#now we just hope the rest of the season doesn't fuck this growth up

[p4nishers]

what we actually need to talk about is the shift in loki's behavior with sylvie. after the last ep where she left and they STAYED (for mobius) their behavior is completely different. it's like they genuinely let her go. they didn't get emotional or freeze when they saw sylvie, nor did they try to reason with her thru emotions. they literally repeated what mobius said to reassure them and it was just completely different on how they would've done it before this ep. they genuinely seem to have let sylvie go like they didn't try to actively seek her out or talk to her, they barely talked to her more than necessary and most importantly, they left without looking back. that was such an important moment bc even last ep they looked back to make sure sylvie was following them but now they didn't talk to her or even look at her really before completely walking away from the situation. because, like last season, they choose a side and this time they choose mobius. they said it's harder to say yet they still stayed with mobius and they're NOT changing their mind. like i don't want to be too hopeful but it really seems to me that loki let sylvie go or at least begun letting her go and i'm so fucking happy that's finally happening.

[bizarrelittlemew]

the saddest line in the trailer

at first I was too distracted by Stede's plunging neckline and gold earring to fully realize why this kept nagging at me but:

"I've been a failure my whole life."

and the way he says it:

as a matter of fact, because he fully believes it – it's an integrated part of his self-image

to comfort someone else (presumably), meaning that even though it is sort of similar to Ed's "I'm not a good person" from s1e6, this scene doesn't seem to be about Stede getting comforted – he is just throwing that line in there

with the follow-up line of "It's not so bad once you get used to it," because he is used to being called a failure by everyone around him, even when he was a kid, so much that he doesn't question it

and yeah, Stede fucks up a lot and can be a bit air-headed/naive and overestimates his abilities (Stede's super high confidence vs. shit self-esteem is a central part of his character), often to the detriment of himself and everyone around him, but his biggest "crime" growing up was simply that he was different and didn't live up to the norms of masculinity. and this is what caused him to be made to feel like a failure by the world around him.

(putting the rest under the cut because I have a lot to say apparently lmao ⬇️)

idk it is just so sad that after everything that happened at the end of season 1, he still echoes his father's and the Badmintons' words when talking about himself (and his own "I'm not a pirate, I'm an idiot" from s1e1). he still has a lot of growth to do.

and while it's good that he embraces his own shortcomings (and I hope he stays a loser in many ways <3) and the show reinforces that you don't have to be perfect to be worthy of love/that you are worthy of love just as you are, it is just. idk SO SAD to hear him say that about himself so earnestly

but do you know who doesn't let Stede self-deprecate?

THIS GUY, FROM THEIR VERY FIRST DAY TOGETHER

from telling Stede he isn't such a terrible pirate (at least he's alive), to not letting Stede call his own ideas stupid, Ed likes Stede for who he is WHILE not letting him talk bad about himself like that.

now we can't know who Stede is talking to in the scene in the trailer, just that it is someone with long dark hair:

and it could be someone else (to me it doesn't look quite like Ed's hair, but the quality/lighting makes it difficult to tell), but if it IS Ed, it has the potential for him to (once again) go against Stede's negative self-talk 😌

I am so interested to see how this scene plays out and I REALLY hope we get a scene mirroring the bathtub scene (even if it's not this one) but with the roles switched ✌️

[cookinguptales]

Girl you have already made three mistakes in your rants I've seen in the tags; you should rest, watch again with a cold head and then talk because it's getting embarrassing how much you got wrong. If after all you still think the same, go back to fanficland.

Honestly, I probably will have a lot more thoughts once I've rested and watched again, but the profound disappointment I feel now won't go away. Like "girl", I'm not just some child that will agree with you after I've gone down for a nap. (And like... what's the weird slight against fanfic at the end there...?)

This finale feels like an extreme ass-pull. This idea that "oh, just the time since death will pass and that's why they'll die" doesn't mesh with what they said in s3 about all vampires (including baby vampires) dying if The Sire dies. Laszlo searching for a "cure" the entire season when apparently it's known knowledge that they could've just killed Derek doesn't make sense. Seeing Nandor swapping from "we will accept him as equals" to "clean up this corpse" is bullshit, and it's not a good thing and shows a regression of character growth. The fact that everyone's storylines all pretty much went back to where they were before Guillermo was bitten is absolutely infuriating.

I could accept a couple understandable changes in canon, like the zombies being capable of attaining sentience (despite the older ones not showing signs of it when Topher joined the sweatshop) but come on, this is ridiculous.

God, I'm tired of this show introducing interesting ideas and then explaining them all away. It makes it hard to get invested in any of the storylines when you know they're gonna just hand wave everything. The djinn wishes, the club, Baby Colin, the year-long break between s3 and s4, Guillermo being bitten, the vampiric tests on Guillermo, Nadja's Little Antipaxos thing, none of it ever matters. They just make some joke to lampshade things like "hey, we remember that it happened!" and then never deal with it. I always think they're going somewhere with things and they don't.

I feel like the entire season I watched was pointless and I'm frustrated. I feel like I've been giving the writers the benefit of the doubt for a couple years now, and honestly, I'm tired of it.

I was actually hoping that Guillermo would have to make hard choices between vampirism and humanity. I didn't want him to become a vampire. But for him to just be like "PHEW glad I'm back on dead body duty" is so fucking frustrating.

[doublel27]

Now that the storyline has come to an end, how do you feel about Carlos's potential for growth from everything that happened? It doesn't seem that likely that the whole Iris situation is going to be mentioned much going forward.

Well, it’s hard to say if the Iris of it all will be mentioned going forward. The Reyes clearly know and care about Iris. They were going to see her in the hospital. Iris and Andrea were already waiting for Carlos at the hospital. And Rafa has expressed in interviews that this storyline is going to ripple through the season for him. We’ll see what comes of it.

But in terms of what happened and growth. I’ve always said that we already saw some in him coming to TK in 4.01 without a solution already in hand or never mentioning it at all. Was it like, fantastic, no. But it’s still more than we’ve gotten in the past.

He was cold with TK in 4.03, but whenever Carlos gets upset/flustered/scared he gets icy with just about everyone, whether they’re the ones he’s actually mad at. We’ve seen it throughout all four seasons, and this time he never actually blamed TK out loud. That’s how TK read it. But I saw a lot of Carlos blaming himself for thinking Iris was fine.

Where I hope to see some growth is him letting TK in further as the season goes on. He made a mistake not being honest with TK about what he was doing and why he wasn’t coming home in 4.03. I think we all agree on that. What I hope is impactful for Carlos is that TK hunted him down and found him regardless of the lie, regardless of how Carlos had let him down or been cold, and rather than spiraling out into maybe things were too good and this was the other shoe.

I’m hoping we see more of Carlos letting TK in during the rest of this season without TK having to push so hard. He’s already told TK that Carlos’s life is already TK’s to hold. I’m hoping we see him opening up more in the wake of being loved even when he fucks up.

[chonidale]

how would you rank the characters in s7 i assume cheryl and toni take the top 2 spot but everyone else?

yes, they are top two, always.

cheryl: forever my fav, but i think what they've done with her this season is so, so good. the way they've used the 50s to show cheryl's growth is on par with how well they're using it show choni's. i do think the difference in her is also a result of her not having jason related trauma, but it's also obviously showing how much she's matured over the course of the show. i'm just so proud of her every week and pray they can keep it up for just nine more eps.

toni: her best season, bar none. they've finally figured out how to write her and write for her, and it's both so satisfying to finally see and frustrating that it took them this long to do it. but this is the toni i always knew she was, and seeing her perspective and struggles has been so nice. my single complaint is that she's missing so many episodes. anyone that has a bad word to say about her this season is dumb and nasty and has no empathy for black characters.

tabitha: no we haven't seen much of her but i love her so much and i miss her so much and i just can't rank anyone else higher than her, sorry.

reggie: we haven't seen much of him yet but i already love him so much. it's so interesting to see such a different version of him and think charles is doing a great job. best boy for sure.

archie: i do not find most of his plots interesting and he's been kinda meh in the last few eps, but i can't deny that i've found him really endearing for the first time in seasons. i do wish they would pull back on the straight savior stuff a bit, but still. i'm charmed most of the time.

kevin: it's been nice to see him get some meaty stuff to work with again, and to not be made a villain for once. i wish the writers would give his relationship with clay more onscreen development, but i'm glad kevin's journey has at least gotten some focus and has been taken seriously. i really hope they take the time to show that it helped him with his internalized homophobia in the present.

midge: listen is it unserious of me to put midge so high? yes, but i think she's cute and i love her dynamic with cheryl and toni and i appreciate her existence when it comes to fangs and i don't care which way they choose to bring her back to the present (there's a lot of ways i can think of), just that they do.

clay: i really like this guy and think he's sweet and a great match for kevin and a great fit on the show and in the gang. i wish we knew more about him and still think he should have been a topaz to give toni a family as well as kevin a love interest, but whatever.

veronica: i'm happy to see her with a bit of her spunk back, but i will just always struggle to find veronica or her stories interesting. i think she started the season off strong but now she's just fallen back into boring business and family related plots or mooning after boys with betty. meh. still, gets point for variety.

betty: i usually love betty, but find her kinda meh this season. i understand what they've been trying to do with her and i think lili is doing a good job, but it just feels so repetitive every episode, omg. we get it, betty is horny and wants to fuck the patriarchy both literally and metaphorically, can she come up with something else?

fangs: i don't mind him this season at all and i appreciate that he shaved and cut his hair so he doesn't look like the nasty man he was last season, but it's not like he's gotten anything to do for me to enjoy. but i don't hate him so good for him.

jughead: ranking him below fangs... look how they massacred my boy. i grew to love him at lot in the time jump, but i guess i'm just never going to like high school jughead because woof. the fact that i completely forgot about him until i almost hit publish says it all. completely isolated from the rest of the cast, with the most boring storylines on the show that's largely just him and guest stars... it's bad for him. not even tabitha could get me to pay attention to him.

julian: he does his job as a villain well and nick seems lovely, but obviously he's last. the one good thing i can say about him is that i'm glad they went with him over jason because i hate jason and think they've beaten that dead horse more than enough, and i'm actually intrigued by the dynamic between julian and cheryl.

[veryintricaterituals]

Big Guillermo Meta ahead

Thinking about how this whole season's main theme is careful what you wish for. The vampires all get to live out their dreams and watch them fall apart in spectacular ways. I'm not even talking about the djinn wishes, though those explore the theme in even more obvious ways. I'm talking about Nandor and his search for love, Nadja and her search for having an impact, making something of herself in the afterlife, Laszlo and his wish to change Colin's nature. It all falls apart.

It happens to all of them except for Guillermo. Because we all know what his most fervent wish is, what he thinks he really wants above all else, and that is to become a vampire. I'm thinking about how that's going to fall apart completely for him just as all the other wishes did. He's doing exactly what Nandor did all season: trying to cover up the real problem, soothing it with a solution that's not going to make him happy in the long run.

He needs to realize he doesn't need to be a vampire to be happy, to be important, to have power, to be loved.

Guillermo needs to realize his self worth, he needs to learn to love himself as a human, he needs to see how important he is to his vampire family, how needed he is, how wanted he is, and he needs to see it as a human.

And he is on that journey already, we've been seeing it throughout the seasons and that's why his character arc and growth is so fucking compelling, and he's almost there.

But he's not quite there yet. If he's turned right now he's going to be miserable because after a few weeks, months, years even, he's going to turn around and see that he is still him at the end of the day. and all his problems are still there, all his insecurities, all his flaws. He's not magically going to turn into Armand, he's going to still be Guillermo, just now with fangs and probably even more murder. And just like the rest of the vampires he's now stuck, trapped.

Don't get me wrong, I still hope he gets turned, he deserves it. I just want him to not feel as if he needs it in order to be happy.

[hilahorizon]

Nadja Bad? part 2 - WWDITS and Character Arcs

In my last post I explained what I see as Nadja's arc throughout the seasons, but I didn't touch on the main point of her detractors. Which is, that Nadja is given less emotional complexity and development than the other main characters, who are men.

This is a bit weird to me, mostly because, well, by season 3, it was pretty obvious to me that the only characters that have some kind of emotional development are Nandor and Guillermo. And really, it's mostly Guillermo.

Lazslo was essentially just the definition of hedonism throughout the show. Sure, he had his relationship with Colin, and he does have a scene or two a season where he talks about his childhood and trust issues, but it doesn't really seem like he's intent on working through those. The most Lazslo focused episode is the Jackie Daytona one, which was just incredibly stupid[compliment]. Only now, in season 4, he's shown any kind of growth, which is also not that much if you ask me.

Colin's main development was his reincarnation so, I'm not really sure that counts. He did try to find his origins in season 3, but gave up after a few failed attempts.

Nandor's main development was his existential crisis in season 3, which made him search for love. But in that regard he hasn't developed much since then, he's still looking for a romantic partner to fix all of his problems. The main thing that has changed in Nandor is his treatment of Guillermo, but that's a lot because Guillermo changed.

Guillermo really is the main character of the show. He's the only one who actually gets to be introspective and realize things about himself and change. And that makes sense because, the others generally don't need to. Most of the show consists of them fucking something up and getting away with it mostly consequences free, either because someone saves their ass(usually Guillermo) or because they're fucking vampires. They're huge immortal babies. And that's great! That's part of why the show is so fun.

And this is why it bothers me that people are saying that Nadja doesn't have an arc because like, none of the vampires do. At least, not more than her. So why is Nadja singled out as the bad character? Why is failing at running a nightclub inherently less deep and meaningful than failing at being a father or failing at being a husband?

And I do agree that it's a shame we didn't get to see her interact as much with the other characters, and that everything she did in the last 4 episodes was mainly about the club and not any kind of relationship, but I also think people are overestimating how emotional and relationship-focused the other characters' scenes were.

Lazslo had one scene of opening up to Colin. Guillermo and Nandor had maybe two conversations about their relationship. The rest was just dick wishes and child abuse.

And this is not me shitting on the show. I fucking love season 4 I can't stop thinking about it. But I'm also very much aware that the things I'm personally obsessed with, are probably mostly speculations, subtext or things that were completely unintentional.

I'm not trying to discourage you from being critical of season 4 and what it's done with the characters and Nadja in particular. I probably share many of your criticisms. But making these sweeping remarks about how the writers don't put any attention at all into her character arc and making her a shallow, screaming, power-hungry woman, while ignoring the shallowness of the other characters just reads, idk, a bit sexist, maybe?

Like, I get that the point is to call out the sexism, and there's probably some truth to that, but audiences have biases too. And I think that we're all so used to seeing female characters that are badly written, that even when a decent female character comes along we're not able to see her complexity, or call her out on things that we ignore in her male counterparts.

All that being said, I do hope we'll see more of Nadja other than her running the nightclub this season. But the thing is, I'm so sure we will that I really don't feel the need to complain that the episodes we've gotten so far are repetitive in that regard.

But again, we'll have to wait and see.

[hello-nichya-here]

Is Ty Lee a better written character than Mai? Was her joining the Kyoshi warriors a good decision? Imo they both lack character development especially given that they never faced consequences of their imperialistic actions and their redemption arcs happened off screen. They, do, however, have potential to be great characters. That was sadly unexplored... and their traumas/dealing with their emotions, learning who they really are/want to be/reconnecting with their families and how they feel about Azula after the betrayal... all of that was also skipped. Just because they're side characters doesn't mean.... ugh nevermind. Anyway, I wanted to know your opinion on this take. I hope it doesn't anger you dor obvious reasons.

“Is Ty Lee a better written character than Mai?”

No. They’re both great characters with a lot of potential that went to waste because Bryke insisted on having only three seasons, which meant A LOT of things were rushed, including their development. Ty Lee becoming a Kyoshi Warrior could have been good and an excellent case of an ironic ending (like Zuko and Aang being friends in the finale when they started the show as enemies) IF the writers had given it time. Both her and Mai should have gotten scenes that showed us they were moving on from their imperialist views.

Mai’s ending, with her being with the guy she had a crush on since she was 8 and had been dating for a while made sense (even though as I’ve said before I personally don’t think it would last, at least not without some extra growth and maturity from both of them). So while neither character is “better written” than the other, Mai’s ending, although flawed, made more sense than Ty Lee’s. 

"Ty Lee never wanted to hurt anyone, Mai joined Azula willingly"

Ty Lee joined Azula on her mission out of fear, yes, but that doesn't mean she got no enjoyment out of it ever - we clearly see that she did. Is it still unfair since it wasn't her choice? Absolutely. But that does NOT mean all of Ty Lee's actions were a consequence of fear, and it sure as fuck does not mean that Mai wasn't afraid of Azula at all - if just means that said fear wasn't the driving force for her to join her. 

“The I love X more than I fear you should have been Ty Lee’s, not Mai’s”

Mai never letting fear rulling her and then pointing out to Azula that fear wouldn’t make her stay now that she had a reason to leave made sense. Ty Lee defending Mai despite her fear is her saying “I love Mai more than I fear you” without having to actually say it. Actions speak louder than words.

“Ty Luko would have been better than Maiko”

I like Ty Luko but I disagree. This one really comes down to personal preference.

“Mai’s arc revolves around Zuko”

Mai did not spend an entire season just running around the earth kingdom and being a menace to society to them be reduced to a guy just because she saved him and ended up with him. Mai choosing Zuko over Azula isn’t just about their romance (or the simple fact that Zuko needed someone to help him out at that point of the plot) - it was her choosing her own happiness and a troubled, but still more equal relationship over being subservient for the rest of her life. She left with Azula because she wanted excitment, and she left Azula because she was sick of having someone else (be it her parents or her friend/princess) deciding her life for her.

“Mai’s arc and Ty Lee’s lack of arc were a direct result of Bryke trying to kill Zutara”

*sighs eternally* One time. Just one time. One single, solitary time. Can a conversation about flaws in the characters and arcs not be derailed to “Zutara didn’t happen and I’m bitter” ONE FUCKING TIME? Ship whatever you want, but have at least some self-awareness.

How does mishandling Ty Lee’s character hurt Zutara? She isn’t involved in the ship or in any canon “rival” ship. Mai’s development isn’t tied to her lack of development. Bryke dropped the ball on Ty Lee’s arc because they wanted three seasons instead of four (or more) and wouldn’t let go of that idea even when it became clear that there was just not enough room in book 3 to fit properly conclude all the storylines.

Was Toph not getting her life changing field trip with Zuko, or a proper resolution the writers being afraid of her being a “threat” to Maiko? Was the writers not giving Azula a redemption arc and making her reconciliate with Zuko them being afraid that people (like me) would ship them? NO! It was them being lazy and caring about some storylines more than others and letting that affect the quality of their writting. Pure and simple. 

Bryke gave a more coherent/less rushed ending to Mai instead of to Ty Lee because they didn’t care that much about Ty Lee’s issues. Mai’s ending was still rushed because they didn’t care that much about her issues either. It had NOTHING to do with Zutara. 

Ty Lee could have had a perfect arc and Zutara would have still not happened. Mai could have had a perfect arc, with or without Zuko involved, and Zutara still would not have happened. Kataang could have been 100% platonic the entire show and Zutara still wouldn’t have happened. Every single fan could have shipped Zutara and it still would not happen. Why? Because Bryke were the ones in charge and they didn’t like it. They didn’t need to change anything about any storyline (or botch say storylines) to make Zutara not happen. They were so “threatened” by Zutara and wanted to kill it that they allowed a ton of Zutara bait to happen, including Zuko taking lightning to the heart for Katara.

Bryke didn’t like Zutara (and there WERE times when they treated the shippers terribly). Bryke dropped the ball on Mai and Ty Lee’s development. Both statements are true, but they are NOT connected. Not everything is about Zutara and it’s time for the more obsessive shippers to learn that they can love the pairing and be upset that it wasn’t canon WITHOUT having this almost pathological need of claiming that every bad thing about the show is connected to it not happening. It only makes people, like me, go from indifferent to the ship to having to block the goddamn tag because just seeing it gives me a headache since it reminds me of some of the WORST takes I’ve ever seen.

[icedteaandoldlace]

On one hand, the last two episodes have seemed like they were preparing Caitlin to have to live without Frost, and all the teasing about Caitlin or Iris dying this episode did feel a bit like a red herring to make us think the major death was gonna be one of them, only for it to turn out to be someone else.

But on the other hand, there was a big H.R., Nash, Eddie, and Barry-at-the-end-of-season-3 shaped shadow hanging over Caitlin this episode that could be hinting toward Caitlin sacrificing herself as a way of "taking responsibility" for something she really shouldn't be blaming herself for. Hell, Cisco risked the fate of the multiverse to save Barry, and Barry risked destroying Earth Prime to get the life Thawne erased back, so I think we can cut Caitlin a little slack for doing what she thought was necessary to save her husband. ANYONE in her position would have done the same thing to save something they loved (my same defense for early s3 Barry and Cisco—aaaaaayyyyy, they all in the same boat now!)

And Caitlin did tell Frost she needed to learn to value her own life, and Frost has been living her life to its fullest lately, minus the fact that her boyfriend's a total jackass (on that note, who saw Caitlin's "love interest" this season being WORSE than Frost's coming?!), while Caitlin is conveniently broken up with her boyfriend, so it's almost like they're getting Cait's affairs in order to wrap up her whole character, and leave Frost to carry on and maybe find her own purpose without her.

And yet, Marcus's little speech about roots seemed like it could be an indication of growth for Caitlin this season, so maybe her story doesn't end here? Eric did say they would be digging deep into what makes Caitlin Caitlin this season, and I seriously hope that doesn't mean chalking up her entire character to her grief for Ronnie, and that there is actually more development coming for her.

And I absolutely do not want Caitlin to be killed off at any point, but FOR FUCK'S SAKE, IF YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HER, DON'T DO IT WITHOUT BRINGING CISCO IN TO SAY GOODBYE. I mean, I don't think he would miss Frost's funeral either, but he ABSOLUTELY wouldn't miss Caitlin's, and unless they were super sneaky about it, Carlos hasn't been on set with the rest of the cast recently (that said, if it is Frost, I hope Caitlin goes to spend some time with Cisco and Kamilla in Star City, 'cause nothing would be better for her after a loss like that).

There's always the possibility of the death this season being Joe, and Jesse's involvement in season 9 being in the form of flashbacks or some spectral being, but that seems less likely. It could also be Sue, but she's not really a "major character", and Ralph would be the one most affected if she died, and he's not here, so that would just be a stupid writing decision. She's a good addition to the show, but her death wouldn't be impactful enough at this point for it to make sense for them to kill her off in such a big, dramatic way.

We know it's not Cecile, Chester, Iris, or Barry, I think we have confirmation that Allegra lives past this storyline, but I'm not sure, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be someone who is a current series regular, so Caitlin and Frost are the top two contenders—it's just a matter of which one.

Of course, I also thought that all the vague mentions of Cisco's future in season 7 and all the moments where he took charge of a situation, whether personal or official Team Flash business, were setting up for him to become a father, and it turned out to be foreshadowing for him leaving to take a leadership position at A.R.G.U.S., so my ability to predict where this show is going is not very reliable. 🙃