#really funny for a post about chekhovs gun

[pinkeoni]

Tumblr has for some reason shadow banned my recent analysis from the dash and byler tag so click here if you wanna read about byler and chekhov's gun

[eroguron0nsense]

Late Night Luffy's Dream Theory

So I've heard a fair amount of speculation about what Luffy's dream is after he becomes Pirate King, and by extension, what Roger's dream was (recall Yamato's flashback confirming that Luffy's dream–which Ace shared with him in their long tipsy conversation/totally not a night of passion–is "the same thing the Pirate King" said.) Fan speculation about Luffy's real dream ranges from things like "host the biggest party in the world", to "go to the moon", "make a country of pirates" etc but I've always found something fundamentally unsatisfactory about these, and I'll throw my hat in the ring to narrow down the possibilities.

To recap, the information we have about Luffy's dream is as follows: -Both times the dream is alluded to, it's at the end of what I and probably a bunch of other people personally conceive of as major sagas pre and post TS that both culminate in a major battle featuring EVERYONE WE'VE SEEN AND MORE –It's something that Roger, battle-hardened and well into his 40s or 50s–shared with Oden, that was documented in Oden's journal and partially inspired Yamato's unshakeable faith in Luffy –The Straw Hats, Ace, and Sabo are all shocked to hear it and ask if he's fully serious, but several of them support it immediately and the others remain protective over it and swear they'll see Luffy's ambition through. Jinbe, Nami, and Usopp are in disbelief, Chopper and Franky are excited, Robin is stunned, but looks hopeful or contemplative rather than derisive or amused, etc. –Ace and Sabo laugh as children, but swear to themselves that they'll protect Luffy's dream and won't let anyone mock it. As he's dying, Ace tells Luffy that he truly, truly believes Luffy will pull it off, and he's only sorry he couldn't see him make that dream a reality. –Shanks found it really funny, but is repeatedly shown stating he thinks that this ridiculous fucking child he met is going to be the future of the next pirate era, implying that he has some degree of faith in this child he (likely) recognizes as the inheritor of Roger's will Luffy's dream is repeatedly referred to as "crazy", or in some cases, "a child's fantasy", but also implied to be something really pure, ambitious, and highly unlikely but theoretically possible.

When I come up with fan theories, I tend to approach them less from a "textual evidence" standpoint than a "what would pack the biggest emotional punch and tie into the message/arc/etc that we've been shown thus far" one, and that tends to inform which popular ones I buy into (e.g. I am about 50-60% convinced that Law death will be a thing because, Chekhov's gun aside, Law's been in fucking crisis and unsure of what he'll do as his own man free of Cora's legacy and tries to emulate him in Wano. And while I think there's still a good chance he'll survive to the end for other reasons, there's also potential for a LOT of bittersweet beauty in him repeating what happened to him in childhood by quite literally passing on his heart and life to someone else). Considering what would be emotionally resonant and feel anywhere near as earned as what it's been built up to over two whole fucking sagas, Luffy's dream has to be something absurdly ambitious and thematically resonant. I do not think, if Luffy's dream were something like "I want to go to the moon", that Yamato would hold faith in him through impossibly oppressive circumstances, or that the audience would care like, at all. So if the dream is tied to something at the core of Luffy's character and the underlying themes of the entire series, what does Luffy represent, and what's the point of One Piece? Luffy is, at this point in the story and honestly long before, the embodiment of this sort of radical, almost anarchic humanism pervading the entire series that seeks to bring genuine freedom, joy, and peace to people everywhere he goes. Even before any divine or joy boy associations, he's a bringer of dawn, a warrior of liberation, and a worker of miracles because he sees injustice happening around him and instantly rejects it. He tears down oppressors everywhere he goes, and he's eventually going to bring that reckoning to the World Government and Blackbeard and every other might-makes-right, brutal, thoughtless hierarchical oppressor stopping their helpless victims from living free, full, happy lives. And critically, he's the inheritor of a crazy, radical dream that'll shake the world because god knows One Piece loves to talk about inherited will/dreams/legacy.

One Piece's broadly radical leftist humanism isn't based in naïveté either; it's very clear that this liberation is preceded by endless failures. Joyboy fails to stop any of what happens and writes letters of apology, Roger dies before he can realize the dream, and all the while countless atrocities are going on with at least 3 Islands we know of and two whole races having their genocides all but done to completion. Kuma suffers immensely waiting for the Dawn, and effectively loses his life and humanity before it can come, still holding on to his belief in Nika. But none of these things will stop the coming of liberation. Every genocide and attempt to purge the politically inconvenient–Ohara, Flevance, the Lunarians, the persecution of the Buccaneers–leaves survivors or inheritors, with Law, Kuma, and Robin in particular playing central roles in saving or aiding Luffy, the bringer of Dawn. The purge of Ohara fails to destroy the records permanently. The fucking biblical infanticides at Baterilla and the end of Roger's bloodline doesn't stop Luffy from inheriting Roger's will and his brother's legacy. Luffy isn't so much a predestined messiah as he is the inheritor of a legacy of resistance and hope that cannot be killed because as long as someone lives, they will dream of the brand of hope and justice that he embodies. No matter how hard you try, or how violently you suppress people, how many legacies or bloodlines or rebels you put to death, people will survive and carry on those legacies or pick up where your victims left off because you can't kill ideas, you can't kill truth, you can't kill dreams, and you can't kill the basic human desire for joy and freedom. I think the "Child's Fantasy" thing we see associated with Luffy's dream is key to this whole mystery. Wano's the arc in which we get the closest, most explicit declarations of Luffy's ideals, in which his core motivation for defeating Kaido–besides helping Momo and his friends seek justice and overthrow an oppressor–is to make sure everyone in the country can eat their fill. It's the kind of thing you wish for as a child–an end to world hunger, world peace, homes for the homeless, an end to prejudice–before a thousand and one adults feed you the lie that it's impossible to redistribute resources, that being crushed by hierarchical oppressive power is natural, or that some people are undeserving of life or basic rights and therefore deserve to be harmed by the powers that be. Before your parents and teachers and other people lecture you on the necessity of Authority and Capitalism and Hegemony or what have you and convince you that a certain number of people simply have to suffer and die to preserve the Proper and Legitimate Hierarchy, that the powerful deserve to be where they are and that victims of these systems deserve it. It'll be something very much like his hopes for Wano in the face of the oppression of Kaidou and Orochi, or the World Government creeping up on them afterward with Ryokugyu loudly announcing that the oppression of the have-nots is the rightful and good state of the world. It'll be a simple, basic hope for good things for him and his friends and all the great people they love, something perfectly possible and right and just and joyful that people have been raised to think of as an impossibility. A place where people can eat their fill, where there's water in parched lands, where people aren't being strangled by heavenly tributes. A world where they can be free. A reality where everyone can be happy, where dreams come true.

[spicyicymeloncat]

Crystalised part 2 ep 23, 24, 25, 26 spoilers

Yeah I put them all in one post lol

Ep 23

Again, using minecraft logic

Antonia’s “I fished out the last one it’s your turn” lol wow, she makes it seem like this happens often

Antonia did the “if I had a nickel” meme

Oh frick Nya survived?? Also no legs for Nya??

Ofc casual sexism from the mechanic. She has a name!

Okay Jay didn’t crash!! Hell yeah Jay saving Nya for once!

The mechanic is anti jaya also that was such a sick line jay

Okay her fuckin legs are fine now ig

Also Nya’s gonna become water again :(

I think it’s weird that the Crystal warriors can pass out tho

Again city that never sleeps. Paperboys still gonna do their thing amidst a freaking war

Wu: I can’t do child soldiers

Nelson, pointing at the ninja: wtf are these then???

BENTHO IS COMING BACK :D

HELL YEAH LET NINJAGO CITY FIGHT BACK FOR ONCE

Oh gosh that was sick

ep 24

OH MAN THE THUMBNAIL

Lloyd rlly said frick you man

EXCUSE ME POLICE BUT WTF ARE UR PRIORITIES?? THE MAYOR IS GONE NOW WHAT LAW ARE U EVEN USING

NOOO NOT THE SERPENTINE :[ that’s so sadddd

Lloyd really blew his mind there

MISAKO FINALLY CAME BACK FOR A SEASON

I feel like the prophecy guy was brought up before but idk how to spell his name lol

PIXAL MY BELOVED I LOVE HER SO MUCH

Man zane is on the fritz

Oh god he has no limbs man that’s kinda fcuked up man jeez.

However the the ice emperor schtick is kinda funny

Oh my god he’s in a rucksack

OH MY FUCKING GOD ICE EMPEROR IS ONLY BACK FOR COMEDY not what I was expecting but I’ll take it

Hell yeah Ronin! Pixal and Ronin team up will be interesting

Omg the other sog who basically got completely rejected by Harumi this time round. Rip Pixal everyone is evil even her boyfriend

Hell yeah Ronin!! Trying to actually break out of the cycle

Also freaking Zane kicking ronin with his foot

Zane: vex? Vex! Wtf is vex when you need him

Ofc Cyrus didn’t even know

Ep 25

it’s the lava episode :)

Aww man Cole really hit his head

Okay even if I’m not a Kailor shopper I support skylor calling Kai hot shot

Ig this episode really will say which ship is canon

Freaking pythor. I love him

I guess Harumi is looking for lloyd

I would just like to remind people I coined Embershipping for the Kai/skylor/cole ship

ITS JAKE

I’m literally gonna start crying about Garmadon. Mans has half of his emotions but in the ways he’s expressing them, he’s sad about how Lloyd doesn’t accept the Oni heritage that he himself has and how christofern is a weird confused metaphor for Lloyd :((((

Gayle and vinny xxxx

God clutch literally has Nadakhan still oh my god

Okay this door must be a Chekhov’s gun bc they’re so gonna answer a knock that isn’t the paper boys

26

OH NO I DO NOT LIKE THIS EPISODE TITLE

Okay so I assume the romance is gonna get cleared up in this ep. We see the harbour so we know jaya is a thing. We’re looking at Kailor at the start. And like. Pixane… I’m gonna cry

Okay thank god we’re addressing the problems with them right here and now. I’ll hate the ship significantly less if they do this right.

Okay that’s fair

(I’m still a lava shipper tho)

No I refuse any couple shit from wusako no thanks

FreKing Garmadon. He’s like my baby brother whenever someone is on the phone

RACER SEVEN OH I LOVE HER SLSO

OR LIKE BLAZEY is it blazey? H SPEED. I love her

Oh my gosh. I hope Rarlkove integrates Pixal into the long con snake jaguar au

UV just 👉👈 at pixal

:(((( Zane. Has borg tried turning him off and ok again? Putting him in a bag of rice? Giving him a few thumps on the back? What if we just say “protect those who can’t protect themselves” that worked in s11

THEY LET BLAZEY KEEP A PRIME EMPIRE GUN??

ZANE YOU CANT KEEP DOING THIS HOW MANY FUNERALS DO YOU WANT MAN

WHAT THE FUCK THE PIXANE KISS

ZANE IM GOING TO DISMANTLE YOU MYSELF YOU SLEEPING BEAUTY FUCK

PIXAL SQUEALING

FUGIDOVE IS EVERYONE

THE SAM X SUIT LOOKS COOL

Okay barely any jaya and I look forward to draw Zane’s fucked up face but like JEEZ MAN HE DONE DID IT AGAIN ITS LIKE HE SAID NINJA NEVER QUIT… DYING

At least that’s a good place to stop

[tranquilspot]

Examine Room.

[This is a rewriting of a post that has been sadly deleted, as such this version will be different and modified since I only recall the broad outlines]

This ‘young man’ is now officially John, and the tags will reflect the name change from now on. Both for convenience and non-spoil policy in case new readers happen to come across this blog.

Aaah~ The all-caps words, it’s been pinned down as a Homestuck thing. I saw a post once from someone who innocently wrote in this format. The Homestucks were on the lookout on that one x) Don’t you love it? For me it’s such a treat for my dyslexic eyes. Why can’t all writers write more like this, it’s not rocket science! Bold, italic, space between paragraphs, colors and quotes to draw the attention to the important parts. So please, no more HUGE BLOCKS OF TEXT. It’s ugly, it’s annoying, you spend 5 minutes on a paragraph cause you were reading in diagonal then went back as you didn’t (mis)understand the whole thing and read several times the same sentence/word until you finally get something. And now your head hurts/you’re irritated. Anyway, back to Homestuck proper.

Who the fuck has cakes in their room, hell SEVERAL CAKES with cream and all dripping on the furniture?! Yes I get it, I too like to bring snacks to eat in front of the computer but dude It’ll attract ants! DAD might be a better guardian than the others, but you can’t deny that behavior and parental choice wise there’s something off about him. Don’t get me started on having a HAMMER AND NAILS just sitting on the floor waiting for an unfortunate fool (tool hehe) to step on it. Well, we’ll get back to safety hazard a bit later.

You like to program computers but you are NOT VERY GOOD AT IT.

One thing that I find interesting and just noticed is that John not being good at programming isn’t really important nor relevant, what is on the other hand is that it introduces two significant elements to the story: data structures, and ~ATH (until death). The former focusing on FETCH MODI and CAPTCHALOGUE CARDS, while the latter on VIRUSES (mobius double reacharound starting in act 5). I highly doubt that it was a foresight on Hussie’s side, taking into account the ~ATH is a Problem Sleuth reference (the symbol on the cover is the face of DEATH) and him incorporating those elements in his, at the time, brand new webcomic was a flex on their computer knowledge and skills. Still I think it’s nice to point it out, as it doubles (triples?) as a soft introduction to concepts that will follow the readers far into the adventure and even pop back in as a Chekhov's gun.

You have a fondness for PARANORMAL LORE

This sentence is awesome and irks me, because paranormal shit is so cool but sadly people tend to overlook it and focus on the shitty movies and magician parts.

Which is so lame! John even gave a speech about ghosts and science in Act 6 Intermission 2 that was interesting and I will definitely talk about it when we get to this conversation.

Though maybe I shouldn’t talk about stuff before they’re actually brought up by the narration? Whatever I’m my own boss, I can still develop before or when it happens. You guys tell me in the notes what you think about it.

You also like to play GAMES sometimes.

Funny how among the group of 4 friends, only John and TT have ‘play games’ mentioned in their introduction. TG plays on Xbox alone or with his Bro, GG as far as I know doesn’t own any game until SBURB came around the corner.

Perhaps it’s because the author already established that those two planned to play together. Or maybe it is pointed out by the narration because it is a relevant piece of information for establishing the plot. Or even maybe it's part of Hussie “I’ve put writing rules then soon after will discard them” hijinks. Or all of the above.

John however does own games in his disk rack, and later in the adventure plays at one of them with two of his friends. But I’ll wait and develop my thoughts on the matter when we get there (for the disk rack, very soon). —>

[singingninja4]

6x08: Point and Shoot Tribeca Q&A

watching the episode on a huge screen with surround sound with an audience with great energy and some of the actors and creators themselves was an incredible experience. I want to share as much of that experience with you as a I can 💖 so here's a few highlights from the Q&A

when asked about the cold open, gordon stated that since 6x07 ended with such trauma they wanted to start 6x08 with the stark contrast of the calm beach scene. then we're dropped straight back into jimmy and kim's apartment, which for me was super jarring, so thanks for that gordon

the audience busted out laughing when jimmy first tried to convince lalo that kim should be the one who goes to kill (unbeknownst to them) gus fring. I think it was just his delivery of it, but in the q&a bob mentioned that he thought that it was hilarious that everyone laughed at that scene and that he loved it lmao. But I think this is maybe why that reddit user came up with that god awful cold take that jimmy was doing that to save himself. I don’t know how it could even be interpreted that way, especially after the interviewer asked him that exact question, “was jimmy doing it to save himself or to save kim” and bob was like ???? he definitely did it to save kim. Anyway I don’t know what that reddit user was on about.

the audience also laughed when gus said, "lalo talked him out of it" when talking to kim, and bob said he thought that was fucking hilarious that we laughed at that too 😂

The interviewer at one point asked rhea about how “kim was straight up ready to shoot someone” and rhea was like ???? she wasn’t??? and then she went on to talk about how she imagined that kim had never shot a gun before and about kim’s internal struggle on the drive over to fring’s house. she had opportunities to leave, to even report it to the cops, but she resolved to do whatever she needed to do to save jimmy even if she was terrified. 

When mike asks kim “why are you here, Ms. Wexler?” and she points a gus’s double and says, “to kill him.” the audience bust out laughing at the double’s reaction lmao it was just so fucking funny. bob also stated that he thought this was hilarious so I’m curious if we all laughed because of the energy in the room or if it read that way for everyone else. y’all will have to let me know!!

tony, peter, and gordon were asked several questions about lalo’s death scene and show down with gus. I can’t remember all of them, but I do remember the interviewer asking about the set up for the show down in 6x05. either Gordon or peter…or maybe both mentioned the principal of “chekhov’s gun” which is “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired.Otherwise don't put it there.” Tony was also asked if that was really him and Patrick lying in the grave in the superlab and he said it was. They had to lay down there for a few hours lmao

they also said that they decided to have mike be vague when telling jimmy what happened with lalo because they wanted lalo to always be a ghost in the back of jimmy's mind. a kind of boogeyman that he always feared would come around the corner. so thanks for that peter and gordon 🙂

I know I didn’t cover everything in the q&a, but this post is getting too long as is lol I still really wish I had been smart enough to write down all my thoughts sooner than a week after the showing though…but since I met rhea after the event I was on a high from that for days and that experience occupied too much head space lmao actually let’s be real, it’s still occupying all my head space

[darlington-v]

on the matter of chekhov’s gun

“what does chekov’s gun have to do with ranboo’s lack of panic towards his inability to speak about dream and his misdeeds?”

this was something asked in one of the replies to my essays, which made me feel the need to make this post instead of just a simple reply because i have a lot of thoughts on the matter.

first, let’s talk about chekov’s gun.

chekov’s gun is not just wilbur’s old crossbow, nor just something funny he would reference but it is a writing principle.

now, whether or not you follow that principle is up to you, but most good writers and writing will follow that principle which is: everything in writing has to have a purpose. even small details. 

they may not necessarily have huge plot relevance, but when you are writing you have to ask yourself, ‘why is this necessary for me to write this in?’ chekhov’s gun helps you maintain a cohesiveness within your story and writing as all of it will serve a purpose.

in writing anything, whether it is: character details, character arcs, plots of any degree (be it a small character arc or a main storyline point), setting details and the setting itself, you have to ask yourself, what purpose does this serve in the narrative? what does this establish?

let’s use a fine character detail for example. say your main character notices their companion sewing with a peculiar stitch that is not often used in their self proclaimed home country. what was the purpose of pointing that out? a good writer, utilizing the principle of chekhov’s gun, would have it be relevant to the story later. you could write their companion was lying about where they came from, which will later affect the mission they’re on, which will later come up due to the affects it has. or, perhaps, the companion was raised by parents who are refugees, which will then establish a personal connection with perhaps a political conflict at the core of this hypothetical story.

regardless, these give meaning to the fine detail you established in chapters, or episodes, or in the dream smp’s case, streams, earlier. which is what the principle of chekhov’s gun is. everything should be done with a purpose.

why is chekhov’s gun important?

the importance of using the principle of chekhov’s gun is in maintaining cohesiveness within your story. no one likes a dissatisfying story. we want to walk away from a narrative feeling a sense of wholeness and satisfaction. whether it has a sad ending, happy ending, or bittersweet ending, you want to walk away feeling satisfied. like it all had a purpose. a good story ends with good closure.

you get closure when your worries or questions or understanding of something are calmed, or answered, or explained to you. this is why chekhov’s gun is important. in making sure every element in your story serves a purpose, you make sure that any questions being asked are getting answered. in asking yourself “why does this happen” and then applying that answer to the story, whether it is immediately or later, you are making sure your loose threads are getting tied. you’re making sure that you will always be able to provide your reader closure.

and closure is satisfying! we all want closure. we all would like our lives and conflicts to have pretty answers wrapped up in a bow, but... the issue with reality, rather than fiction, is that we don’t always get it.

which is why it’s so important in fiction.

no one wants to use their time reading, or watching, or just consuming something in general, that leaves us unsatisfied. which is why we don’t have to, nor should we, necessarily use the way events unfold in real life as a skeleton for the way they unfold in fiction. like i said before, reality doesn’t always provide closure, but fiction can. in making sure your narrative has all of its loose ends tied up, you’re optimizing the amount of satisfaction received at the end of your story.

so, while chekhov’s gun is a principle, it’s a damned good one. it helps maintain a cohesive story which just naturally makes the story more enjoyable and satisfying.

what does this have to do with ranboo, or the dream smp for that matter?

well, you should apply this to any media you watch and think about critically, but it has to do with noticing small details and wondering what their importance is. 

i made an essay posing the question “why wasn’t ranboo shocked that he physically couldn’t speak about dream and the misdeeds they committed together” which talked about how ranboo didn’t really seemed shocked on the matter.

the point of the essay was really to point out that the behavior was peculiar and to ask what it may mean, because it was such an odd thing that stuck out to me. i wanted to perhaps go into depth about why he regards the circumstance with a tone of irritated understanding, and why he may understand whats going on. i don’t really have any solid ideas, but i wanted to start discussion on it.

now, why is chekhov’s gun relevant to this? because the lack of response sticks out, and it doesn’t have a clear answer yet. it subverts your natural expectations of how someone would react to their ability to speak being stripped from them. you would expect a bit more shock, and yet we don’t get that. at the very least it’s peculiar and it is a question to be asked. there’s a question created in the action.

as for the answer? i don’t really have one myself, it’s why i was posing the question.

i understand that ranboo was sufficiently shocked and panicked, but he wasn’t at a threshold to which he would have passed out. we clearly see him process the situation at hand. it’s not that he was numb to it, there is a pause where he processes the fact that he cannot speak. if he was numb to the shock, he wouldn’t have still been panicking over the prison, because he would have been shutting down all of the shock. that’s typically how shock and trauma works.

but even if his lack of response to the inability to speak was being numb or too mentally distraught, you have to ask yourself: why? 

what purpose does him being numb to that situation serve? what does that establish? if you say it establishes his character is mentally unwell or it’s a testament to ranboo’s mentality and his mental wellness, the issue is that we already knew that.

we already know ranboo isn’t okay. that’s been proven not only in the stream in question, but multiple other streams. there is no purpose in adding a new behavior or new element only for it to establish something that has been established before.

that is what chekhov’s gun and its principle has to do with my essay and questions raised. i am posing the question ‘what purpose is being served here’ because of the idea that every element to a story must serve a purpose.

as for why this is important to the dream smp as a whole, it’s very clear that there are at least three writers who likely use the principle of chekhov’s gun.

one is wilbur, he mentioned it and used the principle for season 1 of the dream smp. he shows the audience the tnt room and even like clearly references chekhov’s gun. 

another is dream! dream spoke on ranboo’s stream that he enjoys red herrings and leading the audience astray, with the conclusion being something unexpected but still understandable. i definitely recommend you watch the portion of that stream where ranboo and dream spoke about lore and writing because it was really insightful and just... enjoyable overall.

lastly, and most relevant to my essay is ranboo! similarly to dream, he likes red herrings. he’s stated multiple times on stream he loves to mislead the audience with small details only to have the reveal like... blow our minds later. the importance of chekhov’s gun and red herrings are that if you’re using the principle, your reveal is going to be SUPER satisfying because the red herrings will still serve purpose, just a different one than that which the audience expected.

and, in my opinion, their writing so far has been really enjoyable. i love ranboo’s lore streams and i love what direction lore goes when these characters and therefore ccs are involved. so... i trust them to write well, whether it is with the understanding of the principle being titled chekhov’s gun or the logical thought process which is... good writing has good closures. and in giving everything a purpose, you’re giving yourself a skeleton for good closure.

i definitely didn’t know the idea that “all elements to a story should serve a purpose” was called chekhov’s gun. and honestly, the name doesn’t matter. 

it’s just a damn good principle.

TLDR;

chekhov’s gun is the writing principle that every story element serves a purpose, which is why you should ask yourself “what does that mean and what purpose does it serve” whenever an event or element in a story jumps out at you, for whatever reason that may be.

if you need more info on chekhov’s gun here are some articles! they explain it much better than i probably ever will haha!

[anthurak]

Okay so, funny story: For the last few days I’ve been sitting and musing on SO MANY ideas about the place Team RWBY (and likely Cinder) falling into through the void at the end of the volume being Remnant’s Afterlife/Underworld. 

Like holy shit are there SO MANY crazy possibilities of what we could see Team RWBY do down there that have been bouncing around my head. And that’s not even touching on how Cinder falling down there would provide the perfect setup for her redemption arc.

But the thing is, with how many insane curveballs CRWBY has thrown at us these last few episodes, all these twists and turns that absolutely NONE of us saw coming, I’m actually feeling more and more hesitant about inadvertently hyping up something that I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA if it’s actually going to happen.

The fact is, the only thing we can be reasonably sure about is that Team RWBY, and likely Cinder, will be falling into the void, thanks to the Opening and Abrosius’s Chekhov’s Gun of a warning this last episode, but past that we have effectively NOTHING to go on.

Like there is a reasonably good chance that anything to everything I post a theory about will be rendered irrelevant when the next episode drops, so because of this I’ll likely be holding on to these theories until we have a better idea as to what’s going on. Next episode at least.

Of course that all being said, I also really want to talk about these crazy ideas so if anyone wants to ask about my ideas on Team RWBY’s Wacky Underworld Adventure and the Redemption of one Cinder Fall, I’ll most likely be happy to explain.

[aros001]

First time reading through the light novels. Vol. 1 random thoughts.

A while back I'd seen the first episode of the anime and...didn't take it well because of that one specific scene. I was interested in where Goblin Slayer and Priestess would go from there but I was worried about my ability to handle the rest of the series. So months later I asked this Reddit if you guys would recommend I continue and you were very supportive and encouraging. I watched the rest and really enjoyed it. I just recently wrapped up another light novel series (at least the books that were available in english) and figured why not give Goblin Slayer's LNs a try?

These are just some random thoughts I had while reading the first volume. I did the same with Rising of the Shield Hero and it was fun to do, with other fans pointing out things I might have missed and starting discussions about what happened each book.

Right off the bat, I think Goblin Slayer is one of the few series I've ever read that brings up weapons getting dulled and damaged by blood and fat (or even bringing up fat from a slain foe at all). Shield Hero had a little bit that early on but most stories just have weapons that are so high quality that the quality never dips.

Also, back in the anime I'd found it interesting that goblins could make poison when everything else about them seemed so crude. But in a general view "poison" is basically a harmful substance that you don't want in your body. That the goblins can make poison out of their own shit and some herbs actually makes sense and works with the idea that they have the mental capacity of cruel children.

The first kill we see Goblin Slayer make seems to say a lot about him. Pinning a goblin to the wall with his shield before stabbing a burning torch into its face. Efficient yet feeling almost vindictive.He kills it in the most painful way he possibly can at that moment.

The Priestess blocked the one goblin with her staff on instinct and kept it from getting away long enough for Goblin Slayer to throw his sword into the back of its head. I'm curious if that's why he let her accompany him through the rest of the cave or if he would have done the same regardless? If he didn't see her potential would he have ordered her to leave instead of asking what she was going to do?

Are the gods of Truth and Illusion meant to be literal gods or just figurative? Either way, I'm looking forward to hearing more about them and the Earth Mother, Dark Gods, and Supreme God. I like mythology and that includes the party's talk about where goblins come from. I like that they, and we the audience, don't yet have a for-fact answer. All the possible origins they share are from legends, folktales, and stories you tell children (with some racial bias thrown in between the elves and dwarves). It really helps the world feel more real and lived in.

Out of curiosity, do Slimes exist in the GS universe? They mention giant rats and goblins as the monsters a lot of beginners take on and slimes are a famous kind of newbie monster in other fantasy stories, so I'm curious if they have those as well (or if it's a Konosuba kind of case where slimes are NOT a monster beginners should be fighting).

Oh jeez, the anime really wasn't exaggerating with Cow Girl flopping over the windowsill. Why is that so funny to me?

“Yes. A group of rookies are in the southern woods. That one is a request from a village near the forest.”

“Beginners,” he murmured. “Who was in their party?”

“Let’s see...,” Guild Girl said. She licked her thumb and began paging through a sheaf of papers. “One warrior, one wizard, and one paladin. All Porcelain rank.”

...

The day after that, showing no hint of fatigue, he joined Priestess in venturing to the southern woods. Cow Girl heard later that the rookies never returned from the forest.

I might be misremembering or thinking of a different group but the rookies came back alive in the anime, didn't they?

A big thing that helped me get through the anime was the introduction of High Elf Archer, Dwarf Shaman, and Lizard Priest. They brought a lot of life both to the series and to Goblin Slayer himself. He's a man who really needs friends and something other than goblins in his life. What he does is important but spending too long in nothing but that darkness would eventually break anyone. In fact, nearly all the characters help bring some enjoyment to the story. I was afraid Spearman was just going to be another Motoyasu but he quickly proved himself to be, overall, a pretty good guy.

I also like that this novel gives more insight into the extra characters. Not just the humans like Guild Girl, Heavy Warrior, and the Hero (which was a very welcome surprise. I want to know more about her), but also some of the goblins as well, like that one guard of the old elf ruins. Even if they can't talk in a way humans can typically understand, it's cool (and a bit uncomfortable) having a direct show of how an individual goblin thinks.

While it's not as much as Priestess, I do really seem to have a soft spot for Guild Girl. Why she seems to like goblin Slayer is just really appealing for me. She likes him because he's different but not in the traditionally tropey way of "Oh, he's so different from the other guys". He takes the jobs that no one else wants to do, not to brag about it or hit on her, but simply because they need to be done, which means a lot less newbie adventurers have died or worse at the hands of goblins, something she's indirectly seen happen way too many times, even if it's a reality she has to live with. Completely unintentionally, he takes a lot of burden off her heart and mind. I can easily see how her respect and appreciation for him would eventually lead into feelings of affection.

Goblin Slayer = Beard-Cutter? I can understand to an extent Orcbolg and that both names come from a goblin killing sword, but do Dwarves refer to goblins as Beards? And if so, why? Or am I missing something here? This confused me in the anime too.

“I owe it all to you, sir!” Her gaze, her beautiful eyes, bored into him. He caught his breath. What should he say? There was a long pause.

“Not at all,” he finally squeaked out. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You did so much!” she responded with a grin. “You saved me when we first met.”

“But I couldn’t save your companions.”

“True, but...” Her face stiffened for a moment. She couldn’t quite finish her sentence—understandably.

Even he still remembered the awful scene all too clearly. Warrior, Wizard, Fighter, who had all lost everything. Her party had been trodden into the dust.

I really like this. It's be really easy to just make Goblin Slayer a complete hardass who's oblivious to everything and cold to the world (and to an extent he is). But he does still have emotions other than anger. He's at a loss by Priestess' gratitude and doesn't know what to say. He has regret that he couldn't save her old party. He's used to the sight of what happened but still finds it awful. He appreciates the elf, dwarf, and lizardman's help and isn't against partying with them again, even if he won't go out of his way to join them again. He feels truly helpless when he tells Cow Girl he can't defeat the Goblin Lord's army. As the story goes on I imagine it'll be explored how much he's doing what he does to keep the past from happening again vs. him just wanting revenge on all goblins. Which side rules him more?

But all things must end—often too soon.

The end to his idyll appeared in the form of repulsive black blotches on the dew-drenched morning pastures. Trailing mud and excrement across the fields, they were unmistakable: small footprints.

This is the one part I think the anime did a little better, if for no other reason than that we had a lot more times of Goblin Slayer checking for signs of goblins every morning. It was a great Chekhov's gun. It was something the audience knew had to come back into play later...but that you really, really did not want to because you knew what it'd mean. Every time he checked and didn't find anything was a relief but it left worry about the next time, building up that dread and anticipation, until finally we get that morning where he sees all the tracks.

At a table deep in the room, High Elf Archer made to stand, her face a furious red, but Dwarf Shaman and Lizard Priest stopped her. Witch sat on a bench, a slippery smile floating on her face. He glanced at the front desk to see Guild Girl vanishing into a back room in a panic. It occurred to him that he was looking for Priestess.

Awwwwwwwwwww! He does like having her around!

I think the main reason the story works, at least for me, is because it isn't just one of those "Life sucks. The world is dark. F**k you." types of "adult" literature. Yes, the world of GS does get very dark and messed up, but what gets you through it are these very likable and sunny characters who do care a lot about each other. At least with the content of this volume and what was covered by the anime, the draw isn't supposed to be how "edgy" the story can get but rather these characters trying to fight back against the darkness that exists in their world.

Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/GoblinSlayer/comments/fq3z9a/first_time_reading_through_the_light_novels_vol_1/

[commander-shad]

I said in a blog earlier today that I would post my thoughts on the game after I was done, but screw it, I'm going for it now lmao. I just need to talk about it ok-

Don't go below the cut if you haven't played up until the quest Singularity (haven't done it myself yet)!

Long post ahead!

Let's start from the beginning eh?

1. The game starts by getting you right in the feels, huh? "And for a moment, I feel whole" Give this girl a found family pls, she needs it

2. Didn't expect Varl to show up! And the beard suits him, no matter what Aloy says lmao (why he'd have to get rid of it?)

3. Burrowers are so cute, a bit of a pain in the ass, but cute

4. Damn, Aloy has to write a guide on how to destroy someone's entire worldview in less than five minutes, because like, she didn't even hesitate (it becomes a little ironic if you told CYAN to go gently on the Banuk in the Frozen Wilds lol)

5. Well, if the Far Zenith stuff isn't a huge Chekhov's Gun, then I don't know what is

6. They actually let Aloy say "sh*t"! It took me aback a little honestly, out of all things in the game, this is what surprised me, huh

7. The Slitherfang was so cool tho

8. For that one scene- I legit just went 'Travis, you f*cking nerd!' Really felt Aloy's pain here

9. Really didn't expect the return to Meridian! A pleasant surprise for sure

10. That statue tho

11. Sylens, you son of a-

12. Avad still thirsts over Aloy I see. I picked the brain option, but after seeing the fist one giffed, I kinda wish I picked that one instead, but what's done done lol, Imma go for that next playthrough

13. It was nice to see some returning characterS for a while before we embarked to the West

14. Wow, Aloy really bailed on Varl like that eh? Considering that she's done it before (as shown in the comics and as mentioned in-game), I wasn't really surprised. Tbh tho, I'm not one to judge, I'd do the same, but just because I'm not a people's person

15. The song that kicked in the credits, totally didn't see it coming, but yeah, the moment I was done with that playthrough I immediately looked for it in Youtube, and now I can't stop playing it, send help-

16. Ok, but like, can we talk about the soundtrack? The reworked version of Aloy's Theme is amazing, and something I noticed about it- the HFW version of the theme sounds considerably more sci-fi-ish than the HZD version, you could say that it very subtly foreshadows how much more sci-fi-ish this game is in comparison to the first game. Dunno if it was intentional, but I kinda like that detail

17. And thus we are in the Daunt! Vuadis- excuse me- STUDIOUS Vuadis- he's funny. Funny as in 'I kinda hate him right now' lmao

18. Chainscrape is a pretty nice looking place-

19. Petra!

20. Oh look, that in-game board game I won't be playing because I suck at strategy

21. And now we get to see Erend. I kinda liked this interaction they had to be honest. Aloy had to get called out on her sh*t at some point, amirite? Erend was very obviously hurt by the way she suddenly disappeared, and in a way, no matter which option you pick, she still seems to be a bit of an a**hole, because no matter the reason she left, she still left without saying a word, and that's just not cool (says my hypocritical ass who previously admitted that I would ditch people with no remorse), so yeah Erend, you deserve to be salty about this

22. And now we go to Barren Light- Aloy still is a force to be reckoned with- the way Varl arrives just in time and Erend who is already there just going "oh you know, Aloy challenges the authorities and tempts fate, what else is new", so casually lmao

23. Shouldn't have been surprising to see Erend stand up for Aloy against the commander. While it's obvious that he still isn't happy about the stuff she's pulling, it seems that he still is determined to be there for her now, no matter what, like- he's trying, instead of holding all that stuff against Aloy, he's trying to be there for her instead when she wasn't and that shows a lot of maturity on his part

24. Regalla's entrance was pretty badass. The way the rest of the encounter went wasn't so much- it was very reminiscent of the Proving actually, except Aloy wasn't the target this time

25. My man Kotallo just stopped a Bristleback without even using a weapon, he's just rammed into it to stop it in it's tracks, how badass is that?

26. Ok, but Aloy just stood there while Grudda beat Varl's ass, she didn't even try to stop him, what gives-

27. Finally, the Shieldwing! I'm addicted to using it now-

28. And now, we're heading to the Horus. Totally not ominous and definitely Sylens' taste in lairs

29. Sylens is as insufferable as usual

30. Is it weird I feel a little bad for HADES? Whatever Sylens did to it, left it a shell of it's former self- anyways, it still was so satisfying to see it gone for good this time

31. That holo of Travis and Elisabet, in Latopolis though- "How do you love the world so much, but don't seem to love a single person it it?" I-I feel attacked-

31. That maze was a pain to figure out, I had to use a guide tbh-

32. This f*cking quest man- this damn quest- ok, so- Sylens just went "these people outside want you, but worry, they won't do anything to you, now open the hatch will you?", Aloy goes "lol no" and destroys her current Focus (considering that she hands out Focuses everywhere like they are nothing, I was left wondering just how many does she have on her person?) and uses a new one. So, the hatch to the facility was supposed to be open to Aloy only- AND THEN- EXCUSE ME, WTF

33. Oh what the f*ck- there's another- you know I was thinking about the possibility of another Elisabet clone, but definitely not like this- and like- who tf are these people? Why do they want me dead? And what the heck are these new machines?

34. F*ck Erik btw

35. The fact that we aren't even close to the middle yet and we already had our near death experience of the game tho- (they just had to name the quest "Death's Door" lmfao). That escape must have left Aloy pretty f*cked up if she was basically delirious when she got washed up on the shore. Speaking of that-

36. OUCH. WHY.

37. "I'm fine", Aloy says, nearly falling over for the like, fifth time in the last three minutes

38. I think it's cute the Utaru land-gods (to us known as Plowmowers) are named after the musical notes

39. It seems that VarlxZo has sailed! Good for them!

40. Ok, but I wanna talk about this scene for a bit- my reading of it is that- well you can very clearly see that Aloy is very determined to take off as soon as possible, even if she can barely stand. "I will crawl there if I have to" in her words. And I feel like she would have actually gone through with I believe, she has zero chill. And then she sees what Varl and Zo have going. I think she was a little guilty. Like, he seemed to be happy with Zo, and because of her stubbornness he would miss out on going with her to Plainsong. So Aloy giving in to their request to rest up and heal, is giving up on this small bit of selfishness she got going for Varl's sake. Well, she definitely benefited from it in the end though, that's good.

41. On an unrelated note, I got two of them actually, I'm kinda glad they are still keeping Aloy single (not me here projecting my aroace ass). Like, it's not just that, I just think that Aloy isn't really ready for something as deep as a romance, not yet at least. I mean, think about it: she grew up as an outcast, with only one person to talk to, so let's be honest here, she really doesn't know her way around people, you can tell from how socially awkward (socially awkward as in the way she behaves around people, talking down figures of authority for example) and blunt she can be. And if you think about it, Aloy never really had a friend growing up (just how sad is that?), I really wouldn't be surprised if she didn't really know what being actually friends with someone means, my guess is that she has a very surface level understanding of friendship, and that's why she has so much trouble properly opening up to her friends here in HFW. TLDR; Pls, give this girl a found family/friends before we go into any romances first if they do go into that. Besiiiiiides, Erend and Varl seem to be acting more like older brother figures to me more than anything

42. Ok uh, so I have several minor unrelated notes to make regarding a specific line of side quests that from what I've seen has disappointed several people, but it's not what you might expect. Anyway, here it goes. Just putting it out there; I have no problem at all with Talanah having a thing for Amadis, and I say that as someone whose first option for romance for Aloy if it happens is Talanah (if you don't let me keep my girl ace, at least let me romance a girl, thank you very much), I mean, bi Talanah anyone? Besides, Talanah has two hands 😏Second, I'm gonna put it out here, I wasn't that big on Talanah in the first place, she's an ok character for me at best, the one that is a little over hyped, but still pretty ok. Thirdly, call it a hot take if you want (as if the previous ones weren't hot enough takes already lmao), it very much makes sense that Talanah wouldn't become a member of the main character crew and that she remains in the realm of side quests. Let me explain. Talanah is a pretty missable character as in, not everyone is going to invest hundreds of hours to replay a game, not everyone is going to do all side quests (let's be honest here, as great as HZD is, it's side quests weren't and the most engaging ones (now that I think of it, that might be the reason I'm not that big on Talanah)), so a combination of both can lead to a character simply not getting enough attention as to become main character grade. So I think that we should be glad we even got a Talanah side quest in the first place, because she could easily be a character who didn't get enough attention as to get a place in the sequel. I mean, imagine if a much more obscure character from the first game suddenly became a main, pretty jarring, right? Anyways- Of course you all have a right to be disappointed in how her story went, while I didn't see much in Talanah's character, you guys did, so I guess you all know something more than I do ig. I personally wasn't disappointed, because I didn't really hold any expectations for her, I was perfectly happy with what the writers had in mind for Talanah. You guys who were let down didn't, and I very much respect that. Sorry for this rant, I just kinda really wanted to talk about this, you know- With that aside, I'm gonna say this, both Talanah and Amadis deserved better. Amadis deserved better than to live with the knowledge that this person he cared so much for simply doesn't really seem to give a f*ck about him anymore and Talanah deserved better than now having to deal with that this person she came to really like might never actually come to reciprocate her feelings just because he might never really get over the aforementioned events. So my guess is that there might be still hope for TalanahxAloy shippers, not the Talanah being invited to the base thing, but a chance of the two getting together in the future, who knows (optimism at it's finest ey?) Ok, done with this rant I think

43. Alright, where was I? Right, at Stone's Echo. After here we set out to find Plainsong. Man, the Utaru's architecture is kinda insane, they really just built their home on top of the satellite dishes, I'd love to live there (if not for the red blight thing)

44. Ok so uh, so much has happened in recent playthroughs that my memory is a little fuzzy when it comes to this part of the game, but if I remember correctly we went to Repair Bay TAU to reach Minerva, right? Or they needed something from the Core to track down MINERVA's exact location? I think? Can't remember, someone pls correct me on this- All I remember is fighting the Grimhorn and then Aloy was so close to pulling an Ourea while kicking HEPHAESTUS out from TAU that she just gets up, turns to the others and basically goes thumbs up looking like she's this close to falling apart lmao

45. Poor MINERVA tho, must have been scared, but at least we managed to get GAIA up and working! Yay! Mother Nature as an AI is back!

46. Ok but like- Horizon having a base of operations in the game was something I never knew I needed. It's perfect and I just love how it becomes more and more like home with each passing mission, I just-

47. And so, the hunt for the subfunctions begins. I went from highest level to lowest first so I went with the order of DEMETER, POSEIDON and AETHER. How it went? Well-

48. DEMETER wasn't that hard tho I got lost in the tunnels a bit- Alva is baby

49. Also f*ck Dreadwings, glad I never saw them again after that

50. We finally get to see Beta now! I like her, poor thing, she didn't deserve the Zeniths' treatment of her. Also Aloy, I know you're both traumatized and tired, but please stop being mean to her

51. As I was approached the ruins of Las Vegas to find POSEIDON, I was like "there is water somewhere under that desert, right?" There was. I just wasn't expecting so much of it lmao

52. For me Morlund and crew were a more bearable version of Gildun, I enjoyed hanging out of them, just realized that I never came back for them D:

53. And at last, AETHER. More complicated than I thought it'd be, because I literally had to fell half a mountain to get an event going. Aloy being a little gremlin in this one was so fun, and Kotallo was just so done with her sh*t lmao

54. Speaking of Kotallo, we stan him in this house

55. Why did it have to be a Slitherfang-

56. We're going to San Francisco baby wooo! The things we saw there tho- *shudder*, I felt a very distinct sense of dread walking through the bunker

57. It turns out Ted was further gone than I thought. Not only he has the biggest ego in history, but he also just rid of some of the people who lived in Thebes with him? I'm suddenly worried about what happened to the people in Elysium

58. Is it bad I wanted to mash Ceo's head all throughout the tour of Ted's limbo?

59. I really don't want to know what exactly was the thing I saw in that holo in the office, because whatever it was, it really didn't end well for him (he deserved it tho, f*ck Ted Faro)

60. So yeah, about point 58? Ted Faro's massive head crushed Ceo's... well... Everything. And the other guy just fell into the lava. Big yikes for both of them

61. We are now good with Beta it seems, you could say that we are close now, I like that. Sisters!

62. Aloy and the squad ready to force HEPHAESTUS into the found family against its will 😎

63. When the Zeniths bust through the roof after capturing HEPHAESTUS: This is why we can't have nice things!

64. I'm in- genuine shock guys. He's dead. Varl's f*cking dead. And Beta and GAIA are gone too. Aloy swore to protect her and she failed. Aloy must feel like she failed both of them and that's as rock bottom as it can get, just great

65. Tilda. She's sus. I don't trust her.

66. Not gonna lie guys, I almost cried at the talk Aloy had with Zo about Varl. And she is with his child too?!

67. Damn, someone's gonna have to tell Sona now. I feel bad for her you know. First she lost Vala, and now her other child too, that's just so f*cking sad

68. Another reason why Varl dying was so impactful was that he was there since the beginning, you know? He followed Aloy into the forbidden ruins of the Old Ones back in the Sacred Lands. He followed her to Meridian to fight a threat he admits that he can't really understand, but he did that anyways. He tracked Aloy all the way out to the middle of nowhere to help her with her mission of finding GAIA. He found Aloy in the aftermath of Latopolis. He was so willing to come and help Aloy investigate the mysterious signal. He just trusted and cared for her and the rest of his friends so f*cking much, and he ultimately paid for it

69. "Can't I just mourn for the loss of my friend?" It was so heartbreaking to hear Erend say that-

70. While still dealing with the loss of a great friend, the team must still move on and find a way to stop the Zeniths for good. Using a small gift Beta gave us back in GEMINI and the knowledge Tilda provided us with, it's time to put an end to Regalla's rebellion...

71. WE CAN FLY, HOLY SH*T- (damn that escalated quickly)

72. In the most badass way you can imagine, Aloy swooped with her trusty Sunwing down in the battlefield between Hekarro's army and Regalla's and destroyed her machines

73. And then we finally face Regalla head on. Her boss fight was kinda like HFW's equivalent to Helis', but meaner, b*tchier and harder, it took forever lmao

74. With Sylens' uncovered plan foiled, Aloy gets to meet him again and makes a deal with him...

75. To close, Tilda and Sylens seem to be a match made in hell, nothing can possibly go wrong with these two in the same room s/

•••

Tomorrow I'm finishing my first playthrough of the game (my gaming method is first playthrough being a speedrun of the story and the second and following playthroughs being a more loose and slow play of it with the side quests and activities and everything), so expect another blog on my thoughts on the finale too, though probably it won't be as long as this post since I wrote my thoughts on like 85% of the story lmao

I probably missed lots of stuff in this writedown but if I add them I can't be bothered to edit the numbers so I leave it be.

As of now it was great experience, tho I'm a little bummed out that the first gameplay trailer we got of HFW wasn't even in the story! Is it even in the game at all? Guerilla, pls explain-

I will gladly hear people's opinions, either on the game or on my own takes on it, I just really need to talk about the game.

What were your thoughts on it?

[thetaoofbetty]

@cosmicblue36, i’m going to save us all by not posting that picture, ha, but you’re not wrong. 

anons, it’s all under the cut:

(for the record, no, i’m not answering the ones that sound concern trollish, so if yours isn’t answered and it was in good faith, i apologize) 

I wish I was someone who had more time to dedicate to this, but if someone out there could time how many scenes B/A has had since the shower™️ where they’re NOT hooking up (pre and post hookup too) or discussing hooking up, I bet we’d have less than 5 minutes of content.—honestly, yeah. i think that’s why they’re being so aggressive lately. and it’s why bughead working together and actually being around each other without it being sexual has them gritting their collective teeth because bughead always gets what they want for b/a they just don’t want to own up to that fact (the whole archie and betty as a new detective duo was particularly transparent tho). because then it’s like, well, why not just ship bughead (you know, how they say to us about b/a all the time). 

my best guess is that they just like archie. or kj. or hate jughead, ha. 

That’s not a love story being told.—it really doesn’t seem like it, does it? i’ve already seen lots of goalpost moving. it went from they’re already in love and they’re going to date right away and be engaged by the end of the season to they’re fwb who are going to fall in love to archie is going to make betty jealous with chad and veronica to betty is the one who called it friends so archie is pining for her and she’ll realize what she has when it’s gone and they’ll have that slow burn for 5b or s6. 

what have bugheads said consistently? betty and jughead are going to reunite after the time jump once they start spending time together because they’re still in love with each other after all this time, despite all of their obstacles in the past and present. 

i believe varchies have said the same thing. but two totally different groups of shippers are totally off base and the ones who made grand declarations every season much to their own disappointment are the ones who are on the money, yeah? 

but we’re the ones who can’t read media, right? 

i feel like one of us has a more consistency with reading narratives vs the other. but that might just be me. 

That’s trying to get softcore p*rn on the CW to enjoy KJ and Lili’s hotness! That’s why I side-eye the people who say they are “really enjoying B*rchie this season” like bitch where? You’re enjoying two hot actors being semi naked and sexy around each other? Ok then just say that and leave.—if people want to enjoy the actors hotness, that’s fine with me. all the time jumps in teen shows (or when it starts as adults) have more explicit sex scenes. they’re really not special in that regard. lots of people who are just watching pretty people do sexy things aren’t nearly as invested as the other shippers so i’m sure a fair few of them won’t actually mind when it ends, tbh. they’ll probably awww at the reunions along with the rest of us. 

                                            ************************

It's funny how the BAs don't understand what the writers are doing. They are not exploring BA on any emotional level, so the only thing they can do to keep BAs hooked is sex scenes.—mood. there seems to be no actual plot moving around their hookups other than it being used to introduce something else and hanging over their heads as a dramatic chekhov’s gun. 

The only thing that I really don't like about that scene is that one of my headcanons was that Betty didn't want to have sex at the Cooper house because she didn't want to do it on what used to be Jug's room. BUT, I still have *some* hope that she won't go through with it, but I'm probably just kidding myself—i’m sorry the show is ruining that headcanon for you. they’re really not as sentimental about some things the way we are. it’s really just betty’s childhood room in the frankest sense of the words, you know? they’re probably just there for plot; the way the car was or the shower was. they’re not thinking past that. 

i’ve discovered that there are things in my own writing that people take to a deeper meaning that i randomly do or say with no intention of it being taking as anything other than at face value. you really can’t predict who’s going to find something deeper in something when you put it out into the world, you know? 

maybe the whole thing is a fire hazard for a reason, ha. i have no idea what the show’s obsession with candles is, but i’m starting to think they’re all boxed up and labeled “sex candles—pairing optional” when they’re not being used on set. 

[actualbird]

nobody (okay, well, 2 people DID ask, but it’s too late to change the title of this essay series now) asked but here are three main humor techniques i apply a lot in my fanfiction | a 2k word long post where i talk humor theory at you for entirely too long

I love humor. A good 75% of my personality is based primarily on whether or not it would be funny and thus, the study and application of comedy is something of a very big huge large interest of mine. I love watching standup comedy, I love telling jokes, but most of all, I love literature that makes me laugh. 

I write humor, and I put a lot of thought into it, and here, I will do the least funny thing ever: I will over-explain my jokes.

Before we do that, we must set some ground rules first. What is humor? Well, in Humor: Its Origin and Development, Paul McGhee contends that no single theory could encapsulate the entirety of humor. Additionally, according to McGhee, humor does not physically exist. It is, instead, a perception brought about by certain scenarios with certain characteristics. What we can take away from here is that first, humor is vast, and there are many ways to both explain it and achieve it, and second, that humor is something caused by certain other things. 

I do not claim to be an expert in humor, just an enthusiast, so what I will not be giving a cheat code to humorous writing. I will, instead, share three techniques that I frequently use and explain how they work.

The three techniques are the following:

INCONGRUENCY: Things that don’t fit.

SLAPSTICK: I hope that doesn’t happen to me.

CHEKOV’S GAG: If the gun is there, it better be funny.

My examples for each of these techniques will come from various sources of media. My examples of my own writing will all be coming from the most recent fanfic I have written, my Polygon Cyberpunk Red high school au “teenagers scare the living shit out of me.” Examples will sometimes have overlap in the technique they utilize, but I’ll try my best to keep everything clear on what exactly I’m trying to explain.

Without further ado, let’s jump right into it!

INCONGRUENCY: Things that don’t fit.

Göran Nerhardt, in McGhee’s book, states that “Humor is seen as a consequence of the discrepancy between two mental representations, one of which is an expectation and the other is some idea or percept.” Nerhardt’s definition of humor is one that relies on incongruity: wherein there is an element that is not in accordance with the other elements. An incongruous element is one that is not the expectation, and in this subversion of expectation, humor is achieved. 

In simpler terms, a congruent situation would be “A man walks into a bar and orders a beer.” An incongruent situation would “A man walks into a bar. ‘Ow!’ He says.” 

In the first example, everything is as expected, and in the second, the word “bar” has the characteristic of being a homophone, a word with different definitions. The second example takes advantage of the other definition of the word “bar”, that is to say a metal tube object, and thus the reaction of the man. 

Incongruency plays on the unexpected, the out of place, and the odd. This technique in particular I learned from writers like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. They use incongruence, they use it A LOT but what I want to talk about is, first, its use as a descriptor. 

“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.” -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

“In a distant forest a wolf howled, felt embarrassed when no one joined in, and stopped.” -Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic

Description is a fertile ground for humor. You have a thing, there are expectations to how that thing will appear or act, and then you describe it in a way that’s unexpected. I pull this trick off in so many fics, but here is an example from chapter 4 of the high school au.

Mr. Hypo sits at the desk in front of the classroom, staring all three of them down. Vang0, Dasha, and Burger are seated in the stupid circle again, looking at Robbie as it powers up like a man with gout.

Incongruency here is Robbie, the animatronic. Expectation is that it will be described in a robot like manner. Reality is that I describe it having the same condition that occasionally ails my nearly 50 year old father. 

Aside from description, incongruence is also something I play around with in the events of situations themselves. The most clear example I can give is this scene, from chapter 6, is this:

Burger picks up the closest thing.

That thing happens to be Peter.

“Peter!” Burger looks at Peter in the eye as Edmundton picks up a chair and starts menacingly walking towards Burger. He says, very quickly “Do you consent to be used as a self defense projectile!?”

Peter, pigeonly, nods.

“Thank youuuuuuuu!” Burger yells as he throws Peter at Edmundton’s face.

The context of this scene is that Burger has just entered active combat. Combat is serious. Combat is deadly. Combat is hitting and getting hurt. So what’s something unexpected you can do in this situation to make it funny? Have Burger ask a pigeon if it’s alright with being thrown at an enemy, and then make Burger actually throw the pigeon at the enemy. 

Incongruence is something that is present in a lot of humor situations and it’s very, very fun to play around with. Messing around with incongruence makes you think about what is expected in writing and forces you to think outside of the box in a manner that will elicit laughter.

Let’s move on to our next topic now!

SLAPSTICK: I hope that doesn’t happen to me.

Kevin Casper in his article I’m so glad you’re fake! describes slapstick comedy as a physical type of humor wherein actions are done in an excessive, ridiculous, and sometimes violent manner. Slapstick is Mr. Bean exploding a can of paint to paint his apartment. Slapstick is Courage the Cowardly Dog’s eyes popping out of his sockets when he sees something scary. Slapstick is the ending of Polygon’s video on Slapstick and Doom Eternal (a very good video about slapstick and horror violence) where Pat Gill gets hit in the face with a tube of paper. 

The excessiveness of slapstick creates a non-reality for viewers to enjoy in safety. It is a type of humor that revels in the suspension of reality, but more than that, it is a type of humor that you particularly gain enjoyment from because of the fact that it’s not happening to YOU.

Now, I use slapstick comedy sometimes, but I deviate from excessiveness and instead lean more into that last thing I said. I write situations that are funny and that you also don’t want to ever happen to you as a person. One example of “fuck, that’s hilarious, but I hope it never happens to me” is the following scene from Spiderman: Into The Spider Verse, where Miles Morales, invisible, has to find information on Doctor Octavia’s computer. When he accesses the computer, he is met with this.

You don’t want this to happen to you. But damn is it hilarious that it’s happening to somebody else.

When I am creating scenes that I want to be funny, I think about whether or not it would be funnier if I made it excruciating for the characters involved. So excruciating that you really, really, wouldn’t want to be in that situation. An example of this technique in play is from chapter 4 of the high school au, where the gang are in a room they shouldn’t be in, somebody is about to come in and stop them, and they are all at the mercy of a program slowly, slowly uploading.

 “Hey!” The somebody outside says, jangling the doorknob more violently. “Club time is over, nobody should be in this room!”

“Vang0, how long until the program is done?” Dasha hisses.

“43% Uploaded,” Vang0 says, panicked.

“Hurry.”

“I can’t make technology be faster.”

“Who’s in there!” The person outside yells.

“Should I answer?” Burger asks.

“Do not answer.” Dasha says.

Burger nods. “I’m gonna answer.”

“BURGER—”

“WE’RE JUST A COUPLE OF NOT FRIENDS. JUST LOOKING AROUND.”

“Who are you!” The person outside yells.

“Do not answer, Burger,” Dasha says, sounding like this conversation is actively shaving years off of her lifespan.

“But he’s asking,” Burger looks at Dasha then at the door then at Dasha again, looking very nervous.

“Just lie then,” Dasha tells Burger.

“Gotcha,” Burger nods, determined, and turns to the door to yell. “I’M NOT BURGER CHAINZ.”

“Oh my god,” Dasha thunks her head onto Vang0’s shoulder. “Is it done loading, yet?”

“98% Uploaded,” Vang0 says, feeling his blood pressure in a way he’s never felt before.

I make this situation worse for the characters by making Burger completely fail at being stealthy. As one reader told me about this chapter “I love Burger, but if I were in that room, I would strangle him.” Exactly! It’s not a situation you’d ever want to be in! 

But the characters are in it and you get to enjoy their suffering from a safe vantage point as a reader. 

Slapstick comedy is all about making situations outrageous and ridiculous and something readers wouldn’t want to legitimately experience. It’s about tapping into your audience’s mind and wondering what they want to see but not want to go through.

And last but not least!

CHEKOV’S GAG: If the gun is there, it better be funny

The principle of Chekov’s Gun is a principle that emphasizes that objects in a story should have a use. According to Bill in Chekhov: The Silent Voice of Freedom, Chekov says “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.” 

Chekov’s Gag is that same rule, but instead of the gun going off, the gun better be fucking hilarious at some point. 

The first example I can think of is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In the beginning of the movie, King Arthur stops by a castle and asks the guards to tell their master that he is here. This exchange happens:

Now, this, on its own, is already hilarious. It plays on incongruence (guards being very enthusiastic about bird’s holding coconuts and the logistics of that), slapstick (if you were Arthur and you wanted to have a simple conversation, people suddenly talking about birds and ignoring you is not a situation you want to be in), but what about Chekov’s Gag?

To become Chekov’s Gag, this situation must be brought up again in a funny manner later in the movie.

And so it does.

An hour later in the movie, The Knights of Camelot are at the Bridge of Death. There, they have to answer 3 questions correctly. If they do not have an answer, they are shot into a deadly cavern of doom.

King Arthur steps up to answer his 3 questions. Here is what happens:

The African swallow or the European swallow has achieved Chekov’s Gag-age.

Chekov’s Gag is something I’ve only started doing recently, in fanfiction. An example of this in the high school au is that, in the first chapter, I introduce two things. 1) Peter, an overfed pigeon, and 2) Robbie the RoboDog, an animatronic of the school.

Throughout the fic, I don’t forget about Peter or Robbie. I bring them up again and again and I make sure to make their presence not just integral to the winning of the final boss battle in chapter 6, but I make their presence funny.

Chekov’s Gag is a new trick I’ve started doing, and it definitely requires foresight and planning. It makes you think long term but at the same time forces you to think about the things you already have present in your story and make you re-evaluate just how else they could be used. If done correctly, the effect is hilarity, but also deep, deep satisfaction.

So there we have it! Three humor techniques that I use in my fanfiction. Shit that doesn’t make sense, shit you don’t want happening to you, and shit that you saw a while ago which you’ll see again later and when you do, it’ll be awesome.

Thanks for reading! 

[lampoest]

by request from @yeessha

Mission Impossible Fallout Thoughts

Like before: cursing and spoilers !!

short logos nice !!

oop starts with lane talking, always a win 😼😼

why does lane have a beard in this dream?

ooh dramatic nice !!

probably one of my favorite openings

this is badass

hhh its my favorite anarchist:)))

ooh cool name

ofc it's about nuclear warfare why not ??

nervous benji = win

sjshsjsgs

that man reminds me of elon musk :\

cant tell if that was tryna be a pg way to say 'fuck off'

where dat money luther ✋🙄🙄

what was that scream !?!

*throws plutonium*

cool car

ooh the shadows on that guys face

man this scene is really good

BENJI STAY WITH THE FUCKING PLUTONIUM WHAT-

well shit-

oh hey that news guy

pulling a sneaky on him

i also love this scene sm

literally everything about the nils delbruuk scene

:0 so cool

benji got to wear a mask >:))))

sjshsjsgsjs they made a bet on it i love that

ethan is very cool

HELL YEAH THEME SONG !!

i can never take hunley seriously

ooh she pretty :))

this movie has great lines

i also love how it goes in depth about moral choices

WALKER YESS :)))))))))) HE SO PRETTY😳😳

also she pretty too :))))

i just realized why former presidents still are protected

i like how they curse more

bro why is walker so :)))))))

btw this is just gonna be me simping literally everyone

the height difference

HALO JUMP HALO JUMP HALO JUMP

ugh fuck off walker you may be pretty but replying with 'crystal' naw fam✋😬😬

yes because we can die

oop they be falling

i dont think that would work but ok if you say so

not even worth it

i couldnt tell what they were saying until i put on captions

although i dont need any captions to understand the french 😼😼

the faint beat in the background v cool

reflexes

breaking things

chekhovs gun

shdhgdhshdjdhdjs why-

dis why you use the needle

damn he beating the shit out of them

ooh its ilsa

ethan why-

ooh she pretty too 😳😳

alright uh badass female is great

that man reminds me of a toddler

strong accusation coming from a terrorist

shsjdgsjs he wearing arm pads like the toddler whos mom is overprotective

WALKER TOO PRETTY:)))))

oop change of plans

LANE LANE LANE LANE

YES MY MAN :))))))))))

motorcycle chase pog

BENJI IN SUSPENDERS BENJI IN SUSPENDERS !!!

well shit-

eyy he killed some dudes

again walker, no one cares

oh dang she has to be careful, her aim is not the best

R U N

vrrm vrrrm

LOVE THIS SCENE YES

you can tell ethan is trying so hard not to punch lane rn

dang lane really flipped the interrogation hats off man

also i lowkey agree with his message. not his method though-

oop pretty ladies

also ethan killed 4 of your men maam

telepathy

SKDHJSJSJSHS YES THIS SCENE LANE SO PRETTY :)))))))))

i love how lane is just standing there vibing while they talk to hunley

benji dont worry youre great

wait i just noticed that benji's outfit is so cool-

skdgdjshs

walker is cool tbh

ILSA !??

this seems awfully familiar

im working on it

its a trap !!!

benjis wtf face there

oop tea ????

im paying attention to outfits so i can recreate their styles

oop i love how it focuses on walker there

true true

sticking up for your friend

no hes just here because they needed more pretty men

waiting for a diversion

in because HE IS LARK MY GOD ETHAN

ALSO THE LITTLE HEAD NOD I CANT-

stole han solos line there

matching jackets😼😼

how did they swap them ??

and how did lane go along ??

chekhovs......knife ??

wow he really fell for it

also more cursing pog

my two favorite characters together :)))))

CHGJFGSJ I CHOKED ON MY WATER KESUS CRISP

....oop i done fucked up

hunley being all cool and shit

benji being all cool and shit

lanes look of dissapointment is 🤌🤌

like damn bro you fell for that !??

lark

he really tryna lie out of it

ooh her-

whyd he say that-

oop betrayal

i love how benji is the first to drop his weapon

so cool

yeah wait where the hell is lane ??

rip hunley

whyd they treat his death like the death of a lover or smth

first wedding crashers, then funeral crashers, what next ?? birth crashers ??

the most tom cruisey sequence ive ever seen. some comedy some crazy stunts and a broken ankle but still finishing the take

chair theft pog

also i love how not just in this scene but before you see helicopters flying around

hes just hanging onto the elevator and the look walker gives him is top notch

ooh blackmail

this feels like the glass box scene. his foes are getting away and there is nothing he can do

its mission impossible for a reason

tea time with luther

ilsa is a good friend

benji is the mvp here

dang im just realizing how pretty ethan is 😳😳

keep your eyes on the road

luther is great, this is all just a luther appreciation post

they-

they-

they all just copied walker's beard

oh no its julia

ah yes one of the bombs

i like how it actually does take about 15 minutes

uhh no❤️ tom cruise why must you feel the need to do this

LANE :)))))

again why does he feel the need-

walker :)))))))

julia is pretty cool

hes just like: what the fuck how- why-

airspeed ah yes the most important part of not dying

this is a julia appreciation post

what was your plan after that? the detonator would just be at the bottom of that lake

the expressions walker makes :))))

hehe bitch

well shit he has a gun

his hair !!!!!

some star wars level action here

bro benji listen to ilsa

sjsgsjgsjsvsjs this shouldn't be so funny

bro ilsa listen to benji

benji stop wasting time

probably last time but, lane !!!!!

found the other bomb

very true statements from walker

other ? bomb ??

no personal space

ooh uhm lane maybe please dont-

the way he just pops his head into frame like: what the fuck was that ?

no sir you didn't survive that. that is false

i love how she clearly has the same fighting style as before

no benji no smooth brain move

mr lane do your shoes need shining ?!?

dey see me rollin-

ofc he gets burnt why the fuck not

uuuhm what✋😀😀 when the hot oil started spraying i felt a drop of what felt like hot oil on my finger. i am in my room and there isnt even water in here. im scared

also how tf is that holding his weight

chekhovs hook

team work makes the dream work

dang keep believing lane keep thinking that ✋🙄🙄

hes still pretty

so close oh no

why do things just magically stop at the edge of cliffs

kesus crisp ethan not again

i love his shoes though -

what if the hook missed though ??

esploded

thats a no from me dawg

his meniachal little smile shdgsjsgsj

its an action film he'll have it

aww lane so sad :((( oh yeah and 1/3 of the world is saved too. good job ig.

THEY PUT MY MAN IN A TRUNK NOOO >:000000

i like how they end as friends not as romantic interests. v nice

i love how this movie highlights the importance of friends but not in a childish way. even as adults friends are important. they are there for you when no one else did. i like that message.

alright thats pretty much it. sorry that its just me simping pretty much. in conclusion this is my favorite movie 14/10 but i can't wait for the 7th movie.

[watchathon]

Carmen Sandiego, S1E3: The Sticky Rice Caper

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a TV show every weekday, with a short blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. Now that the introductions are over with, here’s my thoughts on The Sticky Rice Caper:

- First episode where we see the opening theme song, and I really like it. The unique way that it’s mostly instrumental but has some lyrics really sets it apart.

- Our introduction to the redhead siblings. And typing that out, I just realized something. Carmen wears a red coat and hat, Player calls her Red.. and half of her crew counting her (two thirds if we don’t) are redheads. Probably not intentional, but just a neat little thing.

- Y’know, the funny thing that I keep forgetting is that this is an edutainment show. But the reason I keep forgetting is that this is also a show that never lets the education get in the way of the entertainment.

There’s a short segment near the beginning where the crew gives some facts about the destination for the episode, and those facts come into play later (like a Chekhov’s Gun of education), but that’s about it.

- So, we’re all in agreement that Chase and Julia wouldn’t have gotten anything useful even if they did get to question Graham, right?

- I don’t know which came first (this scene or the idea for the future episode), but either way, I appreciate the reference to how Zack and Ivy first met Carmen. They could’ve just left it at this, but instead they have a whole episode in Season 2 giving a more detailed origin to how Zack and Ivy joined Carmen.

- At first I misheard Red Drone as Redrum. Which would be a cool name for a thieving gadget, but admittedly, probably not one that Carmen and her crew would go for.

- I like the scene of Carmen and her crew infiltrating the VILE hideout and getting intel on VILE’s plans. It’s, like, our first look at what the team looks like when they’re all working together.

- I like that VILE’s schemes go beyond just thievery. They’re still trying to make a profit, but they can also do that by killing off crops, inducing a mass hunger and selling the solution.

- I honestly forgot that Tigress was the first VILE operative that Carmen really had a big onscreen fight with.

- I like seeing Chase and Julia have their first encounter with VILE, even if they don’t know it yet.

- Hey, if I were an evil scientist like Dr. Bellum is, I’d probably get easily distracted by cat videos too...

- I know from future episodes that the penalty for being caught as a VILE operative is a memory wipe, but the creepy thing about what we see here is that that’s not made clear. Just going off of this episode, you can’t be sure what Dr. Bellum’s doing to Graham. Really, in this scene, it seems more like she’s brainwashing him.

[imbellarosa]

Good Omens

Okay so I wrote a thing on the book a while ago, and I reread the book about a week before the show came up and I LOVED IT AGAIN BUT. I’m going to take a more critical eye now. Before we start, I’m going to say that id do a rewatch of the show. It’s gorgeously made, and most of the characters are compelling, and the story is brilliant, as always, if a bit different. So over all, for me, 8/10. Good? Good!

Now! Let’s start w the parts I didn’t love:

1.) the narration. This is zero surprise to the people who have been following as I watch this, but I think that if I’m watching a story through a visual medium, I’d like to WATCH it, not have the book read to me w pretty pictures over it. Episode 5/6 have the least narration and are, no surprise, some of my favorite episodes!

2.) Newt and Anathema. These characters had the least amount of life and were...not funny. I think that too much time was spent on them, and there was no real justification for it. They work (sort of) in the book, but I think they could have cut most of their scenes in episode 4, put more heaven/hell dynamic/ Adam’s arc, and had a stronger episode for it.

3.) Jon Hamm was tragically under used. Gabriel wasn’t a character in the book, really, but if your going to have JON HAMM play someone, and do it well - he did it really well - flesh him out a bit! They would have had less random angels, but this one really brilliant actor/character should have had more time!

4.) Adam’s transition to darkness. It felt. Really sudden. Like - he saw the picture of Satan and was like “yup I’m evil”. They didn’t mention the really powerful part of this story: he wanted to make the people he loved happy. And I love how in the book, he doesn’t hurt his friends - he would NEVER. In fact, it’s when he realizes that the world isn’t his - it’s THEIRS - that he comes back to himself. I LOVE THAT ARC, because it is LITERALLY "the road to hell is paved with good intentions", and I also love the kids that played the Them, and I think that they should have had that nuance.

5.) Episode 4. Just. Way too random and a mash of mostly unnecessary scenes.

6.) They tried for whimsy, and sometimes it worked (Freaky Friday was great!) and sometimes it just...didn't (Shadwell's finger - like. wtf)

Okay! So here are some bits that confused me a bit?

1.) the sudden tone shifts - I honestly didn’t know that Aziraphale and Crowley had been dating the whole time until episode 3? And I don’t think that Neil Gaiman did either. Also, I didn’t know if some of the scenes were being played for a laugh or not, and that’s sometimes because the words and the score/tone didn’t match.

2.) the whales thing. It popped up like...several times, and while I’m a Star Trek fan and I appreciate the references, I was starting to feel like it was a bit of a Chekhov’s gun, and it never went off.

3.) shadwell, as a character. That’s it. That confuses me greatly.

4.) Armeggdon means the end of everything, right? Bc that’s what it means in the book? So I was SUPER CONFUSED when Crowley kept suggesting they run away?? Like...okay, cool, but you’ll just die out in the stars vs on earth. I don’t think it was ever explained that it was just earth that was ending. In fact, Crowley explicitly said that after the end of the world all that would be left was eternity, not “eternity and the stars”, so while I LOVE ineffable husbands, this plot line confused me

Now for the good! And there was so much of it!!

1.) Crowley and Aziraphale. That was easily the best and most interesting part of this show. I’ve said it in a few tags and I’ll say it again: this is a HUGE step forward for the fantasy genre. Not only are these unlikely heroes gorgeously written, but they are CANONICALLY IN LOVE, and it made this a more interesting and a deeper story. ALSO it made me engage with the source material in a different way. Which I loved, because at first I had thought that they were the tiniest bit in love, but they're not. They're MASSIVELY IN CAPITAL L LOVE, and they're willing to prove it, and they do, over and over, and it's more than magical, it's ineffable, and God thinks so too.

2.) Michael Sheen and David Tennant. If the first point was about the characters, the second is about the actors. They had so much love for these characters, and brought so much nuance to them, and they played off of each other so well, that when they were on screen, you could believe that what was happening was real. They elevated this show in such an amazing way. Also, David Tennant could have chemistry with a rock. Bravo.

3.) The scene with Adam and his father. When he was explaining what it meant to be family. This meant a lot to me personally, and I think this one, along with the scene right before it, were the best scenes of the entire show. This book, and then the show, have always been about how loyalty is based on love, and how the strongest bonds form over time and shared experiences, not because it's written somewhere (*side eyes Newt and Anathema*).

4.) The scene where Crowley stops time, and they tell Adam that no matter what he chooses, they support him PLUS Aziraphale telling Adam that he's human and that means he has a choice, and them holding his hands, because he is a scared little boy and they do love him.

5.) The fact that this story is a love letter to humanity. This should be higher on the list, but I'm typing them as I remember them, so. This story is about loving both because and in spite of. We should save the world in spite of the fact that Death is always among us. So is war, and famine, and Pollution and pestilence. We should save the world in spite of the fact that humanity can be the worst of hell. Because between all of that bad stuff, there is also incredible kindness, and love, and peace, and friendships that change you and form you. In between the worst of hell, you find the best of heaven, and in between that, you find old cars and backwoods and red boots and bookshops and families that you choose and make and let go. And if any of it is worth fixing, then all of it is worth saving, and this story understands that.

6.) The drunk scene. I've never laughed so hard as I did when David Tennant screamed that the point was dolphins.

7.) The soundtrack was art. I loved how they interwove Queen songs with these gorgeous instrumental pieces, and then the last song was just a stroke of genius.

8.) The cinemetography, sets, set pieces, and costumes were amazing. The attention to detail was phenomenal. This was a triumph for the director, the set crew, the costume department, camera crew, and, of course, the post production crew.

9.) Pepper. That's it. That's the point. She's amazing. So are the rest of the Them, of course, but Pepper? Iconic.

10.) Episode six. The whole thing was beautiful.

So I loved it. I really wanted to, but I was so scared that I wouldn't and then I DID AND IT WAS GORGEOUS. I will definitely be rewatching this soon.

[letslipthehounds]

Episode 5!!

And here we go

SPOILERS!!!!

SPOILERS!!!!  Lots of very disjointed spoilers!!!

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Alright, let’s get to it.

And we’re starting with the bookshop fire and Crowley running in.

Oh wow.  Oh wow.  “Somebody killed my best friend.”  Wow.

They’re starting hard here.

And Shadwell is, as always, is amazing.  I love his character.

Heh, the quartermaster is a great bit character.

Oh man, Adam.  He’s being portrayed really well here.  Go kid!

Drunk, mourning Crowley is funny.  And Aziraphale doesn’t realize Crowley is referring to him!  Heh, nice scene.

And the horsepeople come together.

And they included the M25 joke!  Good.

And here’s the telemarketer scene... yuck.

And there’s an actual Chekhov’s Gun.

The Bentley!!!!  NICE!!!

I’m a bit sad we don’t get the Other Four Bikers....

And here’s the “kids save the world by helping the antichrist not lose his mind”  Very nice.

And here’s the “surprise inspection”

And I forgot about commenting, too involved in the show.  But here it is.  On to the last episode.

(Just a reminder, these were written on May 30th- Jun 2.  I waited to post them until some time had gone by, even with the spoiler tags.)

[80s-teen-titans]

I just saw Aquaman!

And! I! Loved! It!

I think it was the aquarium bit right at the beginning where I just stopped and went, “oh fuck, I’m afraid of fish.” I had kind of… forgotten? that I have an irrational fear of fish? There weren’t many scenes where just little fish were going around so it was mostly fine. And despite this fact, I still very much loved the movie. It was amazing. So here’s some things I loved.

(long post full of spoilers under the cut)

The absence of death for the drama: Firstly, let me just say how happy I am that they didn’t go the cheap route of killing off characters for drama. Like it would have been so easy for them to kill his dad. So easy. And through that scene (which was gorgeous btw, both the sound design and the cinematography) I was so scared that they would, but like… kind of resigned to the fact. And then they didn’t. And Vulko too! I thought he was gonna for sure get killed for motivation. First during the Ring of Fire (btw, the Johnny Cash song of the same name played in my head every time someone said it) I thought he was gonna jump in the way to prevent Arthur losing and die. Then during the rest of the film there were so many opportunities for him to get killed and he did not! It would have been so easy to kill his dad or his father figure but they didn’t, and you know why? Because then it wouldn’t have been about Arthur regaining his birthright and learning to accept both sides of himself, it would have been a plain and simple revenge story. Like so many other movies we’ve seen before. Good on them for avoiding the cliché that this has to happen for a hero’s journey.

Atlanna: While we’re at it, let’s talk about Queen Atlanna. Because I don’t think most people, who have seen movies like this before, really believed that she was dead. When there’s no hard evidence, you gotta assume they’re fine. And I love that, when characters are so pleasantly shocked and surprised to see their loved one alive. I live for that. And this film did not disappoint. Their reunion was beautiful and touching. And I definitely teared up when she asked about Arthur’s dad. And the person sitting in front of me was just absolutely sobbing. Either that or choking on their popcorn. I couldn’t tell.

Diversity: How about that love story between his parents eh! That was heartbreaking and beautiful. And it was just so, so refreshing to see non-white characters let me just say. Like Arthur’s dad is a gorgeous man and it hurts that we haven’t seen stuff like this before. It was just perfect. And I loved how Arthur was also still very much connected to the culture of his father and his family. That’s an extra layer of depth that you can’t get as easily when everyone is white. 

Comedy: So this movie was hilarious. It was so, so funny. Like… the octopus on the drums? During the Ring of Fire scene? I laughed so hard and so long that I set off the person sitting next to me who also started laughing. My god, I just couldn’t help it. It made me think of The Little Mermaid. But also like, the “bogeys on our six” “what does that mean???” “Bad guys behind us!” “Just say that then!” “Bad guys behind us! Bad guys behind us!” Just getting increasingly higher and higher pitched. Like that was priceless. Also side note, we talk a lot about female characters being allowed to make “unsexy” noises when fighting, but like there are also multiple points in this film where Jason Momoa isn’t just being all gruff grunts in fights either, like he gets thrown off a roof in Italy and his yell turns into a high pitched scream at one point like yes!

Mera: Also Princess Mera! Like damn! It is very clear she is very much an equal, and never lesser than the male lead. She’s the one who knows what she’s doing. And like the thing with controlling water? That’s something that’s uniquely her. It’s not something that she has to teach to Arthur. That’s her own insanely powerful thing and Arthur and everyone else can’t help but respect her and just be in awe. Also, trying to do things from the background to keep the leverage she has in her position, but not hesitating to just go for it either. When she sees no other choice she jumps feet first into her new role as a traitor because she wants to see her nation under better rule.

Arthur: As a character, I loved that he wasn’t like, the smartest guy, but he could still use his head and think through things. He’s not an idiot. He has knowledge about certain things like history. I loved that he was named after Arthurian legend and they kept with that, that his dad is a history lover and taught him stuff.  He differs to Mera, acknowledging that she’s brilliant. And he wins his battles not by brute strength (except for the first one which set up perfectly what he could do) or by outsmarting the other guy, but often by just stopping to talk (that monster that was guarding) or by getting help (the huge battle at the end with the sea creatures). An argument can even be made for it not being sheer strength that wins the final duel, but skill. He even acknowledges this by saying that he’s a blunt weapon and good at it. All he wants to do is help and protect people which we see plainly on both the sub and in Italy. Arthur is a great, well fleshed-out character that felt completely real.

Atlantis’ walls: Ok, the bit where they’re entering the city and Arthur says, “why don’t people just go over the walls?” and Mera says that it’s impossible and there’s hydra canons and whatnot, I just started chanting in my head Chekhov’s gun Chekhov’s gun Chekhov’s gun! (For those that don’t know, it’s a literary device that states “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired”. Meaning, if you gonna mention something like that, do something with it). And by golly did they! I was assuming they were gonna have to break in at some later point, I didn’t think they’d be breaking out! That was great!

The ending: It was absolutely perfect. How everyone stands witness to the battle and their battle itself, including all of the talking they did in it. I adored the relationship between the two brothers. Like how Arthur said earlier that he had wanted to meet him and get to know him. Then at the end he tells him that they can talk when he’s ready and Orm actually hesitantly gives him a nod. And the fact that he spared him at all. He regrets not showing mercy to Manta’s father, and will not fail to show mercy again here. And how Atlanna shows up and talks to Orm and tells him she loves him and doesn’t blame him, she blames how his father raised him. It took my breath away with how genuinely fulfilling this ending felt.

Couple last points: The soundtrack was an absolute bop my dudes! Like wow! The song choices, the original music, it was all just so, so good and so, so perfect. Also enjoyed how the movie didn’t coddle the viewers. It didn’t explain everything straight up. There’s mentions of Vulko before we know who he is, they don’t tell us right when we met her who Mera is, they showed us through her short conversation with her father. The characters felt real, having conversations about things they knew about and not bothering to tell us until we had wondered how they knew, like how Arthur believed his mother to have been executed. They did show don’t tell extremely well throughout the entirety of the movie.

In conclusion, it was an amazing film with a terrific cast, great acting, brilliant and witty writing, breath taking cinematography, believable characters, and beautiful battles. And I loved every second of it.

What did you love?