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jajanvm-imbi · 1 year ago

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Babe wake up the Helluva Boss hiatus is finally over

Okay I have some thoughts. Was it perfect? No. Was it better than the last 3 episodes? Absolutely 100%

And before anyone comes at me, I like the Blitz and Fizz plotline, I really do. Blitz and Fizz might be my fave dynamic in the whole series, so seeing them interact was fun! But the fact that we got the worst episode in the entire series (Happy Campers) followed by 2 more episodes that were almost completely irrelevant to the main 2 plotlines (Oops and Mid-season Special) A N D the hiatus BEFORE literally anything about 2 sets of alluded reoccurring villains is baffling to me.

Anyway, my main issue with the latest episode is the split focus.

This episode featured both the return of alluded reoccurring villains The Cherubs and D.H.O.R.K.S, and Stolas finally freeing Blitz of their transactional relationship. Both developments are really good, the return of the Cherubs and the agents was long overdue, but I'm glad to see them back. HOWEVER, both of these super important developments had to share an episode, which I think is the problem.

Both of these events were waaaaaaaaaaay too important to share the focus of a single 20 minute episode, and because they had to share, it minimizes the impact of both developments.

Or in the HB fandom's case, everyone is gonna focus on the Stolitz shippy stuff and all but completely ignore the other half of the episode.

Both the first return of these alluded villains and the Stolitz stuff should have gotten their own solo episode to really highlight the importance of each event.

What makes this even more frustrating is that, like I said before, we just came back from a hiatus and the three episodes before that were almost completely irrelevant to the 2 main plot lines. The only actually important thing that happened was Stolas getting Blitz the crystal, and that was the B-plot to S2 ep6 and not the main plot??? Almost nothing important happened in the last 3 episodes before the hiatus and then when the 2 most important plot lines finally get the spotlight again they have to share an episode.

"Look My Way" wasn't even in an episode????? It was a separate music video????? Which is completely bizarre?????

I have nothing but respect for the Hellverse creative teams, truly. I admire their persistence and their individuality. I respect how they are so unapologetically themselves, making the content they like and nothing else. I adore the artistic identity of Helluva Boss (not so much Hazbin but that's in my review of the first 4 eps of the series if you're interested in reading my thoughts about that). The art style and the animation style are incredible, looking x100 better than most animated shows done by bigger studios recently. Their success is something to be admired for sure, leading the pack for indie studios everywhere to find their own success. But one thing I cannot wrap my head around are the writing decisions for this show.

If they really have such limited time and resources, why are they wasting time on irrelevant bullshit????? Or at least, why are they so adamant on doing everything all at once??? Why does the D.H.O.R.K.S + the Cherubs plotline need to happen at the same time as the Stolitz plotline as the same time as the Striker + Crimson plotline at the same time as the "Blitz estranged relationships" plotline as the same time as "Stolas' family drama" plotline????? It's the same exact issue with Hazbin Hotel except worse because Helluva has more episodes than Hazbin. Vivziepop and her crew didn't know if they were getting a second season of Hazbin until halfway through production of S1, which can excuse a good portion of writing sins (no pun intended) committed in Hazbin. HELLUVA BOSS HAS 4 PLANNED SEASONS. They have the time to pace these plotlines better. There is literally NO REASON why they had to cram every single plotline into every single season. By dividing the attention between all the different plotlines, none of the plotlines get enough meaningful attention. There are so many episodes between each plotline development and so much time between each episode, that everything gets muddled and nothing is impactful in the slightest. And on top of everything, some of these episode slots are wasted on completely irrelevant nonsense. Happy Campers was such a waste of time, and Barbie Wire's introduction was completely wasted on it. It was promoted as the "Millie episode" but it was actually another Moxxie episode caused by random Millie angst. The Mid-season Special wasn't even about the main cast or Stolas????? Blitz was only there to justify the episode existing because without him the episode would have no real reason to exist???? Most of s2 has been completely irrelevant with no real plot progression.

So much time was wasted on stuff the ultimately doesn't mean anything, or won't mean anything for a long time and as a result, two of the more important plotlines get shoved in an episode together. So the stuff that doesn't matter get full episodes and the stuff that does matter have to share episodes.

Or in the case of "Look My Way", IT DOESN'T EVEN GET AN EPISODE AND IT HAS TO BE A MUSIC VIDEO OUTSIDE OF THE ACTUAL SERIES?????????

Each of these plotlines should have gotten their own season, or at least the similar ones can share.

S1 should have just been about the main cast (IMP) and maybe Stolas. Maybe introducing some of the main villains like the Cherubs and D.H.O.R.K.S (kind of like how they actually did it but without eps 2, 5, 7 and especially 8. So really only like half the season lmfao)

Then S2 could have been about Blitz's past relationships, Moxxie and Millie's relationship and Stolas' family drama.

S3 could have been about Stolitz and Blitz repairing his other relationships

and S4 could have been the epic return of The Cherubs and D.H.O.R.K.S, with some foreshadowing sprinkled throughout the rest of the series

......or something

Idk but the point is that by trying to do everything all at once, none of the attempted plotlines are impactful and the series as a whole suffers for it.

I still find HB entertaining, but damn is it frustrating to watch.

Anyway that's all I had to say

#helluva boss #helluva boss full moon #helluva boss spoilers #stolitz #helluvaverse #vivziepop #spindlehorse

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swpc-bot--unoffical · 25 days ago

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Forecast Discussion

Product: Forecast Discussion Issued: 2025 Jun 19 0030 UTC Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center Solar Activity .24 hr Summary... Solar activity was at moderate levels due to an M1.5 flare from Region 4117 (S16E63, Dai/beta); the region continues to come into better view but foreshortening near the east limb remains, making classification of its magnetic field difficult. Region 4114 (N18W26, Ekc/beta-gamma) remains the largest, most complex but has become a bit more stable throughout the period. Its trailer spot has become more symmetric and flux emergence within its intermediate region has slowed. Region 4115 (N20W15, Eso/beta-gamma) grew in length but lost some of its interior spots. It produced a C9.2 at 18/0313 UTC and has been quiet otherwise. A new region is coming into better view around S13 and has produced multiple C-class flares. Its classification is not yet able to be determined at the time of this writing as its trailer is barely visible. All other regions were relatively stable or in decay. A Type II radio sweep was observed at 18/0434 UTC, velocity estimates from radio observatories were estimated to be between 710 km/s as recorded by the San Vito station to 1110 km/s at Palahua. The Solar Orbiter satellite recorded a GOES approximated flare between M7 to X2 at 18/0442 UTC. A partial halo associated CME was observed in LASCO C2 imagery from just beyond the northwest limb starting around 18/0500 UTC. Due to its location on the far-side of the Sun, impacts are not expected. .Forecast... R1-R2 (Minor-Moderate) flaring is expected with a chance for X-class flares (R3-Strong) through 21 June, mostly driven by Regions 4114, 4115, and 4117. Energetic Particle .24 hr Summary... Due to continued influence from the coronal hole (CH) high speed stream (HSS), the greater than 2 MeV electron flux on the GOES-19 satellite remained elevated. The flux neared the 1000 pfu threshold but did not cross during its respective diurnal maxima. The aforementioned CME was expected to produce an S1 (Minor) event but has yet to materialize and the greater than 10 MeV proton flux was at background levels. .Forecast... The greater than 2 MeV electron flux will continue to near the 1000 pfu threshold during the diurnal maxima due to continue CH influence through 20 Jun with waning influences on 21 Jun. The greater than 10 MeV electron flux is expected to remain at background barring any significant flares. There remains a slight possibility for protons to become elevated due to the CME on the far-side but confidence is low. Solar Wind .24 hr Summary... Solar wind parameters continued to reflect a positive polarity CH HSS regime. Total field (Bt) remained around 7-9 nT with the north-south (Bz) component oscillating between +/-8 nT. Solar wind speeds primarily averaged 480-500 km/s. Phi angle was predominantly in the positive (away from the Sun) orientation. .Forecast... CH HSS conditions are expected to persist through 20 Jun with waning influences into 21 Jun. There is a slight chance for an enhancement of solar wind parameters 20 Jun due to a CME interplanetary shock associated with a C5.5 flare at 17/0813 UTC from Region 4115. The mag cloud is diffuse with model density and wind profiles showing weak signatures upon arrival. Geospace .24 hr Summary... The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled. .Forecast... Quiet to active conditions are expected to persist into 19 Jun due to continued CH HSS effects. Minor (G1) geomagnetic storming is likely on 20 June due to any glancing influences from the aforementioned CME that left the Sun early on 17 June UTC day. Unsettled conditions are expected to continue in 21 Jun. -Bri

#Forecast Discussion #SWPC #Space Weather Prediction Center #Space Weather #NOAA #Aurora #Aurora Forecast #Northern Lights #Northern Lights Forecast

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silentpsi · 5 months ago

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———— “ SMOKE & MIRRORS. shattered glasses polished faultless still leaves the wearer blind. “ ———— SILENTPSI: CHO SANG-WOO of SQUID GAME (netfl:x), as illustrated by JON (HE, 21). independent , exclusive, 18+.

EXPAND FOR RULES / INFO.

welcome. i go by JON, i’m twenty-one & i use he / it ( gmt )

after much persuasion from my other half (@bettinghorses), i have opened my first—and likely only—rp blog. i’m far more inclined to analytical writing, authoring many character studies in my free time, due to struggling with creative writing. i hope to improve my creative work here. i interact from my main blog (@archiviztic) but intend to keep the two separated other than dms.

please do not interact if you are under the age of 18. i am absolutely interested in interacting with other sg blogs, but i will not write anything romantic / sexual. please refer to my last rule for more info —

it goes without saying but, especially due to my amateur position, i will not tolerate elitism or general rudeness. this blog is to improve my writing & for fun. please bare with me as i get used to terms.

my central verses focus on sangwoo before s1 & during. i’m happy to engage in aus & may do so myself, but sparingly as i have a preference for canon events.

i personally headcanon sangwoo as gay & may also write him as trans. this will be relevant when i write about sangwoo & gihun, and this is exclusive to my boyfriend’s blog.

my writing will be discussing sangwoo’s mental health issues heavily. i will tag triggers appropriately, but please be cautious of themes surrounding: depression, sh, trauma, suicidal ideation & disordered eating. aside from this, the expected triggers of squid game will be discussed, such as: (mass) murder, classism, violence, written gore etc.

i do not multi-ship sangwoo & will not interact with any romanticised/sexualised sangwoo & inho dynamic.

as i am a beginner, i would like to develop my prose and gain experience before interracting and plotting with anyone. however, if you are interested in writing with me, please don’t be afraid to reach out. i will be happy to discuss !

CHARACTER INFORMATION :

NAME: cho sang-woo / player 218

AGE: pre-sg — 40-45, s1 — 46

GENDER: stealth trans man, he / him

ORIENTATION: homosexual

PSYCHOLOGY: persistent depression (dysthymia), autism, suicidality, personality disorder, history of anorexia (recovered), gender incongruence.

i will update the rules if i have forgotten anything, but this feels about right. thank you for reading, happy writing!

#rp blog #rp #tumblr rp #horror rp #thriller rp #crime rp #roleplay #squid game rp #squid game roleplay #squid game

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the-stove-is-divorced · 5 months ago

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Truly the grief for shows with 20+ eps a season is so indescribable, not everything needs to be 8-10 eps with 45+ min each episode!

And honestly, so true? Agree heavily here. I love the drama of the scene (mostly), Cecil v. Mark, ex. Mark thinking Cecil would outright try to kill him, b/c Mark's prob seeing the Nolan in Cecil, who takes the rejection of obedience into outright violence (presumably?). But still! Lacking! This would hit harder if there was more built up to Mark's trust in Cecil, any mentor-like advice, or paralleled Nolan in Cecil as it did Mark! But, Mark's difficulty in vocalizing his own morality, like you mention, just kinda leaves me a little confused on this whole conflict between them. It retracts from scenes with Oliver, too, it retracts the drama of A LOT, if it just leaves same outright squinting at the screen, 'cause the very foundation, what Mark knows and thinks is right, isn't exactly solid and established.

Like, why doesn't Mark vocalize the importance the HELPING people? Some classic spidey "great power, great responsibility", why is my guy going through the motions, and clearly STILL struggling? I feel like s1 does make some point to highlight Mark does want to help people, or trying to prod at his idea of what helping people means, even if it ends up going terribly wrong. Him failing to rescue a dying woman, him roped into fighting Machine Head, does prod at his ideas of what his job can/doesn't mean, but it feels like they never dive back into that properly? Which is strange, 'cause that's another potential Eve, Mark tie-in, as Eve realizes she can't do everything yet, Mark tries to figure out what he can do. Then they're both learning! Even supporting each other while pushing character growth! But it seems his only goal posts are Don't Be Dad (somehow? vaguely? no sub-goals, here), and Punch Bad Guy...? It's so strange.

Rewatching clips of s1's Mark vs Nolan fight rn, and Mark's weirdly unspecific morality is even weirder? He was trying to save ppl in that battle, desperately, no? I would think post-Nolan fight, he'd want to work real hard in gaining public trust again, and getting real emotional when ANY civilians die. Nolan outright tells him it's his fault ppl died, and Mark, later, learns Nolan is dead ass serious (pun intended lol) about replacing him, why wouldn't that message sink in further? Make him try to saving people first, over fight? Why not show Mark struggling with taking out the bad guy to stop threat, OR saving people whole the threat lingers, unable to choose a higher priority or outright choosing the wrong one, ultimately taking any mistake as proof the s1 fight was his fault.

Truly, some good ol' flashbacks into Guardian dynamics would be so thrilling, because yeah, it seems they were all in good terms! I also just want it so bad. How dare you gimme bootleg Justice League and then don't give me the dynamics. Outright entertainment robbery. YES TEAM DYNAMICS MY BELOVED FOR REAL. The deprivation of small, but so TELLING character moments make me so ill, because it's SO NEEEDED!!! Same brain waves, because the outright visual communication of these characters is NEEDED and would make me so ill in a good way. The budget issue limiting this show will never NOT drive me insane because Amazon HAS THE MONEY FOR SURE, but refuses to make this show something that, even if the writing isn't exactly fantastic, the FIGHTS could be legendary, if not playful. Also WHY did all of them go fr????? That's such a stupid decision? Especially if limiting it down further could have more character moments, even if small visual cues the show lacks!

I feel I violently check out when it comes to romantic focused media to not fully click this trope is so persistent and so ODD? Like HELLO? That's such a backhanded gift at best, inpersonal and one-sided, and outright cruel if I really wanna go there 'cause like you said, you don't know them. Even making a JOKE out of what's supposed to be a meal meaning gift is crazy??? Like this is fiction, a gift is GREAT way to demonstrate intentionally who these characters are and their relationship to each other. Don't remember the episode or if you're there already, but Justice League has an episode where Wonder Woman + Batman get Superman a bday gift before plot happens, (tho it's strange tbh, in the comics WW's gift is actually Batman's? But they switch it for the show if I'm not mistaken???) and GREAT moment!

Kate and Immortal piss me off so bad but we've already discussed why, like this girl isn't a character istg, EXPLORE HER DAMMIT, but seriously! We got a secret identity plotline BRIEFLY before dropping it and then just straight up functioning on how it's not a thing at all like hello????? Can this have any consequences or impact, even if it's people just look the other way? Which is so odd when it's a common staple for the hero genre, too, but I suppose they don't want to explore it? Perhaps too much of a staple to be interesting for them?

AND TRULY i am so tired of mark getting kicked around, bro, what the heck? Do something before the eleventh hour? But characters being genre savvy would be so funny, imagine somebody just pretends to be hurt to get Mark to actually focus lol.

THE ROGUE GALLERY IS SO SAD AND IT MAKES ME SO UPSET. How we get a bootleg JL and no actually good rogue gallery????? CRAZY WORK. Like part of the WHOLE FUN of superhero media is the villains, like, batman villains are crazy interesting or always just entertaining to SOMEONE, poison ivy, harley quin, penguin, etc, which usually reflect back on batman's character in some way if ya wanna dig into it, or just enjoy a good villain! Instead... it's just sad and empty. Currently foaming at the mouth for ANY super villain to be a mark parallel (like a former villain sidekick trying to step out the shadows of their mentor), or straight up used to be Nolan's nemesis and just tries to keep it up with Mark, insisting they're the same for example IDK. Villains are also good at establishing the world!!

ALSO SO TRUE? I don't think it's ever been actually acknowledged??? Ever?? Why doesn't he explore being mixed raced???? My guy is mixed race AND half human, there is SOMETHING to say here. ALSO SO FUCKING TRUE? WHY CAN'T OLIVER AND MARK BOND ABOUT BEING HYBRIDS? ABOUT HOW OLIVER CAN'T PASS AS EASILY?? My guy can't even go to school 'cause he grows up too fast, like can we talk about this??? Can Oliver be a person??? That could put some conflict / added conflict in the relationship?? Can Mark think about what it's like be HALF ALIEN? Can this mf have some unique oddness because of being a hybrid, I BEG. This is why the lack of self introspection in the desert makes me utterly insane. IT WAS RIGHT THERE.

Also you're telling me we got demons, billion dollar teleporters, cursed family lines, aliens, but nothing to instantly make Oliver look human so he can walk around? Easy way for Mark to feel indebted to Cecil, or Oliver trusting Cecil, something???

Cecil is so fucking interesting because he truly must be Like This. Which is even funnier because you'd think he'd be easier to guess with a focus on his, like, trajectory but no???? At least to me. I am squinting, personally. One would think you'd want needed allies close by and endeared to you, control 'em better, but Mark threatens, and he threatens back even harder, like I GET WHY but also DAMN. Instant escalation. Never threaten this mf, he'd take you AND himself out. It's also funny because like Oliver kills and Mark struggles articulating why it's bad, but also Cecil is presumably A-OK with killing (now) but only when he says so (assumingly). Like, don't kill because we could use them, isn't a because it's bad :( argument???

So, I'd imagine if he had to tackle training/mentoring Mark and Oliver it'd be a challenges in the opposite direction. Like No, Oliver you can't kill them ALL. Yes, Mark you DO have to kill sometimes. I'd kill to know what that looks like. Does Oliver get a whole team dedicated to training him, and Cecil check-ins?

But back to his side of things, I just wanna shake him furiously. Like, you point out, you're telling him to stand down WHY inducing pain AND beating him the fuck up like HELLO? You did not make Mark seem dangerous, now YOU look unhinged in dangerous in a desperate power grab/for control. You're basically tazing someone and telling them to calm down LMAO. Which also like did you try calling them off or is this legit an error here? Which yes, yes, characters can make wrong decisions or have flaws and ruin things despite their best intentions, paved roads and all that, but also it so funny if you tilt your head. Cecil why. I get it yes, but also Cecil, no, Cecil no.

Also exactly, when it's TOO vague I just stare the doc. There's no jumping point to push it's anything goes and how hard do I want to overthink it?

While I'm not too familiar with the DCU- your batfam meta posts are intiguing- so in transfering some of the broader strokes from them- I think you tackling a 'Mark isn't Nolan's biological son' fic would be fascinating. Sort of a step to the side of the 'what if Mark never got his powers' fic that sometimes pop up in the fandom

OOOOOO chewing on this currently, hm, the much a distinct flavor of exactly what you’re talking about, but the potential for more family drama depending on WHO knows. Does Mark know?? Is he waiting every day only to be crushed? Does he confused non-Debbie features with Nolan’s? I suppose I’m not the most enthusiastic about non-power AUs, but I think there’s something very fun to explore about Mark having to settle with, if he knows all his life, he will never have powers? I think the trajectory of his dreams will obviously shift, I can see him still having that distinct fatherly idolization, but perhaps embraces being useful to the GDA? Cecil’s number one intern—only intern—curtesy of nepotism, ha! There is something tickling me about Mark taking the Robin Route/Role for the Teen Team in terms of having no powers, just insane skills, BUT there’s something way more delicious about intern Mark when s1e01 happens and Mark tries snooping around to find out the truth about what happened to his Dad.

I wonder if, with Mark having a whole another father, if they’re more or less distant relationship, depending on WHEN Nolan entered Mark’s life? Like if Debbie met Nolan later for this, or just for fun, they dated once, separated (Mark being born during then), then they happened to stumble into each others lives again and Mark’s already been born, anywhere from tween to teenager so there’s a gap in how close they are. I feel like one important aspect of the whole Family Drama is how close they’re supposed to be, a functional, loving family turned upside down? So I wonder what more distance does. I wonder how Nolan copes when his family is entirely human and he can’t project onto Mark.

I love thinking about these, omg.

#invincible chatter #it always kills me how much weve chatted alreadt about this show dJKJFKDFD #dont know if i care for a full s1 rewatch #but it is so interesting it feels s1 does point out hey you also need to save people. like people. not just beat up ppl.#like see: s1e8 battle. see: amber volunteering. see: war machine. but also we dont pick this up in s2 or s3 (so far) which is WILD JKJDKD ?#anyways bring back making characters people in stunning small ways #rip to cecil but if i saw a kid with the power of a nuke w/ teenage angst and dad issues that's painfully protege shaped.#and I RAN the GDA?? I'd become his mentor idk. make him loyal and trust you. easyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

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pumpkin-spike18 · 2 years ago

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✨Weekly Progress 2023 #11 & #12✨

Whoops, I was so late on updating last week's progress update that I decided I might as well combine the two. 😅

Week #11

Wrote ~1k words for SYVNH

Generated BGs for EKL

Sketched S1 for EKL

Unfortunately, I didn't get as much as I hope done between the two weeks. I'm running into a bit of writer's block, or, more specifically, writer's fear. I'm sure I'll work through it. Until then, I'll work on anything else I can to continue dev-ing. Benefits of being a jack of all trades, I suppose <:

The presentation for Exorcist Killing Lie is like a manga and this is an example of the first scene. It's a lot of extra art, but I hope it'll be worth it in the end... assuming I manage to code it all haha...

Week #12

Finished S1 for EKL

Split the VA/sound channels for SYVNH

Added persistent check to SYVNH

Finished drawing balcony scene for EKL

Started on BG for SYVNH

Since I've been having a tough time writing, I decided to start working on the coding! I finally fixed 2 ongoing issues for SYVNH, which is splitting the VA/sound channels. I created a brand new audio channel within renpy to achieve this. I knew it was doable prior to release of Demo 2.0, but I was pressed for time and forgot the exact code to do it so I ended up omitting the update for 2.0.

P.S: past!Me, how dare you? Some of these files had 1k+ calls for audio and I had to sift out which ones were sound effects and which were VA soundbytes! 😭

I might go through one more pass just to make sure all the sound effects are caught prior to releasing a Demo 2.1.

The second coding change is thankfully a simple one. It slipped my mind to make it easier for players to go back and achieve a perfect run... ;v;" The game will now ask if you want to clear your deaths if restarting the game after a bad end. It won't affect CG progress.

And one more WIP shot of EKL, the opening scene to the game!

Other than that...

I've also done a lot of brainstorming this week, of odds and ends to various (new) projects. You know... like that meme I retweeted...

Summarized an untitled galge/BL modern day... CEO-intrigue/drama idea I have based on the relationships of some gods and goddesses from Greek mythology. Part of me really wishes I could turn this into a full BL story.

Got tempted to join Blossom Jam with a dark and edgy yuri Spring story about a murder mystery. Cause, come on~ I can't do pink without blood 😃

#vnlink #indiedev #visual novel #devlog #StuckinYanVN #syvnh #ekl #bafvnjam #projects #kill series

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acephysicskarkat · 4 years ago

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The issue with Catra’s redemption arc isn’t anything to do with challenging “redemption through suffering”, it’s that the writing is bad and constantly asserts things about Catra’s character development that the script doesn’t back up.

I’m not just talking about how Catra saying she was sorry in the second episode of the goddamn show, written by the showrunner, plainly didn’t mean anything to her or anyone else, although do bear that in mind just as an example of how S5 is built on clumsy retcons; I’m talking about the whole structure.

For seasons 1-4 and the early parts of S5, Catra is predominantly defined by her selfishness. It is the primary driver of her villainy. It is what makes her so awful to be around. It is the source of her toxicity, her resentment, her possessiveness, her cruelty and her spite.

The “Corridors” flashback portrays her friendship with Adora as toxic and one-sided. She punishes Adora for having a desire for other friends, acts conciliatory and nice when it looks like she’s getting what she wants, and goes right back into Tantrum Mode when Adora proposes a compromise; the only acceptable outcome to Catra is that she gets what she wants.

The plot of “White Out” has her gloating about finally having Adora under her control. Again, there’s no compromise; Catra has to get exactly what she wants, and if that requires taking away Adora’s agency, well, fuck Adora. (Also, this is possibly the biggest, reddest red flag in children’s media, so jot that down.)

Then there’s season 3, where she decides that if Adora has once again gotten something Catra wants, that means Adora has to suffer no matter the cost. Catra’s so caught up in her own personal pain that she has to inflict it on Adora, and who gives a shit about anyone who suffers on the way?

And then there’s Scorpia...look, you get the idea. This is a pattern with S1-S4 Catra. She demands trust, loyalty and support from Scorpia and Hordak while generally refusing to extend any of those herself; she refuses to accept responsibility for her actions and treats her personal pain as though it justifies any cruelty she wishes to undertake; she routinely demands that Adora put Catra’s wants over the needs of others, from the opening two-parter to the season 3 disaster. Even her one good deed towards Adora has selfish overtones, because while she’s helping Adora, she’s also getting rid of a rival; notably, her first qualm with the plan to drag Adora kicking and screaming back to the Horde came when she learned that it would cost her the promotion to Force Captain. There are a couple of moments where she does genuinely selfless things, but the shitty, entitled, possessive selfishness is the main driver of the plot.

And this isn’t, in and of itself, a problem! You could get a genuinely compelling arc out of having Catra confront her selfishness and entitlement and genuinely learn that it’s not all about her.

Unfortunately S5 just kind of says it did that and never actually backs it up. S5 Catra, as written in the actual script, is just as selfish as she always was, the narrative has just stopped caring.

She saves Glimmer not because she’s realised any genuine similarity between them or come to view Glimmer as a friend despite their earlier enmity, but because Glimmer is a convenient token to get something Catra wants.

She spends “Taking Control” sulking that her actions might have consequences in the form of the people she’s hurt being allowed to be upset over that. Her apologies end up so vague and so disconnected from anything she’s actually learned that they ring hollow; they feel like attempts to paper over her actions rather than expressions of genuine sorrow. Wanting to be forgiven isn’t the same thing as genuinely expressing regret, and the show’s attempts to conflate them don’t do this arc any favours.

This is a big, persistent and damning issue, because she still isn’t taking responsibility for her actions. She still blames Adora for fights in which she herself was the aggressor (”that never stopped you before”) and still frames her repeated rejections of Adora’s offers of help and support as Adora “abandoning” her, right up to the series finale. Very little of the harm she’s caused is ever substantively addressed beyond Frosta decking her on general principles and Perfuma being very briefly salty that Catra treated Scorpia like shit.

This problem lasts right up to the finale. When Adora takes the Failsafe, none of Catra’s tantrum feels like it’s got anything to do with Adora’s value as a person independent of what others want from her: she starts out mad that Adora “chose” Shadow Weaver over her, when in fact what Adora’s done is taken the best option from a list of bad options, and eventually admits to Melog that she’s upset Adora doesn’t “want“ Catra the way Catra wants Adora. The main ways Catra presents this centre Catra’s own wants first and foremost: she wants Adora to “choose” her over theoretically Shadow Weaver but practically everyone on Etheria, she wants Adora to give her the relationship she wants. It’s still all about her.

This tells us that Catra has learned nothing. Her tantrum at the end of S5 is exactly the same as her tantrum in “The Sword, Part 2″: Adora has prioritised the lives of innocents over Catra’s wants, and Catra views that as a personal affront. Her character arc has been a parabola that’s left her right where she was at the start, except that she’s now willing to let Adora have other friends so long as those friends are also her friends. (Including the one whose mother is dead because of Catra’s selfish, resentment-driven apocalypse tantrum in S3, which is the elephant in the room that S5 really, really does not want to address.)

Then the narrative tries for the “conscience makes you go back” moment...and fucks it up. Catra doesn’t go back because she’s finally grasped that Adora is a person with her own intrinsic value and deserves to live for her own sake. Catra goes back for one last attempt to get what she wants. She goes back to whitewash her history of controlling, resentful possessiveness as love in the hope that Adora will stay alive for the sake of Catra’s personal desires.

Having Catra go back just in the hope of getting Adora to go out with her ruins both characters’ arcs: it undermines Catra’s arc because she’s gone five seasons without grasping that Adora is a person with autonomy, agency and inner worth, and it undermines Adora’s because after being told that she’s worth more than what she can give to other people, she’s saved by Catra’s demand that Adora give her something.

Frankly, Catra’s redemption arc would have meant a lot more if at some point during it she had genuinely seemed to acknowledge that Adora has worth independent of what Catra wants from her. If instead of whining “you hate me now” she’d accepted that Adora has a right to work through her emotions in her own time and is under no obligation to forgive Catra just because of one Glimmer-shaped bribe. If she’d genuinely acknowledged the harm she’d caused to both the Princess Alliance and the innocent people of Etheria, instead of cracking jokes about it. If she’d accepted the idea that Adora didn’t love her back and tried to save her anyway.

If she’d gotten actual compelling character growth, and not just been fast-tracked through a badly paced redemption arc in order to fill out a shipping grid.

#spop salt #s5 spoilers

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bestworstcase · 4 years ago

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Hi, I really love your thoughts and analysis on tts so I wanted to ask if you have read The Vanishing Village Book? It made me really think about Eugene's character. I sorta disliked him in the book and felt his relationship with Rapunzel was different and strained. I guess my question is if you think Eugene is a good character? I feel that I am biased for liking the story and relationship between Cassandra and Rapunzel so perhaps I am not seeing him in a fair light but there's just factors that make me feel he might not be the best for Rapunzel. I love their relationship and value & dedication towards each other but their relationship can feel a bit stale sometimes and Eugene can come off as not understanding and dismissive towards Rapunzel sometimes so ig I'd like to be proven wrong and be reminded that Eugene is good for Rapunzel

i have read vanishing village (and i remember liking it better than lost lagoon) but i have to admit i don’t remember anything but the very broad strokes of the plot, so i don’t feel equipped to do any analysis of eugene based on it; that being said -

i do really like eugene as a character in the sense that he is. interesting / engaging / compelling, which yeah to my mind that’s what makes a “good character” but also has nothing to do with the, kind of, moral or personal question of but is he a good guy or is he likable or sympathetic or that kind of thing. and on that my feelings are more ambivalent kfjfjdhs

on the one hand i do find his relationship with rapunzel in tts to be fairly refreshing. it’s nice to see a fictional m/f couple that is just… comfortable with each other, friends with each other, able to talk about their problems collaboratively with each other. that is so rare in fiction, where the tendency is so often to rely on miscommunication to manufacture relationship drama or do the will they won’t they, on again off again nonsense which is just so tiresome - and it feels good to have a m/f couple that eschews that altogether. and it’s also imo really nice that the m/f relationship fades so much into the background vis a vis the wider plot, which i know is not necessarily a popular opinion [vague gestures at all the ‘eugene was sidelined’ discourse] but, like, i feel like i can count on one hand the number of stories i know where the female protagonist *has a male love interest* without the story being ABOUT him, and with the male love interest filling this supportive narrative role while quietly and subtly dealing with his own problems on the side? it’s so difficult to find stories where men aren’t centered and so i appreciate eugene and new dream a lot for that reason too.

but at the same time like - eugene def falls victim to the plot-driven writing just like every other character does and that frustrates me because i think ultimately having all these loose threads hanging with him means his character feels a bit stagnant, and that in turn makes his flaws more glaring because they’re never… worked on or addressed, they just sort of persist or silently fade away for the most part. (which again, is true of literally every character because the storytelling of tts is highly plot driven and episodic)

& that phenomenon can make character interpretation a little convoluted, because… well the intentions of the narrative are signaled pretty baldly (eugene grows out of his selfishness and becomes a compassionate hard working leader for corona, which he has embraced as his home) without having much if any on-screen development to back it up (indeed the premise of flynnposter involves eugene shirking his new responsibilities, and then it concludes with a commitment from him to take the captain gig seriously - but thereafter the only time we get to see this demonstrated through him encouraging project obsidian [which makes him look the opposite of compassionate or responsible given he is excitedly planning to extrajudicially murder cassandra] and then joining the fight against zhan tiri [which literally everyone in corona does]). so do we take what the textual development shows us and conclude that eugene is, at the end of the day, just another cop, or do we take the narrative signaling as a given and fill in the textual gaps with our own imaginations? i tend to fall heavier on the textual side but i do try to take intentions into consideration when they are signaled so clearly, because i understand the structural and corporate limitations on what the tts team were able to do with the story.

anyways - i also have some fraught feelings about new dream because, in the film, it’s not a relationship that i can buy into at all. rapunzel is 17, a few days shy of 18, when an adult man in his mid-twenties tumbles into her bedroom, hits on her, tries to take advantage of her naïveté so he can recover his stolen goods and screw her over because he’s spent his life cultivating an attitude of selfish disregard for anyone but himself, but she’s so sweet he decides to give emotional vulnerability a try and within three days they’re in love and then they get MARRIED?? and he’s literally the first person rapunzel has ever met who wasn’t her “mother”? excuse me???

and i get the impression the tts team was fully cognizant of that problem and made a real effort to address it, as much as they could within the context of the designated disney princess couple - that’s how we get things like the BEA proposal and rapunzel and eugene talking their feelings out afterwards and agreeing to take things slower, and that’s how we get things like rapunzel having cass and eugene having lance so they have lives and identities and relationships outside of each other, and it’s why eugene has a little arc of becoming less self-absorbed in the front half of s1 and why cassandra overtly criticizes his treatment of rapunzel in BEA and so on and so forth. like no one says it OUT LOUD in the series but rapunzel’s and eugene’s relationship is fraught with peril because of the way they met and came together, and it takes significant emotional work from both of them to navigate that to arrive at a healthy place, and i enjoy watching that play out.

so yeah eugene is sometimes too in his own head to notice when something is wrong with rapunzel, like how he misses how unhappy she is in BEA because *he’s* so jazzed about palace living, and sometimes they struggle to get on the same page with each other in general; but that’s just, kind of the gig where relationships are concerned. what matters to me is that whenever these hiccups happen we see, typically some confusion or distress from him or rapunzel or both, and then they reach out for each other and talk about it until they reach an understanding, which is the correct healthy way to manage this sort of conflict in a relationship. and of course through it all eugene is pretty unflagging in his absolute support of rapunzel - even if he doesn’t always *express it* in a good way, he is always very invested in rapunzel’s happiness and well-being. like even the BEA proposal, eugene’s fuck up lies in assuming that rapunzel felt the same way he did about everything and that proposing now would make her happy - there’s self-absorption there but not to the point where he isn’t concerned about her feelings, so when he upsets her he immediately realizes that he screwed up and shelves his own feelings to focus on hers, which is very Good Partner of him.

and then again on a metatextual level i do kind of hate that rapunzel’s arc is essentially, trapped in corona -> adventure! -> adventure is traumatic time to go home -> exact same circumstances she started in but she’s happy about it now. not to say i object to rapunzel embracing her role as a princess/queen per se, but in an ideal world i would like that to come from a place of rapunzel remaking her role to suit herself rather than just kind of… this ‘well got the wanderlust out of my system forever!’ vibe i get from plus est. this isn’t directly related to eugene at all but i think it does splash over onto him on account of him being so closely intertwined with her life in corona. if rapunzel were given an arc about tearing down institutions that stifled her in s1 and really rebuilding corona to be better (something that is lightly implied in canon but never quite makes its way to outright text) then of course eugene would have been her number one supporter - but she doesn’t get that arc and so eugene ends up just kind of being there while rapunzel settles into the role laid out for her. (the destiny narrative being played painfully straight in this regard doesn’t help either.)

this is all a bit of a ramble but i guess what i’m getting at is i think at the end of the day the thing that makes new dream feel a bit stale or stagnant is the series sticking to this aggressively pro-monarchy, status quo is good, mass market appeal narrative enforced by the reality of Disney Princess Show, and that’s not eugene’s fault or any character’s fault, it’s a corporate issue and writing issue.

oh and also personally i think eugene’s biggest flaw in the new dream relationship is he has a tendency to enable rapunzel’s worst impulses via unquestioning support - a little healthy skepticism can be very good for a relationship vs just being your partner’s yes man. so when i imagine a character trajectory for him post-series it involves eugene getting more comfortable pushing back when rapunzel is pursuing ideas that are bad in some way.

#rta #new dream #tldr complicated feelings but ultimately i do like him for rapunzel #and just wish the narrative hadn’t been SO disney princess show but it is what it is yknow?

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red-hood-vigilante · 4 years ago

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more hbo spn rambles, thoughts, drabbles etc. long long post.

part 1 here

there’s some things i’ve omitted here bc others have already posted about those things, certain headcanons and characterizations and stuff. those posts are in my likes somewhere (and i’ll reblog them someday), and there’s some posts i’ve read but not liked, which i now can only vaguely remember, which is why some ideas/thoughts are similar

ALSO most of these follow the model i talked about in part one: how s1-5 will stay more or less how they are but s6-10 is changed (some things are cut out entirely, some things are tweaked and some characters + arcs are more fleshed out. more focus on sam’s trauma and post-cage adaptation to the real world as well as dean letting his rage and control issues consume him and how he’d recover and redeem himself)

as i typed these paragraphs, i realized i really have 10 seasons mapped out and ready to go. hbo hire me!!

alright go:

sam and dean get wearier as the show progresses (second half), and eventually they stop putting so much care and thought in the people they save. like...hm how do i say this, like as long as a victim/victims are saved, they don’t care about how that happens or how those people suffer potential consequences, like if the victims lose a limb or have their homes burned down because of the monster, then sam and dean don’t really care. they saved your life, now they’ll leave you with your life in potential shambles and not care because all that matters is that they saved your life, not how it is afterwards. they still care about saving that one person, but eventually it pales a little in comparison to a war between heaven and hell, being the vessels etc. ---> saving people becomes less about making sure they’re actually alright and healing from horrific events and more about just making sure they have a pulse before they move on

when angels lose their wings they are either burned off in the actual fall or ripped off of them in their vessels, which leaves pretty nasty scars on the vessel

ed and harry are so young and bright eyed about the whole hunting thing; sam and dean as kids, idolizing it, finding it exciting and intriguing when they shouldn’t. sam and dean try to get them out of the business before they too are too traumatized and desensitized to do anything but hunt. neither sam or dean will say it but they are jealous of ed and harry and their freedom to leave, and hate them for choosing this voluntarily instead of being dragged into it by tragedy

hbo spn is a slow burn. there’s a lot more shots of sam and dean in silence just sitting together after a hunt, exhausted and too tired to move yet. they’re covered in blood and guts on the side of the road after killing or covered with dirt in a graveyard after burning bones, sitting next to the fire, just watching it. the times they park the car and watch the stars? we get to see it.

dean wears rings and the amulet all the time in the beginning, for the first five seasons. the rings vary; first they’re some of john’s old ones and stuff he finds in thrift stores. then later on he begins wearing rings from people they’ve saved/haven’t saved as a keepsakes etc. when he begins his descent to the holy murderer in s6-10 he wears less and less rings. they don’t matter anymore -> symbolically shedding who he was and what mattered to him

the only accessories sam has is a rosary/cross around his neck. he has jess’ engagement ring in his pocket/wallet. after the cage he vaguely remembers why the ring was there and who jessica was (more on this further down)

the four horsemen are manifestations of different aspects of human nature at its most grotesque and strongest, can’t be killed as long as humans live. war is conflict, famine is desire, pestilence is physical and mental illnesses.

(the seven sins are like the horsemen, tulpas of human nature instead of demons)

death isn’t a concentration of an existing aspect of humans as much as it is the end of life, the antithesis of life. death the oldest of the horsemen and has existed since the beginning of any life, organism, cell and atom. the opposite of life and light, the other half of god (as i’m typing this i’m confused as to why amara was the opposite of god instead of death). death isn’t evil or good, remains 100% objective. doesn’t care for sam or dean at all, but has a begrudging respect for their stubbornness and entertainment they provide due to their flat out refusal to do as they’re told by celestial bodies when anyone else would crumble

by including death i feel like it very naturally begs questions of who decides when someone dies, when someone lives, why would death follow these guides instead of reaping whomever whenever, what happens if a life isn’t reaped at the right time etc. the reader in me adore the idea of death having a library with books and records of everyone who has ever lived and died and how they died - but then, who writes these books and why? do they decide, and if in that case, how? these questions are above my paygrade but you know what i mean? like there has to be some sort of system right, god created everything, death executes to maintain order, some third party deity writes the laws and the books. the three branches of government. ok but it’s hbo so again, i think we shouldn’t dive this deep into things, like as much as these topics intrigue me i don’t want to stray too much from the dirt road trip aesthetic

shapeshifters are extremely rare because they don’t require any kind of human blood or organs/sacrifice to live

i want more exploration of how magic is like science, like it just needs the right ingredients and right conditions. sam thinks of magic as an obscure branch of science; it just requires research and knowledge and clear intentions because science can be controlled and do a lot of good when used responsibly. dean doesn’t like it. he doesn’t trust the unpredictable elements and he’s seen enough to know it never goes well. magic is a force that can’t be controlled by anyone.

sam and dean have full on fist fights regularly. to practice and keeping each other sharp, but also because they’re siblings. they’re feral, insane and unhinged with each other and they get on each other’s nerves A LOT. it’s petty and childish and sometimes it can get a lil ugly but it becomes their way of family therapy. after a fight the next scene cuts to sam and dean with ruffled clothes, nosebleeds and swollen lips at a diner eating silently after beating each other up. either they sit in silence because they’re tired or both are harping on the other’s openings and weaknesses

sometimes they’ll fight a little dirty but they do so in different ways; dean will pull the old ‘look!’ and point to something and then tackle sam when he turns to look while sam will just cry out in fake pain which makes dean stop dead in his tracks before sam headbutts him or kicks him in the groin

we, the audience get used to these fights, they’re sometimes funny and for comic relief, sometimes for narrative purposes (like tricking a monster they’re fighting each other when they’re really not) BUT. then comes the times when sam and dean are actually fighting without holding back and we see how much they are capable of hurting each other or how heartbreaking and difficult it can be to watch when of them are incapable of fighting back/doesn’t defend himself -> swan song when dean doesn’t fight back against possessed sam, or when dean beats soulless sam unconscious

sam and dean also just verbally bully each other constantly but they do have their odd ways of expressing affection and care. they get the other person their fave snack whenever they go grocery shopping without being asked to and are the only other one they truly trust to have their back in hunts. have a cup of coffee ready before the other asks for one. brothers and each other’s best friend. nightmare duo but in a sweet way. the cooperation of ‘the usual suspects’ when they’re in different interrogation rooms but still has the cover story down to a t. code words and code names and cover stories, they know it all

when sam and dean fight together against a common enemy they’re a damn nightmare - because they know each others weaknesses and habits, they cover each other perfectly and in complete silence. they’ve been at it together since they were kids and read each other’s nonverbal cues like a picture book

to build off of what i said in part 1; the winchesters are pretty hated in the hunter’s community. even the people sam and dean frequently work with (bobby, ellen, jo, ash, rufus, bela, kevin, charlie, castiel etc) roasts them all the time and don’t hesitate with calling them out on their self-pitying crap when it get’s too much (spn was just objectively better when characters weren’t afraid of dragging sam and dean through the mud for being selfish and stupid) and this WILL persist in hbo spn. the only reason people continue working with sam and dean is because they know deep down a lot of the things that happens aren’t sam and dean’s fault - but they still blame them for it. doesn’t make it easier how sam or dean sometimes start crap on purpose to save the other

the winchesters are terrifying and people for sure tell stories about them, but not like ‘they’re heroes’, more like ‘they’re insane and dangerous. stay the fuck away from them’. some stories are true, like how they’ve worked with demons, but some are just game of telephone. (dean has apparently a ghost he is frequently possessed by while sam is actually a mutant vampire). hunters hate and are scared of the winchesters. sam and dean are never invited to hunter stuff (burials, memorials etc) but crash them nonetheless even though the hunters do NOT want them there.

you know what drives me insane when i think about it? how some characters in spn already are their hbo spn counterparts; john. mary. adam. maybe kevin?

other things that already are their hbo spn counterparts: dean throwing away the amulet right in front of sam. eyes burning when angels are seen. how ghosts are just tragedies, stuck in a loop they can’t leave. how a lot of the monsters they meet are just victims or their circumstances or the first victim of a curse. the impala being sam and dean’s home. dean not knowing how to comfort sam when he’s upset other than trying to do things for sam that usually brings dean comfort (driving the impala, listening to rock music etc). the roadhouse. heaven being an eternal version of the memories that made you the happiest even though it’s not real. sam wanting independence and freedom but never fully having it. dean fearing being alone more than anything else and that’s where he always ends up. sam has an eating disorder after the demon blood and dean has an alcohol problem he refuses to see as a problem. dean saying “i’d do it again” without an ounce of regret and pouring himself a drink when sam tells him it was fucked up to lie to him about gadreel

the demon/angel hybrid: THIS could be sooo interesting to explore. an angel and demon hybrid are you kidding me?? not to toot my own horn too much but i’m so clever. i should write this story myself. SO. does this creature have parents who fucked in their vessels or was this an experiment by god (yes i love the ‘mad scientist’ idea, that really should’ve been played up way more) or did a pre-existing creature (human or otherwise) drink demon blood and angel grace at the same time so that it created itself? so much potential for some really intriguing storytelling and character exploration - not only the creature itself and what they would be like, but also for the people around; sam, dean, castiel, jack etc. how would they react to this thing that is the very definition of defying heaven and hell and all the natural laws? does it exist before the show starts or will we see its birth?

the powers of the demon/angel hybrid would be tricky; a mix of holy and defiant, grotesque and beautiful. unconsciously forces people to tell the truth when talking to them. poisons whatever they touch. eyes of a demon, wings of an angel. can smite but skin will burn when touching iron. can do deals but will require a sacrifice in return, not a soul, usually a body part taken then and there (the hybrid eats it. it favours eyeballs and the liver - angels like raw meat). lights always flicker. makes things explode when angry (esp people and cars). can manipulate feelings, thoughts and memories. can travel to both heaven and hell, not welcome in either places. + standard stuff like telekinesis, teleportation, mind reading, super strength etc.

sam and dean’s wardrobe are pretty much the same; whatever’s cheap and not covered in blood. however, they do have stylistic differences. sam thinks graphic tees are funny, dean uses whatever’s black combined with john’s leather jacket. their wardrobe melds as they stop thinking of themselves as individuals and more of “me and my brother,”. their clothes are tattered and torn to shreds all the time. hand me downs, hand me ups. when they stray off their “path” and do things that are the crux of a storyline/character arc, this would reflect in their clothes. when sam is with ruby and becomes more and more “evil” he wears more and more red, a colour he has stated in the past he doesn’t really like. when dean is dead, sam starts to wear his rings and john’s and dean’s leather jacket. when dean decides he’s going to say yes to michael he dresses in white, when sam is dead dean takes off every piece of jewelry except the amulet. he holds it clenched in his fists when he’s whispering what comes close to a prayer

logically the amulet should have a backstory but you know what? i love that it’s hinted to be just a piece of cheap jewelry sam found in a thrift store he decided to give to dean. but narratively it should be explained so... idk. what could be logical solution as to why it would react to GOD himself? maybe god wore it once cuz he thought it was neat but he sold it for three dollars because he wanted coffee and then sam found it a week later

i would prefer it if god didn’t show up at all (absent father number one) but if he DID he’s not all powerful just a true neutral (like death, 100% objective) who created a thing that just took a life of its own, much like a parent and a child - the parent helps the child but can’t control it. the times he did intervene or tried to do something it didn’t really have any real long lasting effect so he gave up on trying a while ago.

@spneveryseason talked about this, how the storyline of sam being possessed by gadreel would be horrifying if we saw everything from sam’s perspective instead of dean’s (her fic is wonderful). in the ‘dean slowly descends into a righteous murderer to become holy’ idea i have this tracks so damn well because again, if dean believes something is right, it is right, no questions about it. everyone around him is like “that’s really fucked up and you should make amends” but dean doesn’t see any reasons for why - sam is alive isn’t he? and seeing it from sam’s pov would really underline how horrifying, dehumanizing and belittling that experience was

john and mary are adam and eve. sam and dean are cain and abel are michael and lucifer. time is a flat circle. history never stops repeating itself.

sam is the villain of s4. he is manipulated and key information is withheld from him but in the end... would it made a difference? it crossed his mind, that he could be tricked because ruby is a demon after all, but maybe he likes the power, the feeling of freedom, that he wasn’t just the baby, the one who always needs permission to do things. if he has to drain possessed people to get that power... so be it. and it’s for a good purpose, until it isn’t. he’s hungry for more, to be feared and respected. he’s enticed by lucifer’s sweet words, the potential of all that power and the idea of ruling two out of three realms. dean manages to pull him back from the brink because sam decides he doesn’t want to be what john thought he was and fail dean and himself like that.

dean is the villain in s9. he is controlling, the mark of cain without the mark. what he says goes - it’s not a democracy, it’s a dictatorship. he doesn’t see how much pain, doubt and fear he causes the people around him. if some victims or civilians die on his watch that doesn’t matter - just some collateral damage. sam can’t make dean listen to him because dean is the older one, the one who’s always called the shots. dean is the angelic one, heaven’s chosen warrior, he is untouchable and unkillable. he’s is an excellent killer, filling the void with blood and rage which is better than the crippling fear of loneliness carved into his bones. 'i butcher for love, to protect,’ he tells himself. ‘why shouldn’t i exterminate, regardless of the cost? i’ve followed the rules, i’ve always sacrificed. now i call the shots. it’s my right.’

sam’s hell trauma is never magically removed. he’s stuck with the memories and the nightmares and the occasional hallucinations. castiel can’t do anything but offers to wipe his memory completely, but sam says no, he is still doing penance.

after dean comes back from hell he starts calling himself old man and jokes a lot about he’s 40 years older now (after he’s more comfortable about speaking about hell)

when sam comes back he feels ancient (he’s over 900 years old at least but he lost count), weary, tired and so so so out of place in this world. he’s forgotten how to put gas in a car, how to drive, how to use a credit card, all the song lyrics he and dean used to yell together, the faces of people he knew before he fell, the softness of a bed, the schools he went to, most of the hunts he and dean, how john died, who mary is, the initials carved into the impala, the taste of food that isn’t raw meat. it’s so much he’s forgotten that he has to relearn. he prefers figuring things out with castiel instead of dean because castiel doesn’t silently resent him for everything he’s forgotten

sam doesn’t laugh anymore. despite dean’s many and castiel’s few awkward attempts, it’s more like quick smile and a quiet “hmm”. on some days he recoils when he sees blood and guts, on other days he’s so apathetic it’s unnerving

sam sympathizes with the brought back mary and castiel more than ever. dean tries to get sam to remember things he’s forgotten from his childhood but sam can’t connect with it anymore. he stopped being that sam a long time ago. dean doesn’t know what else to do than try to force this connection to be revitalized and he fails. sam isn’t that person anymore and this wedge in their relationship becomes a central factor in dean’s s6-10 desperation and isolation. sam is here and safe but it’s not really sam, not the sam dean grew up with

while sam has forgotten how to make coffee, he now knows everything about angels, effective torture tricks, a bunch of lore + biblical history, how to navigate hell, the most powerful and influential demons, rare and powerful spells as well as perfect enochian (he will speak enochian without realizing and it feels more natural than english). lucifer and michael were surprisingly talkative (raging about the unfairness) when taking their anger and hatred out on sam and adam and each other. sam had access to all of lucifer’s memories and knowledge for the time he was the one in control. walking library and encyclopedia of biblical lore.

he still has some muscle memory from hunting and sparring, but sam is ghostly thin and very rusty. even though he’s an expert on lore, he’s not fit to go on hunts anymore and he knows it.

sam remembers adam and swears he’ll try to get him out, but he can’t. just thinking about the cage makes him vomit. he can’t talk about it, much less go near it. after a while sam thinks it might be better to let adam stay down there than let him come back up and feel this crushing emptiness and loss of direction

sam’s trials take place in s9 instead of 8; coinciding with dean’s villain arc. for sam the trials are a chance to redeem himself again, this time for good by closing hellgates forever. they’re scrubbing him clean of the demon blood and his sins and they give him a sense of purpose again now that he can’t join hunts anymore. it doesn’t matter if he dies because of it. it would be nice with a permanent and peaceful death that did something good. dean is taken aback by sam’s devotion to repent for something that happened years ago and for something sam has already paid for a thousand times over. dean realizes how messed up he himself has become and how he’s helped put sam here, on the cusp of self sacrifice again because of sickening guilt and self hatred. dean begs sam to not complete the trials at the cost of his own life and swears he’ll better himself, be a friend and a brother, not a jailer, dictator or a murderer. ‘if you won’t give yourself or life another chance, please give me one.’ ---> s10 pacifist dean learning to let go of the control, the violent tendencies and the rage

oh wait what if gadreel still possessed sam after the trials to heal him but sam is the one who invites the angel in? he’ll keep his promise to dean about staying alive, as well as heal from the inside and have breaks from the world when he doesn’t want to be present, like he and gadreel will alternate being the one in control. he keeps it a secret from dean and helps gadreel imitate him so dean won’t notice. it’s not so bad, being possessed by this angel - sam can say no anytime and gadreel is a nice guy. since they alternate on who’s present they can access each other’s memories, which is terrifying and embarrassing at first, but since gadreel and sam have been tricked and used by lucifer and been punished for it for far too long, they understand each other. now another creature knows their trauma and terrors without the need for verbal explanation. also having an angel residing in his body makes sam feel like he can hunt properly again because gadreel can heal him and take over in situations sam’s overpowered. this could show how messed up sam has come to view himself and his body.

dean is conflicted when he finds out; sam lied but gadreel does help sam heal, sam’s traumatized and his self-worth is fucked up and dean has contributed to that. dean convinces sam to push gadreel out, that sam is still valuable, loved and a good person who shouldn’t be in a place where he views his body and mind like a property to be occupied. sam’s faith begins to come back bit by bit, not in god, but in himself, his brother, in the good things in life. they build their little family; sam, dean, castiel, the hybrids, whomever of their allies that are alive at this point.

castiel can heal sam and dean’s wounds but they are never completely gone; they leave scars and phantom pains. the brothers have SO many scars over the years. dean flaunts them to impress people because he likes the questions and the fearful admiration, the attention and the nods of approval. sam hides them.

when dean is in a bad mood or needs to get his mind off of things, sam just drops something like ‘i don’t get the deal with led zeppelin. one of the most overrated bands of all time’ and dean will go OFF every single time about the entire led zeppelin history, their discography and how they’ve shaped rock music. this will go on for hours and sam will zone out after 1 minute. but dean rants nonsensically the entire drive and it does get him to think about something else for a little bit. they stop at a motel and dean is STILL ranting while brushing his teeth. stops when going to sleep but without fail picks up where he left off the morning after and is so into it he doesn’t notice sam not paying attention at all. we could see this once in s1 when they’re searching for john, another in s3 when dean is anxious about his deal coming to an end and then again in a later season, when sam doesn’t remember to ask/doesn’t have the patience or mental capability, so they’ll sit there in tense silence, showing how much they’ve changed.

---> i can see this SO clearly in my head, how they’ll get in the car and we, the audience, will recognize the camera angle, the same lines and dean’s grumpy mood, and we’ll anticipate what comes next. but sam isn’t that kid anymore and he’s not peeking at dean to gauge what his mood is and how much of a shit eating grin he should wear when being an annoying little brother to cheer dean up. now he’s looking out the window, leaned back, they’re not looking at each other. this shot is a minute or two long, uninterrupted. dean turns on music but neither are singing along or doing anything to lighten the mood.

s1-5: sam gets hooked on demon blood, dean has an alcohol problem. when sam goes through withdrawals, dean decides to quit drinking and joins him because he wants to be supportive, and he realizes that when he drinks two beers for breakfast there’s a problem

s6-10: sam takes painkillers, anti depressants and anti psyhosis meds to numb himself from the phantom pains and reduce post-cage effects. dean started drinking again after sam jumped and still does, but started smoking in addition because he still drives a lot and doesn’t want to die in something as pathetic as a car crash.

there a scene in an episode in the first half of s8, when sam has decided to stay with dean instead of amelia, and dean has rejected benny in favor of sam, and then the brothers sit in a couch watching tv while drinking beer and neither of them look particularly happy about it - that’s how their relationship is a lot of the time. they know they’re fucked up and neither of them will ever be truly happy when the other’s around, but they owe each other so much and they don’t have to explain themselves to each other the way they do to others. they know each other so well, each other’s traumas and the things they’ve done, it feels fake and exhausting to try to be something other than the veteran hunters they are. misery loves company; they are miserable together but would be far more miserable apart and living a normal life. they do love each other, but neither of them are particularly happy as the show progresses. family is hell and so is the lack of it.

OK OK i mentioned it in part one, how i had my own very specific idea about how jack should come to be and here it is. long winded but (might just write a damn fic):

after lucifer was cast back into the cage, he is stronger than he has been in a long time (being in his true vessel helped him stretched muscles he forgot he had. and fresh air.) sam is pulled out of the cage and it leaves a rift in the magic and chains - the binding is weaker and lucifer must act fast to get out before it heals. the cage is still strong enough to hold two archangels, so lucifer has to become weaker somehow to slip out through the cracks. he can’t get out of the cage, but souls can come in. demons bring themselves and human souls as tools for lucifer to use. there’s not much he can do here - consuming them, eating them, touching them, dissecting them doesn’t give him what he wants

eventually lucifer realizes he must do like azazel and create something new of two halves, like when he created demons. he begins melding his archangel grace with a human soul. he tries with demons, but his archangel grace automatically purifies them and leaves them too weak. he must try with a human soul who is good. he finds the soul of kelly kline, who sold her soul to save a loved one. with her, the merging, works.

he has another self, a twin, a son, who’s half human and half archangel. half lucifer. the old lucifer will die but that’s ok, his desires, presence and self will live on in his new creation. the new lucifer barely makes it out of the cage, only able to due to its human side. on earth it creates a body for itself and takes shape, no longer a form of pure power and energy akin to the sun itself but now a person, reminiscent of kelly kline on earth and lucifer in heaven. they name themselves jack. jack searches for familiarity and finds it in sam, their old self’s perfect tool and another hybrid. jack finds a mentor in castiel, a younger brother and fellow angel with human elements. they do not find anything in dean, the key to his former self’s doom.

jack’s powers: their powers are like and unlike the angels because he is half archangel. jack has wings but sometimes they don’t work, or they’ll end up somewhere else entirely. their body is their own, not a vessel, so jack can’t possess people. doesn’t talk but people “know” what they’re saying or want because jack emits their emotions and thoughts to people they’re talking to like a radio tower. jack can also have this empathic connection and communication with animals. his mood affects the weather. immortal. reads minds. can remove a soul from a body and send it to heaven/hell by touching it, with practice they don’t need to touch a body.

other stuff about jack: the human/archangel nature means jack only need sleep and food once a week or so. eats only nougat and raw meat. because jack is a kid they nap a lot. levitates when sleeping. never blinks, stares intensely at everything. their eye colour changes based on their mood. eyes glow in the dark. normal humans who look at jack for too long experience memory loss, fainting spells or migraines and eye contact for more than 10 seconds give vivid hallucinations of their worst nightmares. always barefoot, often floats like 10 cm off the ground because they find it more enjoyable than walking. wears the wildest clothes they can find, nothing matches and nothing is weather appropriate

i have a very specific image of jack in my mind; they look like delirium from the sandman comics with the hair that looks like it’s underwater and the fishes floating around their head, here and here are examples. in live action this would look not good or maybe even ridiculous for sure but in animation... endless potential for angels and monsters to have super interesting designs sigh

castiel’s arc should end with him going from blind soldier, to the unwilling ruler of heaven, finding a place on earth with sam and dean, becoming closer with humanity and eventually a father of three (the hybrids).

#hbo spn #sam winchester #dean winchester #supernatural #iben spoke #ok i'm tired of looking at this now #i just needed to get these thoughts out of my head to get some peace and quiet #more character centric than part 1 #and it turned into such a long post.... jesus #i should make a separate post for post cage sam headcanons #ana if you see this i'm so sorry to drag you into this mess but i wanted to give credit where credit is due

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ambelle · 5 years ago

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I don’t see how people actually like Dick/Dawn together? I thought the writers used the relationship to show that Dawn (like Robin) is Dick’s past. He was with her at a time in his life when he was young. He pretty much confirmed that with Rachel in 1x02. Meeting Kory changes Dick. Donna (Dick’s oldest and dearest friend) quickly realizes he has feelings for Kory (who she witnessed trying to kill Rachel) yet he defends her to the end. She says Kory’s a dangerous woman and he messed up with Dawn but Dick persists in helping Kory anyway. Donna’s words are fresh in Dick’s mind when being tested by Trigon in the S1 finale. Trigon shows Dick what his life could be with Dawn. Dick seems happy on the surface with a “normal” life; however, is easily distracted once he returns to Gotham and Kory comes back into the picture. The ordeal with Trigon reveals to Dick that Kory (not Dawn) is his light when Batman kills her and he gives into his darkness. He even asks Kory to come with him and the kids in 2x01, but she says she still has some things to work out. Dick obliges as she did after the asylum experience. Moreover, Dick/Dawn’s chemistry pales in comparison to Dick/Kory and their relationship hasn’t even been fully fleshed out yet. There is a trust, loyalty, protection and intimacy he’s got with her that isn’t shared with the rest of the team (old or new) which is why none of them realized he was about to sacrifice himself for Jason. They all abandon him (with the exception of Gar) when he tells the truth about Jericho. Kory comforts him and says that things will get better once they get over themselves. If Fidei wasn’t an issue Kory would’ve stayed too. After Rachel came to her senses and tried to enlist Donna, Dawn and Kory to find Dick the only one that helps her is Kory. She seems to hint that she fell in love (with Dick) when she talks to the psychiatrist she hooked up with in 2x11. S3 will most likely revisit them saying that they would try again after they figured out who they are and what they plan to become. Working closely with Kory again and the threat of losing her (whether in battle with her sister or to a new love) I hope will push Dick to come to grips with his feelings for her as well. #SlowBurnTorture

“He pretty much confirmed that with Rachel in 1x02.” <<< Honestly this part.

I have no idea why people like DickDawn/ think they are a threat to Dickkory. He does not have romantic feelings for Dawn in present day. And yeah when he and Donna had that conversation about Dawn (which in context was her casually blaming him for Joey’s death yikes) he didn’t even react. His focus was finding and helping Kory.

With the Trigon thing I think Dawn represented the life he thinks he wants/ would have if he quit being a hero. Not sure why anyone thinks that quitting being a hero is a good thing on a show about being a hero LOL...But anyway Dawn and Jason pushed him to go to Gotham and help Bruce who represented darkness to him. I think Kory was his subconscious. She appeared out of nowhere and pushed him to be happy and free much like she did in real life. And the last thing Dawn says to him in that dream is “of course it’s Kory.” Because yeah it’s obvious where this is all going.

And I don’t know if it’s the directing or Brenton but if you pay attention to group scenes Dick doesn’t even look at Dawn. And although I think Dawn harbours attraction towards Dick I don’t think she loves him anymore or she wouldn’t have left him to rot in prison. (I mean I’m not convinced her love confession was genuine in the past considering how easy it was for her to leave him after Slade almost killed him but I digress.) And he didn’t return that I love you. If they really wanted to sell us the ship they have been doing an awful job.

Season 2 showed us Dickdawn completly fall apart as she and the others put all the blame on him even though he was grieving too. Dawn is no different from Hank and Donna but Kory is. S2 was basically the group divided into who gives a damn about him as a person VS who thinks him being the leader means he can’t make mistakes (even mistakes they all pushed him to make. Looking at Donna being crazy in 108 in particular ). Kory just shows up and gets him and that’s it and likewise he always defends her. The ship is good in writing and in chemistry. I wouldn’t trade what we get for what other couples get at all. Also TBH Feddei was a bigger threat than Dawn because Kory was more interested in what he was going through and was willing to return home to save his life. Even though it was platonic that’s better than what happened between DickDawn in s2- her threatening to burn his house down was the longest conversation they had present day. In the past she was pushing him to be like the man he told her was a violent sociopath while he was grieving. Then her complaining that he was too busy to cuddle with her and should quit trying to stop Slade. ( and how are they superheroes if they are willing to let Slade go free to continue murdering people because they are scared? WTF?) Then just leaving without a word.

If nothing else the fact DK was the only pair who didn’t fight or argue or betray each other in s2 tells me the writers aren’t planning on pulling back. They easily could have had her turn her back on him too. But nope because “it’s Kory”.

#dickkory #the slowest slow burn in the world #but im here for the ride LOL #Anonymous

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arcadianmoonshadowjedi · 5 years ago

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Personal Opinions on Rapunzel and Cassandra’s Friendship

Ok so this is one post that I’ve been wanting to make for a long time, especially since this is perhaps one of the relationships in the series with the most polarizing views ever (maybe even the number one relationship that is) ranging from people who ship them romantically to people who hate their friendship all together and think that they should’ve never been friends to begin with. So I thought it would be worth a share for me, mostly focusing on S1 and 2. This is not meant to be any hate for either of these girls because they are both among my faves in the series!

ALSO: I will NOT tolerate any hostility or rudeness on this post. If you don’t agree with my opinions, either lets have a friendly, respectful discussion or just scroll by and leave this as it is, thank you!

If you don’t know by now, I personally do not ship them, and never have I since I first started watching the series. I also never interpreted any of their interactions as romantic or saw the two of them as a “potential couple.” I would say this could mostly be due to the fact that I am a hardcore New Dream shipper who strictly believes Rapunzel and Eugene only have romantic feelings for each and I personally don’t think they would have any romantic feelings for anyone else. And I’m also the kind of person who values platonic love so much I also don’t like when they’re shipped (this applies to male-female platonic love as well).

However, I do think that their friendship really made for an interesting story. Now in my opinion, I personally don’t think their friendship was 100% toxic, or devoid of love or happiness, and nor do I think it was entirely a healthy one either, otherwise it wouldn’t have fallen apart by the end of S2.

To start off, I’ve always felt and stand by my opinion that the friendship was very flawed from both sides. The problem with Rapunzel, esp in S1 and less in S2, was that she was a socially stunted teen who was barely out of the tower and barely had time to learn about healthy friendships and boundaries, and this has caused her at several times to unintentionally step on Cass’s personal boundaries, be extremely pushy and at times annoying. Cass on the other hand, as we all know has a super “bitchy”, distrustful personality and has her own insecurities and struggles with self-esteem that negatively affect her own judgments and actions. I feel like a lot of Cass’s trust issues and tough, bitchy exterior stem from her trauma of being abused, neglected, and eventually abandoned by her own mother. I have this headcanon that even though she has no memory of this incident (PTSD can cause a person to forget a traumatizing memory but still continue to suffer as a result of it), she basically has this idea that if her own mother didn’t stay and love her, why would anyone else do so? Cassandra grew bitter to a point where she pushed people away and avoided attachment to avoid the same trauma from happening again. Of course that was until she befriended Rapunzel after Rapunzel persisted in making this friendship happen even after all the pushing away Cass was attempting to do. Based on the canon we got, I would definitely conclude that this was each of the girls’ very first close female friendship in their lives and both had a whole lot they needed to learn in order to grow and build healthier relationships in general. In my opinion, despite the flaws of this friendship, both girls did need it (Rapunzel needed a blunt gal pal who, along with Eugene, could help her discover more of the real world around her and learn more about social interactions, whereas Cassandra needed someone to help her to open up her heart more and know that she is worthy of being loved).

The reason why I don’t agree with a lot of the “Cassandra is malicious and evil to Rapunzel” or “Cassandra’s entire goal and purpose in the whole series (Even in S1 & 2) is belittle and demolish Rapunzel” claims is because I feel like they erase all of Cassandra’s positive traits and great sacrifices she has made for Rapunzel, whether it was their TBEA sneakout adventure which put her at risk of losing her job and home just to make Rapunzel happy or Cass getting her hand charred to get Rapunzel to snap out of the reverse incantation, just to name a few. To also say that Cass was never nice to Rapunzel or never cared for her erases the fact that there were several times she got out of her comfort zone to apologize and make peace with Rapunzel after a conflict (her hugging Raps in Challenge of the Brave after she completely Effed up and in Rapunzel Day One after she opened up about her feeling hurt) or whenever she comforted Rapunzel in her pain (QFAD and BTCW).

As for the claims that “Rapunzel is selfish” or “takes all of her friends for granted” claims, I’m equally opposed to that and they leave an awful taste in my mouth. Rapunzel, as we all know, was trapped in a tower for 18 whole years and has NEVER interacted with anyone besides Gothel and Pascal. Of course Eugene was the first human outside of the tower she interacted with, which throughout the events of the movie and all the trials and sacrifices that they went through, their relationship has so much stability to it. However, not every person Rapunzel interacts will share the understanding she has with Eugene. Rapunzel lacks so much social understanding and skills that there are times she doesn’t know when to have the right type of interactions (remember the bear hug?), let alone experience in royalty. However Rapunzel herself is a major people pleaser and will do whatever it takes to make those around her happy (even if gets really pushy and annoying at times) but she will eventually stop with her pushiness especially when she sees how harmful it can get. Just like Cass, there were several instances where Rapunzel will willingly fight for her, like in BTCW with Adira, even though Cass was technically in the wrong or in Freebird (An episode I’m not a fan of but enjoyed some aspects of it) when both of them fought to save each other or even Rapunzel sacrificing the last egg to turn Cass back.

As for the flaws of the friendship, I would definitely say that alot of it had to do with both lack of proper communication and understanding of boundaries. As we all know Cass doesn’t always have the “fluffiest, kindest” ways of communicating her feelings or her pain and can in turn lash out really badly and come off as condescending and rude. Rapunzel on the other hand, wasn’t really the best at reading social signals (Challenge of the Brave is the best example of super flawed communication and understanding on both sides) or understanding personal boundaries. I personally don’t believe that Rapunzel would “put up someone else’s shit to please them” but she would be more like, if they’re not pleased, Imma force them to be pleased (mostly in a cute, clumsy way, namely Under Raps when she felt the need to constantly “cheer up” Cass or “comfort” Cass in Big Brothers, even when Cass told her she didn’t need it, other examples include Rapunzel’s Enemy with Monty and Goodbye & Goodwill in Vardaros).

However I would say I saw so much improvement throughout S1 and mostly the first half of S2, where we do see them have so many friendly and goofy interactions (In Like Flynn with the pranks, the “game face” in Pascal’s Story, the Island eps, etc).

Then there comes the midseason and this is were I would say the friendship completely fell apart. And I think this is mainly where the argument that Cassandra is controlling over Rapunzel comes into play. Cassandra at the very beginning of the season, as we know the King assigned her with keeping Rapunzel safe, she basically gave up her dream of potentially becoming a guard to accompany Rapunzel. At the same time, Rapunzel is out in the real world outside of Corona and wants to discover more. We see these two have clashes of views and ideals that lead to certain debacles (Freebird is a prime example, tho I personally wish they did something else besides the whole bird plot lol) and then Rapunzel and the Great Tree, especially when Cass expresses that Rapunzel should take caution (which in itself feels "limiting" Rapunzel's desired freedom). I know that there is alot of anger over the argument that Cassandra was belittling Rapunzel by calling her naive (which I agree was a shitty move on her part). But I personally never thought it came from a place of wanting to "bring down Rapunzel and seek control over her" but more of a panic over the fact that they were in a dangerous location and the fact that the gang was nearly killed in it. Adira's points were also valid but Cassandra's insecurity and jealousy of her lead to her reacting hysterically and to make extreme accusations against her. Rapunzel was also stressed from being overwhelmed by the reverse incantation, which also led to her to shut down Cass in an unhealthy, humiliating way.

I feel like this along with the progression of S2 led to the betrayal and I feel like the whole Moonsandra arc should've been more focused on the problems with the friendship and Cass's insecurities rather than the whole Gothel drama. However, I always felt that it was a very complicated friendship that needed lots of mending and better communication on both sides, and I feel like that's where they got to in Plus Est En Vous. Both Rapunzel had grown to better understand social skills, communication, and boundaries a whole lot better than when we first saw her and Cassandra (tho S3 needed much better writing) she had grown to reclaim her self worth and accept that she was worthy of love.

As much as I was upset Cass left Corona, realistically that was what they both needed to give each other space to grow and learn in a healthy way.

#tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #rapunzel #tangled rapunzel #princess rapunzel #rta cassandra #tts cassandra #tangled cassandra #tts #rta #personal opinion #tangled series character analysis #tangled analysis #character analysis #tas's thought dump

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namesoccer01 · 4 years ago

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imthepunchlord · 6 years ago

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I’m confused. I often see you saying you’re not watching an episode. Given up on the show as a whole or just skipping episodes you think you won’t enjoy? (No judgement, just curious. you do you, friendo)

Pretty much both. Many episodes aired don’t sound worth watching, and I don’t care for how the show is being handled. Warning of spoilers below. And a lot of salt.

Marinette has become a punching bag, learning lessons she doesn’t need or is made sad or humiliated for a joke. Like, Troublemaker was supposed to be funny! Yeah, seeing her have an anxiety attack from having her privacy invaded, yeah.... that wasn’t funny.

Adrien always has the moral high ground, even when he shouldn’t. He still has yet to grow, being sad is 73% of his character now and I don’t care anymore when I see he’s sad.

Alya and Nino are now one unit; Nino doesn’t even have a character anymore aside from “I love Alya”.

Kagami’s character got ruined just to be molded into a cringey love rival that honestly would’ve been a lot more acceptable to see if it was Chloe.

Chloe is all over the place and I don’t know what they want to do with her. I’m guessing anti redemption but they also bring up her hero potential and should have more faith in her and I’m just... I don’t think even they know what they want to do with Chloe.

Lila apparently is pure evil and this 14 year old can never be redeemed or changed for the better. And while she’s the worst, Gabriel is sympathetic, and we must pity this incompetent terrorist who supposedly loves his son but he’s also ok with sending an akuma that wants to murder Adrien after him and if Adrien wasn’t Chat he’d be dead.

Then there’s a lot of inconsistencies, like Chloe and Adrien say they’re each other’s best friends but then they (Chloe recently) say that they have no friends so what is the truth? Also Fu said he doesn’t want a lot of miraculouses active and yet more and more are being released.

Also a lack of change. We’re three seasons in. And nothing really changed. Stormy Weather 2 was the best example for this, this ep wanted to show how much changed but it just made it clear that nothing changed. They’re still fighting HM, still in a stalemate. Adrien still likes LB. Marinette still likes Adrien. There are just heroes who pop up but aren’t a constant so they can’t really grow. Chloe is still mean. And just... nothing has changed. Its still the same forumula as s1. Not even the plot has moved forward and we’re 3 seasons in. Technically, Gabriel’s arc should be wrapped up this season, at most, with Mayura able to drag it out. But they didn’t do a good job with Mayura, they’re sticking to the status quo, and its becoming boring.

And then lore, what even is lore anymore? There’s the dumb set up that adults are naturally more powerful which just makes Fu look dumb for choosing kids to fight for him, kids he’s not even training or helping them get a leg up on HM. And LB and Cat are supposed to be the two most powerful but, how? They’re more on the same level as the others, and some even seem more powerful than them. Rabbit can time travel. Technically so can Snake. Max, who is the same age, can do multiple portals instead of being restricted to just one. Also it sounds like Kim can use his power multiple times to.

How are they the most powerful? Hell, LB has two powers, Lucky Charm and Miraculous Ladybug; that means at least Cat should have two as well, we’re 3 seasons in and how have we not seen or heard of that 2nd power? Is it a mix of Plagg being lazy and not trusting Adrien to know? Or is it mass destruction and it just hasn’t been needed?

Also this show was built up to be empowering to girls but, its not. There’s nothing empowering about having our lead’s world and purpose resolve around her love interest. There’s nothing empowering about all her rivals being girls, and they’re all fighting over this bland cream puff. There’s nothing empowering deeming 14 year old girls are the true evil while the actual terrorist we’re supposed to feel for (Chloe and Lila vs Gabriel), and to add to it, Mayura was built up to be worse than Gabriel, which suggest that she’s truly evil. Also, there’s nothing empowering about boys always getting along, and can do some concerning behaviors and get away with it not even a lecture or call out, like Adrien and his persistent pursuits of LB despite rejections, or Nino and how he pressured Mylene when she was starting to get scared and freak out, and he even made use of an akuma attack for his film but just got a pat on the back. or Max, who was rewarded with a place in the tournament despite acting like Marinette cheated even though she won fair and square and wasn’t nice till she was giving up her spot to him.

So very empowering.

That’s also not covering the clear bias Thomas Astruc has to, and how he views the two leads.

With how the show is handling these two, you know what I see? Its Marinette who needs to grow, its Marinette who needs to be worthy of Adrien. Adrien doesn’t need to grow but Marinette does, even though, the issue he brings up, Marinette is one of the most emotionally mature characters in this show. Even more mature than most adults. Not only does she bare brunt of responsibility of hero work for her partner and temp heroes, she’s also willing to give up what she really wants for others happiness. But its her that’s flawed and needs to grow, which also involves humiliating her almost every ep or sending some kind of blow her way.

Someone needs to save this lead from her own show she deserves so much more than this.

Oh, and there’s also the issue of white washing, making black kids have lighter skin as heroes, like Alya and Max.

So yeah, I’m just... I’m pretty fed up with canon. Its not worth watching, I don’t care for their characterizations, much of the powers they do I don’t care for, and every new ep they do sounds uninteresting or bad, with almost some form of humiliation or shame directed at Marinette. It really seems like Silencer will be the only s3 ep I’ll watch. That was actually good and I don’t expect that repeated or brought back.

So, instead of conitnuing to watch canon and get fed up, I’ll be making my own canon, enjoy my ideas and write ML as I wish. I do still enjoy the concept, and its a shame ML didn’t live up to what it could be. This is largely what fuels me to write for it still, knowing I can do better than canon.

#ask Punchie #ml salt #Anonymous

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swpc-bot--unoffical · 6 months ago

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Forecast Discussion

Product: Forecast Discussion Issued: 2025 Jan 05 0030 UTC Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center Solar Activity .24 hr Summary... Solar activity continued at high levels. There were a total of thirteen active regions. Region 3952 (N19W01, Bxo/beta) was numbered this period, but was otherwise unremarkable. Region 3947 (N10E42, Dkc/beta-gamma-delta) underwent evolution as its spots continued to mature while forming a mixed polarity configuration in its trailing area. AR 3947 was responsible for the largest flares of the period to include an M1.5 flare at 04/0036 UTC, an M2.1/Sf at 04/2326 UTC, an M7.6 flare at 04/0518 UTC and an X1.8 flare at 04/1256 UTC, the latter of which was the largest of the period. The X1.8 event was accompanied by a Type II radio sweep of 314 km/s. The subsequent relatively faint and slow CME was first seen in NASA coronagraph imagery at approximately 04/1325 UTC. This event was modeled and determined to be a miss well behind Earth's orbit. Region 3939 (S17W61, Hsx/alpha) was the culprit for two long duration C-class flare events. The first was a C9.1 flare at 04/1234 UTC. This event was accompanied by a Type IV radio sweep that began at 04/1444 UTC, which suggested the presence of solar radiation storm producing ejecta. The subsequent CME was first observed in NASA coronagraph imagery at approximately 04/1448 UTC. This event was modeled and determined to be a miss well ahead of Earth's orbit with any glancing influences likely to materialize by 08 Jan. The second was a C7.6 flare that peaked at 04/1827 UTC. No radio signatures were associated with this flare from AR 3939. However, what is likely an associated fast CME can first be seen in NASA coronagraph imagery at approximately 04/1836 UTC. Analysis and modeling of this event is ongoing as of the time of this writing. .Forecast... R1-R2 (Minor-Moderate) radio blackouts are expected with a chance for isolated R3 (Strong) or greater events through 07 Jan as AR 3947 continues to mature and a number of active regions approach the western limb. Energetic Particles .24 hr Summary... The greater than 2 MeV electron flux was at normal to moderate levels. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux began to increase sharply at approximately 04/2035 UTC and exceeded event threshold of 10 pfu at 04/2245 UTC. As of this writing, current readings of 19.3 pfu were observed. .Forecast... The greater than 2 MeV electron flux is expected to continue at normal to moderate levels through 07 Jan. An S1 (Minor) solar radiation storm is expected to continue on 05 Jan. A return to background-like conditions is expected by 06 Jan where a slight chance for an event will remain for 07 Jan. Solar Wind .24 hr Summary... The solar wind environment reflected possible glancing CME influences from the expected 01 Jan event, with the likely onset of the positive polarity CH HSS just after 04/0200 UTC. Total field increased to 16-17 nT with a peak of 18 nT. The Bz component underwent several sustained southward deflections of -14 to -15 nT. Solar wind speeds gradually increased over the course of the period, increasing from ~450 km/s to 680 km/s. Phi was predominantly positive with brief excursions into a negative solar sector. .Forecast... An enhanced solar wind environment is expected to continue throughout the forecast period (05-07 Jan). Although, enhanced conditions are expected to begin to diminish by 07 Jan as positive polarity CH HSS influences begin to wane. Geospace .24 hr Summary... The geomagnetic field reached G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels. .Forecast... G1 conditions are expected to continue into 05 Jan as CH HSS effects persist. Quiet to unsettled conditions, with isolated active periods, are expected to prevail on 06 Jan as positive polarity CH HSS effects continue, but begin to weaken. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected on 07 Jan as weak CH HSS effects continue to linger.

#Forecast Discussion #SWPC #Space Weather Prediction Center #Space Weather #NOAA #Aurora #Aurora Forecast #Northern Lights #Northern Lights Forecast

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shiroallura · 6 years ago

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what are your thoughts on the shiro's disease wasn't a disease reveal? geez the staff was awful to him but the fandom's theories are so wack

i never got involved in that discourse, so i don’t totally know what you’re referring to. while shiro’s disease reveal was… lazy and like everything else in voltron, it could have been handled well if they actually gave a single flying fuck about shiro. but we all know that didn’t happen, so

as far as fandom theories to explain the clusterfuck that became voltron, i don’t put stock in any of them. do i think tim hedrick and the other writers who left went because of the disappointing directions the show was going in? yes. do i think tim hedrick had shallura leanings? yes. do i think they would’ve been endgame if the show had persisted with his vision? maybe. but it’s honestly the least of what i wanted from voltron, which was a good found family theme and shiro as bp. i also saw issues forming in the show’s writing as early as 2x01, so the show took a dive for the worst post-s1 onwards, s2 had a good leg to stand on in some parts, but by s3 that had given out and it was just downhill from there, as the things i would’ve been willing to overlook if s7 hadn’t completely broken the narrative were suddenly glaring and what led to the show’s complete and utter descent into a fiery trashcan of hell

and to think, last year i thought “star wars: the last jedi” would be the most disappointing thing i’d ever watch

#as always #shiro deserved better #thanks for asking #vld critical #anonymous

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sol1056 · 7 years ago

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anons discuss Keith

...do you think LM and JDS originally wanted Keith to be leader of Voltron instead of Shiro? They say that they didn't want to follow the original story of having Keith as leader but then they speak of how they wanted Shiro dead so Keith could lead. Now Keith is the black paladin. It seems they've shafted Shiro’s arc, from how they are writing the story.

I’ve mentioned this in other posts, but my perspective has changed from blaming nostalgia to blaming pure spite. The EPs sure sound in some interviews like they must’ve been teeth-bared and hackles-up determined to put Keith in Black’s seat, permanently. If nothing else to just show up the execs, the dissenting fans, and hell, even some of their coworkers at DW.

For a deconstruction of what might’ve been behind all the truncated arcs -- whether Shiro’s, Allura’s, or Keith’s -- check out this addition to my post on mentors. (I can’t tag, stupid tumblr bug.)

More asks behind the cut: Keith S1/S2 vs Keith S7, Keith as MC, comfort zones vs panic zones, and Keith vs Sendak as foils.

Keith's mindscape in S2: [one of his biggest fears is hearing] ‘you're selfish, you pick yourself over us’. His biggest one, being abandoned and rejected. S7 Keith: kicked Shiro unceremoniously aside to take his place, replaced him with Lance as right hand. Abandonment & rejection issues? trust issues? anger?? S1-2 Keith would pummel S7 Keith.

I really don’t know how anyone can look at Keith from S1-S6, and his consistent (and persistent) belief in Shiro as the true Black Paladin --- and then look at S7 Keith, utterly silent on the entire topic --- and see the same character. I sure as hell can’t. It’s not that Keith couldn’t be who he is in S7. He just can’t be that and be the person we saw in S1-S6.

Well, he could be, but that kind of a dramatic shift would be a significant arc, possibly taking up most of a season, and could even be a full story in its own right. Barring that much focus, if Keith was meant to end up as he is in S7, he was written from a completely wrong starting place.

Hi! I was wondering what you think of the argument (or defense for some writing) that I've seen go around about Keith being the main character. I just don't personally see him as it because he wasn't that big of a focus in season one and then he was pretty much absent from the story for three whole seasons.

I know I posted on this back after S4, I think, but the gist of it is this: our introduction to Keith is a fanfic intro, but the majority of the audience was thinking original/pro fiction. It’s a complete disconnect.

See, in fanfic, it’s a common maneuver to introduce last the one character who doesn’t really require an introduction. In fact, it’s a kind of mild tension we use in fanfic (especially in AUs); we already know who the protagonist is, after all, so we get a bit of perspective on the secondary characters, maybe a few OCs, and then... in rolls the protagonist and the story kicks off.

In original/pro fiction, the protagonist --- or, at minimum, the core POV character --- is always introduced first. (Barring prologues where we get context, that is.) You do not wait the equivalent of two chapters to finally get around to showing the person the story is actually about.

That led some viewers to see Shiro as MC, while others saw the prologue as context, and thus Lance (introduced first in the present-day story) as MC. The EPs definitely gave Keith an MC-level intro, and then dropped the ball, as if that should suffice. Meanwhile, the viewers who clung stubbornly to mecha conventions got more and more frustrated as Keith kept to the background until almost the end of S1. But again, in original mecha-genre stories, you still don’t wait 12+ episodes for that character to step forward into the spotlight.

So, it depends on the lens you’re using: fanfic, ofic, or genre. The EPs seem to have always assumed Keith was their MC, which says to me that even if they weren’t entirely nostalgia-driven (or claimed they weren’t), it still had a huge influence on them. Enough that they thought they didn’t need to follow story convention, but could mix it up because hey, we all ‘know’ who the protagonist is, so they could skip the work of making him be protagonist-like.

That works when you know it’s fanfiction. It doesn’t work anywhere else. Especially seeing how DW advertised VLD as a reboot: iow, a clean-slate story where anything might happen --- including the protagonist be someone else. By the time the EPs got around to trying to shove Keith forward, the audience had already locked onto who they thought the story had signaled would be MC.

As for taking that alleged protagonist and putting him on a bus for almost 13 episodes? No. I got nothing for that. You just don’t do that. There’s no excuse for that other than bad writing, plain and simple.

I stumbled across someone saying that BP Keith works because he was put out of his comfort zone and that's good for character development. And it's been kind of sticking with me because I just keep remembering s3 and how it wasn't fun to see him piloting black because he was so miserable doing it. I'm wondering your thoughts in regards to putting a character out of their comfort zone for development: is it possible to go too far and I guess in general about the concept itself.

Shortly after you sent this ask, I came across a post that talks about the psychology of a comfort zone vs learning zone vs panic zone. Part of the problem with S3 is that the EPs/writers didn’t realize that combining two things undermined both. Keith is effectively grieving (and pretty deeply) in those opening episodes, and he’s being forced into a role that he’s always associated with Shiro. If he’d embraced flying Black while grieving Shiro, that would’ve made him seem callous, but we did need to see some kind of grieving, as close as he and Shiro had clearly been (”if not for you, my life would’ve been a lot different” isn’t something you say to a casual friend).

In other words, Keith’s comfort zone to the end of S2 was flying Red, and supporting Shiro-in-Black. Had he been able to focus on grieving, that’d be a learning zone: this time, getting over the loss in a healthier manner, with support, rather than running away. With the worst edges of the grief out of the way (iow, that grief becoming part of his comfort zone), he could’ve then moved into a new learning zone, of accepting his role flying Black.

I think the writers did understand, instinctively, that tackling both learning phases at once would send any decent human straight into the panic zone. It’s too much, too soon. I’d bet the EPs rolled with that approach, too, since there’s no conflict quite so charged as someone on the verge of breaking apart. The problem was that having put Keith into a completely understandable panic zone, they had no idea how to walk him back out of it. With Kuron’s appearance, Keith running away became the easiest resolution for a bunch of things, including Keith’s development.

And honestly? All they needed to do was get rid of a single filler episode in S2, removing either the mermaid or olkari episodes, or finding a way to blend them. Make room for an episode after the finale, one in which the entire team struggles with their grief, processes it, reaches out to their allies, and the episode concludes with Keith --- as the one whose learning stage is greatest --- coming to the team and announcing it’s time to find a new Black Paladin.

That would put us on a trajectory for S3 being Keith’s other learning phase, of handling his new role, of opening up to the team, of all the development that wouldn’t have made sense given the story dropped it all on his head for the sake of panic zone conflict.

If VLD had bothered to flesh out Keith as Sendak’s foil it would've been great. It’s a missed opportunity. As it stands, only Shiro has any connection with Sendak ... Shiro [was] singled out by Sendak, not Keith. Beating someone [means] nothing without deep personal stakes.

Yep, absolutely. And again, not a difficult thing to fix. If the point of Crystal Venom was just to show how the corrupted crystal affected everyone, then have Shiro in the practice hall, getting flashbacks as the droid attacks him. Let Keith stand guard over Sendak, and give us an exchange where Sendak recognizes Keith as the Red Paladin. Something about Red being Sendak’s before it was Keith’s (echoing the dispute over Black). If Sendak had threatened Shiro, Keith probably would’ve lost it and ejected him, story continues.

Oh, and reduce the strange familiarity in Sendak’s reaction to Shiro, when they first meet. Keep it as neutral as possible, so the audience isn’t left assuming these two know each other, somehow.

If Sendak represents being a ‘good’ right-hand man, and makes Keith question his own ability to support Shiro (or whether he’s going to lose Shiro again to Zarkon), then we’d have emotional weight tying the two right-hand characters together. And yeah, then it’d be victory that Keith cuts Sendak down, in the end: because it’d be Keith asserting not only that he deserves to be Shiro’s right arm, but also that Keith has chosen a better leader, one worthy of following, where Sendak did not, etc.

Much like the issue with comfort zones vs panic zones, the EPs/writers went for what would be suitably dramatic, but they didn’t seem to give much thought to how this would impact our impression of the story. In both cases, the story’s focus created (and reinforced) an association that didn’t mesh with where VLD apparently wanted to end up.

#vld #voltron #analysis #it's bad writing karen #come for the sugar stay for the salt #sol thinks about stuff

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