them in and drops them off to access the prison and find Rampart.

The boys manage to obtain control of a tank transporting prisoners, which Rampart is in. I was not expecting to see him again after what happened in Season 2, as I kinda just left the character behind ever since he got arrested and Hemlock replaced him as the new reappearing villain a few episodes later last season. Someone joked that they Agent Kallus'd him because they added more hair to Rampart, which is just funny. Rampart manages to recognize Crosshair under his armor, and Crosshair was so sassy with him too, I loved it.

The Imperials on the prison base notice something wrong with the tank the Batch stole and go after it, leading to an action-packed chase. (And Hunter drives insanely.) Phee manages to rescue them just in time, shooting down one of the Imperial ships chasing them. Rampart had gotten stunned after trying to shoot the boys, and it was hilarious how they were just throwing him around like a potato sack.

The Batch ask Rampart where Tantiss is, but not even he knows. He says it was designed like that so it wouldn't be found. I was spending some of my free time on Wookiepedia and I wish we could send the Batch the information that Mount Tantiss is on the planet Wayland. It's not coordinates, but it's something.

Meanwhile, Emerie continues to test Omega's blood, and it comes out positive again. She looks at Omega, seeming deeply worried. She doesn't say anything, but Emerie has something on her mind. Hemlock comes back and Emerie tells him about the results, and he wants Omega to come with him. Omega goes to the same place he took Nala Se and Emerie previously, taking her down to The Vault. Omega asks questions about the M-count situation, to which Hemlock gives her vague answers and direct answers about what the Empire has been doing with M-count subjects.

Omega sees the kids in The Vault, frowning. Eva sees Omega and lifts her head from her game, and I just know that she and Omega will be besties. Omega asks who the kids are, and Hemlock replies that they are the pieces of the puzzle that they are trying to solve.

He says, "...this is your new home", and the doors immediately shut behind Omega. The chills I got; and Omega looked scared. The episode ends there, and Omega is locked up again with no direct escape yet.

There wasn't much that I wanted to discuss from this episode, but there are only 3 episodes left, so we are now truly in a big anxious countdown. How will Omega escape this time? Will the Batch manage to obtain coordinates to locate Tantiss? Where's Echo when you need him? Will Emerie wake up soon? Will CX-2 unmask himself soon? There's still so much to unpack, and so little time.

[cheswirls]

[ actually have not been current w/ JN for a while now but i saw the screencaps for JN132 and my little heart went crazy over sereharu hints. this is a future drabble so i can get my love out of my system for the moment aha ]

lisia had given them the weekend.

two days to rush to kanto and back, because there was no way they were missing the celebration of such a high accomplishment by one of their mutual best friends. even amidst the craziness that came with the end of post-season, and with their exhibition performance for the first contest spectacular of the new year very much right around the corner, they had been given these two days off.

"i expect you back bright and early three days from now!" lisia declares through the small screen of may's pokenav. "we need to tighten this performance to the max! nothing less than perfect for the princess of hoenn."

serena leans over in her seat so she's in view while may distractedly turns to gawk out of the plane window. "heard crystal clear! i'll make sure she's back in one piece." she says this with an open-mouthed grin and a mock salute than has lisia hiding a smile in turn.

"um, excuse me," may chimes in, turning back to attention. "we'll look out for each other. right?"

"then i'll count on the both of you," lisia says before serena can reply. "have a safe flight. i'll see you when you get back."

the screen blips off, leaving serena and may staring at their reflections, hands still raised to wave lisia off. may drops the pokenav to her lap and leans back with a sigh. "i've never flown out of slateport before," she admits. her eyes skirt to the window again as they start leaving the ground.

neither had serena, but it couldn't be helped. taking a boat all the way to kanto would eat at too much of their free time. she reclines back into her own seat, leaving may's space, save for the hand she wraps loosely around may's own, threading their fingers together.

"first time for everything." she grins, a sudden thought coming to mind. "imagine his face when we show up together."

may has a good laugh at this. "we'll deal with that when it comes." she raises her other arm high above her in a stretch. "this is going to be so much fun. i can't wait to see everyone again."

"i can't wait for you to introduce me."

may only laughs again, squeezing serena's fingers tight.

•

the ketchum house is just a tad too small for such a large crowd, leaving the oak lab as the only proper substitute.

at first there had been chatter about hosting at the sakuragi lab in vermillion instead, since it was closer to kanto's main port and central airport. but it wasn't a true ketchum homecoming without being in pallet, and not one of the people invited were upset about making the trip out.

may has been here before. serena has known this, and yet it's different to hear than it is to see, and she can see now. may is confident when she pulls them up the well-worn path up to the laboratory. she knows exactly where she's going, and she has ever since they landed their connecting flight in viridian.

hoenn is temperate year-round, and serena has been there long enough to forget everything else. she's never been to kanto, so the bite the weather has surprises her.

may had laughed at her, but in the end she'd handed over her open sweater without fuss, swinging it around serena's shivering shoulders and securing it with warm hands.

she fumbles with the edge of a sleeve now, while waiting on the porch steps for someone to answer the door. rubbing the knit fabric against her fingertips, feeling decidedly warm in the chilly weather.

the door opens and may greets the redhead that answers enthusiastically. the attention turns to her too soon, but before may can introduce them, serena's name is falling from the girl's lips easily, like she's known serena for an eternity.

"you must be serena." she extends a hand. "my name is misty. i've heard a lot about you."

serena believes it. she's been recognized so easily that it's hard not to believe. it takes no effort at all to shake misty's offered hand.

inside is hectic, but not more than she'd been expecting. they're not the last to arrive and there are several that couldn't make it. misty mentions brock being swamped with work, and a few kids from alola are visible on the other end of a video call.

may is bombarded by people she hasn't seen in years – and not just people. an overly-enthusiastic bulbasaur climbs into her arms and she releases serena to catch him properly.

"hi, baby!" she exclaims, swinging the pokemon around. "it's been a minute, huh? have you seen your trainer? well, what a shame. i'll keep you company."

she shuffles bulbasaur into one arm so she can grab serena's shoulder to pull her close. "you haven't met, hm? this is serena! serena, this is one of the resident pokemon of oak's ranch."

bulbasaur raises a vine that serena shakes. "nice to meet you," she laughs. bulbasaur, satisfied, opens his mouth to babble to her in turn.

may screams loudly into her ear and serena flinches back. the culprit is another girl their age who squeals back from across the room. serena suddenly finds her arms full of bulbasaur when may deposits the pokemon to run off, meeting her friend in the middle. serena's shoulders sag, watching them converse rapidly with a tired smile.

"how mean of her to leave you," she pouts down at bulbasaur. "c'mon, let's go find people you know."

at some point in the night she's locked in conversation with the man of the hour, may talking with someone else several paces beyond them. after a minute the subject switches, ash nodding behind her shoulder.

"so. you and may, huh? gotta admit, i was surprised to find that out tonight."

"uh, yeah." she laughs a little nervously. "sorry you didn't find out sooner."

"you've been busy." ace shrugs. "so have i. s'no big deal. still. you really picked a good one."

"right." she watches ash's gaze move beyond her again, where she knows may is. she knows that. she also knows, more than anything, how differently things could have turned out. knows ash could've had a shot with her, back then, if he wanted it.

you missed out, she thinks, looking on with pursed lips as someone new comes up to congratulate ash. you had your chance already.

thinking this way does nothing substantial in the end, and she knows it, so she backs off. goes back to may, who's waving someone off, head slowly turning around the room. looking, serena realizes. her feet move on her own.

"may!" she calls, just a few paces away. may turns, eyes big and arms wide, and her expression grows fond when she finds who she's been looking for.

serena mirrors her smile and does something spontaneous. spurred on maybe by ash, or by all the extra attention her girlfriend has been getting that evening, or maybe just by the need to show they're together, she reaches out and jumps the last step forward.

may catches on, arms ready to swing serena into a hug, twirling them both in place. they're both laughing when she stops, hefting serena higher with both arms around her waist.

serena tips down and pushes a stray lock of hair behind her ear. may's grinning wide and she doesn't feel like disturbing that, so she presses their foreheads together instead.

"you've got a lot of energy," may notes. she squeezes tighter and tips them back, careful not to overbalance but not clueing serena in, leading to her swinging her legs in protest.

"don't don't don't," serena cries, raising her head and placing both hands back on may to ensure she doesn't fall. "the floor is so hard. if we hurt ourselves lisia will kill us when we go back!"

"relax, babe." may shifts her higher up and spins around, making serena gasp and grip harder, her legs shifting forward on either side of may. "we're not gonna fall. i'm stronger than that. watch!"

serena doesn't watch more than she experiences, protesting again when may shifts her higher, leaving serena's hands on her shoulders for balance. she's probably the tallest person in the room now and the commotion this causes is no one she's prepared for. "okay, you've proven your point! let me down!"

"trust me," may sings, swinging them around again. serena yelps and pitches forward, but the sound is nearly drowned out by may's laughter. she holds serena tight by her legs, leaving her to dangle over one shoulder, cheek pressed to the back of may's nice blouse. may's sweater hangs loose over the rest of her, rendering her into little more than a pastel blob with nice legs.

"see? see?!" may laughs and bounces around. "i've got you! see? aren't i strong? aren't i the best?"

serena lets her head flop so her hair hides her face from view. may's attitude is infectious, leaving her muffling giggles into her girlfriend's back. that is, until they spin around one too many times and the wooden flooring starts to swirl. "may," she tries, punctuating this with a fist pressed to may's side. "i'm getting dizzy."

"alright, okay." may settles down and crouches low, letting serena slip back so her feet touch the floor. she helps her stand with both hands at her sides, looking at her face close. "better?"

"better," serena replies, squeezing her hands down where she's set them on may's shoulders. "please warn me next time."

may's grin is sharp. "that sounds like permission."

"well, i did literally leap into your arms."

"yeah? hm." may's gaze turns skyward, thinking. "maybe we should work that into the routine."

"maybe we should stick to things lisia won't kill us over."

"i bet i could convince her. ooh!"

serena is close enough to spy the sparkles in may's eyes. she turns to look over her shoulder but finds a hand blocking her view before she can quite manage. "what? who is it?"

"you'll see. hey, serena."

"hm?"

may moves them into a crouch and uncovers serena's face to place the hand around her legs instead. "this is your warning."

"my–!" she cuts off with a gasp as may hefts her up, carrying her with one arm supporting her back and the other under her knees.

"there's someone i want you to meet," may says, ignoring serena's put-upon frown. she steps forward easily, as if serena weighs next to nothing.

"as if i have a choice now," serena mutters. but she's smiling again when may laughs, and it's a smile that never fades over the course of the evening.

[fancoloredglasses]

[RERUN] The Star Wars Holiday Special (May the Farce Be With You)

[All images are owned by Lucasfilm Disney, whether they want them or not. Please don’t sue me]

Much like with Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, this review was one that I feel truly suffered due to not finding many images to work with before I knew how to screencap. It’s also the other of my reviews that one of my followers (who is one of my best friends) thought was too painful to slog through (whether it was due to the walls of text or the subject itself is anyone’s guess)

Therefore, in honor of the holiday season Life Day, I present a RERUN version of my original review (which can be found here)

You’re welcome! Now, on with the review!

Every Christmas season (yes, I know there are other holidays in December, and I would happily acknowledge them if the networks would, but I have only heard of one Hanukkah special and not one Kwanzaa special), the airwaves are flooded with holiday specials dating as far back as the mid 60s. Many are classics, others...not so much (I’m looking at you, He-Man and Pac Man!) However, there is one holiday special that lives on in infamy.

The year was 1978, A New Hope Star Wars was released a year prior and fans worldwide were looking for anything to get their fix until the promised sequel would be released in 1980. What they got was...well...this.

The major characters returned: Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, R2-D2, C-3P0, Vader (well, clips of Vader from Star Wars, though James Earl Jones did phone in a few new lines of dialogue over the old footage), although they were all regulated to cameo appearances.

[Quick note: Harrison Ford wanted nothing to do with this. Mark Hamill agreed as long as he didn’t have to sing. Carrie Fisher agreed as long as she could sing.]

No, sitting center stage were characters that were sure to at least be supporting characters in the promised sequel (...well, one on the periphery made good on that promise)

You see, someone in their infinite wisdom decided that veteran comedy actors Art Carney (Ed Norton from The Honeymooners), Bea Arthur (the star of the sitcom Maude and future Golden Girl), and Harvey Korman (regular cast member of The Carol Burnett Show, playing three roles in this production) would entice the fans of Star Wars and they would line up to get toys featuring their characters.

The show was never seen on TV again after its initial airing. Fans hated it. George Lucas disavowed its existence, stating he wanted to round up every bootleg copy so he could burn them in effigy.

I remembered enjoying it (but then, my age at this point had not reached double digits), and wondered why it didn’t return the following year. A number of years ago, one of my favorite websites, in their annual celebration of the worst holiday fare (which includes Christmas Comes to Pac-Land, Santa With Muscles, and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians) wrote a review of this program (I admit I may have stolen been inspired by a few of the jokes for this review. I regret nothing!), and I decided it couldn’t be as bad as the site claimed.

It was. Hoo-boy it was! It wasn’t 100% devoid of entertainment, though it certainly doesn’t fall into “so bad it’s good” territory.

While, as of this writing, Disney+ ain’t touching this with a ten-foot lightsaber, you can find it online via several sources. I’m using this one on YouTube.

We open to footage ripped from the movie (we will see that a lot. These guys obviously had very little budget) of the Millennium Falcon being chased by two star destroyers near a planet that looks suspiciously like Tatooine.

Han (who looks like a man who is contractually obligated to be there and just wants to get this over with) is desperately trying to get out of this production Chewie home to his family in time for something called “Life Day” (what, you thought they celebrated Christmas in a galaxy far, far away?), which is an important day in Wookie culture. In fact, it’s so important that it’s never mentioned again in any of the films or television series! Han eventually engages the hyperdrive and the Falcon speeds away and the opening credits roll.

Speaking of the opening credits, we are introduced to Chewbacca’s family for the first (and only) time...

First we have Chewie’s wife, Malla. We know she’s a female Wookie because she’s wearing lipstick.

Next up we have Chewie’s son Lumpy (dear gods I hope that’s short for something or this kid is gonna get the shit kicked out of him in Wookie school) Lumpy has the sort of voice that’s nails-on-the-chalkboard irritating. It doesn’t help that he looks like an overweight Ewok in desperate need of a haircut.

Finally, we have Chewie’s father Itchy, (I swear I’m not making that up!) an ancient Wookie with a serious underbite and an unhealthy love of porn (I wish I was making that up!)

These three are the central characters of this production, and get the majority of screen time. Anyone who has seen any Star Wars film featuring Chewbacca knows how Wookies communicate. Picture repeated conversations over 10 minutes of Wookies talking to one another...with no subtitles.

Anyway, the credits end and we open on a matte painting of a bunch of tree houses that I’m assuming is supposed to be a village on the Wookie planet of Kashyyyk.

We then switch to the inside of one (Chewie’s home...not that he’s ever there with his free-wheeling life as a smuggler keeping him away) where Malla is fixing dinner (wearing an apron. OK, I’ll give that a pass. I wouldn’t want...whatever that is she’s making getting all over my fur either)...

...while Itchy is showing infinite patience by not smacking the hell out of Lumpy (hey, it was the 70s. That kind of stuff still happened) because the kid won’t leave him alone (or shut up) Finally, (I’m assuming...remember, no subtitles) Itchy tells Lumpy to shut the fuck up and leave him alone. Malla tells Lumpy to help her fix dinner...or maybe to take out the trash (again, I’m assuming) Lumpy whines a bit (then again, he always sounds like that) before Itchy yells at him some more and he sulks off to the kitchen.

He doesn’t sulk for long because he spies...cookies? crackers?...some kind of snack and tries to sneak one, but Malla catches him and makes him take the trash out. I’m guessing Chewie must love Lumpy, because he has to be the only reason the rest of the family hasn’t thrown Lumpy over a railing to the forest below yet.

Lumpy them takes (what I’m assuming is) the trash outside and we’re treated to a horrible green-screen effect as Lumpy walks along the matte-painted rail outside his house. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll fall...

Inside (where unfortunately we don’t hear the whiny scream of Lumpy falling to his death), Malla realizes Chewie isn’t home yet, so Itchy consoles her (at least I think that’s what all those growls mean...) Then Lumpy (definitely not a lot flatter) wanders in and bugs Itchy until he manages to shut Lumpy up by letting him watch a holo (even in a galaxy far, far away adults use TV to shut the kids up)

(Thanks to Robert Angelli)

Finally, Malla has enough of whatever the hell that was and (I’m assuming) tells Lumpy to do the dishes, which causes another whiny tirade from Lumpy...

...while she goes to a computer that looks outdated even by 1970s standards her highly advanced computer system to scan the area for the Millennium Falcon, but to no avail.

She and Itchy then go to another outdated computer a video communicator behind a hidden panel to contact Luke Skywalker (so Luke knows Chewie’s family too? Amazing that we don’t hear more about this in the movies...)

Luke and R2 are fixing an engine from his X-Wing (wouldn’t the Alliance base he was stationed at have a maintenance crew to do that?) They all growl at Luke, wondering where Chewie is. Luke has no clue, but tells Malla to smile (Jesus The Force, Luke! You NEVER tell a female to smile, especially one who could rip your arms off!)

Malla tries another channel, this time to a Kashyyyk trading post manned by Saun Dann (played by Art Carney), who is dealing with an Imperial guard (who obviously got issued a helmet two sizes too large) Since there’s an Imperial, Dann can’t speak plainly, but sorta-kinda tells Malla that Chewie is delayed, but is on his way. Having gotten Malla off the line, Dann offers to sell the Imperial some tiny fish, but he’s not interested. He then shows the Imperial an all-purpose comb and stain-remover. The Imperial is interested, and asks for the give-it-to-me-for-free-or-I'll-call-in-a-raid-and-summary-execution-on-you-and-your-shop discount. Dann “happily” obliges.

Meanwhile, inside the stock footage of an Imperial Star Destroyer, stock footage of Darth Vader tells his aide to go to Kashyyyk and (this is a direct quote) “search every household” for any sign of the Rebellion (I’m assuming that includes Han and Chewbacca) I don’t know about you, but I can’t see Vader saying the word “household”.

Back on Kashyyyk, (what, you thought you’d be able to get away from more Wookie dialogue with no subtitles?) Lumpy has finally finished the dishes (this sure is riveting TV!) and wanders off, leaving Malla to fix the family’s Life Day dinner, so she turns on the TV to watch a cooking show starring...

...a four-armed Harvey Korman doing his less-than-best Julia Child impersonation.

Korman Gormaanda instructs her viewers on how to make Bantha Surprise (the surprise is how much it costs to import a Bantha from Tatooine) I’m sure the writers thought this would be comedy gold, but it’s just painful to watch. And to think, just four years prior, Korman was risking an almost certain Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. (sadly, he didn’t get the nomination)

We then switch to stock footage of the Millennium Falcon being attacked by TIE fighters (only this time without Luke manning the guns) Han hopes the fighters will shoot down the Falcon so he can go home, but unfortunately they fare about as well as you’d expect Imperial forces to fare (how the hell did the Empire stay in power as long as they did when this was what typical troops were like?)

Back on Kashyyyk, The Empire has declared martial law and Imperial forces have raided Chewie’s home!

No, wait. It’s only Saun Dann, who offers hope to the family that Han and Chewie will get past the blockade (after all, he could do it...wait, wasn’t he already on Kashyyyk?) He has Life Day gifts for the family.

Malla gets a...sewing machine, I think?

Lumpy gets a...Lego set?

And Itchy gets a video with a bit of “wow! If you know what I mean” (i.e. He brought the dirty old man the family-friendly version of porn). The part of the hologram Mermeia (or, as IMDb dubbed the role “Holographic Wow”) was played by legendary singer/actress Diahann Carroll (who would go on to play Dominique Deveraux of the ABC series Dynasty, but those who watched the USA Network series White Collar will know her as Neil’s landlady June) Say what you will about the shitty writing and production values, but the bit players had star power. The Holographic Wow Mermeia sings a song before doing...whatever it is she does that makes Itchy bounce in his seat like he’s getting his hairballs off.

(Thanks to Commander FemShep)

Meanwhile, at an undisclosed Alliance...accounting office? (Well, it sure looks like Leia is working on an adding machine...) Leia and 3P0 contact Malla and asks where Chewbacca is. Needless to say, this upsets Malla (you know, I kind of get the feeling that if Chewie doesn’t die at the hands of the Empire, Malla’s gonna kill him!) Leia staggers over to the screen (you know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say Leia was either drunk off her ass or tripping balls...hopefully not Itchy’s) Leia is tired of not having subtitles to find out what Malla is saying and asks to speak to anyone who doesn’t growl. Dann comes to the screen and IDs himself as Alliance deep cover (over an open channel? Good thing the Imperial forces in this sector of the galaxy are fucking idiots) and promises to keep an eye on things until Chewie arrives.

Once again we’re treated to more stock footage as the Falcon approaches Yavin with a heavy green filter Kashyyyk, but Han realizes the Empire has the planet blockaded, so tries to phone in come up with a plan. Han manages to find a lightly-guarded section of the planet and lands, though some distance from Chewie’s village.

The Falcon’s approach is loud enough to alert the family, so they rush to greet...

(what, you thought this would be over that quickly? There’s still almost an hour to go!)

The troopers’ commander (who apparently got his helmet from the same outfitter as the last one) informs the officer in charge (who has way too much swagger for someone roped into being in this production) that there should be one more Wookie than is currently home. Dann thinks quickly and fast talks the officer a hell of a lot better than anything Han could do.

The Imperials try interrogating Lumpy, who’s having none of it, which almost starts an armed confrontation! (like Stormtroopers could hit them. I mean, they’re at point-blank range! There’s no way they’d make that shot!) Fortunately, Dann sorta-kinda defuses the situation and tries to run interference on the troops by turning on the video player he gave Malla (you mean that wasn’t a sewing machine?)

...and we’re “treated” to a very forgettable performance by Jefferson Starship (well, their band name is kinds sci-fi-ish, but who knew the band traced its roots back a long time ago?)

Eventually, the troops decide they’ve paid Carney enough grow tired of Dann’s rambling and shoo him away so they can actually do their job. Lumpy doesn’t want the troops in his room (why not? If he’s a typical kid, it’s not like the Empire tossing his room would make it look any worse) and tries to stop them, but gets thrown aside (those guys must work out!) Itchy’s family bonds win out over common sense (I mean, if the troops blast Lumpy then no one has to hear his whining again) and he tries to protect Lumpy, but gets the same treatment. The officer warns Malla to calm her family down or Bad Things will happen (like what? They’ll force the family to watch this production?)

Malla has Lumpy sit at a video player (how many of those things does this house have? Counting the communicator and computer, I’ve counted 6 so far!) and watch...

(Thanks to SWarchives)

Yes, it’s the first ever appearance of Boba Fett!

Once the troopers are done tossing Lumpy’s room, he goes up to assess the damage. Seeing it’s no worse than before, he goes to his Lego set, which is actually a do-it-yourself transmitter kit (so 7 video screens...or 8 if you count the screen explaining how to assemble the kit)

Speaking of the assembly instructions, they are given by Harvey Korman, playing a very glitchy robot.

Meanwhile, the troopers downstairs watch a program (don’t they have other “households” to search?) showing the cantina at Mos Eisley for some reason.

...where we see yet another character player my Harvey Korman (apparently he works cheap. And to think, three years prior he won his fourth straight Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series) as Krelman, a being that looks like a volcano with hair.

...who apparently drinks through the hole in the top of his head. He has apparently decided today is the day he will woo the girl of his dreams...

...the bartender Ackmena, played by Bea Arthur. However, Ackmena is having none of it and is trying to politely brush him off (while still getting him to buy drinks...I mean, she is a businesswoman)

Eventually, the night is cut short as the Imperial official (who is the same official who announced the blockade on Kashyyyk...guess all those celebrities don’t come cheap), so Ackmena has to close the cantina...in to the tune of the Cantina Theme

(Thanks again to Robert Angelli)

I will say, I would not want a steady diet of Bea Arthur’s not-quite-melodious singing, but this somehow works for me, and is probably the second most entertaining thing in this program so far (the first being the cartoon)

Back on Kashyyyk, the Imperials get orders to return, but the officer has one of the troopers remain to catch Chewie when he comes home. After the Imperials leave, the recall order is still being heard.

It turns out Lumpy is transmitting the order from his new computer (that he somehow managed to build despite Harvey Korman’s instructions) The trooper stationed doesn’t think forging Imperial orders is that funny and smashes the computer (great, so now we have to hear Lumpy whine some more) and chases after Lumpy to either blast him or beat the shit out of him (I’d be OK with either, but given the accuracy of the average Stormtrooper, the latter might be more effective)

Fortunately(?) Han and Chewbacca show up and do to the trooper what the rest of us have been wanting anyone to do to Lumpy (throw  him over the rail to the forest far below)

Han and Chewie then go inside for a completely phoned-in and emotionless heart-felt reunion with Chewie’s family. All too soon (or not soon enough, if you’re Harrison Ford) Han needs to get back to where he stashed the Falcon, leaving Chewie to have a touching (if fairly awkward-looking...almost like Malla and Chewie had no clue how Wookies would express affection) family moment before there’s a knock on the door.

Expecting the worst, Chewie readies his bowcaster and opens the door, but it’s just Saun Dann looking to pad his paycheck a bit clean up Han’s mess by fabricating a story to the Imperial official about the trooper going rogue and giving the Empire a worse name than they already have. Somehow, the official buys this story (maybe Luke and Ben should have hired Dann instead of Han to rescue the Leia from the Death Star)

We are then...treated? to a scene that is sure be treasured annually on television for years to come: the Wookie Life Day ritual.

...which apparently involved dressing in red robes (sure, why not?) and walking through space into a white hole. I’m sure this is supposed to be symbolic of something, but I don’t speak Wookie so I have no clue.

On the other side of the white hole, the Wookies are hanging out in some sort of bog, where they are joined by Han, Luke, Leia, 3P0, and R2 (of the group, Han makes the most sense as Chewie’s family treats him as one of theirs, but the droids? They’re not even alive! How can they celebrate Life Day?) Leia still looks drugged to the gills as she sings a song to the tune of the Star Wars theme.

(Thanks to The Movie Dump)

I personally would rather hear Bea Arthur’s singing than Carrie Fisher’s.

We then are treated to a bunch of clips from Star Wars featuring Chewie, (to remind us of when these guys were awesome instead of what we’re seeing here)

...followed by the traditional Life Day meal of Bantha Surprise (imported from Tatooine) as we fade out.

Happy Life Day everyone!

[nuclear-satan]

Final Space Season 3 Episode 1 Review **SPOILER WARNING!!**

...And Into The Fire we go!

I really have wanted to do a Final Space review for a while, so now - I'm going to do it, fuck it. Starting a couple episodes late, but after [insert shenanigans] I needed to let it cool off before getting back into it.

One last warning: THESE ARE NOT SPOILER FREE REVIEWS. DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT SPOILED AND DO NOT WANT TO BE. THESE ARE GOING TO HAVE SOME SUMMARIZATION INVOLVED.

With the disclaimer out of the way, let's get into it.

So, first of all, I have to acknowledge that this cold open? Fucking toasty. The entire first five or six minutes of this episode is flat out amazing and some of the best that Final Space is. Really intense - I love the dramatic cold open to a space chase.

Also, however, brief, the Quinnary reunion was nice. Quinnary is a ship that I enjoy subjectively more than objectively, but considering it really hits now even if S1 had issues... I can look past it yo.

Invictus proves his power and intimidation incredibly well this episode, between the Gary Zombies and even this first incredibly terrifying matchup - even Mooncake, who in any other situation has been able to zap it away, couldn't touch it. Really setting the villain well.

Small thing I want to acknowledge because there was some discourse on it -- Sheryl saying "I'm his mother; where do you think he got it from?" Was really nice to me. Obviously not all is forgiven, nor should it be, but it's just a nice bit of character development.

Then, Ava gets Yeeted by Bolo and breaks.

I could have taken a better screencap probably, but I will not.

Anyways, considering the cast of characters was way too fucking big in S2, I'm not... particularly aggrieved by this, especially since I didn't really like AVA anyways, but it is pretty unfortunate that one of the only female characters just got the ax without basically any development other than the obligatory robot comphet stuff. Whatever, I think this is setting the stage for HUE AI, so I'll bite my tongue.

That said, the conversation that HUE and AVA had before she died? Sweet.

And then they're in Final Space. Goddamn, they really went the extra mile animating and illustrating this episode. Gotta acknowledge it.

Also, quick note: New OP is a banger.

...And this is when the review's going to start getting a bit more negative, because we jump straight into everyone's favorite trope: a time skip.

I. I really have issues with this timeskip. This episode was fucking ballistic in the pacing, and I really, really wish that I could have spent some more time within Final Space just trying to survive. I get it. It was a premiere, so you wanted to go all out, but... I really wish we could have savored it. There's just suddenly a timeskip! We don't get to see how they've been surviving. We don't get to see shit. Quinn just suddenly appears in a new outfit, and then we're off the races.

I dunno man, I really had issues with the pacing of this episode, and this is the backbone of it. It's okay to take a breather, even in your opening episode. You have to know when to take a breather. This episode sorely needed it, and it didn't get it.

Also, obligatory Danger Groins mention. Yeah, I know that's not what he says. It's what he says in my heart, tho.

From here, the Gary zombies show up, which are... admittedly intimidating.

They get attacked, and - okay, can we fucking mention the titan fights for a moment? No matter what happens this season, I'm here for this. This is Gurren Lagann levels of ridiculous, and I fucking love it. Smash that planet, yo.

lThey get separated, and Avocato and Gary have a bit unfitting but fucking hilarious moment that has to be acknowledged. This shit ain't straight, yo. There's no fucking way you tell me this shit is straight.

And... *sigh* I really have some goddamn issues with the next... I don't know, I wasn't watching, six minutes?

"There's no more grossout scenes," we were told. "Season 2 gross out is done. No more weird fetishes."

Okay.

Okay, sure.

I'm sparing you the images, because I don't want to post grossout on my blog, but... holy shit, Quatronostro's birth scene. First of all, which of the fuckers on the blog keeps putting their fetishes in this show? Clarence is gone, so you're making Mpreg Tribore (I realize Tribore is canonically genderfluid, but he's male presenting at the time of this birth... and at every time... I don't have faith in two cishet men to actually make good on that, sorry. I hope I'm wrong.) Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

The scene is gross, uncomfortable grossout. This isn't the 90s anymore!

Also, the other thing I have to acknowledge - that motherfucking robot. It's season 3 - haven't we moved past the screaming = funny leftover humor from Olan's YouTube days? Clearly fucking not.

Also, Ash did a really out of character thing this episode by shooting the robot. I... what is Ash's character, exactly? Ash is an inconsistent enigma. Someone define that poor girl's character, already.

After that... mess.... though, we do end up with a very solid ending. Bolo headbutts the planet, Quinn and Gary get swept up in the blast, and we end up with a very beautiful but quick scene of Gary and Quinn embracing one last time - it's very reminiscent of chapter 9, and I did thoroughly enjoy it.

iAlso, the shot of Mooncake saying "Gar" while looking for Gary, presuming he's dead? Oh, that just hurts.

And then we end with HUE saying, "We are alone, Gary." Honestly, genuinely was a little disappointed to find it wasn't just HUE and Gary. I thought this line was going to come later in the season, and it was just going to be HUE and Gary in a callback from season one. It wasn't, and I'm genuinely very disappointed as someone who's favorite dynamic in the entire show is S1 HUE and Gary. Of course, as a result, I'm not unbiased, and... well, I do stan Quinn too.

And goddamn, look at the Earth. She got fucked uuuuuup. I think I remember hearing next episode that there's only one survivor left, which I do NOT buy as a concept, but it's very cool to see a show that does not shy away from full apocalypse scale destruction of the earth. It like, never happens, so it's a nice subversion. Get fucked, earth.

Overall Thoughts:

This episode is the definition of a mixed bag. The beginning is fantastic and the ending is solid (even if personally disappointing), but the middle is genuinely kind of bad. The pacing is rough, there's season 2 tier grossout that I did NOT need to see, and that robot deserved a punt in the face.

The animation is fantastic though. Everyone point and stare at the animation.

I still think the good outweighed the bad, though - if only because of my personal attachment to the characters. I think this was a decent episode - probably on par with the other openers... actually, I don't know.

My disappointment with this episode was more than with the Toro Regatta, but that was more due to my own expectations and thus not fair to rank it that way. I don't know - all the first episodes of the seasons are meh at best, and this unfortunately due to the lackluster middle fit that mold as well.

If you asked me to give it a ranking, I'd probably say if we assume a 5 out of 10 is average, I'd give it a 6. Decent, fantastic when it's good, but the entire middle section really brought me out of it and because of that I can't give it anything more than that.

I've heard episodes two and three are good, though - excited to see the Ventrexian for myself after all the fuss, so let's see how it holds up!

I'm scared for Biskit tho.

[americangirlstar]

american girl contemporary dolls’ animal crossing islands

bc apparently covid is now canon to the agverse you know they all got new horizons

lindsey bergman: the first contemporary doll also has THE most chaotic island. she does what she wants and nobody can stop her. she only accepts the villagers with the wildest designs, made everyone’s catchphrase either uwu speak or smth like “gay rights,” only wears the most hideous outfit combinations, and buys everything from redd no matter how fake it is. one room of her house is filled with haunted artwork, another has nothing but snapping turtles. she’s figured out how to make memes into clothing patterns and now every pathway on her island is the pogchamp face. best friends with flick. honestly she’s an icon 

kailey hopkins: spends 90% of her time swimming or fishing. only 90% because she actually takes her role as island rep seriously and she has worked very hard to get it to five-star. she does abuse her power to make a million rivers and turn her island into basically a waterpark, but that just makes it cooler. died of joy when swimming was enabled and now has two of everything you can collect in the ocean decorating her house, every room of which resembles a beach house. also collects seashells and has very pretty shell arches decorating doorways

marisol luna: she went into the game with a list of who she will and will not allow on her island and is ruthless in kicking out villagers in order to get who she wants to move in. absolute QUEEN at catching tarantulas/scorpions, goes hunting for them on islands with the insane amount of nook miles she collects by doing random quests. loves collecting emotions for her character to do and then making funny videos out it. filled out the fossils in her museum FAST and now just digs up fossils to decorate the lawn with. each room of her house is a different dance studio. 

jess mcconnell: QUEEN of fishing and bug-catching but can’t dive for SHIT. she has about three of every fossil because she can’t stand the idea of selling them. is obsessed with gathering every possible DIY recipe even if she doesn’t plan on making anything with them, she just thinks they’re neat. has a shrine on her island for redd and celeste in attempts to get them to come more often. she’s been on her island religiously every day since she got the game, it’s a little scary. thinks murder should be legal on her island 

nicki fleming: cannot chose a mean dialogue option to save her life. she can barely stand to kick out villagers she dislikes either, only does it if they ask to leave and then prays to the nintendo gods that bunnie will come visit the island. the main room of her house is reflective of her actual room, the rest of it is absolutely gorgeously decorated, stuff made to look like meadows or snowy mountains. winter is her favorite, she makes a snowboy every day no matter how many times she crashes the snowballs. LIVES for cj and flick because she always hated the idea of her fish/bugs dying for a competition. saves all her new stuff for the museum for nighttime because she feels bad waking up blathers 

mia st clair: wants to hack the game so that it’s winter all the time. soon as the winter DIYs dropped she redecorated her entire island and house to be as icy as possible. she’s basically queen elsa at this point. she’s horrible at catching items so her museum is mostly fossils, but even then sometimes she sells fossils before identifying them if she’s short on bells. she visits sable every day in hopes of making her feel happy. she has pretty much every possible clothing wand so that she can carry around one to match each outfit. one time her brothers went on to try and fuck with her island and we don’t speak of what happened following that. fear her 

chrissa maxwell: shares an island with gwen and sonali. she’s the one in charge so she’s working very hard to make it a 5-star island so isabelle will stop bugging her about it. also very into DIY and likes to decorate the island with things she’s built. favorite seasonal event was the wedding anniversary one, she can’t get enough of redesigning and taking photos of those funky lil alpacas. plus, she got a lot of neat stuff out of it. goes to the able sisters every day to see what kinds of new outfits they have, and yet somehow cannot make a good fashion decision to save her life. obsessed with swimming and now leaves all other museum donations to her girlfriends so she can spend all her free time looking for crabs 

gwen thompson: somehow absolutely brutal. will send clashing-colored toilets in the mail to villagers she doesn’t like to fuck with their home design and hit them with butterfly nets. she’s tried to hit them with axes as well. shakes trees constantly in an effort to catch wasps and has not gotten stung once because she’s that quick with a net. her favorite character is celeste and chrissa and sonali have barely any star stuff because whenever celeste is on gwen is hogging the switch. changes her characters’ hairstyle, like, every five minutes. when she sends her friends gifts the letters will say something like “fuck u, love u <3″ it’s so wildly different than how she normally acts in public that it’s a little scary 

sonali matthews: even worse than gwen. has tried to murder villagers she dislikes before. sometimes fucks with parts of the island just to see how people react. would sell her soul to redd just to piss off tom nook. the only thing she takes seriously is gardening, she has a fenced-off area where she breeds flowers and woe befall anyone who messes it up. her house is a hoarder’s nightmare and chrissa and gwen have been begging her to let them redesign it but she refuses. screenshots the worst parts of their island and posts them on twitter with the dreamcode so people can see the graveyard she made to intimidate rodney 

lanie holland: still lives in a tent because she thinks it’s cool, refuses to pay up to nook so she doesn’t have to get a house. somehow has the cutest outfits of everyone. her island design is to die for, half the island is full of flowers arranged in rainbow-order and the other half looks like a faerie forest. has filled out her museum’s bug collection and has half the fossils but keeps forgetting to go fishing. her little sister emily joined her island and keeps trying to get lanie to upgrade to a house or expand other stores but lanie refuses, it’ll mess with the aesthetic. emily basically has a huge mansion in the corner of the island while everything else is practically a glorified campsite. leif is lanie’s favorite and she only collects bells in order to buy things from him 

kanani akina: the most beautiful island design you’ve ever seen. she also takes the best screencaps and posts them just so her friends know what she’s up to but becomes internet famous for how gorgeous everything is. the best designs, very diverse plants, all the houses are arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way. kanani’s house is on the beach so she can easily swim, fish and collect shells, but the inside is the best part. five of the six rooms are just as beautiful as you’d expect, with soft pastel aesthetics and quiet music playing. then her basement is referred to as the “special room” which holds nothing but several candles in a summoning circle and a single tarantula figure in the center. there’s a skeleton in the corner. whenever anyone asks about it she pretends she doesn’t know what they’re talking about. it’s the funniest thing 

mckenna brooks: disastrous. horrible at paying nook back and keeps getting angry letters from the happy home academy. her goal is to find any loopholes in the game and exploit them, no matter that the game is super simple and thus “cheats” aren’t very useful. she found out about island star ratings and now is trying in vain to get a five-star but she can’t get above a three. has been stung by wasps about a million times while shaking trees to try and find loose bells. one time she shook a tree and a toilet fell out and it now has a dedicated podium on her island, and whenever anyone asks she simply tells them that the toilet is the god of the island. hasn’t been able to keep a villager for longer than a few weeks, and also somehow got raymond on accident. still having the time of her life

saige copeland: spends far too much time designing customs and far too little removing weeds. wants to have flowers in rainbow order like lanie but keeps accidentally picking them. has absolutely no rush to do anything, lived in a tent for like three months because she forgot she could pay off loans. only accepts peppy or normal villagers so her island is pretty much all-girl and she refers to it as the amazon island; this is, however, because somehow no horses have shown up on her island yet even though she very much wants them to. likes to dream and go to random islands to get inspiration. she has a room in her house full of rainbow eels because she thinks they’re pretty 

isabelle palmer: will not stop buying things from the able sisters. she visits every day, pretty much buys one of everything, and then mixes and matches costumes instead of fixing her island. lives for the days when label visits because she takes her requests very seriously and comes back in outfits that slay™. almost exclusively gives clothing gifts to her villagers so that they have a better fashion sense. has a lot of flowers but can’t figure out how to get them to mix. the bug section of her museum has butterflies and nothing else simply because she only thinks to try and catch butterflies. hits rocks every day to try and find the daily Money Rock™. keeps trying to get raymond but her sister won’t let her pay anyone actual money for him 

grace thomas: when she visits the nook store she will solely speak to tommy. constantly checking the wiki to find out which DIYs sell well, and thus only collects shells in order to make shell arches to turn around and sell back. insanely good with bells and with figuring out how to make her island palatable, got a five-star fast. the main room of her house is decorated like a restaurant, with two different kitchen rooms and the upstairs decorated to look very french. she made everyone’s catchphrases french, too. is the only person in the world upset you can no longer eat the fish. goes swimming every day just so she can find a scallop and talk to pascal, she thinks he’s cool 

lea clark: there are a lot of plants here. just. far too many plants. of every color too! she’s very proud of it. she has a short attention span though so there’s like fifty different unfinished projects. she is best friends with like three villagers and forgets the names of the rest, but one time she accidentally hit a villager with a butterfly net and cried for an hour. only ever dresses in summer clothes and is awful at saving money so she only has like eight bells at a time. seasonal events are her absolute jam though, she can’t get enough of them. would die for leif. almost got blocked by the animal crossing twitter for constantly begging them to give her the froggy chair (thanks @lesbianleaclark!) 

gabriela mcbride: her island is more important than her social life. she is very serious about making it a functioning island, and is obsessed mainly with filling out her museum. every time she catches a sea bass instead of something new she lets out a series of swears not appropriate for a child audience. she is best friends with all of her villagers and cries whenever one of them thinks about leaving. her favorite kk slider song changes by day and she’ll switch the music around everywhere whenever she feels like it. visits other islands in order to gather materials to sell in order to make her house bigger; she’s got a dance room, a poetry corner, a student council room, and the main room looks like the liberty arts center. whenever anyone (who’s not redd) visits her island she cries and tries to figure out how to give them things for free because she loves them so much. whenever redd comes by without genuine art she tries to hack into the game in order to skin him alive

tenney grant: obsessed with getting every kk slider song. every time he shows up to the island she pulls up the list of available songs and picks one she doesn’t have yet to request. she wants to get a different song playing in every area of the island and every room of every house. shares an island with logan, jaya and holliday but she’s in charge, which sucks because holliday is way better at doing island management. she’ll text holliday with what isabelle wants her to do and then go DIY a guitar. she set up a stage area near the beach so they can give concerts for the villagers and honestly it looks gorgeous. she named her island “nashville” but makes no attempt to actually make it look like tennessee. she released her dream code on her twitter and because she’s technically a celebrity people keep coming by and asking her why everything on the island looks good except logan’s house and she’s like “ask logan idk” 

logan everett: speaking of which, yeah, logan’s house is a disaster. he cares naught for decorating his place and fills it with random things he thinks are “cool.” likes to run through flowers until they explode. the best diver on the island, though, and is responsible for that area of the museum, while tenney gets fishing, jaya gets bugs, and holliday gets fossils. they all work together to buy everything from redd whether it’s real or not because they think the art is pretty, they find out whether or not it’s real after taking it to blathers. he will place random toilets in the middle of the island and wait for someone else to find it, they have no idea he’s the one doing it and it’s driving them crazy. it’s also the funniest thing he’s ever done and he’s very proud of it. whenever kk shows up he requests a song tenney doesn’t have yet and leaves it outside her door. she didn’t ask him to do this he’s just like that 

z yang: the god of all things video games. she’s a streamer now and while she mostly streams mario, zelda or sonic games, on holidays she’ll stream her island and take suggestions for what she should do to it. due to this, her island can be a mess at times, but she somehow keeps getting good ratings. every time there’s an update she loads up a report of what’s new so she can be one of the first to try it out. she named her island something like “zworld” and refuses to change it. every room of her house is a different movie set, and she put cameras everywhere on the island “so the villagers don’t get any ideas.” somehow keeps getting rare villagers on the first try and won’t let them leave 

luciana vega: would die for celeste. her island is incredibly space-themed and well cared-for, because this game soothes her anxiety so she’s on it 24/7. her town flag is an incredibly accurate constellation. she fills out her museum specifically cause it’s run by celeste’s brother and she’d do anything for that owl; her parents got her a celeste plush for her birthday and now she won’t let go of it. she schedules her life around animal crossing updates. her favorite thing to do is go swimming at night and just look at the animation on the waves under the stars. also wisp’s best friend. won’t accept a villager unless they look like they could potentially be an alien, which means she has the coolest villager collection of everyone 

blaire wilson: due to her family’s experience running an inn she knows exactly how to run a village. her island’s almost boring in how well it’s designed and run, but she always has something extra to keep interest, like an island in the middle that’s filled with exotic flowers. went to the wedding picture event every day in order to get every piece of furniture she could and now has a “wedding area” of her island that nobody uses but is great for photos. isabelle is her favorite character and she will do anything for her. somehow able to make the funniest animal crossing memes in the world. once caught a coelacanth without expecting it and screamed and dropped her switch 

joss kendrick: the BEST fisher. has never lost a fish once, nobody knows how she does it. best friends with cj and takes his seasports challenges way too seriously. wishes they were able to surf but swimming is good, too, though sometimes she’ll spend upwards of ten minutes chasing a particularly stubborn crab. she is incredibly patient at terraforming and uses this skill for evil, as every time her cheer squad comes to visit her island she has completely changed it around and then has them all play hide-and-seek. nobody knows how to find anything. the only consistent thing is that the beach will be the coolest-looking beach in the whole game. she named her island “lesbos” and accepts villagers that “pass the gay vibe check.” nobody is sure what the gay vibe check is 

kira bailey: is horrible at saving bells or getting a good rating on her island but she doesn’t care because her main focus is DIYing her own decor to make her island look like her aunts’ conservatory. as such, will only accept animals that could potentially live there, such as koalas or kangaroos. she’s bad at figuring out where to put houses and buildings so her island’s a mess to navigate, however she knows the routes like the back of her hand and gets confused when people ask her how the hell she finds anything. for some reason absolutely terrified of wisp and refuses to wander her island at night in case they show up 

[pynkhues]

Hi ! I'm sorry if you have already talked about that, I'm just new to the fandom. I just finished s3 and I've felt so conflicted since Lucy's death.. There was a sort of lightness in the show despite of the crime element and obvs flirtation between Brio.. But now, everything seems so dark and Beth is trying to kill him. I feel like there's been a shift and that they'll never be able to come back from it.. What are your thoughts ?? Thank you and stay safe !!

Hi! Welcome to the fandom, anon! :-) 

Season three definitely has a darker feel overall, so I completely understand why you feel conflicted! I think you’re right too - the balance between the lighter elements of the show and the darker ones was really different in s3 compared to seasons 1 and 2, and it gave the season a very different energy. Interestingly though, I don’t actually think the content itself was all that much darker, but rather that shift was felt more in the way that that content was framed and paced.

After all, violence – and the threat of violence – has been a pretty integral part of the show since it began, and while I think there’s a bit to be said about how much of the violence of the show made its way from subtext to text – Eddie’s death happened off-screen, but Lucy’s didn’t, for instance – I also think that there have been moments of textual violence since the show began. Beth knocked Boomer out with a whiskey bottle after he’d tried to rape Annie in the very first episode after all, something that was echoed with Boomer’s completed rape of Mary Pat and her hitting him with her car in 2.03. In that sense, the violence might’ve escalated in some ways across the first two seasons – culminating with Beth shooting Rio in 2.13 – but it’s always been a part of the DNA of the show overall.

In that sense, I think what’s really changed isn’t so much the violence and threat of violence itself, but rather the way that the show frames that violence and the effect that has on the pacing, tone and character beats.

So hey! Let’s break that down a little.

Catch and Release

When it comes to scenes of intense drama or violence – played out or inferred – Good Girls is really a show that, at least for its first two seasons, relies on a pretty defined structure that I’d say goes something like this:

1.    Contextual joke that builds tension and/or sets mood.

2.    Act of violence or drama.

3.    Throwaway joke that breaks tension and/or resets mood.

As a structure, it’s generally pretty effective and is ultimately used to manage the tone of the episode. After all, for a show like Good Girls which is a dramedy, leaning too hard on the joke or too hard on the drama can create the off-balanced feeling we got in s3, but I’ll come back to that later.

This structure essentially presents the violence or drama of the scene as the meat of a burger, allowing the jokes to both complete the meal (delicious!) while also softening up the richness or intensity of the meat itself.

Generally speaking, I’d say Good Girls did this quite simply and effectively in s1, experimented and tested the elastic of it in s2, and more or less got rid of one crucial step in s3. It makes for an interesting exploration of narrative structure, I think, but that’s just because I find this sort of stuff interesting to explore, haha.

So what’s that actually look like in action?

Okay, let’s take 1.01 with the scene I described above.

1.    Contextual joke that builds tension or sets mood

I’d say in this case it was the entire scene at the end of the episode where Annie, Beth and Ruby are arguing about what to do about Rio.

2.    Act of Violence

Boomer attempts to rape Annie, Beth hits Boomer, Boomer falls into the coffee table.

3.    Throwaway joke that breaks tension and resets mood.

And again in 1.02.

1.    Contextual joke that builds tension or sets mood

Annie trying to sell Rio on the dolls.

2.    Act of Violence

Rio ordering Mick to kill Beth.

3.    Throwaway joke that breaks tension and resets mood.

Boomer popping out of the treehouse.

(please forgive my horrible screencaps, I took these after I’d written this post and it’s now late, hahah)

Annnnd again in 1.04

1:

2:

3:

By 1.09, they were already starting to leave wider gaps between the jokes and the tension – which makes sense as it was building towards the climax and they were wanting more drama than comedy – but importantly, this framing was still present. 

1: The girls joking about the van job

2: The tense climax of the van job

3: The joke about the result of the tense climax

And in 2.01, it kept those gaps big as a direct continuation.

1.    Contextual joke that builds tension

Beth putting the mug on the coaster as she scrubs blood off her floor.

2.    Rio shooting Dean in a flashback.

3.    Annie and Ruby bickering about Annie stealing a hospital meal (tone reset as a result of violent climax)

The series went on to test this further in s2 by adding extra beats to create more complex (and interesting, in my opinion!) variations. The clearest example of this is in 2.03 with the Boomer and Mary Pat sequence:

1.    Tension establishing joke: the girls in the hotel bickering about the price of the room.

2.    An act of inferred violence – Boomer rapes Mary Pat

3.    An act of textual violence that builds off both the joke and the inferred violence of the previous scene – Mary Pat runs over Boomer.

4.    A throwaway joke as a tension breaker – Mary Pat worried her kids have heard only to see them engrossed in their devices while the Power of Love plays in the background.

5.    Takes us straight into an even better tension breaker joke with Mary Pat telling the girls she chopped Boomer up.

(That is such. good. snowballing. tension. And I could talk about it forever. Like, seriously. It’s not a sequence we talk about a lot, but 2.03 is an excellent example of complex dramedy writing).

That said, it often still fell back on that classic structure too in satisfying ways. 2.07 being a perfect example.

1.    Contextual joke to establish tension

2.    Tension / act of violence

3.    Tension breaker.

Whiiiich brings us to 2.13.

King

Look, 2.13 doesn’t work for a lot of reasons, but in no small part, it doesn’t work because it doesn’t play with the above structure like the Mary Pat and Boomer arc did in 2.03, nor test the elasticity of it like 1.09 and 2.01 do, rather it completely abandons it altogether.

It doesn’t build tension effectively through that blend of drama and comedy that the show can do really well, nor does it break it afterwards for us with a lighter moment that commentates on that tension, rather it thrusts the violence and drama onto us in a way that wasn’t well established narratively, and – quite frankly – was badly written.

I could talk a lot more about why that narrative choice doesn’t work, but that’s not really what we’re here to talk about. What we’re here to talk about is:

A Change of Pace

Because the thing is, season 3 does actually return to it’s s1 and s2 structure, only with one, crucial change.

It abandons Step 3: the joke that resets the mood.

What this means is that we have the contextual joke which establishes the tension and the mood, and the tension, but then the tension’s never actually broken for us afterwards.

This is perhaps clearest in 3.05 with Lucy’s murder.

1. We have the establishing joke with the girls debating which Au Jus hostage photo to use.

2. We have the act of violence.

And then we have only aftermath.

Ruby crawls into bed with Stan, Annie with Ben, and Beth takes Au Jus home.

On it’s own, I think this is an effective break from structure. I think it underscores the power of this sequence overall and the importance of Lucy’s death as a narrative moment and the ‘innocence lost’ theme. 

Only it’s not on it’s own.

The season kept breaking structure. Over and over again.

It happens after Rio kills Turner in 3.01 (there’s a slightly lighter scene that caps that with Rio checking out of the hotel, so you could kind of argue that it was returning to the same structure, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark for me), it happens when Rio confronts Beth in 3.03 and when he takes her to the OBGYN, it happens when Max tries to confront Rio at the bar in 3.06, and it happens in most of the scenes with the hitman.

In fact, I’d argue that the only scenes that returned to the catch and release structure in s3 were the scene where Ruby stole the hockey jersey, the carwash scene which ended with Mick wanting to go to IHOP and, most effectively, in the Sweet P’s job in 3.10.

You’re talking a lot about sequence structure here, Sophie. 

Right! Sorry! Tangents, haha.

What I’m getting at is that I don’t think the content of the show itself is any different. Murder, crime, intimidation and violence has been central to the show’s DNA since 1.01, and a lot of this has been textual. Lucy’s death I think definitely feels different because she’s the first true innocent we’ve seen killed on this show, but y’know, Rio was threatening to murder random PTA moms way back in 1.07 when Beth’s secret shopper scheme proved – err, unvetted, and Dean was trying to organise hitmen in s2 too.

Structure is important. Structure is what sets up audience expectations and establishes the rhythm of a story as well as – most importantly for this discussion – the tone of one. Seasons 1 and 2 presented the dramatic and comedic elements of the show ultimately as a marriage. The comedy was used frequently to guide us as viewers in and out of tension, and ultimately, I think this is why season 3 felt so different. That three point sequence structure was unbraided, the comedy divorced from the drama, which stuttered the rhythm and ultimately affected the tone.

SO, in answering your question as to whether or not the show can come back from the darkness to find its balance again, yeah, I think it can!

I think the writers sort of wrote themselves into a big, ugly corner with 2.13 and spent a lot of s3 struggling to find a way back out of it. Like, I think on a narrative and a character level, they had to show Rio kill someone in s3 to re-establish him as a character with teeth, because if they hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been the source of tension and conflict that they rely on him to be. I think they committed themselves to darker elements of Beth’s character and to asking the question of what it is the girls are capable of, because that’s the sort of thing you commit yourself to when you throw a grenade into your own story like they did with 2.13.

And look, I don’t think they got themselves out of it perfectly by any stretch of the imagination – in particular sacrificing parts of the way they typically structured tension in violence as they tried to reset the board meant they ultimately also chose to sacrifice both rhythm and tone too – but I think they were rebuilding by the end of s3. I think the Sweet P’s job was this show at it’s tonal best, with that marriage of comedy and anticipation and both personal and criminal stakes really working together to build a great sequence (Beth and the Caesar Salad! Anticipation building with Ruby and Stan as Stan figures out what’s happening! A crime plot! Stan coming through in the end!)  

I think the note the show chose to end the season on with the promise of Boland Bubbles, Ruby and Stan reconnecting and the first glimpse of Phoebe infiltrating the girls does reset the board in a way that leaves a lot more room for lightness than the end of season 2 did, while still offering hooks of conflict and tension too. I also think it allows for a return to the sort of sequence structure that lets the show balance it’s tone in a way that 2.13 frankly didn’t.  

Of course, that’s ultimately if they decide to return to it, haha. I hope they do, and I think we were heading there, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see! :-) 

[nodesiretogrowup]

ok, I think I’m ready for my in depth recap/analyse/review of today’s episodes, one by one

hopefully this shows up in the tag because my last few posts haven’t for some reason

Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!:

Frank-This season is about legacy. The first word we hear-LEGACY

The graduation ceremony took me back to my Girl Scout days. And is pretty accurate to the graduation ceremonies I did in scouts, though they had more levels. And the names of their ranks made more sense than the Girl Scout ones. Not sure how the Boy Scout ones work.

Poor Donald. Though from what we see in this episode, it might be better to not be a Woodchuck. They’re a bit...intense.

RETURN OF THE FANNY PACK

Launchpad’s notes were great. He totally wrote them, hence the grape jelly stain

THE LITTLE BABY SCOUTS ARE SO CUTE

The title is a lie. They’re trying to become Senior Woodchucks. And the challenge itself was called the Junior Woodchuck Wilderness Challenge

Poor Huey, that’s always awkward

DUCKTALES SAYS GAY RIGHTS

LENA SAYS GAY RIGHTS

Lena cheering Violet on was ADORABLE

The “I’m with Dad” shirts...chef’s kisses. I now want them to make NEVERENDING DAD JOKES

Vi’s little blush DAAAWWW

Why would Huey have seen her at scout events? I thought Violet had just moved to Duckburg, though I might be remembering wrong. Even then, Duckburg is a fairly large city she might have gone to events closer to where she lived

That fold out sash is DOPE

“DEWEY’S BROTHER!” Ouch, Launchpad.

Huey’s little wave

PROUD MAMA DELLA MODE ACTIVATED

DELLA’S IN THE THEME SONG! We all knew it would happen, but still. I NEED more Della/Launchpad interactions. They look like they’ll have a fun dynamic

He probably isn’t, but I’m gonna pretend that little asian scout is Russel from Up

Webby is a good friend

When Launchpad took Huey’s guidebook it reminded me a lot of whenever someone took the Journals away from Dipper. Complete with self doubt

Dewey is a horrible pep-talker

“Show the other nerds that you are king nerd.” Louie is actually a pretty good pep-talker. He could be a motivational speaker

I like Violet’s quirk of calling the others by their full name (ie Webbigail, Huebert)

Lena takes her new big sister role SERIOUSLY

I really like that the person Scrooge looks up to is a woman. And him sharing a room with his parents was a nice touch

“Story about Scrooge as a kid in 3..2..” Louie knows the formula (probably why he just accepted the sitcom lol)

The bee one made me laugh because alliteration...and bees

How did that map/painting work? It looked like she was actually holding it but the picture still looks fine after Scrooge peels the map off

“OOO, TWIST” I love you Della

I love the Tittertwill and its song and dance. I want it as my ringtone. And I want plushies. STAT

“I’m speechifying” I’m gonna use that next time someone interrupts me

I hope someone gets a good screencap of that post. I want to see what all is on there

Violet trash-talking is ADORABLE. She wants to fit in

“CALL HIM A CLOWN!”

When they tried handshaking...too cute! I don’t really like shipping the kids because of how young they are and that they haven’t had much experience in the crush/romance department...but Huey and Violet are adorable and I think they both have crushes on each other

I kind of wonder what Launchpad was doing while everything was going on. Also he looks SO HOT in that uniform

I didn’t notice it the first time, but all three groups took a different path. Neat

I got upset when Huey used his water bottle to make a compass. Now that lid is dirty and the rest of your water will spill

Violet dots her i’s with a Mickey. The note also made me think of the halfway there joke in an episode of Spongebob

“Do you feel appropriately razzed?” This girl is too sweet

Huey going back to pick up the note so he doesn’t litter

The little growls Donald was doing while swatting at the mosquito were cute. Also FUCK MOSQUITOS

Dewey INSTANTLY forming a connection with the bird is great

“Aw, they’re both cute” My thoughts exactly

“It’s JUST a mosquito, you should give it some of your blood”

I like that over the episode we see Huey continue to forgo the rules to try and boost his chance of winning while Violet follows them

WHY THE FUCK IS THERE LIGHTNING RAIN?!

In Huey’s panic he forgets what he knows. I feel like that’s gonna come back

“That was the smack-talking” Vi is extra adorable in this episode

Webby’s disappointment in the lack of actual giants, cute

Donald and Della should start a slapstick comedy duo

“YOU WANT US TO FOLLOW YOU ON A BRAND NEW ADVENTURE, WELL LET’S GO”

I love when Huey sings

Huey needs to see a therapist cuz that shit ain’t normal

I like him giving the guidebook a soothing, southern voice. Did anyone else think of Ratatouille when the book showed up? Like how Remy imagined Chef Gusto

“Well that’s a pickle of a different color” Oh southerns and your weird expressions

My sister kept saying that the bear looked like it was mixed with a hyena and I can totally see it. Maybe he’s a lost Wuzzle lol

“THAT BEAR DON’T CARE FOR BOOK LEARNIN"

“I’m the food"

VIOLET HAS A KNIFE

Even though I knew it would happen, I was still very disappointed in Huey for not helping Violet. That’s a dick move

“CURSE MY FLAWLESS SLAMS”

God, poor Donald

WHY DO YOU WANT YOUR FAMILY TO DIE, SCROOGE?

I love how blunt Louie is

“EVERYONE FOLLOW THAT BIRD” *Blue Bird of Happiness flashbacks*

WHY THE FLYING FUCK IS THE LAST MARKER IN A GODDAMN ACTIVE VOLCANO?! 

“Where you go I cannot follow” I love JW

“I DON’T KNOW, I’M GONNA THROW THIS ROCK” That’s how I solve my problems

HUEY’S LOSING HIS GODDAMN MIND

“I’m so mad I can’t even aliterrate”

“I’m cold and terrified, sounds like an adventure to me”

“Poppycock, whoever told you that?” “YOU”

“So let’s rewrite history” That was last season, Dewey

Scrooge doing the song and dance was great

“WHAT IS HAPPENING?!” “I DON’T KNOW, WHY ARE YOU IMAGINING THIS?!” That’s some fucked up shit right there

“Wait, there’s a failure badge?” I would like one

I’m glad they clarified that the challenge isn’t a one time only thing because I was confused

I like that this show included the lesson that it’s ok to fail. I still struggle with that to this day

Violet opening up to Huey is sweet. And offering to share the win. She’s a good noodle

“I thought this would be more climatic” BITCH YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?

“I RESPOND TO AUTHORITY” And she just pats him on the head

“LAUNCHPAD?!” “LAUNCHPAD?!” “Hey, I’m Launchpad” COMEDY GOLD

I KNEW DELLA WAS GONNA BE THAT MOM! I NEED MORE OF IT!

“YEAH, CUZ YOUR A...” “Lena, please”

Launchpad giving Huey one of his failure badges is kind of adorable. Though I thought you could only earn one of each badge. Then again they have a failure badge so normal scout rules probably don’t apply here

Dude, that DEATH GLARE Della gives Launchpad. Something tells me this isn’t over yet. I hope this means Della is gonna see Launchpad as her Sitcom Nemesis while he’s completely unaware of it. Like DW and Gizmoduck

The Sabrewing family is ADORABLE and MOST BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS

JW returning as a ghost. I’m not sure if that’s funny or dark

I feel like the Duck family finding the journal is...unfair in a way. Like Violet got to become the Senior Woodchuck but Huey and his family are gonna find tons of treasure/get rich and famous

I think we’ve got some future episode titles in there

I thought Goldie said she found the fountain of youth, why was it in the journal

“MY NAME IS DEWEY”

OMG FOWL!!! I think it’s funny that Phantom Blot is still wearing his FunZone mascot costume

And now we know what this season’s goal is

Seeing Della with her family was great. Like everyone has said, it feels like she was meant to be there the whole time. Her and Donald were great. It was nice to see them being all sibling-y. I heard that this wasn’t intended to be the season opener but you could of fooled me. This sets up everything so nicely for the season. Huey is going to question who he is and what defines him. We have a list of treasures to be discovered. And we see the FOWL are after those treasures too. This was a solid season opener that has me excited for the journey ahead.

[quarterfromcanon]

27-29 for the get to know my favorites game

Hello, lovely! Thank you for these. :) Trios turned out to be a surprising challenge (I apparently have more favorite groups of four than three), but I’m pretty happy with the ones I remembered after giving it some thought. The final picks are under the cut! <3

Top 5 BROTPs

1. Paula Proctor & Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) - Naturally, this was the immediate choice that sprang to mind. It’s the first relationship on the show I really fell in love with, and it’s the one friendship in the series that consistently tugs on my heartstrings. It’s flawed, complicated, and messy but the genuine connection underneath it all is strong enough that I’m hopeful they can work through their problems. I would’ve preferred to see more emphasis on that effort in the fourth season (and a lot more work on Rebecca’s friendships with Heather and Valencia as well), but I want to believe things improved between them after the finale. 

2. Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley (Stranger Things) - The general public opinion of Steve Harrington has been on such a journey since Season 1, bringing him now to a status of common fan favorite. As such, I think a delicate balance needed to be struck in finding a suitable match to team up with him on adventures. This person needed to:

A) Have good chemistry in their interactions with Steve

B) Bring a new dynamic to the table that he didn’t already have with an existing connection 

and most importantly 

C) Be a unique and engaging character that the audience would care about individually, so they didn’t get lost in simply being an offshoot of Steve’s story. They couldn’t be relegated to perpetual sidekick with little else to define them.

As far as I’m concerned, Robin Buckley fits the bill on every account. She’s artistic, resilient, loyal, and - especially endearing to me - a movie buff. She has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and a big heart. Being friends with Robin helps Steve take the specter of his high school self less seriously so he can put it behind him, and she helps him more fully embrace the person he’s becoming in the wake of that lost status. Having Steve for a friend helps Robin resolve some lingering emotional scars from school as well. It gives her an opportunity to share her authentic self with a peer and - to her relief and ours - find acceptance after revealing a pretty important secret. I can’t wait to watch the two of them be adorably nerdy and goofy bros at Family Video in Season 4, presumably with some daring fights against dark forces when they’re off the clock. Does saying I hope Kali comes to Hawkins somehow and bonds with one or both of them mean I can speak that into existence? I’m doing that now. It’s worth a try. If it happens in some capacity when the time comes, know that I will throw a One Blogger Party of epic proportions. 

3. Wynonna Earp & Nicole Haught (Wynonna Earp) - I had to use this specific screencap because it perfectly encapsulates the chaotic energy that makes me loves these two together so much. Their separate approaches to their shared work environment are at pretty much polar opposite ends of the spectrum, but they make a pretty solid team when they play to each other’s strengths and communicate. They also both love Waverly most of all, so it feels like they were bound to work out their differences eventually since neither would want to make her feel torn between her sister and her girlfriend. The hijinks they get up to in each other’s company are just top shelf. I look forward to at least a little bit of fun like that from every season. If I wind up having a lasting partner later on down the road, it’d be cool if their personality balanced well with my sister’s on this level. I’d also be really happy if I ultimately gelled with her person in a way that sounded unlikely at first but worked. Fingers crossed for both outcomes, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

4. Emily Thorne [Amanda Clarke] & Nolan Ross (Revenge) - I have two things to quickly clarify for those who are unfamiliar with this show.

#1 She has two listed names because she was born Amanda Clarke but goes by Emily Thorne for most of the series to hide her true identity. 

#2 Despite the impression this picture may give, Nolan is not marrying Emily; he is simply walking her down the aisle. 

These two are there for each other through so much - the looming threat of discovery, jail time, capture, near death experiences, heartbreak, the passing of loved ones, etc. - and they make it to the other side with a deep bond the likes of which they’ll never experience with another person. It is at times heavily one-sided because of how much drama Emily deliberately dives into, but it’s something that she tries to make up for during her more self-aware and less self-involved times. There’s genuine love and mutual respect there by the finale and it’s really gratifying to witness the journey they’ve taken together. 

[~Slightly spoiler-y closing statement after these brackets~] I was pretty sure I knew where the show was going with romantic ships by the end. I knew for certain it wasn’t my personal OTP for her because they’d already killed that person off quite some time ago. There was a part of me that could’ve found some contentment in leaving the story with these two as a couple. After all, one of my favorite ship dynamics is Reluctant Acquaintances to Best Friends to Lovers, but it was not to be. That being said, the platonic friendship they shared was a big part of the heart of the show and I cherish it for that. Nolan was a rare exception for Emily, a genuine bond formed in the years when she was tried to operate like her heart was made of stone. I also think working with Emily gave Nolan a sense of purpose and let him flourish in his area of expertise. I’m not sure how either of them would feel about the musical reference but, to slightly paraphrase from Wicked: because they knew each other, they have been changed for good.

5. Penelope Stamp & Bang Bang (The Brothers Bloom) - I have seen Rachel Weisz and Rinko Kikuchi in more roles since this movie than I had prior to watching it for the first time so, if anything, my fangirling over this friendship has gotten worse rather than more manageable. x) This post classified the film under the subgenre whimsical noir. It turns out that’s a style I instantly adore every time I stumble upon it. One of the titular brothers, Stephen, lives so deeply immersed in the variations of the world he writes for their heists that even those closest to him are essentially characters he can interact with on a daily basis. His feelings for them as people can get very muddled with his feelings for them as interesting OCs to move through narratives. A big trouble with this is that his living archetypes can often get reduced to clichés. He’s not always mindful of their nuances or allowing for the full range of their autonomy. Penelope is selected by Stephen to serve as the “manic pixie dream girl” who will be his brother Bloom’s forever love and Bang Bang is essentially presented as a “dragon lady” stereotype. I haven’t done a rewatch in years so I may be giving the movie too much credit here, but I remember this choice feeling at least semi-deliberate. It could be interpreted as a way to illustrate how Stephen warps real life to fit his vision. At least, I can definitely remember scenes that felt like they debunked the one-note assessments of these two. What I genuinely love, though, are the little moments when Penelope and Bang Bang are able to just spend time together with little to no interference from Stephen or Bloom. They share their hobbies and teach each other new skills. It feels like they truly perceive one another as whole human beings on a level that neither guy is capable of doing since they’re both so immersed in the drama of the plot. When the women are with each other, they get to be more than an extension of the men who maneuver them; they get to be themselves. Penelope is the only one Bang Bang clearly wants to maintain contact with once the heist is finished. I think that says a lot. Honestly, this is another BROTP that could slide to OTP. If someone wrote fic of them completely severing ties with the brothers and going off on their own - romantically or platonically - I wouldn’t be upset at all. 

Top 5 Trios

1. Luke, Leia, & Han (Star Wars Episodes IV - VI) - Oh dear, I’m overwhelmed just looking at a picture of them together. Star Wars has been a part of my life since childhood. Getting to watch the original trilogy felt like a rite of passage (when I was really little, Mom used to find things for us to do outside the room while Dad watched because she was afraid some of it might scare me). Princess Leia resounded with me on a level that almost no other fictional royalty has ever quite matched. Han’s wardrobe is still some serious #aestheticgoals and I would 100% wear replicas of his jackets and vests if I had them. I also remember thinking that Luke’s new look in Return of the Jedi was SO COOL with the all-black wardrobe and green lightsaber. Wow, imagine that, an edgy costume change that shared vibes with the common Disney villain color palette called to me as a baby fan of antagonists and antiheroes! Who ever could have foreseen that sudden spike in appreciation? :P Anyway, one of my lingering sorrows about the more recent trilogy is that we never got to see all three of them as aged adults in each other’s company. I still wanted our new cast to get their time to shine, of course, but I do lament the absence of at least one little trio reunion.

2. Luna, Neville, & Ginny (Harry Potter series) - The Silver Trio, pictured here with the first set of three that comes to mind when thinking about the books and movies. I do still love Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but I’ve found a growing appreciation for this other team-up over the years. They’ve been through a lot too, even if they are not always present where the main action is. Bullying, loss of parents, manipulation of the mind and body, abuse at the hands of authority figures - they’re all left with internal (and probably external) scars to bear. There’s also something to be said for how strong they all were in the school year set during Deathly Hallows, when the Golden Trio wasn’t around to inspire and unite those who wanted to stand up to ever-increasing tyranny. It can be easy, unfortunately, for them to get written off based on the oversimplified stereotypes that have gotten associated with them. People remember Luna as being weird and spacey, Neville as awkward and hapless, and Ginny as bland and lovestruck. They’re all far more nuanced than that, and they accomplish great things while fighting for and beside their friends. I’m planning on doing a re-read of the books at some point, and I really look forward to revisiting these brave kids.

3. Irma, Marion, & Miranda (Picnic at Hanging Rock) - Ah, yes, my very recently discovered darlings. I have many thoughts about them all. I’ll try to keep this as condensed as I can while still making sense. Some spoilers will follow, although those won’t answer every question the story poses. There are audience members who ship the above characters as a throuple, which I totally get, but for me it’s like soulmates of a different kind. These three have met at a point in their lives when they all burn with compatible intensity. They long for the same dream version of youth, for a way to begin life free from the confines of a world that won’t accept all their hearts contain. While the people that surround them may not be willing to bend the rules, nature itself appears to show them mercy. How often do we see a story of girls who just... love other women so much that a sacred location goes, “Y’know what? I’m gonna help you escape your restrictive society. Permanently.” This miniseries definitely depicts the setting as being involved in messing with the investigation, as a mystical place that befuddles unwanted intruders. I love the way these three fortify each other in times of pain and fear, and there’s something deeply moving about how standing side-by-side helps them defy the odds.

4. Sarah, Alison, & Cosima (Orphan Black) - Okay so, technically, when I picture our core team in this show, the net is a little wider. My mind tends to also include Felix, Mrs. S., Kira, Helena, Donnie, Delphine, and Scott. However, I think you could kinda argue that those characters have a stronger connection to one of the above three than they do to the other two. Thus, this ends up being the central triangle. They’re all such solid performances and the fact they’re all played by the same person is incredibly impressive (not to mention the, like, twelve other clones Tatiana brings to life throughout the series). Watching them go from tense strangers to sestras was wonderful. I’m glad they had each other through the increasingly complicated web of lies and schemes they had to unravel and survive. 

5. Galavant, Sid, & Isabella (Galavant) - Remember how James Marsden was in Enchanted? If you dialed down the deliberately cartoonish quality of that performance and allowed for more not-so-G-rated humor, I feel like you’d have a general sense of what Galavant is like as a character. Sid is his squire and Isabella is a princess whose mission happens to combine with Galavant’s, albeit fueled by different driving motivations. They find themselves involved in a lot of shenanigans because of Galavant - even in his own universe, he’s into the whole dashing knight thing more than is strictly necessary - but they make a fun little team to follow through the world of this musical television series. I’ve gotten fuzzy on the details since I watched it air live four years ago, but I remember the series being enough of a summer feel-good time that I’d be game to revisit the show again someday.

Top 5 Family Relationships

1. Stevie Budd & The Roses (Schitt’s Creek) - The whole fish-out-of-water setup for this series was already pretty fun in and of itself, especially given how outlandish their lifestyles evidently were before the show begins. The thing that makes it special, though, is how the absence of all their expensive distractions finally helps them prioritize being a family. The Roses do a lot of work to reconcile who they were with who they find themselves becoming in the present. It’s sweet to see them collectively conclude that growing closer to each other is one of the few things they do not regret in the slightest. They also silently agree to adopt Stevie along the way and, boy, does that give me a lot of Big Feelings, particularly in the later seasons.

2. River Song & The Ponds (Doctor Who) - I think it’s been like seven years or so, give or take, since I watched Doctor Who with any regularity. These three have resurfaced in my mind many times since then. They all love with such fierce and unwavering devotion, spanning lifetimes. It’s fascinating - and often heartbreaking - to learn about the things they’ve experienced and endured. Oh gosh, and once the show reveals how River’s story overlaps with theirs, and you pay attention to how she looks at them, IT HURTS but it’s so engaging to watch. The emotions are all flooding back just remembering them now. Argh, what great characters... </3

3. The Tico Sisters (Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi) - Rose appears in two installments of the third trilogy, but this is the episode that has both Tico daughters. We never get to see them interact onscreen in the film, but I still feel the bond between these sisters so intensely. I found out later that Kelly was present for the filming of Paige’s death scene (which happens so early in the movie that it doesn’t feel like a big spoiler - please forgive me if it is). I’m glad that was something they decided to do behind-the-scenes, because it definitely informs Rose’s grief. She’s sitting in the dark, picturing her big sister’s final moments with such horribly vivid detail that it feels like she was there, and yet she can’t do anything to change how it ends. The shape of the sisters’ necklaces immediately establishes that they were a unit even when acting independently, that they felt like two halves of a whole - all they had left of their family. Now there is only one, and that fact is a weight around Rose’s neck both figuratively and literally. It serves as a visual reminder of how she carries Paige’s absence always, trying to discover and embrace who she is on her own while still honoring the memory of a relative she loved so deeply. I think she reaches the end of Episode VIII feeling like she’s someone of whom her sister would be quite proud. I’m very proud of her, too. 

4. The Tyler Siblings (Wonderfalls) - Jaye is comically different than the rest of her family, and the show establishes that right out the gate when we learn that she’s the only one whose name doesn’t rhyme with the rest (left to right, the others are Karen, Sharon, Darrin, and Aaron, respectively). Her relationships with her parents could certainly lead me off on some analytical tangents but, predictably, it’s the sibling stuff that interests me more. I think it could be said that all three do more living inside their heads than they do out in the world, and that they’ve all grown up to be borderline loners (Ironically Jaye, who is considered the most troubled, is the only one I remember being shown to have formed and maintained a friendship). Aaron’s a very philosophical and analytical person, so you get the sense he talks to himself more than to others, although he still manages to resurface from those deep contemplations so he can goad and tease his sisters from time to time. Sharon is high-strung, competitive, and brings that “disaster lesbian” energy to basically every social interaction she has. Jaye’s standoffishness seems to stem from both the difficulty of fitting in with people and the fear that connections will fall apart once they manage to form at all. They’re all just messes trying to make the best out of the situations they face, and I appreciate that. I also enjoy how prominently the Jaye and Sharon sister bond features throughout the show’s only season. It starts out on pretty rocky ground, but they grow a lot in regard to how willing they are to communicate and express their love for one another. 

5. The Brothers Proctor (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) - The family dynamics in their house are in need of some serious work, without a doubt. I’m just really touched by how close these two have become without Paula’s notice. It’s possible they always were, in that we-fight-but-we-care way that siblings can often be, but the supportive side of that really moves to the forefront as they get older in the series and it warms my heart. There’s such a glaring difference between The Household As Paula Views It and Things That Are Happening While She’s Not Paying Attention. I can’t help using fic as a way to explore that. I happily find excuses for her sons to make pop-in appearances, just to check up on them. I'm so pleased that, as of Season 4, they seem to have become fairly well-adjusted in spite of everything. Oh, and I am still not over the revelation that they attend renaissance festivals together, in character, for fun. What precious cuties who would no doubt dislike me referring to them as such! Paula, please give them an extra hug from me! 

[beesmygod]

this is what riverdale is about (part 3)

part 1

part 2

first, i have to start this description of the first season by begging you to stay with me for all 3 seasons; the first season is hilariously quaint in hindsight to whatever the fuck i just watched in season 3. the first season does deal with some weirdly heavy subjects for a comic that was at one point about getting a malt down at the shop with your best girl (for example, a plot point in season 1 is a predatory teacher/student relationship) but the third season is freaked out on pcp comparatively. the descent into madness this show demonstrates as time goes on should act as a warning to all who desire to write fanfiction: there but for the grace of god goes YOU.

anyway, my approach to doing this is that i will describe each episode of the season briefly. in some episodes, nothing of major consequence happens. in some, i will describe interactions i found especially bizarre or accidentally funny or iconic. you may want to keep the list of characters handy but i will try to explain the new, incidental ones as they pop up.

an odd side note: you will notice many of the episode titles are taken from movie titles. “riverdale” LOVES making references to movies. i mean hell, so do i, but you will notice some of the references are............on the nose.

images are from the riverdale wiki

SEASON ONE (PART 1):

the river’s edge: jughead, as the series narrator, describes a july 4th boating incident that led to the death of jason blossom, cheryl’s twin brother. cheryl is found by some off-brand boy scouts on the riverbank looking like a fabulous drowned rat. when the town comes to gawk at the spectacle, betty’s mother is hella pumped at the idea of jason being dead because he broke up with betty’s sister, polly (betty’s mom is later revealed to be prejudiced against all redheads, including archie). jason’s body is not recovered.

veronica and her mother arrive at riverdale to stay in a 5 star hotel that inexplicably exists in this podunk little shithole of a town. they discuss her father’s recent arrest for various financial crimes and decide to get a burger. betty, across town, is thinking the same thing...but love is on her mind...

betty wants to confess her feelings to archie, who she watches dress from the house next door. he is huge and beefy, having worked on his dad’s construction site during the summer. betty on the other hand, organized a toni morrison release party (?!), which she describes to archie as they catch up over a burger. archie wants to make music now. music is the ONLY thing that gives his life meaning (spoilers: he only feels this way for about half a season), except for football. betty is about to confess her feelings but veronica busts the door open and ruins everything.

there is an insane scene here where veronica meets kevin at school the next day and “concludes” he’s gay using her powers of deduction and also the fact that he talked to her about a gay bar in town (i cannot believe the riverdale gay bar has never come up again wtf). based on this information alone, she wants to be best friends. great stuff.

archie tries to join the pussycats and they tell him to fuck right off. josie gets a weird monologue about her cat ears. archie makes weird eye contact with the music teacher at riverdale high, ms. grundy (who is like 22 years old and hot now, instead of ancient and withered), who is revealed to have had a VERY uncomfortable sexual relationship with him. the visual coding of the flashback scene is bananas; she’s wearing the heart-shaped pink “lolita” glasses from the kubrick movie. 

through a flashback scene, it is revealed that one of archie and grundy’s sexual trysts that took place on the date and location jason died was interrupted by a gunshot. meanwhile, betty and veronica gay kiss to try to get on the cheerleading team but cheryl is unimpressed, commenting that it is SO 1990s. nevertheless, they make the team.

at the semi-formal, betty confesses to archie, who reacts like she handed him a dead fish wrapped in newspaper. cheryl thinks this is hella funny and sets up a scenario at her after party that gets veronica and archie together for a round of “7 minutes in heaven”. betty flees. jughead writes his novel in pop tate’s chocklit shoppe. kevin and moose (a closeted football player) try to fuck down by the murder river but the mood is ruined by jason’s body floating to the shore.

OKAY that’s the longest one. we had to establish a bunch of shit. stick with me now.

a touch of evil: archie confronts grundy about the gunshot they heard, now that it is certain that jason was killed by a gunshot to the head. betty and archie make up and become friends again, beginning the cycle of riverdale drama that wraps itself up in less than 12 hours. cheryl uses the school p.a. system to demand the killer reveal himself so they can put him in the chair. alice cooper pays off the mortician for information about jason’s corpse so she can run an expose about the murder in the front page of the local newspaper. jughead witnesses archie sharing a way too intimate hug with grundy. veronica’s mom works at pop tate’s and meets archie for the first time at work, commenting on how handsome he is, like his father. archie andrews is certified milf-bait for whatever reason.

betty invites cheryl to her house for mani-pedis to spite veronica. cheryl uses the opportunity to accuse betty’s sister of killing jason. betty responds by telling cheryl to get out or she’ll fucking kill her. normal stuff. meanwhile, jughead confronts archie about grundy and finds out pretty much everything, from the inappropriate relationship to the gunshot. he urges archie to go to the cops but archie won’t do it because *~what he and grundy has is sPeCiAl~*. jughead tells archie he’s a fucking idiot and brushes off archie’s attempts to threaten him.

betty asks about her sister, who is revealed to be in a mental hospital in a catatonic state as a result of the relationship breakdown between her and jason.

jughead gets brutally owned by jocks who call him “donnie darko” and “suicide squad” while implying he fucked jason’s corpse. archie defends jughead and they make up right before the pep rally. the heartless bastards at riverdale high inexplicably gave archie jason’s football jersey instead of retiring it and cheryl has a real meltdown about her brother’s death, fleeing into the girl’s locker room to sob her heart out. she confesses to veronica, the only person who goes to comfort her, that jason was supposed to come back.

the next day, the cops arrest cheryl in the middle of class and handcuff her. it turns out jason didn’t die july 4th, but a week after.

body double: despite confessing to being guilty at the end of the last ep, cheryl starts this ep by saying “let me clarify what i meant by guilty” which is the first of many times riverdale immediately recons its own writing for no apparent reason. cheryl confesses she lied about what happened the day of his disappearance; they weren’t simply having a little boat ride, but trying to facilitate jason’s escape to a farm away from the clutches of his family. he was supposed to contact cheryl once he got somewhere safe, but he didn’t. meanwhile, betty’s mom apparently didn’t get the “not guilty” memo and publishes a sensational article about jason accusing cheryl of being the murderer. through this, it is revealed to the audience that betty’s mom and dad own and operate the local newspaper. just them. no one else. cool.

archie finally tells the sheriff about the gunshot but lies about grundy’s existence. kevin comments offhandedly that everyone should re-watch “making a murderer” on netflix, making this what i think is the first plug of an irl property/brand in the show. from here on out they get more brazen and batshit. veronica reveals she has a date with the football coach’s son, chuck clayton, but everyone warns her he’s a player. betty re-opens the school newspaper to compete with her parents and get the REAL story out. she hires jughead to interview the kids who found cheryl the day jason disappeared.

okay, dear readers, please listen to me attempt to explain the next part of this episode. veronica goes on a chaste date with chuck which ends in some light making out. the next day, it is all over social media that chuck gave her a “sticky maple” which is, as far as i can tell, some maple syrup photoshopped onto a photo of her to replicate cum. this is impossible to explain via text, so please look at this helpful screencap.

the theme of this episode suddenly sidewinds from “we must solve jasons murder” to “we must avenge veronica being slut-shamed”. they consider going to the authorities briefly but decide to storm into the boys locker room which accomplishes nothing. this story line is briefly put on hold so jughead can unsuccessfully interview some not-boy scouts and cheryl can repay archie’s attempt to clear her name by setting him up with music lessons from josie and the pussycats.

ethel muggs, a slightly more unpopular and more dowdy girl who pops up from time to time in the plot over the course of the three seasons, reveals that she is one of chuck’s victims too. she tells of a “playbook” kept by chuck that details sex acts the football team engages in (presumably with girls and not each other). 

jughead successfully squeezes a not-boy scout into revealing that the scoutmaster (who is like a 15 year old boy) fired the shot everyone heard at the river, but he was just practicing on targets he set up. the scoutmaster is a hardcore survivalist (a fact that becomes vital in later seasons). so ultimately the gunshot meant nothing.

archie offers to write songs for the pussycats and josie tells him to shut the fuck up, white boy.

kevin, betty, veronica and ethel break into the school after hours to find the playbook. cheryl inexplicably shows up wearing red thigh high boots to help them. no one except for me, the audience, is excited about this development. the book they find reveals that jason had a sexual relationship with betty’s sister, implying a sort of pump and dump situation between the two. betty goes apeshit and pledges revenge against chuck.

okay. just. stay with me now.

betty puts on red lipstick and somehow successfully convinces chuck to have sex with her at ethel’s house while ethel and her parents are out of town. when chuck arrives, veronica is there, claiming that she and betty want to “share” chuck. i cannot believe he falls for this for real. betty then comes out wearing a uma thurman “pulp fiction” wig and lingerie.

betty then roofies chuck, who wakes up handcuffed to the hot tub. while veronica records the scene, betty threatens to boil him alive in the hot tub and waterboards him with maple syrup unless he confesses to his crimes, the crimes of jason and for “destroying her”. after torturing him for an uncomfortable amount of time, they take their evidence to the principal. why they didn’t just do this in the first place i’ll never know. anyway chuck leaves the school and cheryl says, out loud, “#justiceforethel”. 

meanwhile, archie gets a soundproof place in the garage to practice his music after spending the episode arguing with his dad. dilton doiley, the scoutmaster, tells jughead and betty he saw grundy’s car at the river the day of jason disappearance. episode END.

this turned out to be so much longer than i thought it would be, so i’m splitting it here. these are so long im sorry. god bless you and im sorry you had to read this. we still have like 10 eps left. i didnt know it would be like this but i need you to understand and believe how insane this series is.

thanks for readin

[shikai-the-storyteller]

ALRIGHT HERE WE GO

AT LONG LAST: STEVEN UNIVERSE THE MOVIE WATCH

I’m staying up so late to watch this but Tumblr and Twitter already gave me three screencap spoilers so I gotta watch it now or I’m Gonna Die

Omg the opening curtains looks so official and cute!!!

I just tried to turn on subtitles rip

Aw this feels like some kind of musical! How cute. And this opening is so beautiful! I love the style

“What a revolution, a gem that loves and grows” Ahh part of this song sounds like the Diamonds singing it. It reminds me of a disney song

OMG THIS REALLY IS LIKE A DISNEY FAIRYTALEOPENING that’s hilarious. I love it! This is so beautiful. Man I’ve missed this show so much :’)

AW STEVEN’S VOICE IS SO MUCH DEEPER I LOVE HIM....BABY BOY GREW UP. he’s 16!!!

I love that the Pearls were running the news feed, that’s so cute

Aww his Diamond aunts, that’s so cute :’) They really do feel like super overbearing loving aunts. “Don’t forget I’m not Pink Diamond!” POOR STEVEN

This is such a cute screenshot 

“We’ve been so good! Please stay with us Steven!” Aww they all miss Pink so much

MAN THE ANIMATION IN THIS SHOW IS SO GORGEOUS I can’t get over how beautiful everything is. And AW EVEN CONNIE IS BIGGER I love her hair style! And dang they got such a huge high-tech upgrade

WHO PAINTED THIS I LOVE GARNET

OH SNAP SHE KISSED HIM ON THE CHEEK awh these kids are really growing up aren’t they *sobs like a proud parent*

“Nothing to fear, no one to fight” Oh don’t say that now Steven, we’ve still got over an hour to go

Ohh I wonder if Jasper is going to show up some time in this movie, I’d like to see her again! I miss her

ITS PEARL AND GREG!!!! I’VE MISSED THEM SO MUCH I MISS ALL THESE CHARACTERS

GARNET’S SINGING....I MISSED GARNET’S VOICE

THERE SHE IS...THE LOVE OF MY LIFE....THIS IS MY FAVORITE SCREENCAP EVER

“LITTLE HOMEWORLD” OMG THEY HAVE A LITTLE COLONY CITY THERE, THAT’S SO CUTE AND AHHH IT”S ALL THE HEALED GEMS!!! OMG OMG OMG

I LOVE WORM GIRL’S DESIGN

BABY AMETHYST....I LOVE HER LITTLE MESSY HAIR STYLE.....

THE LITTLE SELFIE THEY’RE SO CUTE, I FORGOT HOW MUCH I MISSED THIS SHOW...

WAY TO JINX IT STEVEN

“NICE PARK JOB DINGUS” AMETHYST PLZ

gosh I love the animation they use for this gal Spinel, she’s such an old-school villain, I love it. AND SHE’S GOT A GREAT SINGING VOICE

sHE”S GOT A FRICKIN SCYTHE GEM OH MY GOSH THE GEMSONA COMMUNITY IS GOING TO LOSE THEIR FRICKIN MINDS

HELL YEAH CRINGE CULTURE IS OVER!!!!!!!! GIVE YOUR OCS THE EDGIEST WEAPONS EVER!!! I LOVE IT

WHOOPS WELL. NEW OUTFITS FOR THE CRYSTAL GEMS I GUESS

OH SHOOT SHE ACTUALLY HIT HIM AND HIS LINES GOT ALL WEIRD

UH OH WHAT DID SHE DO TO HIS GEM AND POWERS

STEVEN GO TALK TO LITTLE HOMEWORLD AND TALK TO A GEM ABOUT THIS, STEVEN COME ON THIS ISN’T SEASON ONE

“I just have no idea what’s going on!” “Well son, now you know how I feel almost all the time” Lmao Greg I missed you so much

Uh oh is Pearl going to come back messed up. UH OH WHY IS SHE A SEA SHELL

OH NO SHE RESET ALL THE GEMS OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NO

OH NO SHE’S ATTACHED TO GREG NOW THAT’S HORRIFYING

SPINEL IS TERRIFYING she’s essentially a home-made best friend. No wonder she was trying to reset everyone, she wants Pink back to be reset

Steven WHY DON’T YOU JUST GET THE REST OF THE GEMS COME ON

Spinel’s heart hair works the same way as Mickey Mouse’s ears do that’s so funny, really leans into the Disney aspect of it.

You guys really gotta get the injector out of the hill, this is killing me

“Wow. Quick turnaround” “It took me a month to quit trying to kill him” “I’m still on offense” GUYS PLEASE

“I COULD’VE LOST ALL MY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT” PERIDOT PLEASE

I like Bismuth’s new overalls. And that was so sweet that he went to Bismuth for advice when Garnet’s not there (BUT ALSO OUCH WHEN HE SAID “Garnet would know what to do”)

“As long as one of us is standing to brandish that star” GOSH THAT’S SUCH A GOOD LINE

Oh no wait if they send Steven to space he won’t be able to breathe gUYS NO

THE HEAVEN AND EARTH BEETLES ARE SO CUTE

SAPPHIRE SAVED HER AWH...THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION

GARNET IS SO CUTE IM WEEPING I LOVE GARNET SO MUCH

“PEARL YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT, I OWN A CAR WASH” LMAO

Well Spinel’s super freaky, definitely gives me a Disney vibe for sure. I do feel kinda bad for her though since she’s obviously just a very lonely little girl BUT STILL

I love that Ronaldo’s still trying to capture weird stuff going on in Beach City despite the fact that they literally have an alien civilization living next to them

AW Peridot put little sunglasses on her orbs

Peridot: Amethyst, get away from me, I can’t stand to see you all vacant and bereft of personality Amethyst: Yo I’m back you dip Me: *HIDEOUSLY LOUD SNORTING LAUGH*

lmao Peridot’s machine is a microwave, I love that

Maybe the Cluster can help with the poison leaking into the spoil????

FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE STEVEN JUST GO ASK THE DIAMONDS FOR HELP

NOOOO NOT YOUR NICE NEW JACKET STEVEN

“We’re going to die anyways” Thanks Peridot

AW GEMS ARE GOING TO THE ROCK SHOW TOO THAT’S SO CUTE

“This has got to bring Pearl’s memory back! It’s all about quitting a crummy service job!” LMAO

OH SNAP AMETHYST IS REALLY GOING TO HIT HER WHERE IT HURTS

“As long as you exist” Steven: “OH HEY LET’S KILL GREG”

OH SHOOT ARE THEY GOING TO FUSE!??!

AHHH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH

AHHHHHHHHHHH IM SHRIEKING 

HE HAS A FRICKIN SIX PACK

HE”S A FRICKIN JOJO ROCK STAR IM LOSING MY FRICKIN MIND

AW GARNET IS WEARING STEVEN’S CUTE LITTLE JACKET

I’m screaming, Greg and Steven’s fusion is literally a god of music that’s so cool, I wonder who his VA is, I love him

PEARL’S TRANSFORMATION SEQUENCE IS SO BEAUTIFUL....And Amethyst and Pearl’s dance...that’s so beautiful AHHHH OPAL!!! OPAL OPAL!!!! SHE”S SINGING OMG OMG OMG

Aw I do feel bad for Spinel, she’s so lonely....

OH NO...THE POISON IS LEAKING INTO THE OCEAN

You know that one scene in Toy Story 2 where Woody is having a nightmare? Andy says “I don’t want to play with you anymore” and he drops Woody into the garbage bin? I feel like Spinel’s been living that nightmare for the past 6000 years.

“Just this morning things were perfect. Why did everything have to change?” I feel like Spinel’s probably thinking the same thing, except wrt Pink Diamond

OH NO...SHE REALLY HAS BEEN WAITING IN THE GARDEN FOR 6000 YEARS....I knew those were her shoes we saw at the very very beginning of the movie

“And then she smiled, that’s what I’m after” OH MAN........this show is still so good at ripping my heart out....Pink Diamond really messed a lot of stuff and a lot of people. She was really young and didn’t realize the effect she had on other people :(

Heart shattered yet again

Hmmm I rewound this a little bit and I’m thinking about stuff I’ve done in the past, and if I’ve ever made someone feel that way without meaning to because of some careless action. I really hope not.

I just thought about that “When She Loved Me” song and legit felt some tears well up but I HELD THEM BACK

I wonder if the Diamonds are going to adopt Spinel as their new Pink

CONNIE DOING A TRIPLE FLIP OUT OF LION I love her

I really love the type of villain Spinel is

AND IM REALLY GLAD STEVEN SNAPPED THAT OVER HIS KNEE that’s what I wanted to do too

HER WEDDING RINGS....AND ALL HER DIFFERENT FORMS...GARNET I LOVE YOU

OH NO GREG’S ARM!!! Steven’s healing powers better get pumped up to max by the end of this episode otherwise everyone’s gonna be in trouble

OH WOW STEVEN’S ACTUALLY BLEEDING we’ve never seen that before

“There is no happily ever after. I’ll always have more work to do” Man that hit way too close to home

GO KISS THE WHOLE PLANET STEVEN

“Staying hydrated is very important when it comes to smooching” I love Garnet

I can’t believe I called The Diamonds adopting Spinel holy heck

WELL

I will say that movie wasn’t what I expected at all but I wound up loving Spinel so much more than I anticipated. I felt my hyper-empathy kicking in so hard it made my heart ache. I really loved Spinel’s song, I think that was my favorite song in the entire movie! AH SHOOT I JUST REALIZED WHY PEOPLE WERE TALKING SO MUCH ABOUT THAT “Let’s go in the garden” SONG FROM ADVENTURE TIME TODAY, HECK. But anyways I’ve been listening to Spinel’s song on repeat for the last 20 minutes, the topic and the kind of character Spinel is really struck something in me. I might try and rewatch this tomorrow again if I have the time.

The movie reminded me of just how much I love and miss Steven Universe. I want to rewatch the entire season now, I miss the memories I have attached to the show. I love how much love is put into this series. I’m glad it exists.

[greywindys]

It’s that time of year again! I, and possibly a good number of you reading this, just spent the whole of 2018 in the Gorillaz fandom. Congratulations! You made it! Because this year...kinda sucked. Not just for the Gorillaz fandom but, if this Washington Post article is any indication, for the rest of the world too. Maybe on an individual level there were moments of light. Maybe Gorillaz was your moment of light. If it was I’m genuinely happy because that means you probably found a way to avoid or ignore all the chaos that went down this year. But overall? Fandom was rife with disappointments, confusion and conflict with some good parts (for me, at least) sprinkled in here and there. Below is a personal reflection on the top 10 significant events in fandom of 2018.

1. Murdoc Goes to Prison

2018 started out peacefully for fandom. We were just finishing up sharing our scans of G-Magazine and theorizing over the next album when we’re treated with this - a nineteen second mocap of a frantic Murdoc accepting a Brit Award with an “oh by the way I’m going to prison.” We didn’t know why or for how long, and, though fans were confused and Murdoc going to prison is a tired, overplayed storyline at this point, it was cherished as any new Gorillaz content, especially animation, is cherished. Memes were made, most notably the #FreeMurdoc hashtag complete with a petition which was acknowledged by creators and caused the first big outburst in fandom for its messy tag. I did what I always do with Murdoc videos and went through the entire thing frame by frame to collect screenshots. Little did I know that this would be the only time I would get to indulge in this beloved past time. Little did I know that I would be wearing the same expression as Murdoc is in this screencap this entire phase.

2. Murdoc hate

Murdoc hate has always existed. It’s also generally accepted. However, when it was confirmed that Murdoc was going to be in prison for an undetermined amount of time and that he may not even speak this phase (thanks a lot, phase 5 plot!) it reached unprecedented levels of viciousness. Some fans took every opportunity to drag him in the main tag, start debates with anyone who might mention one positive thing about him and expressed how they genuinely wanted him to die and/or never come back. It kinda reminded me of this season of MTV’s The Challenge when everyone ganged up on Johnny Bananas. Like, yes he’s an asshole and yes this was probably long overdue but also omg when is there and end point? Is there an end point? It was like some people hated Murdoc more than they liked Gorillaz. For some additional context - this tense environment was born out of an astoundingly severe conflict that happened in spring where three separate fandom storms that had been brewing since late 2017 collided into one huge mess. Discords were raided, friendships were lost, the police were called (I’m not even exaggerating). I won’t go into it more but if you were there, you know what i’m talking about. Murdoc wasn’t the cause of this, but his character was at the center of one of those storms and the canon sending him to prison only reignited the ire towards him. For awhile Murdoc fans weren’t sure were exactly they stood with the greater fandom, and new fans were confused as to why this one green character was the source of so much grief for haters and fans alike. This continued for most of the year (and still continues today), hence why it’s getting a mention now.

3. Ace

Believe it or not Murdoc and Ace are confirmed #friends. You wouldn’t know that from all the Murdoc vs Ace content that sprung out of this year but Ace was the one who joined Murdoc for hot chocolate after he got out of prison, “they go way back” etc etc. Ace was a big deal because it was probably the only time the fandom guessed something correctly this entire year. Jamie began posting cryptic pictures of Noodle with this unidentified man, then another with only the Ace card visible. “It a Powerpuff Girls crossover!” Some people claimed. But that seemed so random? Really? A B-list cartoon villain from a cartoon targeting an entirely different demographic? More likely than you think! Ace never spoke a word and he wasn’t allowed to smoke or have sex. People obsessed over him anyways. To this day I still have no idea who he is or what kind of personality he has or really anything. But he wasn’t a bad guy (more on that later) and he was Murdoc’s friend so he’s alright with me.

4. Messaging Denholm

By now the fandom was fraught with distress on so many levels. We were lost. We needed someone to guide us, to show us the way, to show us the #truth. I don’t know exactly who started this trend but it soon spread around Reddit and other social media sites that Jamie’s son Denholm was replying to dm’s on Instagram and soon, he was graced with a deluge of of inquiries from casual fans and Murdoc stans alike. The thing is though - he actually *did* answer them. Many of us had spoilers re: Murdoc and Ace’s friendship, Murdoc getting out of prison, etc. MONTHS before they happened. I believe he even told us that 2D was fine back in like, June or something. Denholm knew! Eventually we pissed him off but it didn’t stop him from answering. He just answered angrier. It also caused fans to argue more because people started accusing others of photoshopping his responses and nothing can ever be done peacefully here. I haven’t followed up on this story singe the end of summer but I think fans have finally scaled back on the messaging. But I hear he’s working on a Gorillaz documentary for 2019 so...I’m sure we’ll be talking again soon.

5. Noodle

I want to take a moment here to also acknowledge the struggle AMA Gorillaz hosted on, of all places, Youtube. Thankfully, diligent redditors compiled a google doc of all the answers otherwise they would lost thanks to Youtube’s confusing interface. ANYHOW. The answer that stirred up the biggest milieu of debate and confusion came from Noodle. This isn’t exactly my lane - I don’t wade into Noodle issues and I don’t id as part of the LGBT community - so I’m not going to say much here other than, at the very least, this was the second or third time she has officially denied any interest in dating her bandmates.

6. 2D’s journal/2Doc

Okay first of all: 2DOC...jk, jk...jk? But no, honestly, this actually did become a big story this year, much bigger than expected. The release of 2D’s journal was the catalyst here, revealing a number of drawings and images of Murdoc. “Souk Eye,” a song that came with visuals featuring close ups of Murdoc’s face and vaguely romantic lyrics was depicted in 2D’s journal next to yet another drawing of Murdoc. We were confused! 2D didn’t care that Murdoc was gone, right? 2Doc shippers were intrigued. I was hesitant. We were all called delusional. However, “Souk Eye” was later confirmed to be a love song by Damon Albarn, and Murdoc and 2D have both claimed their relationship is “better” since the end of phase 5 (hhMmMmM). Obvi, take this with a grain of salt because it’s Gorillaz but the journal was instrumental in confirming how closely The Now Now (and the entire plot of phase 5, really) was tied to Murdoc and 2D’s relationship, particularly what 2D thinks of Murdoc. Think of it as platonic if you want but they share a closeness on SOME level and the content of 2018, from interviews to the Murdoc chats to the album itself, supports this. I rest my case.

7. Lost theories

Pour one out for all the lost theories. If you were a new fan this year you probably came up with a theory, or you got really invested in a theory. Some examples: HIM from PPG orchestrating the destruction of Gorillaz by possessing 2D and getting Murdoc framed with Ace as a double agent, or Murdoc’s imprisonment being tied to his trouble with EMI from phase 4, or phase 5 being about time travel, or Murdoc crashing Demon Dayz fest and fighting El Mierda on stage, or 2D being the one to frame Murdoc or Murdoc’s inmate number (24602) being a Les Mis reference implying that he’d get a character arc similar to Jean Valjean...you get the idea. But there are dreams that cannot beeee, and there are storms we cannot weather. You can argue about the budget or G-Shock or whatever but the truth is Gorillaz is just disorganized. This is their Brand™.

8. The Murdoc Chatbot

Gorillaz did an interesting thing this year - it let us talk to Murdoc! Sometime around June, he writers decided that the plot of phase 5 would be best spent, not on exploring the band’s dynamic with Murdoc gone or developing Ace’s personality, but on Murdoc! Fandom spent most of the summer following Murdoc’s experience in prison and helping to “free” him via a chatbot you could access through Kik, Instagram or Facebook. Basically, Murdoc was Paddington from Paddington 2, and we the fans were supposed to be the Browns trying to break him out and prove his innocence. Other fans begrudgingly used the chatbot to make fun of him or tell him to die and follow along with the story (it was the only place you could get plot updates). It was a neat idea as well as a funny experience to pretend to be talking to him, and the plot was very engaging at times. It was the chatbot that revealed the very dissatisfying (albeit happy) conclusion that Murdoc is no Paddington and had lied about everything - being framed, El Mierda etc. - but felt really bad about it. His apology was basically this. I’m going to also tag the #FreeMurdoc merchandise debacle, how overpriced it was and how it ended up being pointless anyways because Murdoc wasn’t framed and didn’t need to be “freed” onto this, because it all falls under the same event. Oh, and you got to talk to Noodle sometimes, too. 

9. G-shock ends phase 5

I put “ends phase 5″ in strikethrough because G-Shock on its own is actually pretty cool, and made up for the lack of videos (2 in total) that were released this year. The now Murdoc inclusive band goes to space and starts an alien war! That’s fun! Completely removed from whatever phase 5 was, but fun! (And I say that genuinely) What was messy about G-shock was that it came out of nowhere. The final Murdoc chat, that was SUPPOSED to reveal the ending to the prison arc, hadn’t even happened but suddenly, Murdoc was back to sell watches to aliens with the rest of the band and Ace was gone. But the final chat was delayed by a month and G-Shock came out anyways. Out of this came memes about how phase 5 ended so Gorillaz could try to sell us watches.

10. Cass Browne Tells us the True Plastic Beach Ending

We ended 2018 with not one but two major interviews from the fancast, Hallelujah Monkeyz but I’m choosing to cover their latest interview with Cass Browne, writer of Rise of the Ogre. If you were new this year you probably heard older fans mention ad nauseam how much they missed this guy name Cass. Well, Cass came back and dropped actual bombs about the true ending of phase 3, Murdoc’s lost backstory and the Plastic Beach book he found AND that a sequel to ROTO was planned and dropped. Understandably, this sparked a lot of discussion and also revealed just how important Cass was to the continuity of the Gorillaz storyline. Back then, we had ROTO and Plastic Beach. Today, we have “Murdoc drowns in poop and reunites with the band offscreen”

And that’s the year! And look I’m not saying this because I’m a stan but this was a Murdoc year. He was at the center of like, at least 80% of the angst and joy of fandom and I could make separate “top 10 Murdoc moments” or  “top 10 2Doc moments.” I guess for me, on an individual level, it was an alright year. For one, I actually talked to more people this year and met some really great friends (something I don’t typically do in fandom). I also get to check “write a fanfic” off my bucket list (it’s still a WIP but it’s the first WIP I’ve ever had so I’m counting it). And personally, my life has changed and without getting into too many details I’ve overcome a lot, grown professionally and...I think I can be kinda proud of myself for that. I expect 2019 to be a slower year than this one, and, I think the fandom needs that. Hopefully I’ll still see some of you around because I’m going to be here for at least the next few months while I finish up you know what. 

Honorable mentions: 2D “Dies” of Ligma and other 2D memes, 2D writes The Now Now, Benjamin Clementine says he regrets working with Gorillaz, Noodles old VA confirms Jamie ghosted her and recast Noodle without telling her, Gorillaz delay the final Murdoc chat by a month, Demon Dayz doesn’t get streamed, Music video releases - “Humilty” and “Tranz”, Cyborg Noodle returns with boobs and causes debate, the “Let Ace Speak” petition,

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter - Monday, March 25th

SPIKE: Absolutely. I have nothing but respect for a woman who is forthright. Drusilla was always straightforward. Didn't have a single buggering clue about what was going on in front of her, but she was straight about it. That's a virtue. ANYA: Mm. Xander didn't think so. He thought I was rude. SPIKE: That's because he's one of them. Uptight. Repressed. ANYA: You think? SPIKE: Please. It's no wonder they couldn't deal with the likes of you and me, luv. We should have been dead hundreds of years ago ... and we're the only ones who are really alive.

~~Entropy~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Death is a Dance (Buffy/Spike Faith/Buffy, G) by worddancer

Cordelia (Cordelia/Xander, M) by CantSpeakFae

across the pond (Jenny/Giles, T) by The_Eclectic_Bookworm

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jump Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, E) by HollyDB

Forward Without Seeing Chapter 165 (Buffy/Spike, M) by queen_insane

very really married Chapter 12 (Jenny/Giles, T) by The_Eclectic_Bookworm

Flash Back Chapter 8 (Cordelia/Xander, M) by Razial

Fast Cars and Thrice Dead Slayers Chapter 13 (Fast and the Furious crossover, G) by eatyourhartout

Faith’s Dark Knight Chapter 45 (Batman crossover, E) by Peanutbuttertoast

A Blaze of Glory. Chapter 6 (Starship Troopers crossover, T) by steeleye

Skipping the Stone Chapter 20 (Buffy/Spike M) by badwolfjedi, sandy_s

So We Meet Chapter 4 (SPN crossover, Dawn/Sam, T) by Lady_Lena84

Eye of Newt Chapter 20 (HP, Hollyoaks crossover, Andrew/Xander, M) by Rod

The Three of Us Chapter 22 (Cordelia/Faith/Buffy, E) by Crash

Work in Progress Chapter 12 (Fred/Spike, M) by kats_meow

Special Delivery Chapter 11 (Buffy/Spike, NC17) by Behind Blue Eyes

Jump Chapter 6 (Buffy/Spike, NC17) by Holly

Liebestod Chapter 15 (Buffy/Spike, NC17) by Iamblichus

Holes Chapter 12 (Buffy/Spike, NC17) by Twinkles

[Images, Audio & Video]

Cosplay: Faith & Dru & Spike & Willow & Buffy, oh my by awena626

Music: Buffy, season 5: all songs in the exact order they appear (Link to Spotify) by passosjonas

[Reviews & Recaps]

BtVS, S4 - A New Man by eurydice72

The Puppet Show | Review & Analysis by Caitlin Bloody Mary

PODCAST: 715 – Get It Done by Buffy Speak

PODCAST: All the Way/Billy by Once More With Commentary

PODCAST: Lie to Me by Buffy the Vampire Straya

[Recs]

Season Five screencaps by ariane recced by petzipellepingo

[Fandom Discussions]

What does Glory symbolize?

Discussion of 6.09 "Smashed"

Discuss: Slayer Chapters 9 - 16 by

Spike's red shirt by Btvs fan

Most affecting Buffy moments? by SpuffyGlitz

David Boreanaz Fashion Goof by KatzMwwow

the last fight, so many heros by princesssparklepuss

The saddest sentence to me in Buffy is in season four. Willow: “...we could have a girls night, you know, eat sundaes, and watch Steel Magnolias... and you can tell me how at least I don’t have diabetes.” by ellefemme35

I loved Kendra, such a brilliant character by bratholym

Veronica Mars by Samof94

Share an image of your most treasured Buffy memorabilia by historicalsnake

Connor in a nutshell by SnarkyBookworm34

Wolfram & Hart/ Cordelia Season 5 by DragonAdri

Dawn's Creation: Reality Warping or Memory Alteration? by Ze_Bri-0n

“Good show, Giles.” by Donaldson420Gibby69

i could talk about the magic addiction thing all day by womanaction

concept: robin wood as a lesbian and also a more important character in s7 by womanaction

BTVS never did a time-travel episode by thereallieutenantcommanderdata

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

The 15 Best TV Series Finales of All Time at Mental Floss

[xanderuwu]

for whom it may concern; here’s a letter

i wrote this long fucking rant about voltron, enjoy (click here to view on google docs)

My name is Alexander, I’m 23, and here is my sob story. I’m a bisexual trans man who grew up in a tiny village where people believed that being LGBT+ was just as bad as being a child molester. I spent the first 20 years of my life hiding my truth because of the fear & shame that was ingrained in me as a child; I was disgusted by myself. I have never gone a week in my‬ ‪life without contemplating suicide - I’ve tried to kill myself 9 times, the first time was when I was 8.‬

‪One of the main things that kept me afloat during my childhood & teen years were stories in any medium; film, TV, books, I swallowed them whole & they kept me sane. But they never made me feel goof about myself or my life. I didn’t experience the impact of good representation until I saw the first season of Glee in 2009 when I was 14 (that show went downhill as it went on too, wow). One of the main characters on Glee was gay & had an arc in the first season where he came out to his father, & his father … embraced him.‬

‪… I remember crying in bed, watching the coming out scene over & over in shitty quality on the Youtube app on my old iPod. I had never seen anything like it. Sure, I’d seen LGBT+ people in media before, but they were always either stereotype-ridden jokes, or they led miserable lives & never got a happy ending. & in so so so many cases … they died. Or their partner died. Or they got AIDS. Or they were framed as disgusting degenerates.‬

‪I’d never seen a parent accept & embrace their gay child. I had never seen a gay character who “made it” with loving friends & family. It gave me courage, it made me hopeful.‬

‪Hope is the most powerful powerful tool we have when it comes to suicide prevention within the LGBT+ community. Every day, thousands of people toe the line between life & death, & THAT is why our representation is so important. Yes, it helps normalize LGBT+ people to the cisgender & heterosexual audiences, but you have no idea how much hope & joy can blossom in the hearts of vulnerable LGBT+ people from good representation that shows LGBT+ characters being embraced & loved, finding partners, falling in love, getting that happy gay ending we so rarely get to see in media. I’m certain that that gay kid from fucking Glee of all things, saved me from the brink a few times.‬

‪In December of 2014, when The Legend of Korra made Korra & Asami the romantic endgame, I cried. Cried for all the LGBT+ kids who would, perhaps for the first time, feel good about themselves. I also cried for the child in myself who still struggles with the shackles secured around his feet from a childhood of isolation & self-hatred, because he needed it too. & then we got record-breaking amounts of well-rounded LGBT+ representation on Steven Universe, a show that not only features same-gender romances, but also explores gender & challenges toxic masculinity. & last year, Disney Channel, the fucking DISNEY CHANNEL, had a character on Andi Mack come out as gay! Freakin’ DISNEY, man! & Korra was on Nickelodeon, Steven Universe is on Cartoon Network - those are all huge traditional television broadcasters where shows have to be assessed by a whole lot of boards in order to make sure they’re suitable to broadcast.‬

‪Netflix, on the other hand, has more freedom. Many of their live-action shows have had explicit LGBT+ representation. Watching as more & more mainstream TV shows & films with prominent LGBT+ characters get released makes me believe in the change, from when i was a kid in the early 00’s to now.‬

‪I first encountered Voltron: Legendary Defender in the form of gifs, fanart, & screencaps on Tumblr. The first thing that caught my attention was Allura’s design; she’s gorgeous & I’m weak. I found out that she was from the Voltron reboot which, not gonna lie, sounded kinda dumb to me at first. I watched Voltron: Defender of the Universe as a kid, not because i’m old enough to have been a child in the 80s, but because we were a family with six mouths to feed & no disposable income that could be spent on cable TV. So we got public service television, & they ran a lot of cartoons from the 80s because they were cheap to license I guess.

Anyways, I was obsessed with VDOTU (we’re using abbreviations now because this is getting stupidly long & typing is hard) as a wee lad, Allura was my favourite character because she had long hair & a pink uniform - as I said, I’m weak for pretty people. So in late June of 2016 I watched the first season of VLD & I was so pleasantly surprised. VLD is animated by Studio Mir; one of my favourite animation studios, & the show has writers & producers who have also worked on Korra, so that, in addition to the show being distributed by Netflix, made the possibility of clear-cut LGBT+ characters & storylines seem more plausible. ‬

‪I loved the first season of VLD. I very quickly latched onto Keith & Allura, but as I kept watching I found myself adoring the whole team. Having Pidge be a girl was cool, & I was so excited when I found out that she was voiced by a gay actress! & whoever came up with the idea of making Allura, Hunk, & Lance brown deserves a high-five. ‬

‪(We’re getting to the real meaty LGBT+ rep rant soon, just stick with me here because I wanna talk about some other gripes I have with this show first).‬

‪So, we had a show with a diverse main cast of characters, good writing & pacing, a good balance between character & plot, & gorgeous animation. I was excited to see the second season.‬

‪However, the second season was when some of the show’s main flaws popped up for the first time. That nice balance between character & plot from the first season seemed to have driven right off its tracks and straight into a bio-hazardous lake. In the first season, each character got a fair amount of attention, but in season two Hunk & Lance were just … barely there? Keith is my favourite character & I liked the Blade of Marmora stuff, but Keith’s amount of screentime came at the expense of other characters, especially Hunk & Lance. Having Keith’s entire arc in season two pretty much only involve himself & Shiro did every character a disservice. & the reveal that Keith was Galra was so underwhelming. We only saw two characters react to Keith’s alien heritage. The episode with Keith & Hunk in the Weblum was lovely, but we haven’t really gotten team bonding episodes like that since season three so :/ And oh God, the whole subplot of Allura, a black-coded character, being “racist” against the Galra is a WHOLE other mess that I don’t think I can adequately explain. Just, why. ‬

‪Season three was good, the balance between character & plot seemed to be getting back on track & the lion switch-up made for some good character development, especially for Lance & Allura. Episode four was a mess though like y'all could’ve been just a liiittle more sensitive with that kind of stuff. Also it is embarrassingly obvious that in the first two seasons, Allura was portrayed as being around Shiro’s age & the two of them shared moments that seemed to be hinting at a future romance - until, suddenly in season three Allura is at the same maturity level as the other paladins? What, is it because that was when you decided to have Shiro be gay because you weren’t allowed to kill him after season two, & so instead of doing Shiro/Allura you started pairing Allura with Lance? That’s just absolutely stellar mate.‬

‪Season four - character/plot balance swings off the rails once more & to this day it hasn’t been recovered. This was the season where y'all’s plot became way too fucking convoluted & too damn big! The plot takes so much room, OF COURSE character development suffers! Season five had the same problem, & whoops Allura has a new love interest! It’s Lotor, a grown-ass man! Great! Totes loved it!‬

‪Season six had some good moments but again, y'all’s plot left no fucking breathing room for the characters! Also, Lance’s crush on Allura is suddenly True Love now? At this point you need a fucking Excel sheet to keep track of the plot & subplots. Lotor was an asshole all along & betrayed Allura? BITCH WE BEEN KNEW! Lotor’s betrayal could be seen from miles away. Bad.‬

‪SEASON FUCKING SEVEN HERE WE GO.‬

‪You ruined Keith’s entire character. Plain and simple. Keith & Shiro’s backstory was the highlight of the entire season. And in those flashbacks we see Shiro’s BOYFRIEND! Shiro is GAY! Shiro being gay & having a partner was revealed at San Diego Comic Con in July, & fans were so fucking happy. Remember at the start of this monstrosity of a letter where I talked about LGBT+ representation in media igniting hope? That was what you saw from fans after SDCC; pure joy & hope. It was amazing, people cried because they were so happy! & the showrunners said we’d learn more about Adam & get to meet him, shit I was so hyped!

Was Shiro, the character who has struggled the most in the show, going to get a … happy ending? As a gay character? With his partner of the same gender?‬

‪…‬

‪Y'know,‬

‪There’s still probably hundreds of thousands of LGBT+ kids who are growing up in a similar environment to where I grew up. They feel the same way I felt. That … indescribable loneliness that pierces through your bones, the self-hatred & hopelessness that weighs too much, you are the deer and the headlights is every person whose approval & love you need most. ‬

‪& then you see someone like you in a story, & they are happy, they aren’t alone, because people like us aren’t destined to be tragedies.‬

‪It gives you hope.

‪VLD could’ve given that to people y'know? And maybe that’s the saddest part, that instead they chose to kill the man Shiro loved, & thus put their only remaining confirmed LGBT+ character through even more suffering. ‬

VLD killed 50% of their confirmed LGBT+ characters. ‬

‪Imagine if they’d killed 50% of their female characters.‬

They killed Adam to show the gravity of the situation, to show that with war comes death. But LGBT+ viewers don’t need that reminder. We die every day. We know war, we know that war walks hand in hand with death.‬

‪And we didn’t even really have any feelings about Adam aside from “Shiro’s boyfriend!!!” We only got a tiny snippet of his & Shiro’s relationship. From a basic storytelling standpoint, killing someone like Colleen or Sam Holt would have been so much more effective because we know a lot more about Pidge’s relationship with her parents than we know about Adam & Shiro.‬ Adam’s death fell flat because we never knew him or his & Shiro’s relationship.

‪So why did they decide that the gay characters had to lose? VLD could have made something beautiful, something that would help people. But you didn’t.‬

‪Why didn’t they?‬

‪And why, in the same season, did they suddenly make Allura show signs of returning Lance’s feelings, despite her having shown zero romantic interest in him for over a third of the series? Why did they push Keith & Acxa together, two characters who had never spoken before this season? ‬

‪They take away the prospect of a same-gender romance, & then shove some half-assed straight relationships in our faces? It’s as if they’re doing this to be intentionally cruel.

‪Even if Adam somehow returns, that doesn’t repair the anxiety & hurt they caused their LGBT+ fans. With this season, VLD gave us the same age-old tale we’ve been told since we could understand words.‬

‪Happy endings belong to straight people. Gay people are doomed to live through tragedy after tragedy until we die young.‬

‪I believed in this show. I honestly thought the slow-burn romance would be Keith & Lance. Already in season one they had the “bonding moment” that was a textbook example of how to convey romance through visual storytelling. In that scene, Lance said “We are a good team” to Keith, & that was supposedly just bros being bros? But in season six, Lance says the exact same phrase to Allura as a flirty line, so what’s the deal here?

Are Allura and Lance the slow burn? Allura had never shown interest in Lance before now, when she suddenly noticed that Lance is … nice? What … is this? Honest to God, what is happening? VLD really decided to do the guy-likes-girl-girl-doesn’t-reciprocate-but-if-guy-keeps-trying-she’ll-like-him-back-eventually thing? Ah yes, If you flirt with a girl & she ignores your advances, you shouldn’t stop & move on, you should keep pushing, that’s how VLD staff want people to treat women I guess.‬

‪Keith & Axca … looked at each other three times & now they’re in love. Very good slow burn, I cried, 11/10.‬

‪Had the straight romances at least been well-developed I might’ve been slightly less angry. But no, you killed the man Shiro loved & then presented us with some gourmet heterosexual nonsense - no really, where are your Michelin stars because this hetero bullshit is top notch, truly.‬

‪I’m not saying this as a bitter shipper. I’m saying this as someone who invested so much time into your show, only to be severely let down. VLD has had some incredible episodes, but season four & onward was a massive display of incompetent storytelling. It’s as if seasons one through three were created by a different team!

Not to mention the showrunners themselves, who have consistently been dismissive of valid concerns from fans, & when given chances to confirm that Keith & Lance’s relationship was strictly platonic, they instead remained vague, instilling hope in fans - giving people false hope to string them along so they’ll keep watching your show is cruel.‬

‪There are so many other things I could say here, but I’m running out of time.‬

‪Y'all could’ve done extraordinary things with this show & these characters. You could have made something amazing, your show could have been remembered as a trailblazer. But instead, it’ll only be remembered as a clusterfuck & as an example of what not to do, for future creators to learn from.‬

‪I don’t know how or why y'all ended up turning your show into a damn mess. I don’t really care. I just wish you hadn’t exploited the fragile hopes of LGBT+ people.‬

The only thing that can save y’all now is if season eight makes me physically shit hundred dollar bills so I can buy a fucking boat, sail to the middle of the ocean, and just scream for a good six years or so.

Thanks.‬

[head-and-heart]

The 100 Highlights - “Exit Wounds” (5x06) ... 2.0

Hi guys. So some of you may be reading this title in mild confusion right now because “didn’t she already do a highlight post for 5x06?” 

And you would be right! I did, indeed, create a highlights post for this episode that you can view here. And I would be lying if I said it didn’t bring me some level of satisfaction in posting it, but - alas - it does not really fit the purpose of this series in the first place ... which was to spur positivity within the fandom for whenever we experience another inevitable meltdown.

My initial purpose of starting this series was, ironically enough, exactly for episodes like 5x06 - the episodes that fandom despises. I did a highlight post for 4x04 last year, another episode many people did not enjoy, in an attempt to put a more positive spin on it and lift the moods of people in fandom. My motivation for creating this series was mostly in the attempt to preserve the sanity of myself and the fandom as a whole.

So, forgive my petty crackpost. While I had my fun with it, it was always my intention to do another, more serious list of highlights for the episode when I gathered up the energy to do a rewatch.

So here it is. The new and improved (????) list of my favourite parts of 5x06:

People of Wonkru, hello and welcome to the 100th annual Hunger Games. I have to say, I did appreciate my wife, Charmaine Diyoza’s homage to THG. She grew up in the early 2000′s, she knows what’s up. Dropping a bunch of parachutes from the sky full of rations? Now that’s a power move. A woman after my heart.

“Two missiles and this war would be over.” “And then what? How many of our people are farmers? How many are engineers?”

Seriously CHARMAINE IS SO SMART. She’s not rash, she’s calculating. And she doesn’t fight needless battles. She isn’t here to kill, she’s here to take the valley. But she’s also willing to negotiate peace in order to reach her goals - she isn’t irrational, and she isn’t cruel. Never have I ever rooted for an “antagonist” on this show more. Every episode she just gets more likable and more relatable. She says everything I’m thinking, I swear.

“In war the greatest victory is the one that requires no battle.” I don’t think there has been a person in power on this show who has ever verbalized such a thing. It’s no wonder Kane is siding with Diyoza. Even if Octavia wasn’t such a tyrant, how could he resist teaming up with the one person who actually practices what he’s been preaching for all these years?

“We’re the only thing that can defeat us.” Why does this line feel like foreshadowing? 

Okay, I have to take a moment to scream (again) about how aggressively into Gaia’s look I am. Damn girl. No idea how you bleached your hair down there but good on you. Good. On. You.

“Gina at Mount Weather. Ilian in the conclave. Me, on that damn cliff.”

Listen. I fucking cheered at that line. I cheered. And I don’t think I have ever cheered for Octavia in anything she has ever done, or said, since maybe Season 2. I am not an Octavia fan. I’ve been pretty vocal about that, but this is one of the few moments during the series in which I could actually understand and empathize with her, because in this episode she voiced everything that the audience has been thinking AND. IT. WAS. SO. VINDICATING.

First of all, shout out to my girl, Gina Martin. You were the realest, and you deserved better. RIP. I don’t think it is actually possible that I could ever dislike any line that acknowledges her.

Second of all, Marie SLAYED the delivery of this line. Her voice actually breaks when she references Echo almost killing her in 4x04. I was trying to place what it was about Octavia in this scene that I liked and I realized: she may be swinging a sword, but that is not Blodreina talking. Underneath that armour is Octavia. And, judging by the way she clutches her stomach, she can still feel the wounds inflicted on that day on the cliff. Now, however, it isn’t Echo who is holding the sword: it’s Bellamy. This isn’t Blodreina holding up a facade to maintain her power; this is Octavia expressing real pain. And I may not agree with how she treats her brother, but this is perhaps the one case in which her argument is completely, and totally valid. 

I don’t know if Marie clutching her stomach like that, right where the scar would be, was an acting choice or a directing choice but I really liked that small detail.

“Why are we even doing this? So your sister can go to war? What happened to us being the good guys?” Thank you, my precious Monty, for being the light this world needs. Now go ditch Wonkru and join up with my wife Charmaine. 

Listen, I cannot describe how initially soothed I was when I heard Niylah’s accent. Finally, someone seeking out my girl Clarke! It felt like old times (and this is coming from someone who never used to give two shits about Niylarke, if I’m honest). *sigh* 

“I’m sorry. It’s just, everything’s so different.” God, my heart BROKE for Clarke so many times during this episode. I feel so much for her and it’s just SO easy to connect with her this season. She’s definitely my favourite character after the time jump, thus far, and I’m loving every second that we get of her. 

I already said that I never really cared much for Niylarke but giving her that black panther was CUTE. Sue Me.

“You saved our lives, again. Thank you by the way.” “That wasn’t me; that was Bellamy.” First of all, my girl is getting the acknowledgement she deserves. Second of all, I will take my crumbs - thank you very much.

I’m not going to lie: The 100 can disappoint in many ways, but the soundtrack never does. Tree Adam’s score was slaying the game in this episode, especially in the scene with Niylah and Clarke. That track was beautiful. It had the perfect amount of softness and nostalgia and melancholy and I loved it.

“How do you explain the sun to someone who’s never seen it?” This line was so eery and creepy HOLY shit. But I loved it, even as much as it broke my heart to realize that the one person who sought Clarke out in this episode was only using her for information. 

“I can still tell when you’re lying.” dark!Niylah - I never knew I would be so intrigued.

“Gaia, what are you doing?” “Protecting the last true natblida, as my order has always done.” BA DUM TISS

That plot twist ... I have to admit that I honestly did NOT see that coming. I was sure that Gaia was shoved straight up Octavia’s asshole. I cannot express how much gratification it brings me to know that Gaia was playing her the entire time. As Murphy would say, “that’s a survivor’s move.”

“I’m not the one you should be afraid of.” Seriously, the story potential this twist opens up for Clarke, Gaia, Octavia, and Madi is just OFF the charts. I cannot wait to see where this goes.

The entire interaction between Gaia, Niylah, and Clarke was simply fascinating. Three woman who I didn’t know I needed to interact this much.

“I don’t enjoy seeing you suffer, John.” “Then why’d you leave me.” I’ve never been a diehard Memori stan (just casually enjoyed it) but goddamn this episode was prime angst material for them. I have such a weakness for angst, my friends.

“You didn’t need me anymore. You were always off doing your own thing with Raven.” “SO WHAT?” YOU TELL HIM EMORI

“When we were on the ring, I was part of something bigger than myself. I didn’t know I needed that, but I did. And you punished me for it.” This is my favourite version of Emori, guys. Remember when we all thought that Emori died off-screen before S5 aired because there was no BTS of Luisa? I’m so glad we were wrong. Her story this season has been absolute fire. A prime example of natural character development following a time jump ... *ahem*

“A spy and a murderer ... with a conscience. You’re right Bellamy, she has changed.” I SCREAMED at Marie’s delivery of this line. It was just ... so on point you guys.

That shift transition from ***** *** (I can’t type it out - this is supposed to be a HIGHLIGHT post) to Clarke packing ... with the same music playing. aasqkqisnsksks I ain’t gonna say a word

“Six years is a long time. Octavia is not the girl from the stories I told you.” Madi’s hero worship is mildly cute but indulging it can’t possibly lead to anything good. I really appreciated this line. And I don’t blame Clarke one bit for feeling like she needs to leave.

“If anything happens to me ...” Give me a moment to recover. I’m Triggered.

But seriously that Madi x Clarke scene was just so beautiful and emotional and heartbreaking. Eliza is slaying the game. and why does lola’s face remind me so much of bellamy in THAT scene y’all know the one. the resemblance is real i said what i said

Clarke looking over to ***** ******* like a wounded puppy ... for the second episode in a row. I AIN’T GONNA SAY A WORD

“W h a t?” THE PAIN IN HIS VOICE i’ll take my crumbs

“No, YOU don’t understand.” GO OFF CLARKE !!! Also, WHO’S READY FOR HAKELDAMA 2.0 

BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW HE STILL HELPS HER FIND MADI WITHOUT EITHER OF THEM NEEDING TO SAY A WORD EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE IN THE MIDST OF A FIGHT BECAUSE EVEN WHEN THEY ARE ANGRY THEY ARE STILL EACH OTHER’S PERSON AND GOD HELP ME SIX YEARS CANNOT CHANGE THAT AND I DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE 

^^^ THIS SCREENCAP RIGHT HERE OFFICER

“On me.” *sigh* it almost feels like old times

Bellarke kicking down a door = hawt

I stan one (1) power couple

Is anyone gonna talk about the Kara Cooper/Echo parallels? Cause, like, they’re Real fam

I cannot express how much I loved that they showed Madi reacting to having her hand slit open realistically. Like that girl is trying so hard not to show pain but she FEELS it, and she was whimpering. Like, damn, I felt that. Lola did such a good job showing how a child would realistically react to that happening. 

Not to be That Person. But. Bellamy’s hair game marginally improved in his scenes with Clarke. I only know Truth.

THE SLOW-MO OF CLARKE RUNNING TOWARDS MADI AS OCTAVIA’S VOICE ECHOES IN TRIGADESLENG. Y’ALL ARE COMING FOR MY LIFE THAT WAS SO CREEPY AND COOL

“I understand why you lied Clarke. You were just trying to protect her. But Madi no longer needs your protection - she has mine.” I LOVE antagonist Octavia. Seriously. I’m so happy they decided to go the villain origin story route for her, it just makes her so much more interesting. AND SHE’S SO DAMN CREEPY

“I executed traitors. And I made it look like a real defection.” Okay, okay, okay, so was shooting the defectors cold-blooded as shit? Yes. But was it smart? YES. I think Octavia is a bad person but damn girl. Dammmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnn.

Don’t come for my life but I HONEST TO GOD ENJOYED OCTAVIA IN THIS EPISODE. And not because I like her as a person but because she made sense to me with pretty much every move she made. And I’m not used to that feeling with her.

Echo hiding the piece in Karina’s wound. F u c k i n g hell mate. AND WHAT WAS THAT LOOK AT THE END. I dunno but I’m intrigued. 

Sooooooo in case y’all were wondering. I do think 5x06 holds up better on rewatch (as most episodes do). Not all of the episode was bad, as my initial highlight crackpost made it out to be - there were still some good moments. I thought the last ten minutes of the episode were particularly strong, and to be honest all the stuff with Clarke and Memori was A+++. So, definitely not bad all around. And it has a good set-up for the episodes to follow which I am genuinely looking forward to.

Hope you enjoyed this newly revised highlight post! I’ll see ya in a week for 5x07. 

[unastute]

                   RULES.

DISCLAIMER  :  i do not own new girl or jessica day. i am not in any way affiliated with any of the fcs i use. thank you.

ONE      •    THIS BLOG IS A SAFE SPACE.     that means no hate, no bigotry, no jackassness allowed. if i see it on my dash, you will be blocked.  i will reblog callout posts, but only for serious stuff. if i see a callout posts for someone ’ not writing their character right ’ or ’ not being original enough ’ or something like that, it will be ignored. that’s dumb and you need to get over yourself. i myself am a white, lgbt female. i am not perfect, and if i do some shitty things, i expect people to come talk to me about it because in no way do i want to be make people uncomfortable or be ignorant. but i do prefer you come talk to me first, don’t just blast hate about me without trying to work with me first. i am not a hard ass, im actually quite the pushover. and i swear im pretty nice.

TWO     •     I DO NOT FOLLOW DUPLICATES.     i always feel bad about this rule, but it gives me such high anxiety i don’t know what to do. i love anyone who makes a new girl blog, and we can still be friends if you rp jess too ! just shoot me a message and i’ll give you my discord. but in no way will i be following your blog, for my own mental health.

THREE     •     WE NEED TO DISCUSS FACECALIMS.     there are a certain bunch of fcs i refuse to interact with, mostly because the actor themselves gives me a bad taste in my mouth. if you have a character with one of these fcs, i will not follow. if you wish to change the fc and don’t know who to change it to, come talk to me and i can help you out ! i will gladly point you to alternate fcs. if any of my fcs are / become problematic as well, feel free to tell me so i can change them !! the fcs i will not interact with are RDJ, MARTIAN FREEMAN, BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, SCARJO, ELLE FANNING, EDDIE REMAYNE, HAILYEY ATWELL, & JOHNNY DEPP.

FOUR     •     I AM HIGHLY SELECTIVE & MUTUAL ONLY.     basically what this means is that i only follow some people back on my dash, and i will only interact with you if we are mutuals. if we are not mutuals, do not like or reblog anything. i just like to have a clean dash, and if we are not mutuals it makes me very anxious to have to answer questions or make you a starter. just don’t, or i will block you.  i may take a while to follow back though, so if it’s been a few days and i haven’t followed back, don’t worry ! i might be getting to it ! but also don’t ask me about following you back. i have a hard time saying no to people, and then i just feel trash about myself because i didn’t want to follow and i made myself. so please just, don’t ask. but no matter if we are mutuals or not, if you want to come to my ims to talk about something, feel free !

FIVE     •     ALL GRAPHICS ARE MINE.     i save the screencaps and i made the psd from scratch and everything edited is mine. please do not take that from me, it’s incredibly disrespectful and i will block and report you. that being said, if something i use is art and if the art is your art and you want credit / want to have it removed, let me know ! i will gladly add the credit or remove it ! most of the time i just google search shit and random stuff pops up and i don’t know where it’s from, so just let me know ! occasionally i will make gifsets / edits of my muses : please don’t reblog these unless i give permission. i’ll usually put something like that in the tags or something.

SIX     •     I HAVE MY OWN SYSTEM AND WRITING STYLE.     i do memes a certain way and i write my drafts a certain way as well. the only thing you really need to know is that once i reblog a meme, it’s open forever. you could send it to me the day i reblog it or three weeks later - i don’t really care. if i don’t want to answer a meme anymore, i’ll delete it, so anything in the meme tag is fair game. other basic rules apply : if you want to continue an ask meme to a thread, move it to a new thread because if it is on an ask i won’t reblog it. i do prefer small text and icons, but i won’t not interact if you don’t use these.

SEVEN     •     I KINDA ADORE SHIPPING.     this includes platonic, frenemies, romantic partners - if it’s a pairing of any kind im a sucker for it. as for romantic things, i strongly ship nick and jess, and their relationship means a lot to me. but only in a few verses will i have them post season 7, just to keep options open. in regards to shipping, i ship chemistry above all else. i do not write smut, as i am just entirely uncomfortable with it. i may mention some things here and there, but that is it. if you see our muses being together all romantic like, let me know ! cause i may ship it too, and we could have some fun. oh, and i am ship exclusive ( meaning i will only ship with one of a particular character )

EIGHT     •     IF YOU WANNA BE MAINS, ASK ME !     i like having mains, like really like it, so if you want to be mains just let me know ! exclusives are a bit different, as i don’t like to say im exclusive with anyone. it really has to take a strong bond of me to your character portrayal for me to be exclusives. also, if i say you are my main / exclusive, do not feel pressured to add me back ! i do it for my own comfort via the relationships ive built, and it just makes me comfortable. do not feel obligated to do the same in return, you def don’t have to.

NINE     •     I TAG TRIGGERS AS TRIGGER TW.     if you want a trigger tag, tell me so i can tag it ! i try to tag the basics, but sometimes i forget, so if i forget just remind me ! i ask that you tag any vague posts you might post. i have a habit of thinking they are about me no matter what they are about. simply tag anything about it being vague or simply put ’ not about my mutuals ’ if it’s about something else ! spoilers for tv shows / games / etc will be along the same lines tagging wise.

TEN     •     MY ACTIVITY IS SPOTTY AS HELL.     currently, i work a part time job at 30 hours a week, take 18 credit hours of class, and also try to have a social life and sleep on top of all of that. there are some nights where i do not get on tumblr at all. my activity still is all over the place. if this bothers you, please do not follow. i can’t control it, and tumblr doesn’t pay me to rp, so this isn’t my number one item of things i have to keep up with. my drafts are rarely in queue, so if i post a draft, you know i’m on, if even for a moment. i am always on discord & you can reach me in ims at almost any time as well ! if we are mutuals, hmu for my discord !

ELEVEN     •     HI I’M SYD.     i am a white female living in the usa. i am 20. im not entirely sure wtf my sexual orientation is, but if you ask me irl my first answer is usually bi. i have high anxiety, bpd, avpd, and i fluctuate between periods of high empathy and periods of low empathy. i am a sophomore in college, studying marketing and minoring in event management. really though, i’m just a smol child tryin to make it through life in one piece. ask me about my puppo and i will show you the 60 pictures i take each day of him. i also have a youtube channel, but i rarely post videos so if i’m on there i’ll shout it into the void. thanks for reading this long thing, it means a lot. i’m sure i’ll add more as i find more things, but for now, have fun and explore ! remember i love you and you’re amazing !

[laneypenn]

i’m super emotional about chrysdric lately... like okay so, they’re really different in a lot of ways, but if they were in a relationship, they’d be growing and learning from each other all the dang time... it’d be so adorable. also they have so many differences in virtues and vices that i cant help but compare them

i think this’ll get long so under cut

like, i can imagine chrysta asking cedric for help with being a teacher because he’s so much better at teaching than she is. like, for example, in “the princess and the protector” (sorry for no screencaps this episode isnt on netflix or disneyNOW so), chrysta’s introduced as sofia’s protector trainer who’s judgmental and rude, and she keeps claiming sofia doesn’t have the potential to be a protector just because she’s a princess. 

sofia calls her out on it and she learns her lesson by the end of the episode, but chrysta is just lucky to have sofia as a trainee. if it was someone else, say, princess vivian, chrysta’s trainee would not have gotten to their enchantlet by sundown. sofia only succeeded because she’s stubborn, headstrong, and she doesn’t give up on what she wants (which i might say is actually because she’s had cedric as a friend/mentor for a few years, but that’s a whole other post)

cedric, on the other hand, is actually a pretty fantastic teacher. like in “substitute cedric”, he gives a more detailed description on how to do the spell that sofia’s class was learning (chrysta’s explanation of what feather walking is was longer than her explanation on how to do it. her instruction was “put your feet down as gently as possible and float over the surface, light as can be.” which basically is just “walk lightly!”)

cedric isn’t a great teacher at this specific part of the episode, but that’s mostly because he’s focused on something else and the class was learning this spell the day before. he’s still easier to understand than chrysta and when sofia asks him to show the class the spell one more time, he (begrudgingly) agrees to, whereas when sofia asked chrysta to let her try to feather walk again, chrysta doesn’t let her, claiming that since it only took her two tries to get it right, sofia shouldn’t need more than three

the only time cedric insults sofia’s class outwardly is at this point, when he’s frustrated that all of them can’t do the spell and has to stay in there showing them how to do it, cutting into his time at the greenhouse

this is more of a case of cedric just being a general asshole than it is cedric being a bad teacher, though. he actually stayed with the kids and kept showing them the spell to help them get it right, which he really didn’t have to do

cedric really starts to glow as a teacher when the kids from hexley hall stick him to a chair and he has to show the royal prep kids how to do the disappearo spell

he can’t even move to show them how anymore, but he still explains clearly how to perform the spell and doesn’t get mad at the kids when they can’t do it right. it’s quickly clear why he isn’t mad 

(i love the di-di-di-di-di-di noise he makes here and i find it funny that netflix subs it as “now, now” because thats not what hes saying at all)

(for space im cutting the little part where vivian does the spell)

please ignore his very evil look, it’s just his face. also, i love this song, so listen to it if you haven’t lately

anyways, cedric is more competent than chrysta in the right situations. he encourages the kids to keep trying, build up their confidence, and pushes vivian to actually try to do the spell instead of just giving up like she wants to. chrysta, in contrast, pushed sofia to give up when she failed to teach her well and kept taking personal shots at her for being a princess.

also, i think it’s worth mentioning that chrysta only has to deal with teaching sofia, the girl who can learn quickly and understand confusing instructions while asking minimal questions, the girl who was the one who had to teach her class to do a spell while cedric was stuck, and she still thought that it was a burden. 

moving away from the topic of teaching, cedric and chrysta are both trying to be better people and stop pushing people away when they want to be friends. cedric pushed people away all his life because everyone mocked him relentlessly, so he vowed to himself that he’d get super powerful and screw them over one day... so if anyone ever reached out to him to try to be his friend, it’s safe to assume that he just never let anyone get close.

meanwhile, chrysta actively tried to make friends with other fairies, but she was more rough and tumble than the people she wanted to be friends with and couldn’t be their friend after a couple of tries, so she gave up entirely. 

then, when she became a protector, she didn’t want anyone to worry about her and feel obligated to be her friend, so she’d tell lies about how extravagant her wassalia was to keep anyone from worrying for her. (this ep isnt on the disneyNOW app either so no screencaps)

both cedric and chrysta have a hard time making friends (cedric moreso than chrysta) so it seems likely to me for sofia to want to introduce them to each other.

another big thing that i was very interested in is their capacity for giving up.

chrysta is stubborn, of course, but she gives up a lot. she gave up on sofia before she even met her. she gave up on becoming friends with the other fairies after maybe three tries to hang out with them. and since she’s clearly allowed to try again as an adult in “undercover fairies” -

she gave up on getting her fairy wand, too.

cedric, however, has a very hard time giving up. for three seasons of the show, he’s trying all the time to claim the throne of enchancia because that’s what he’s wanted ever since people turned against him when he messed up his sister’s hair. but not giving up isnt always a good thing.

in “day of the sorcerers”, he has to talk himself back into taking over the kingdom because it feels wrong, he isn’t sure that’s what he wants anymore... but he can’t not do it, it’s what he’s wanted for so, so many years...

he only gives up when it looks like he’s in physical pain at the idea of hurting sofia this way

(and he does give up, he’s not just defeated by sofia. he does everything short of just handing the wand to her)

so like, cedric doesnt give up easily, and chrysta does. i mean, looking at it from a smaller lens can make it seem like the other way around, with cedric failing at all his schemes and chrysta always seeming to succeed, but it’s clear in the big picture that this is the case.

tl;dr, shipping goggles make you look at everything in new lights and at first glance, it seems like cedric’s not good enough for chrysta, but upon inspection they’re both kinda flawed characters that would make for an interesting relationship. thanks for coming to my TED talk