#that i wanted to resolve in s2 but i need the first half finished first

[izzysillyhandsy]

Thoughts about the finale, and my utter confusion about Izzy Hands

What I hated about Izzy's death wasn't him dying. I love a tragic arc, and although Con O'Neill elevated every scene he was in, it would have been ok if they'd handled his death better.

To have him die with only 10mins of the episode left (and this might even be the last ever episode!) was the first terrible decision. Everything that was built up over 2 seasons had to be resolved in a few minutes, we don't see any repercussions for anyone Izzy was important to - Ed, the crew and even Stede.

But the main criticism is the 180° turn the show made for his character arc in the last episode (or more precisely, in Izzy's last scene) and in David Jenkins' latest interviews.

Since season 1, I kept asking myself the same two questions:

What function does Izzy Hands have in the narrative? What is the nature of his relationship with Ed?

And the answers changed drastically from S1 to S2, and got more and more complex and intriguing.

Until the finale.

Izzy Hands as a plot device for the main couple

In S1, Izzy was an antagonist. His function in the narrative was to stand in the way of the Ed/Stede romance, of Ed growing and finding happiness and to move the plot along. He brought a lot of humour to almost every interaction he was in - he was such a fish-out-of-water character, clashing with everyone and constantly losing.

He was barely human - he was a pirate cliché.

But there was also so much going on in the background - his quiet desparation, his obvious love and longing for Ed, and these hints of a fascinating backstory between the two of them. This is what many fans picked up on, and going into S2 we hoped that we'd get more of this (for me personally the most important thing was clarification on Izzy's importance to Ed).

And then S2 came along and boy, were all of our expectations exceeded.

Suddenly, Izzy wasn't a plot device anymore. He was one half of the most intense (and interesting, sorry Stede) couple in the show. It was even confirmed by the showrunner that he was in a love triangle with the main couple!

In the first 2 episodes, we got so much more than we ever expected. At the end of Ep2, Izzy broke the lifeline with Ed, both of them almost dying in the process. He went on a journey of discovering who and what he even was without Ed (and right up to his death he was still deeply unhappy and broken, even though he was on the right path).

Izzy suddely became a fascinating character in his own right, with his arc of healing and self-acceptance and his inability (for now) to keep himself from sliding back into this relationship with his other half. He was blaming himself for everything that had happened. He was still so entangled with this man he built his whole life around. He still had a long way to go and a lot to work through (the same also applies to Ed btw).

But he also became the crew's unicorn, doing Izzy things (still related to Ed, always to Ed) but you could feel him becoming more himself. Slowly, Izzy's real personality started to shine through and we realized - this man is fascinating on his own accord. He's a respected and very capable pirate. He came from nothing and fought his way up. He's a really good teacher. He's creative and sensitive. He also cares about other people than Ed a lot.

Viewers who hated him or were indifferent to him in S1 suddenly became interested - this man's journey was fascinating and, most importantly, it wasn't at all finished. There was so much yet to come, and we wanted to see it.

Does this sound like a plot device to you? If it doesn't, bad news.

At the end of the final episode, Izzy is suddenly back where he was in S1.

He dies in a completely unnecessary way - almost as if how he died didn't matter. And it didn't matter, because in the end, Izzy Hands' journey didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that he died and how it affected the main couple.

On his deathbed, Izzy is saying exactly what Ed needs to hear to move on. He absolves him of any guilt. Ed is ready. Izzy has played his part, he's ready to die.

Notably, nothing is really resolved for poor Izzy. Even if Ed says he doesn't want him to go, it's because Ed is losing his only family. He doesn't tell Izzy he loves him, or that he's important to him as a person, as his oldest friend, as the one who knows him best.

In the end, Izzy's function in the narrative, even after everything that happened in S2, was to be an obstacle to the Ed/Stede romance, to Ed growing and finding happiness. He had to die to free Ed of his Blackbeard persona and because "it's nice that Blackbeard is upset by it" (WTF).

The problem is, for the rest of the season, that wasn't Izzy's role in this show at all and I felt completely blindsided.

More than a spurned, jilted lover

"I guess it's a journey of redemption, but I think it's more a journey of finding out, who is he to Blackbeard?" According to Jenkins, Izzy is "more than a spurned, jilted lover." "What is that relationship about? And I think by the end of the season it kind of becomes a little unexpected of who they are to each other and what they mean to each other." (source)

I also made a poll about that question after Ep3 if anyone's interested.

The answer is, apparently, the two of them were Blackbeard. Or, Izzy was the brains behind the operation. Or, Izzy egged Eddie on to give in to his darker impulses (which, I think, was alluded to quite strongly in the murder/suicide scene).

I mean, yes. That was one of the options on my poll that I was quite sure of, and I think most of us suspected this even in S1.

Izzy was Eddie's only family. Ok, I think family doesn't quite express what was going on between them in S2, but that certainly was one aspect of their relationship.

This is all fine. I can see that being built up to over the two seasons.

But.

"And then there was the realization that [Izzy] is kind of a mentor to Blackbeard and that he is kind of a father figure to Blackbeard. It felt nice to have him die and have Blackbeard be upset by it, because Blackbeard killed his father. But this is a father figure that he’s losing that it’s hard for him; it's sad and he doesn't want him to go." (source)

This is not fine. Not at all.

Izzy is not Blackbeard's mentor. Izzy is obviously in love with Ed (and Ed is fully aware of that). Izzy might have been a mentor-like presence in Ed's life when they were younger, but when we meet them in S1 Izzy is more like an overworked housewife cleaning up behind her disinterested husband. Izzy would do anything for Ed (apart from killing him) and is ready to die at one point because of him. Izzy is desperate, grabbing onto the scraps Ed throws his way.

Where, where does Izzy seem like a mentor to Ed in all of this? A mentor is supposed to be at least at the same level or above but Izzy is clearly not.

And in the death scene, suddenly, that's all there is left of their complex, intense dynamic.

Izzy took young Eddie in and fed his darkness. He was Eddie's only family, binding him to himself out of selfishness in the process.

So that's their unexpected "who they are to each other". Izzy taught Ed everything he knows (which is actually bad for him) and it'd probably been better if they'd never even met.

And don't get me wrong, I don't completely disagree with this take. As a part of their dynamic, this is a fascinating concept - but only if this wasn't the end.

Because there was so much more, so much promise of a complicated, mutually destructive relationship that nevertheless was also full of love. Those two seemed so intertwined (and I'll never forgive Stede for stealing that for himself and Ed). Ed is Izzy's missing half and Izzy is Ed's.

And I still believe that, without Izzy, Ed isn't complete.

And with this rushed conclusion, and all the mess left behind and never even looked at, Ed will never be happy.

Conclusion

I think what hurts the most is, that with Izzy dead and their last conversation being that reductive, all possibilities of an exploration of all these complex and fascinating aspects of their relationship are now closed. I know this show isn't about Ed and Izzy. But Izzy is a big part of what made Ed interesting, and he's a brilliant character in his own right. We could have gotten so much more (even if it's only allusions, we really don't need everything spelled out).

I guess I expected too much from this show - but with good reason. The actors gave it their all. S2 set up such an intricate dynamic (and it was probably overly ambitious with only 4 hours of screentime!). I've never gotten so much of what I wanted from an outsider character in any show.

And then it let us down in the last 10 minutes.

And even if we hadn't gotten a season 3 - the setup was all there for meta, for fanfiction. Why ruin it all with killing off Izzy for all the wrong reasons and making their last conversation all about Ed "outliving his mentor".

To quote Prince Ricky: "Oh, my goodness. You've just grown so tedious."

Still, I love everything they've done in this show except for the ending. I will watch it again, many times, and enjoy the drama, the humour and the complexity. But I will try to forget these interviews and convince myself Izzy's senseless death was just a dream :).

[ghostdrinkssoup]

hi!! I was wondering if you could explain how people break up the seasons of hannibal? I understand 3a/3b but is there a 2a and 2b??? (also I love your blog and analysis’ if you see someone spam liking it’s me sorry😭😭)

aww thank you so much, I’m so glad you like my blog :”)) and no worries, I’d be happy to explain! fair warning though, I’m gonna give you a very detailed answer because I love talking about the nuances of plot and hannibal is so neatly structured it makes me want to devour it <3

so throughout the show the story follows several plot arcs at once (which all constitute the main plot) and because s2 and 3 roughly follow two at a time they’re categorised as either ‘plot arc a’ or ‘plot arc b.’ it’s pretty easy to identify the a/b plots in s3 because they’re so distinct (the florence arc vs the red dragon arc, as you know), plus there’s a big time jump and setting shift.

in s2 it’s a little less clear but still identifiable. s2a follows will’s imprisonment arc which roughly makes up the first half of s2 (I’d say from kaiseki until halfway through yakimono since there’s an odd number of episodes per season) while s2b follows his seduction arc. short-term character goals also change between arcs. for example, in s2a will’s main goal is to prove his innocence, hurt hannibal and escape incarceration, which is resolved once will proves the copycat killer and chesapeake ripper are the same and jack finds miriam alive. however, by resolving the central conflict of s2a will is suddenly faced with new problems/circumstances. thus, in s2b he has a new goal, which is to lure hannibal and assist jack with his capture. this plot thread is resolved in mizumono after hannibal escapes, ending s2b and setting up the central conflict and stakes that underpin s3a (and so on until the main conflict is resolved and the show finishes).

s1 is a little trickier to break up since it doesn’t follow the same structural pattern as s2 and 3. there’s no clear shift mid-season and will’s goal throughout stays the same, which is to find the copycat killer/chesapeake ripper while simultaneously trying to find himself during his sessions with hannibal. i.e no one really says ‘s1a’ and ‘s1b’, it’s all just s1. that being said, I personally have a system of breaking down s1 because I think there are small shifts present throughout the season regardless, even if they’re more minor. this is how I do it:

episodes 1-4 (initial set-up): sets up main themes/concepts the show explores + sets up will’s character by mirroring his psychology with each of the killers (and his foil dynamic with hannibal).

episode 5: transition between initial set up and friendship arc. out of all the killers so far (excluding hobbs) the angel maker reveals the most about will directly.

episodes 6-8 (friendship arc): sets up hannibal and will’s relationship more closely, with specific focus on hannibal’s masks (the psychiatrist vs the chesapeake ripper) and person suit. he destroys the two extremes of his personality (represented by franklyn and tobias) and chooses will despite himself. the rest of the show follows the consequences of this choice.

episode 9: transition between friendship arc and encephalitis arc. after the angel maker, the totem maker (interesting that they’re both “makers”) reveals the most about will directly.

episodes 10-13 (encephalitis arc): end result of everything that’s been built so far, concerning both will and hannibal (as observed through the first two mini arcs, the first focusing on will and the second focusing on hannibal). we look into will’s neuroses and understand his nature, separating him from hobbs, gideon, and georgia (note that the latter two are explored through the water/fire symbols, tying them together). hannibal also becomes semi-aware of the conflict between his need for love and want for control. this could also be described as their mutual “coming to awareness” arcs. by the end, both their s1 person suits (the most “human” aka morally acceptable/meek personas) are destroyed, and we’re left to explore their “monster” sides in s2.

I hope this helps and thanks again for the ask !!

[paigemathews]

I am. still outlining the first season of my next gen thing, but I have somehow backed myself into a corner bc I've been envisioning the first season as having twenty two episodes like the actual show did, but I have somehow managed to create too many plots for what I wanted to do so I'm. trying to figure that out now, I guess?

[on-a-lucky-tide]

I know you don't write Jaskier much anymore, but could you maybe do something with Eskel being kind? After S2, I am so sad.

Hey, Non. You know what? Yeah, I can do you something. One book/game canon Eskel coming right up. I've set it in the Trust No Kings universe, so I hope that's okay. If you haven't read it, a brief summary: Jaskier turns up at Kaer Morhen and makes a really bad first impression. Eskel doesn't trust him because he's another upstart noble in fancy clothes set to take advantage of people like him—or so he believes! Jaskier tries to fix the issue by offering intimate relations; Eskel doesn't take this well. This is Jaskier trying to make the effort to heal a bit of the hurt...

Jaskier knew he had to fix this somehow. When he woke the morning after Eskel's apology, he felt a sickening weight in the pit of his stomach and a creeping niggle beneath his skin. The kind of feeling that settled in when one was very much aware of being in the wrong. The scratch-scratch of an unsettled issue, the uneasy queasiness of a temporary truce.

But how did one fix such a slight? Jaskier had to confront decades' worth of deeply ingrained distrust. Fear. When Eskel looked at Jaskier, he didn't see Geralt's best friend, a lively and verbose troubadour with a flighty heart full of song. Eskel saw a Viscount in expensive silks and linens, with the ear of other nobles and history of... well, Jaskier didn't really want to consider what Eskel believed him capable of.

Over breakfast, Jaskier sparred with Lambert, exchanging barbed comments about the weather being especially dismal this year, especially given the calibre of the current company. He tried not to stare at Eskel, who ate his watered-down porridge silently at the far end of the table. Geralt kept glancing over too, a crease forming in the centre of his forehead, lips tilted in a thoughtful frown. Something was wrong. Eskel was usually most ebullient at mealtimes, with warm mead in his belly and plenty of food to hand, but he sat lost in his own head and barely registered his companions. In fact, Eskel didn't look up at all until Vesemir barked at him to help with the dishes, at which point he swiped up his half-finished bowl and fled to the sink.

Jaskier wasn't the only one feeling that sense of uneasiness then.

Rather than rush in headfirst, Jaskier resolved to watch and plot from afar once more. He had to approach this differently. If Eskel believed all his actions to be self-serving and manipulative, then he had to find a way to show genuine interest. While Jaskier had hoped he could grow close to Eskel, Geralt's first and most enduring love, and find a level of intimacy that they could nurture into something more in the coming years, he'd settle for something akin to friendship. Warm acquaintance. Anything but this uncomfortable civility.

He needed to get Eskel on his own too. Because every time Geralt was near, Jaskier could see Eskel glancing across, looking for cues in body language and facial ticks. Geralt probably didn't even realise Eskel was following his lead, oblivious to the way his best friend and lover was scrambling desperately to please him. But that was Geralt, wasn't it? Woefully unaware of his own importance to those around him. Jaskier needed Eskel alone. But not somewhere he felt cornered. Certainly not his quarters, or in the kitchens. Outside, maybe. But not the training grounds or while they were heading out for meat. Those were the spaces Eskel shared with Geralt, Lambert and Vesemir, spaces in which Jaskier wasn't yet welcome.

Jaskier spent those few days while he waited for an opportunity to talk with Eskel just listening. He could listen. He was a good listener. He listened to Eskel hum an old folk song while he scrubbed laundry, swap tawdry jokes with Lambert edged in a quiet, unassuming wit that made Lambert's characteristic scowl melt into a lopsided grin. When Eskel was with Geralt, he communicated in soft touches - the elbow, the small of his back, a nudge of the foreheads together, a deep and longing kiss - and subtle in-jokes. Jaskier needed to learn this language. He needed to learn Eskel's language. But for that, he needed to practice.

So, that was how Jaskier ended up standing just inside the barnyard door. Halfway between inside and outside, with an empty bucket in his hands because he rather felt he should be holding something to appear like he intended to be there for a purpose other than to speak with Eskel.

Said witcher was muttering quietly to the busy flock of hens clucking and gurgling around his ankles. He called them 'dames' with a quiet, affectionate lilt to his tone as he lifted their hefty, feathered bodies in search of eggs. The single cockerel in residence was dubbed 'pecky fuck' when Eskel thought no one was listening, a name that the creature was currently justifying with gusto as it pecked at Eskel's ankles in search of feed.

"Quite the attitude, that one," Jaskier said, tilting the bucket.

Eskel looked up, nudging the cockerel away with the toe of his boot. "Yeah. Thought of maybe renamin' him Lambert." He hesitated with a palmful of dried corn, and Jaskier watched his throat bob as he swallowed. "Was there somethin' you needed, or...?"

"Oh!" Jaskier's back straightened and he looked at the bucket in his grasp as if seeing it for the first time. "Yes! Geralt needed, uh, some..." he looked around the stable quickly, hoping to spot something useful, and... "oats."

"Oats?"

"Yes, you know, umm," Jaskier turned the bucket over and over, "for... cake."

They both knew the pantry had oats for baking. The oats in the stable were fit for Roach and Scorpion alone, and Eskel glanced at the heavy bags hanging the stable wall with a pensive look on his face. Jaskier stared at him with his lips turned in, half begging for a little bit of mercy with widened eyes; he'd made himself look even more a fool. His olive branch may be mangled, metaphorical leaves falling off and bark cracked, but it was still a plea for peace.

Eskel dabbed at his scars and Jaskier's heart sank. He knew what that meant. It was a universal Eskel sign for 'I'm uncomfortable'. Jaskier turned to leave, but Eskel reached out before he could cross the threshold. "Wait, lemme... come an' help me finish here, and we'll go get the right oats."

Jaskier felt his heart leap into his throat. He was being trusted with a chore. One of Eskel's chores, which were always completed in a certain way; tidy and efficient. Jaskier put the bucket down and practically fell over his own feet to get to Eskel's outstretched hands, both of his own cupped to accept the fistful of grain. He stood for a quiet moment, eyeing the bustling hens around Eskel's feet.

Eskel cleared his throat. "You need t' spread it."

"Do I just... sprinkle? Like this?" Jaskier tipped the grain into one palm and took a pinch. He sprinkled it near some hens and then blinked as Eskel... chuckled. A real one; the deep, quiet rumble of genuine amusement he spared for those quiet chats with Lambert.

"S'a barn floor, not a Novigrad bathhouse," Eskel quipped, scarred lips quirked up in the beginnings of a warm smile. "Here, close your fist, an'—"

Eskel reached inside the large sack at his hip and dropped a fistful of grain in a roughly even semi-circle around them. The hens clucked happily, pecking at the floor as they bustled into each other.

"Ah, yes, but it is a fine stable floor, exquisite, truly—what?"

"'M not gonna bite you, Jaskier," Eskel said, rubbing thoughtfully at the deep rivets on his cheek. "You're nervous. You don' need to be."

"You can smell emotions?"

"I can smell your sweat." Eskel raised an eyebrow, and Jaskier tried to surreptitiously sniff at his own armpit when Eskel turned away.

"I—I suppose I'm nervous because I don't want to worsen the impression you have of me, I want to—to prove that I'm worthy of Geralt," Jaskier said, fingers flexing against his palms as he yearned to fill his hands with something to hold. An anchor. His hands needed to be doing something. "That I'm worthy of your friendship."

Eskel paused mid-hen lift. The bird between his big hands clucked quietly, head tipping, feathers puffing around his fingers. Jaskier knew he'd struck something—a nerve, perhaps? Another one. Instead of opening his mouth, he kept it closed, waited. Eskel lowered the small hen, with its feathery feet and sweet speckled pattern, and reached for one of the eggs in her nest. "You don' need to prove anythin'—"

"Ah, ah." Jaskier shifted forward a little, hands outspread. "You see, I do. You go quiet when I'm near, you—you behave like I could lash out with a knife at any moment if you're too—," Jaskier stopped before he said it: if you're too 'you'. Eskel was—was Eskel worried about—?

"'M sorry I've made you feel—"

"Eskel, I don't need more apologies," Jaskier sighed, rubbing a palm over his chest as his heart beat against his ribcage. "I would be very grateful for a... a chance to prove myself. To earn your trust. One more chance."

Eskel turned the small egg over in his huge hands. Jaskier could imagine what those hands would feel like on his skin; stroking his cheek, touching his elbow, carding weathered fingers through his hair. And Geralt between them both. Their shared, unerring lover helping smooth the way for the fragile, tentative affection blossoming between them. A pipedream, perhaps.

One thing Jaskier had learned through his observations was that Eskel was a man of action, over words. That was his language. One with which Jaskier was still not familiar. But he translated Eskel's next actions well enough. The witcher plucked the bag of grain from his belt and placed it in one of Jaskier's flexing hands. Jaskier let out the breath he'd been holding and offered a tentative smile. A smile that was returned, if only faintly. Eskel only smiled and laughed with loved ones. Jaskier was... well, he only had a foot in the door. His second chance.

They worked together to feed the rest of the hens. Eskel filled a basket full of small, feathery eggs and Jaskier bustled between the hens, feeding them as evenly as he could. They clucked and gurgled and pecked contentedly.

Surprisingly, it was Eskel that broke the silence. "Were you serious? About the oats?"

"Oh, no, I... panicked."

"Ah, shame, I make a mean oat cake," Eskel hummed.

"Oh! No, I mean, yes, yes—I would love to taste your oats."

"Would you now?" Eskel said, one eyebrow high as he headed out the barn door.

"Well, I..." Jaskier trailed off as he spotted the glint in Eskel's honey-hued eyes before he ducked into the courtyard. That had been a joke. Eskel had joked with him. He hadn't done that yet. In fact, Eskel only joked with Lambert and Geralt. This. This was progress.

Bolstered by his achievement, Jaskier bid the Dames of Kaer Morhen adieu and followed Eskel into the wintry afternoon air. If the way into Eskel's confidence was to fumble through as many chores as he could, then he was ready to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in.

[kingofthewilderwest]

Finished Centaurworld Season 2. Okay, I was not expecting that to be the final season. But since it is, I want to sit down and process what I watched.

First off: it was the perfect way to binge my day. I had fun, and I do come away satisfied after the finale. I’m really happy to have watched this show.

That said, I want to talk about things I wish had been in Centaurworld S2.

There were many missed opportunities in the second season. In the first season, a central part of the plot was driven by Horse and Wammawink’s shifting relationship dynamics. It would have been spectacularly easy to keep a momentum flowing. They even addressed what I wanted the plot to do: have Horse feel insignificant in her recruitment efforts in Centaurworld. That could have been beefily written so that she and Wammawink kept butting and building off one another. For one example of how this might have worked: had Wammawink felt more critical to the recruitment efforts, Horse could have felt increasingly divided; Wammawink is a friend, but she’s also the person making Horse feel useless. This could have been resolved with a joint recognition that each individual is needed to successfully recruit the centaurs, and that would have been a great theme of friendship, teamwork, unity. Instead, the writing treated Wammawink as though she had nothing to do and nothing to give plot-wise.

I also appreciate other bloggers pointing out Wammawink’s shaman character arc was dropped in Season 2. I don’t know how I didn’t think of that outright before. But you’re right and need to say it.

What the writing did do, it didn’t even finish, if I recall right. We showed Glendale help recruit a team, then Zulius, and....... nope. We’re not even going to get the whole herd where each individual shows off their stuff to get the centaurs to war. That could’ve worked, too, if it’d been brought out. The concepts were there, but the final execution, such as an anticipated big moment for Wammawink at the Hootenanny (since it was her idea!!! should have been her moment with Horse!!!) didn’t hit. Most such plot motions felt half-baked, wishy-washy, and never firmly addressed in a resolution. Again: not that it wasn’t there, but there could’ve been a lot more done with it.

Like, I kept waiting for the tension between Wammawink’s desire-for-best-friend-acknowledgement versus Horse’s mind-for-Rider to get resolution, but the closest we got was Horse giving Wammawink, from the distance, a fond glance while Wammawink was scaling a wall with giggle cakes.

(For the record... other concepts the writing could’ve brought out: trying to recruit one group of people, but actually getting a different weird group instead... to celebrate how these oddballs, like their own herd, have value. Oh, and we could’ve actually had the recruits show clear ways their skills were used in the war, like Horse kept talking about while recruiting. That final battle didn’t have major “FUCK YEAH!!!” moments for the moletaurs, trashtaurs, etc. as I hoped.)

Now. Something the show has always had difficulties with is balancing the plot between Horse’s experiences and the broader world. It’s focused on Horse’s dilemmas to the point that the broader world’s issues don’t get covered enough. For instance, every time we saw our purple haired woman in S1, I had to mentally shift gears and remind myself, “Okay. What have I learned about her before?” She and this aspect of the conflict weren’t present enough.

While Centaurworld Season 2 technically showed us a ton more of the war and its issues, it still wasn’t enough. We needed WAY more time in the human world with the human issues before the series ended and for everything plot-wise to feel developed and handled. The scenes taking place in the human world with the minotaurs felt jerky, incomplete. There was lots more we could have seen develop on a war side. Centaurworld would have worked better as a three season arc, where the second season would be about recruitment leading into a shifting of balances where the enemy starts overrunning them and winning. The third season would have been rising up and defeating the enemy. 

Through this all, we could have better developed those characters and their present-day conflict who were behind this war in the first place.

We needed a fuckton more of the General. Period. Especially given how critical he was to the season finale. Introduce him earlier, make him bigger, develop his relationship with Rider, let us feel for his personality and his motivations, spread him across that hypothetical three season storyline. You could have done all that and still had that massive dump of reveals that our S2 finale effectively did.

The general and the woman, while the main drivers of why this war happened in the first place, were so secondary to what we saw on screen that we did not deserve the buildup yet that we got in S2. She felt like an anomaly that barely belonged in the show for most of the story, with how little we got of her and how much she interacted with our main herd! (It’s to the credit of the writers, though, that the finale was so effective I still got teary-eyed and emotive by the end. I’ll give them that!!!)

We also needed more of Rider’s character dimensionalized. I like that in Season 1 we only got glimpses of her. It helped reinforce Horse’s paranoia that she was forgetting Rider and would lose her. But once their connection was reestablished and each went to different worlds to prepare for war, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to expand Rider and make her just as important as Horse. She was very underdeveloped, and that made the final miscommunication between her and Horse not as effective as it could’ve been. For the relationship to feel its utmost strength, you have to feel for both of the individuals in said relationship.

The music was not strong (in some cases, feeling outright directionless) in Season 2 until the final episode. The final episode did what it needed compositionally: go hard, go home, bring up all the leitmotifs for final emphases and send-offs.

The tone of the first third of the final episode went everywhere, but the second thirds went hard and there’s a reason I’m walking away pleased.

Last for thoughts, the worldbuilding and lore falls apart upon reflection. How long ago did the backstory events take place? The humans and centaurs both seem so foreign to the concept of their worlds being united in the present-day, but according to the Nowhere King’s history, it wasn’t that long ago that these two societies were *VERY* united. Centaurworld civilization seems to have shifted, as has the human world... this sense of lore gap could’ve been avoided easily.

I want to be clear that this list doesn’t mean I’m dissatisfied. Contrarily, I had nothing but a positive experience watching! There’s a ton to compliment about Centaurworld S2. I could talk forever about the fascinating directions they took the Nowhere King. The creative, uncanny animation already set the Nowhere King apart as a villain in S1. S2, we went hard on character concept. An individual fighting split parts of himself, but who can’t kill that other self, is a fascinating and damn original concept for an antagonist. I love it. I also love how, by the end of watching his journey, I could simultaneously feel for him, but also understand all the flawed areas he was wrong.

It could have been so fucking cool seeing an entire season of knowing a man was fighting against himself but wouldn’t kill himself. But I’m glad I got the opportunity to watch a show that went these directions.

Fully, Centaurworld was worth watching. It’s one of the highlights of 2021 animation for me. I don’t blog as much as I used to about what I watch. But Centaurworld has gotten me invested enough that I’ve had to yak!

[sunsetcurve]

learn to love without consuming (1/4)

fandom: knight squad relationships: arc / ciara, minor or one-sided arc / oc and ciara / oc word count: 4,603

a/n: eek. it's finally here. if you follow me here you know that i've been working on this for a few weeks (months?), but the idea has been sitting in my drafts for basically forever. almost since i watched the show to begin with. the recent resurgence of the ks fandom prompted me to dig this back up and gave me the motivation to actually try and finish, because fuck it! i love my babes and i want more of them.

so quick note is that this picks up pretty soon after the season 1 finale but disregards basically,,, everything that happens in s2. s1 and the finale proceed the same way except prudy never finds out ciara's secret, so she and warwick don't know at the moment. this chapter was initially gonna have more scenes that drove the plot/romance arc but once i got upwards of 6k with a few major scenes left i decided it would be best if i split the chapter up, so for now it’s just a lot of me trying to work around the convoluted knight squad lore to establish my own. i know that's not exactly what everyone is here for, but i promise things on the romance/action front will pick up soon. i'll place warnings as detailed as i can get without spoiling in the tags and notes as i go, but just anticipate fairly significant violence by chapter 3.

anyway! i have talked enough. the title is from thus always to tyrants by the oh hellos, the rating is t for swearing/violence, there are three more chapters that are in the process of being written, and reviews are like crack as far as i'm concerned. i really hope you like this! thanks for reading <3

dedications: this fic is first and foremost for @ciara-knightly, who is not only my amazing beta but also the whole reason this fic exists. she helped me so so much with the development of the plot and worked through it with me even way before i decided to really start writing it, and i wouldn’t have been able to do this without her. all of the notes she left after beta-reading were so so helpful and really made this whole fic make sense so basically i owe her my entire life. she inspires me to be a better writer all the time and i love her. everyone say thank you shona!!! also tagging my lovely friends and some people who have expressed interest, who are in no way obligated to read this; @juliesdahlias @mistyskiesrambles @dr-rigatoni @willexs @taylorswiftrulestheworld @onplanetmars @neshatriumphs @zackmartin @julies-molinas @soni-dragon @yagorlemmalyn @hopefulbeautifulfool @cactus-con @waterisntreal @onetwothreefarkle @bitchmilsky

summary: “Now that Ryker isn’t a threat anymore, the councils are supposed to resume as planned, and Astoria is set to hold the first one two weeks from now.”

“Okay,” he says slowly. “That sounds exciting.”

Ciara nods. “It is! I finally get to meet some of the other nobility, and actually get to be involved in Astorian politics for once. But my dad won’t let me go without an escort,” she says, and then hesitates. “Which is where you come in.”

read it on ao3

The morning before training that day, Arc is testing his skills against a heavy bronze padlock when Ciara enters the squad room and drops a brown paper bag on the table in front of him. 

“These,” she announces as he raises an eyebrow at her, “are for you.”

He pulls open the package and is instantly greeted with a rush of warmth and the smell of vanilla. “Dragon puffs?” he says, half in awe. It’s a clear bribe, but he can’t help but shove a sugar-coated sweet in his mouth anyway. They’re an Astorian original and possibly the best thing he’s ever tasted; he’d tried them once at a bakery near the castle and hasn’t stopped thinking about them since. 

“Okay, what do you want?” he says then, words muffled around the cream and pastry.

Ciara pulls a face at his manners, but still manages to blink innocently at him. “Can’t I just do something nice for a friend?” she tries, but it’s half-hearted.

He swallows and grins at her. “Nice try, Princess. Your dessert deliveries always come with an ulterior motive.”

Huffing a sigh, she sits down next to him. There’s this subtle air of anticipation lingering around her, one he can only sense based on how in tune they are after so long of being teammates. The two of them have this easy way of reading each other now; they’ve been spending more and more time together, something having shifted in their dynamic after the battle against Ryker. He can’t quite place what it is, but he knows it’s only brought them closer. “Do you know what the Council of the Five Kingdoms is?” she asks finally.

He shrugs. “Sure. Nobles from each kingdom used to have a big ball every year to talk trading and politics and other boring stuff…”

“Except there hasn’t been a council since Ryker’s invasion, because the kingdoms have been isolated and preoccupied with their own safety,” she finishes for him. Her fingers tug at the lacing of her leather gauntlets; she’s nervous, but he still isn’t sure why. “Now that Ryker isn’t a threat anymore, the councils are supposed to resume as planned, and Astoria is set to hold the first one two weeks from now.”

“Okay,” he says slowly. “That sounds exciting.”

Ciara nods. “It is! I finally get to meet some of the other nobility, and actually get to be involved in Astorian politics for once. But my dad won’t let me go without an escort,” she says, and then hesitates. “Which is where you come in.”

Arc chokes on his second dragon puff. “You want me to be your escort,” he says flatly, once he’s finished coughing, “to the Council of the Five Kingdoms?” Normally he’d jump at the chance to spend a night dressing up and eating castle food. But the council is a decidedly different scene; there’s a set of formalities, politics underlying everything, and too many chances for him to expose his lack of knowledge when it comes to Astorian customs. Not to mention that Catalias’ royals will be there. He doesn’t know if he can stomach looking them in the face, knowing what they did to Seagate.  

Ciara grimaces. “Look, I know it’s not exactly your thing, but my dad won’t let me go alone. And this really means a lot to me.” Her eyes are pleading, and Arc feels his resolve chipping away.

“Can’t one of your actual guards go with you?” he tries. “Or, Prudy or Warwick or someone?”

“I’ve already talked to my dad about it,” she explains. “You’re the only Knight School student he’d let protect me, because you already proved you could when Ryker invaded. Besides, if something were to happen…you’re the one person who knows I can handle myself as Ciara.”

There’s this brief stretch of silence where Arc works his bottom lip, and Ciara looks as though she’s debating something. “Also,” she adds finally, with the soft flicker of a hesitant smile, “I thought it might be fun to go with you.”

Arc blinks at her, caught off guard by the admission. There’s this sudden buzz in his chest that he can’t push away; in truth, he doesn’t like the idea of her spending the night with someone else either. Maybe, by some miracle, this will actually be a good thing. “Alright,” he relents. “I’ll be your escort.”

Ciara’s face breaks into a grin. “Yes! Thank you!” She throws her arms around him, and he’s shock-stilled, a rush of warmth flooding through him as he hugs her back. When she pulls away, her eyes are shining with excitement. “Okay, I’ve gotta go tell my dad you said yes, and there’s a million things to do, but I’ll see you at training later. You are the best.”

“I expect dragon puffs for life!” Arc calls after her as she disappears through her passageway. He leans back into the couch, lightheaded, and in that moment, he realizes abruptly that there’s almost nothing he wouldn’t do for her. 

And he is so completely screwed.

*

Two weeks later, Arc is standing outside Ciara’s bedroom, waiting for her to finish getting ready.

It feels odd to be out here in the open. Generally his visits to her chamber are accompanied by an air of secrecy, but tonight, he’s a guest in the castle. He’s dressed like it, too, decked out in the guards’ typical formal wear: pressed brown pants, a white shirt laced up the front, and a navy leather jacket trimmed in gold, with Astoria’s crest on one shoulder. He looks kind of dashing, honestly.

Despite the confidence boost his new look offers him, his hand keeps drifting to the hilt of his sword. It’s sheer force of habit; he only associates this brewing sense of apprehension with battle, and his muscles are responding in kind. He’s glad, at least, that he turned down the other guards’ offer to lend him one of their ceremonial blades and instead has the familiarity of his own. Hopefully he won’t need it, but it’s a steadying presence all the same.

“Almost ready!” Ciara calls from inside, and Arc carefully unclenches his fingers from around the leather grip of his sword. He has to keep it together tonight; she’s made it clear how much this means to her. The last thing he wants to do is embarrass her in front of nobles from all five kingdoms.

Well, four, he reminds himself. Seagate won’t be attending. There isn’t anyone left to represent them. 

The thought makes his stomach twist. 

He’s saved from having to dwell on it by the sound of Ciara’s door unlatching. “Better prepare yourself, Princess,” he teases, leaning against the wall, “I look pretty good, and the last thing we want is for you to get too smitten—”

He breaks off as she emerges from the doorway, all the air in his lungs leaving in a sudden rush. He’s trying hard not to be the cliche of a guy scraping his jaw off the floor at the sight of a pretty girl in a dress, especially not like this, with Ciara—but he can’t help but think that it’s ridiculously unfair of her to come out looking like that. Her dress is a pale blue, falling gently off her shoulders and cinching at her waist, and her tight curls are weaved with strands of gold and tied into a low knot, some of them falling loose to frame her face. There’s a crown of gold leaves and rosebuds settled in her hair. 

“You...um…” Arc searches for his voice, “you look amazing.” His mouth feels dry.

Ciara smirks and reaches up to adjust the collar of his uniform. “You don’t look so bad yourself. I’m definitely smitten,” she jokes, like it’s nothing for them to be flirting openly. It should be nothing. Except his skin burns where her fingers brush against his neck, and he suddenly wonders if she can hear his heart pounding.

He clears his throat. “We should probably get to the ballroom.” 

She nods. “Give me your arm,” she says, looking at him expectantly. When he raises an eyebrow, she continues, “You’re my escort, remember?” 

“Oh, right.” He lifts his arm obligingly, his cheeks warm.

“I really wish we’d had more time to go over Astorian customs,” she breathes as she takes it, more to herself than anything. “Between training and helping with preparations, I’ve been so busy…” His nerves must show on his face, then, because she squeezes his arm gently and amends, “Sorry. You’ll be fine, don’t worry. Just stay close to me, okay?”

“Not a problem,” he grins without missing a beat, and Ciara scoffs and shoves him, the smile tugging at her mouth taking all the bite away from it. 

They can do this, he thinks. The two of them have kept up appearances for each other for months now, have fought and trained and battled Ryker together. They’re Arc and Ciara, unstoppable duo. One little party should be nothing.

As they make their way down the hall towards the ballroom, flanked by guards, Ciara lowers her voice. “When we get there, most of the nobles should be inside already. The herald will announce my father first, then us, and then each of the other three kingdoms. We’ll be beside the thrones as they come in—you’ll stand by me, left side—and once they’ve all been announced, we can leave the thrones and mingle. Bow to each of the rulers as they come by.” 

They had, at least, practiced his bow. Arc swallows back the dread in his throat; all he has to do is stand beside her and greet the other royals, it’s easy enough. For a moment, they linger outside the entrance to the ballroom, until an official-sounding voice announces the King. “We’re next,” Ciara whispers to him, eyes glinting with excitement. “You ready?”

He nods back at her, and the voice calls, “Accompanied by Sir Arc...Princess Angelica of Astoria!” They step into the ballroom, greeted with applause. Arc doesn’t think he’s ever been in a place this lavish; the walls are white, accented in deep gold, and the floors are polished to a gleam. The ceiling looks hand-painted, ornately decorated in constellations and swirling designs, and crystal chandeliers dangle over their heads, casting a golden glow over the whole room. He tries not to look too awe-struck. 

They make their way to the platform on which the thrones rest, Ciara nodding and smiling and waving at the other nobles as they pass. She stands next to her father, and Arc takes his place on her other side, placing his hands behind his back and trying, for all the world, to look like he belongs there. He wonders suddenly if he’s stood too close to her, and if it would make things worse for him to shift over now, and if his indecision is showing on his face—

And then, almost imperceptibly and hidden from the ballroom’s view by the folds of her dress, Ciara reaches over and links her pinky with his. It’s a tiny gesture, a friendly reassurance, but Arc feels a tide of warmth swell in his chest all the same. He lets his gaze flit to her for just a moment, and her lips are graced with a small smile as she tugs his finger gently. 

His breath hitches, and he fights to keep his face a passive neutral as the herald announces the next kingdom and he turns his attention back to the doorway.

“Presenting King Hugo, Queen Luciana, and their son Prince Isaac of Catalias!” 

Arc’s stomach turns as the couple enters, trailed by their son, all three of them swathed in lavish red and gold. Their reputation precedes them; he knows little about the prince, but the king and queen are infamous for their hoarding of wealth, their favorance of the rich nobles and landowners of their kingdom over the common people. Arc knows them best for what they had done to Seagate. 

His hand twitches for his sword, but he fights against the instinct.

True to form, the two have a haughty look about them, all starched clothes and stiff smiles as they bow to Ciara and the King. The two of them return the greeting with Arc following their lead—grudgingly.

“I am so pleased you could join us tonight,” the King smiles, a little tight-lipped. “It is high time that Astoria and Catalias united again.”

King Hugo nods back. “I couldn’t agree more. The honor is ours.” 

Arc detects a veiled sort of tension between the two of them, hidden well underneath the cordial formalities. He glances at Isaac, whose eyes are trained intently on Ciara even as he and his parents move to greet the other guests. Something about it is unsettling.

He’s so focused on Isaac that he almost misses the herald’s announcement of the next kingdom. “Queen Damyanti, and her children Princess Aadhya and Prince Kavan of Khurjan!”

Queen Damyanti is the picture of elegance, draped in silver silk that almost seems to glow against her dark skin. Aadhya looks around fifteen, with the same deep eyes and regal expression, and Kavan must be ten or so. He grins toothily as the three of them approach the thrones and bow.

The King’s expression is much warmer now. “Queen Damyanti. It has been too long. I trust Khurjan is doing well?”

“Not quite as well as Astoria, perhaps,” she replies, and it’s teasing, no sharpness to it. “This ball is absolutely lovely. Princess Angelica, you look so beautiful. Just like your mother. I was so sorry to hear of her passing.”

Ciara’s eyes go soft. “Thank you, Queen Damyanti,” she nods back. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you.”

“You as well. It’s a shame your sister couldn’t make it, but hopefully we’ll all gather again soon.” She gives a small, departing nod and joins the rest of the nobles, Aadhya giving them a bright-eyed smile and Kavan waving enthusiastically as they follow her. Ciara laughs. 

“And finally...King Jesper of Vysalt!”

Arc is confused for a moment; he wonders if he had remembered the name of Vysalt’s king wrong. Then a young man with a head of dark curls and a smattering of freckles against tawny brown skin enters, his crown just slightly crooked. His eyes are wide and dark, and a jagged, white scar cuts across his cheekbone. He can’t be much older than they are.

“He’s the king?” Arc whispers to Ciara under his breath as Jesper makes his way over to them. “How old is he?”

Her expression twists a little in sympathy. “Seventeen. He wasn’t supposed to inherit the throne so soon. His parents were killed when Ryker’s army took over his kingdom.”

Arc isn’t sure what to say to that. He knows what it’s like to lose everything to Ryker—he can picture the flames every time he shuts his eyes. But he hadn’t known about Vysalt or the fate of its royals. They had been close allies with Seagate at one point, one of the only other kingdoms without much wealth, and their king and queen had been known for their generosity. 

Somehow Arc had thought the damage had been done to Seagate alone, but now he wonders how the other kingdoms fared, if they suffered just as much. If any of them came out as unscathed as Astoria did.

“Your Majesties,” Jesper says as he bows, and there’s a note of pity in the King’s expression as he returns the gesture. Arc can only imagine how he feels about someone so close to his daughter’s age having to run a kingdom on his own. 

“King Jesper. How are you doing?” 

It’s a more personal question than he had asked the other royals, Arc notes. Jesper smiles easily; it’s soft, highlights his deep dimples and makes his dark eyes glimmer. “Well, thank you. Vysalt is recovering with time. As am I,” he adds, voice quieting for a moment.

The King nods back. “That’s good to hear. Let us know if there’s anything Astoria can do to help.”

Something flickers in Jesper’s expression, hard to read and gone so quickly that Arc wonders if he imagined it. The young king bows again before moving to join the others, but not before he catches Arc’s eye and smiles warmly. It surprises him—the other royals had hardly given him a second glance—but he returns it with one of his own. Beside him, Ciara lifts an eyebrow, her expression a mixture of amusement and something else he can’t place. 

“What?” he asks quietly, and she shakes her head, glancing away. 

“Nothing.”

He wants to pry, but the King is clearing his throat, getting ready to address the room. The chatter dies down as all eyes turn to him.

“My fellow Astorians,” he says in his deep, booming voice, sounding more formal than Arc has ever heard him, “and my guests from our neighboring kingdoms...I am honored to welcome you to our castle, and so pleased that we could all be in attendance tonight.”

Not all of us, Arc thinks, but no word of Seagate comes up. 

The King continues, “For decades, our kingdoms have been isolated and divided by Ryker’s armies. We have long suffered under his forces, but his threat is gone for good. Thus, tonight is more than a council; it is a symbol of our victory, a symbol of our unity as we move forward and rebuild. So enjoy yourselves! After all, we have so much to celebrate!”

To Arc, the sentiment feels hollow. He got his revenge, and of course he’s glad that Ryker can’t hurt anyone else, but it doesn’t change the fact that Seagate is in ruins. It feels suddenly difficult to celebrate with the weight of his village’s absence lingering in the air around him. The rest of the partygoers don’t seem to share his hesitance, though; the room breaks into applause and cheers, several of the guests raising their goblets jovially. 

Ciara gives him a subtle nudge, jolting him out of his thoughts. “Now we get to mingle,” she grins, leading him off the throne platform and towards the crowd. 

He follows dutifully as she heads toward the table where the other kingdoms’ royals have gathered, Astoria’s king staying behind to greet the other royals. Queen Damyanti is in conversation with King Hugo and Queen Luciana, but she doesn’t seem entirely pleased about it, and Jesper and Kavan are laughing at something Aadhya has said. Isaac hovers next to them, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. He has his father’s golden hair and clear blue eyes, but the frown on his face is entirely his mother’s.

It disappears, though, the moment he sees Ciara approaching them. “Princess Angelica,” he greets her, with a little too much enthusiasm for Arc’s liking, “I’m so honored to finally meet you. You’re even more radiant in person.” Before she can say anything, he takes her hand and kisses it swiftly. Arc narrows his eyes.

Ciara gives a forced-sounding chuckle and curtseys, pulling her hand back. “Thank you, Prince Isaac. I’m glad you could make it. Allow me to introduce Sir Arc, my guard and escort for the night.”

Arc bows—and if he never has to bow to another pompous royal again, he thinks, it’ll be too soon—and Isaac offers him a dismissive sort of half-smile. Any further interaction they would’ve had then is thankfully avoided by the other royals noticing Ciara’s arrival.

“Hi, Princess Angelica!” Aadhya says brightly, with a neat little dip of a curtsey, “I’m Aadhya.” When Ciara and Arc begin to return the gesture, she waves her hand with a tiny scoff. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. Formalities. Just come sit.” She returns to her chair and pats the seat next to her, and Arc decides right there that he likes her.

Ciara takes the offered chair, and Arc takes the only other open spot, in between her and King Jesper. As Ciara launches into conversation with Aadhya, Jesper turns to him. 

“Hi,” he says, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I’m Jesper.”

Arc bites back a laugh at the unnecessary introduction. “I know who you are, Your Highness,” he replies lightly.

“I know. I was just trying to give you an opening to tell me who you are.”

Oh. That’s unexpected. There’s no prerogative behind his words, no assertion; Jesper’s grin is almost bashful, his voice easy and bright. He doesn’t sound like a king, just a seventeen-year-old boy trying to flirt. Arc can’t help but return his smile.

“I’m Arc,” he says. “Normally I’m a student at Knight School, but I’m the princess’s guard and escort for the night.” 

“Wait,” Aadhya pauses her conversation with Ciara to lean over and look at him, “You’re the Arc who defeated Ryker?” 

“I helped,” Arc says with a shrug, and the princess’s eyes go wide. She turns to Ciara.

“Were you there too?”

“I was—” Ciara pauses for a moment, “hiding. I was hiding. Arc got me to safety.” 

He grins a little at her, tongue between his teeth, knowing it must be killing her to hide what she was actually doing. She narrows her eyes and kicks his leg under the table in response, a silent shut up. He lifts his eyebrows, like, I didn’t say anything, and she rolls her eyes in an entirely non-subtle manner. 

Across the table, Queen Damyanti is watching their exchange with a raised eyebrow, Arc notices belatedly. She has a mildly amused look on her face, but doesn’t say anything about it. Instead, she states, “Battling Ryker face-to-face must have been quite the experience.” 

“What was it like?” Prince Kavan asks eagerly from beside his sister.

Aadhya elbows him. “Kavan,” she hisses, but Arc just grins.

“No worries. It was…” he trails, trying to think of what to say and suddenly aware that all the royals’ eyes are on him. He shifts in his seat. “It was scary, obviously. He had the Armor of Astoria, and a whole army with him, and most of the Astorian knights under his spell. But, y’know. We Knight School students are pretty formidable. We all took him on together. Wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise. I wasn’t half as scared as I would’ve been without my squadmates watching my back.”

He glances at Ciara, who smiles softly and nudges his foot, gentler this time. Jesper has that same unreadable look on his face and Aadhya has her chin propped in her hand, her expression amazed, but Queen Luciana gives a snide sort of scoff. 

“It’s a wonder it took so long to defeat him, then, if a group of students cut him down so easily,” she says. “Perhaps Ryker was never as great a threat as we all made him out to be.”

There’s a cut of silence across the table in which Jesper visibly stiffens. “With all due respect, Queen Luciana, Ryker’s attacks were devastating. Or have you forgotten what happened to my parents?” he demands, without any respect at all. His eyes are blazing. 

“I’m merely pointing out that the only real damage done was to the less...fortified kingdoms,” she sniffs. “Ryker only breached Catalias’s walls once, and he was driven out rather quickly.”

“Well, not every kingdom has Catalias’s resources.” Ciara sounds like she’s choosing her words carefully, frustration masked well behind them.

King Hugo gives a huff of a laugh; his blue eyes are cold. “My dear princess, you have no cause for indignation. Astoria lost the least to Ryker, what with your,” he waves a hand, “magic bubble.”

Ciara opens her mouth but falters, brow furrowed, and across the table, Queen Damyanti speaks up. “Nevertheless, Ryker was still a formidable enemy to all of us. We were only prepared for his attacks because he targeted Seagate and Vysalt first. And Seagate’s destruction is a clear example of his power.”

“Oh, even you can’t argue that Seagate was rotting long before Ryker got to it, Damyanti,” Hugo replies swiftly, and Arc’s breath catches in his throat. Queen Damyanti shrugs in agreement, her expression passive; Arc almost stands up, but Ciara’s hand on his leg underneath the table stops him. 

“Don’t,” she hisses, just barely loud enough for him to hear, “Let me handle this.”

Though as it turns out, she doesn’t have to. Before she has a chance to speak, Jesper is already bristling, his voice sharp: “As if Seagate’s corruption justifies the destruction of its people?”

“It’s thieves and criminals, you mean?” Isaac scoffs. “Seagate was a wasteland. The kingdoms are better off.”

The words ring in Arc’s ears, alongside the pounding of his blood. They sound painfully similar to what Ryker had said to him on the mountain—rats and thieves, I did the five kingdoms a favor—and he thinks fleetingly that he’s going to be sick. He’s always known that Seagate was looked down on by the other kingdoms, but hearing them say so casually that what happened, the flames and the destruction and all of the death, was deserved—

“The people were only thieves and criminals because Catalias took advantage of them,” Jesper argues. “I hope I don’t have to remind you that it was your government that poured money into the gangs of Seagate for their own profit and allowed them to stage a coup in the first place.”

The words are deadly and cold, but Arc feels a flash of admiration for Jesper; the king has no obligations towards Seagate, and yet defends it like his own. King Hugo’s gaze hardens. “You’re blaming Catalias for Seagate’s problems?” he says with a derisive laugh. “If anything, Ryker’s attacks only revealed that Seagate was a kingdom full of people that weren’t worth saving.”

“That’s enough,” Ciara says abruptly. Her hand tightens on Arc’s leg, and he can no longer tell if he’s the one trembling or if she is. There’s this burning fire behind her eyes; she looks, Arc thinks briefly, the same way she does in battle. “What happened to Seagate was a devastating tragedy, and I won’t let you treat it as otherwise. Those who disagree aren’t welcome here.”

It’s a weighted statement, one she doesn’t entirely have the formal authority to make, but no one dares to contest it. A heavy silence settles over all of them. Arc doesn’t know how long he can sit there with all the heat under his skin; he doesn’t remember when his hand found the hilt of his sword, only that he’s gripping it tight enough that the leather bites into his palm. He wants to stand up and tell them that none of them would be here if it weren’t for him, a thief from Seagate. In truth, the only thing holding him back is Ciara. In a battle between her steady hand and the storm in his chest, she wins without even trying.

He doesn’t say anything or look at her, but her gaze flits to him for a moment and she just knows, standing up. Before she even opens her mouth, Isaac is on his feet too. “Going so soon?” he asks. “Would you care to dance, Princess?”

She looks at him coolly for a moment. “I would, actually.” And then, she turns to Arc, offering him her hand, “Sir Arc, dance with me?”

Arc blinks up at her and takes it as he stands. “Absolutely, Princess,” he says, letting her lead him away from the table and glancing back only long enough to catch the dumbfounded expression on Isaac’s face.

[anxiousstark]

S2 07 | Restraint

BIG MASTERLIST | TW REWRITE

Stiles Stilinski x Reader! Half-sibling!Mccall

Word count: 

Warnings: Mentions of injuries, murder, swearing (always).

A/N: This is more likely a filler chapter. I swear as chapters go on they get better! I’m so excited for those ones to come out!

↪ PLEASE RESPECT MY WORK. DON’T COPY, TRANSLATE OR CLAIM THEM AS YOURS. NOT ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANOTHER. ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.

"You will not go within 50 feet of Jackson Whittemore. You will not speak to him. You will not approach him. You will not assault or harass him physically or psychologically." Noah Stilisnki glanced at us with deception. It broke my heart to see him feeling so ashamed of us. If only he knew everything that was going on.

Jackson had told his father about us, and now Scott, Stiles, and I had a restraint order.

The Hazel-eyed boy gazed around. "What about school?"

"You can attend classes while attempting to maintain a 50 - foot distance."

"Bu-. Okay, what if we both have to use the bathroom at the same time and there's only two stalls available and they're only right next to each other?" Mr. Stilisnki, Melissa, and Jackson's dad sighed, crossing their arms over their chest. "I'll just hold it."

Stiles was bickering with his dad. "Move," Melissa pushed Scott and me slightly. She focused her gaze on her son. "It's not just this. Although, a restraining order is a new low that I didn't think that you would reach quite this soon. It's everything on top of it. The completely behaviour, the late nights coming home, having to beg Mr. Harris for you to make up that chemistry test that you missed." She now looked at me. "I truly didn't expect you to follow whatever these two had in mind while preparing such a stupid joke to Jackson." I felt a pang on my chest, biting my lower lip, deciding that it was better to remain silent.

"I missed a chemistry test?"

"Really, Scott? Really? I have to ground you. I am grounding you. You are grounded." Her eyes again on me. "That goes for you too, young lady. I have to ground you too." I nodded.

"What about work?"

"Fine.Other than work. And no TV."

"My TV's broken." And I didn't watch TV.

"Then no computer."

"I need the computer for school." True.

"Then no, uh, no Stiles."

"What?!" Stiles and I snapped at the same time.

"No Stiles?!" Said boy came closer to us.

"No Stiles!" She shouted, making me and the boy back up. Damn, Melissa was quite scary when she yelled. "And no more car privileges. Give me your keys. Give 'em to me!" Her hands shook a little as she tried to take the car key. "Oh, for the love of God."

"Mom, you want me to-"

"No."

"Mom, come on, let me just, mom. Mom!" He grabbed her trembling hands.

"What is going on with you? Is this about Allison?"

"Do you really wanna know?

"Yeah. Is this about your father?" Stiles nodded in the back, telling Scott to lie. I was too distracted by the mention of our sperm donor. "It is, isn't it? Okay, you know what, um-. We'll talk about this at home. I'm gonna go get the car." It made me think. Why did he leave Scott and Melissa?

"So did you guys get into much trouble?" Allison asked me, her right hand tightly clutching her bag. "Melissa seems like a woman who has a strong attitude."

"She does." I nodded. "She took Scott's car keys, TV, my radio, and no Stiles." I pouted. I opened the door of the library, motioning for her to go first. She grinned at me.

"Woah, no Stiles." She winked while I looked at her confused. "Must be hard for you."

"Uh? What do you mean?" She didn't answer, gazing at the camera that was installed on the top of the wall, walking directly to a determined place. I wanted to ask her again, but if the Argents knew that she was talking to me, hell would break. That is why when we entered the library, I walked away from her, finding Scott and Stiles.

I smiled at both boys, Allison separated from us by a big shelf. From one of the spaces between the books, she slid a tablet. "It's everything Lydia can translate. And trust me, she was very confused."

"Yeah, what'd you tell her?"

"That we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures." She replied, making Scott chuckle.

"I am part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures." He gazed at both of them, feeling insulted.

"I-I do too." Stiles's head turned towards me as he heard my confession.

"You do?" I nodded. "Want to come to my house and play together? We could complete all the missions, I'm already on the second part of the new event that finishes on-"

"No way!" I interrupted him. "It started one month ago! How did you get so far?"

Scott grinned, interrupting our passionate talk about our online community. "Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?"

"Not really. But Stiles was right about the murderers."

"Yes!" His aggressive gesture celebrating that he was right almost hit me on the face.

"It calls the Kanima a weapon of vengeance. There's a story in there about this South American priest who uses the Kanima to execute murderers in his village."

"All right, see? So maybe it's not all that bad." I nodded along.

"Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to."

I groaned, punching Stiles's arm playfully. "Why did you have to talk so soon?"

"All bad, all very, very bad."

"Here's the thing, though. The Kanima's actually supposed to be a werewolf. But it can't be-" Allison couldn't finish her sentence as the person in charge of the library got closer to her, trying to organize some books.

"Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it." Scott finished fo her. A chill ran through my body, I knew what was in my past.

"Okay, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could've told you that myself." If I was the same as Jackson, a Kanima. Would I be a werewolf after discovering what manifested this all?

"What if- It has something to do with his parents? His real parents." That could be me too. Jackson and I could have ended up being this monster for similar reasons.

"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?"

"Lydia might."

"What if she doesn't know anything?"

"Well, he doesn't have a restraining order against me, so- I'll talk to him myself." That wasn't a good idea. Jackson wouldn't be able to control his instincts if he was mad. And yeah, Allison was a pretty great hunter, but she could still get killed.

"Okay, what do I do?"

"You have a make-up exam, remember?" She grabbed his hand. "Promise me."

"Are they going to have sex right now? Here?" Stiles chuckled after my comment, grabbing my hand, taking me away from them to give privacy.

Scott was trying to past the chemistry test that he didn't attend, and I hoped that he would pass it. Stiles had spent the night before it helping him as much as possible, without Melissa knowing, of course. Remember, no Stiles.

Allison went to talk with Jackson and Stiles with Lydia. Allison didn't let me go with her, saying that she could protect herself, but I felt like something was going to be wrong. Stiles decided that Lydia would shy away if we went in a group to talk to her, so I was resting my back against the lockers while he followed the strawberry blonde girl.

I heard the ticking of a clock inside my head, I groaned. "Y/N?" Scott? Was I hearing Scott inside my head? "Allison needs me. Go get Stiles, he is in trouble. Keep an eye on him?"

"What about your exam?"

"They need me. She needs me, please."

"Go get Allison," I whispered aloud. I started walking fastly, trying to find Stiles. I did, and he was following Erica.

"You can't tell Derek, okay? There's a lot more to this that you don't know about. And just because you got the Alpha bite makeover doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people."

"Why not? That's all anybody ever used to do to me. I used to have the worst crush in the world on you. Yeah, you, Stiles. And you never once even noticed me. Exactly how you're not noticing me right now." Her hand rested on his chest, and I could feel hot all over. I didn't think twice, walking fastly to them, grabbing her wrist.

"I told you," I growled. "Don't touch-"

I was interrupted when the boy's locker room opened, Scott flying in the air, falling brutally into the ground, groaning. Jackson jumped on him, not being able to control himself. I ended up jumping on top of Jackson, trying to free Scott from him. But Whittemore punched me on the chin. Still, I continued fighting until Erica grabbed Jackson, and Stiles grasped me, lifting me from the floor. His arms were tight around my waist, mouth near my ear, letting me know that my eyes were ice blue. "Close them. Close your eyes. Breathe with me." He whispered.

We all ended up getting detention, Jackson had gone out of the room. He was pale and crazily sweating. When he came back, he still looked like he was going to pass out. Mr. Harris had left us on our own, letting us know that we needed to organize the library. I hated that dude.

Erica had let us know that Jackon's parents died in a car accident. Her father was the insurance investigator. Every time he sees Jackson drive his Porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's 18. During all this, Stiles was sitting next to her, and she tried to lowkey flirt with him.

Ugh.

"It means he was born after his mom died by c-section. They had to pull him out of her dead body."

"So was it an accident or not?" Allison and I were staring at Jackson while organizing some books. The sooner we finished, the sooner we could get the hell out here.

"The word all over the report is inconclusive."

"Then his parents could have been murdered?" My parents weren't killed. My mom was a murderer, and my dad was an asshole who didn't have the heart to take care of any of his kids.

"If they were, then it falls in line with the kanima myth. You know? It seeks out and kills murderers."

"Then what about me?" I whispered.

"You aren't a kanima," Hazel-eyes peered deep into mine. "I told you before. We would have known that you were the Kanima like we knew that Jackson was." His hand rested on my back. "Don't worry about that. We will continue investigating."

After comforting me, Scott decided that we had to talk to Jackson. They continued talking, but I decided to ignore them. I felt dizzy, so I continued grabbing books, placing them where they belonged. My eyes went to read the title of the book 'Close your eyes, Y/N'. I blinked, a couple of times until those words disappeared, and the real title of the book appeared.

I grabbed another book, glancing at it. 'Obey or they die.'

"Stiles," I grabbed his arm, but he was trying to talk to Allison and Scott, deciding what to do with Jackson. "Stiles," He finally looked at me, a questioning look on his face. "W-What is the title of this book?"

He grabbed the books from my arms, still confused. "To kill a mockingbird." I nodded after his reply, smiling and placing the book where it belonged. I walked around, trying to find Jackson. But I found Matt, laying on the floor, blood dripping from the back of his neck.

"What the heck?" I heard Scott behind me when I turned around to look at him, glass shattered from above us, books falling. Scott threw his body on me, trying to shield me from the glass. "You okay?" I nodded my head, then he called for Erica. We heard her scream, and then, a thud.

We both quickly got up from the floor. We had to check on Erica, Allison, and Stiles. Stiles, was he okay?

Scott ran to Allison, and Stiles asking both of them if they were alright. I took a step to go to them but was stopped by Jackson. Half of his face was squamous, yellow eyes. He pushed me with incredible strength, my back hitting something, making me groan in pain.

Stiles clutched my hand, moving me to them. "Hey, hey. You okay?" His worried eyes examined every part of my face.

"Hurts like a bitch." I answered, grinning to lower his anxiety. Jackson was now acting odd, he was acting like the kanima. He was being controlled. He began writing on a blackboard "STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU." Then he flew out of the library, smashing his body against a window.

We got into our feet, Stiles and I running towards Erica while the other two were too focused on the board. "Whoa, hey, hey, hey, hey! I think she's having a seizure." Stiles took Erica into his arms.

"He's alive." Allison checked Matt's pulse.

"Hey, we need to get her to a hospital."

"Derek - only to Derek." Even if her body was shaking, she just wanted to go to Hale.

"When we get her to the hospital-"

"To Derek. To Derek."

"Go." Allison looked deeply into my- Scott's eyes.

"I'm staying here with you."

"He can't take her alone. Not like this. And Matt - I've got to call an ambulance for him, just go."

"Guys," I interrupted. "Take Erica to Derek, now. I will stay here with Allison," I gazed at Scott, who was utterly anxious. "We will be alright." I felt other eyes on me when I turned my head I was met with Stiles's eyes. "Taker her to Derek, okay? Then, come back to me." He nodded.

.

.

TAGLIST: @og-baby-ob14 - @savemypostcards - @cas-loves-pizza - @used-avocado - @mvrylee - @bilesxbilinskixlahey - @honeydoll-stark - @arieltheworldisamess - @softpeteparker - @kit-kat-katie99 - @thatsuperherosidekick - @bexbetterxthanxwords - @big-galaxy-chaos - @littlemiss-forgotten - @enchantedcruelsummer - @coldfreakeggsexpert - @merla123 - @sammypotato67 - @weirdowithnobeardo - @maggiesblogsblog - @itskindyl - @bobo-bush - @moongoddesskiana - @multifandxm353 - @irwxnhugsx - @xoprincessmel - @iclosetgeek - @andreagf956 - @niawoods - @anerroroccurrrrred - @perrytheplatypus11 - @trustfundparker - @nmriia - @steve-harringtonnn - @trustfundparker -

People in bold means it doesn’t let me tag them.

[ginjointsintheworld]

I don’t really remember Iggy and Martin talking about the secret baby things other than at that one therapy session with Iggy’s student though? Unless I’m wrong. Sometimes they build up huge issues for half or whole seasons then just fix them in one episode and it’s never mentioned again. Like Iggy and the severer baby and Max and the custody battle for Luna last season. I don’t really get why they tackle these huge things knowing they’re not going to give the resolution half the same investment as they gave the problem. I’m really hoping Lauren and Leyla don’t get this treatment because their conflict isn’t something that should be glossed over just so they end up together.

i wanted to wait until i finished watching the end of the secret adoption arc before i answered this to be properly refreshed, but i have to respectfully disagree with you on these two storylines, anon.

i think the way they resolved iggy and martin's issues was done in a pretty satisfying way, at least for me. the entirety of iggy's screen time in 2x10 was dedicated to sitting down and talking with martin honestly and raw about the core of what drives iggy to do things like this and addressed martin's insecurities as well in the relationship. like, i'm not gonna lie, i'd give an arm and leg for leyla and lauren to be able to sit down and talk openly like that for the entirety of an episode. plus from what i remember moving forward, iggy doesn't really do anything like this again, or at least in the personal sense that it would impact his family life. so i'm not sure it would have made sense or them to continue discussing it past this point? i'd actually argue that the natural second act of this storyline was addressing iggy's eating disorder and body image because his lack of self worth was what drove him to overcompensate by constantly doing good deeds. the eating disorder storyline has actually been running in parallel since s1 so that groundwork has been there for a long time. if anything, what the writers might have left hanging/unfinished is the idea of iggy being narcissistic but i have to finish watching s2 to make that call.

as for max's custody battle storyline, i think that was resolved in a fairly solid manner too. it all culminated during arbitration when georgia's parents got everything off their chest about why they were pursing custody of luna and tbh i think those were things max needed to hear. can we say the grandparents didn't have a point when they said max wasn't thinking about luna when he ran into a room full of chemicals and nearly orphaned her? that max never put georgia first and she died knowing that? after rewatching s1, i genuinely do not think an argument can be made against that. max was still at the hospital doing medical director duty while undergoing carpet bombing equivalent of chemo instead of resting at home and prioritizing getting better for his family. georgia literally tells max at one point, 'i will not have my daughter growing up thinking she's not the most important thing in her father's life.' max needed to be confronted with all of that. so when he shows up at the grandparents' doorstep he's resolved in being better and more present for luna and we as an audience understand that he's willing to put the ugliness of this custody battle behind them because they are one of luna's last connections to georgia and he doesn't want luna to lose that. now i will say is, it's debatable whether the writers have shown max prioritizing luna yet but the custody battle storyline was resolved 1 episode before the s3 finale so it's still relatively new. and i guess it's what they're trying to do with the london storyline but that's a different set of muddled waters.

so all's this to say, yes, i don't think lauren and leyla's conflict should be glossed over. but i also don't think the writers have such a bad track record that i'd inherently distrust them to reasonably handle it.

[gothiccwhore]

13 reasons why season 4 review

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS IN THIS!! if you haven’t finished the season yet i suggest you skip this!! :)

also this will be super long because i tend to ramble and i’ll give reviews for each character/most of the storylines! ((half way through reading this i read @jessica-acholas and @analuciacortez reviews and i agreed with a lot of it so you guys should all read their reviews as well!!))

over all ranking:

as a whole, i would give this season a 7/10. i originally was gonna give it a 6 but they get an extra point for all the zalex scenes we got, and i also was thinking of the mess that was s3 so i had to give them that extra point too

storylines/the season as a whole:

my biggest concern/annoyance with this season was how rushed or repetitive it was

every storyline this season was either super rushed or super dragged out- no in between. the fact that we only had 10 episodes as opposed to the normal 13 probably had a part in this, which idk why they cut the episodes short. let’s start off with the dragged out storylines, one of them being clay’s nightmare sequences. i honestly did like his therapy scenes because it was good to see him get help and he was a much better narrator than ani, but his nightmare scenes were so long i literally had to skip all of them i got so bored. another dragged out storyline was jesstin, which i probably will get complains about. i think they have their cute scenes and i do love both characters, especially jess being tied with alex for #1 and justin being in my top 5. but my god their storyline/relationship is beyond repetitive, its been the exact same thing for 4 whole seasons. they break up, have a long speech about how they’re not right for each other, spend the whole season pining after each other, make up in the end and then have another speech about how in love they are. like writers please make up your mind- do you want them together or not?? we also had another repetitive love triangle this season just like every other with justin jess and diego as opposed to the justin jess and alex one for like 2 seasons.

now for the rushed storylines, one of them being alex’s relationship with charlie. i love charlie ever since we saw him in s3, he’s so pure and a lovable guy and i love how he loves alex. however they happened like out of nowhere?? alex went from being in love with jess for 3 seasons to being in love with 2 people in 4 episodes. if you blinked you would’ve missed the “build up” to their relationship, and honestly it felt like they just randomly threw in some relationship for alex because they didn’t wanna have zalex happen. i’m not saying this to be bitter (maybe i am lol) but zalex had 3 seasons worth of build up and could’ve been an amazing slow burn relationship for the whole season, instead they rushed another relationship. zach is also another character who had a rushed storyline with his drinking problem, which literally happened out of nowhere too?? he just showed up this season drunk in the first scene and drunk in literally every single scene we saw him in. this storyline also never got resolved, it just stuck there like the writers didn’t even care to end or resolve it. just like how zalex could’ve worked better for alex, it could’ve worked better for zach too since his drinking problem could’ve been helped by alex. i swear the writers just hate us at this point

characters review:

clay: one of my favorites honestly, he’s in my top 5. sure clay has had his moments where he’s been annoying and extra but so has literally every single character in this show- besides tony lol. like i stated above my main concern was how dragged out his sequences were this season, like i couldn’t watch all of them. also another huge problem i had with him this season was how big of a jerk he was to justin??? for like half of the season he was rude to him and would give snarky remarks/hints like when he was surprised colleges would even want justin, which i don’t blame justin for thinking that clay expected him to just relapse again and throw his life away. the same can be said for when clay said all those awful things to him at the party- his parents not being his and not trusting him like wtf? i felt SO BAD for justin there i was expecting clay to apologize to him. on the topic of the party episode, he literally crashed zach’s car and sent them flying 30 ft in the air just to leave zach all alone to literally die?? then there’s also the part where he and ani outed alex before he was ready to fully come out which sucks, that’s something you should never do but i know he was just worried about alex and didn’t want him to get heartbroken over winston - but why didn’t you tell him sooner??

ani: like i said with clay, i hated how she outed alex before he was ready to come out. i don’t understand how her and clay both didn’t think to tell everyone - especially ALEX who literally killed bryce and would’ve gotten hurt the most about winston?? they both knew that winston and alex both knew each other and met at the hillcrest party, so why not tell him winston is gonna be looking for information to clear monty’s name?? alex is literally the only person you guys SHOULDVE told first?? however i did enjoy her this season as opposed to s3, she had a great redemption and i liked that she finally apologized to jess for sleeping with bryce. she also wasn’t up everyone’s business this season and i loved all her scenes with jess, especially the prom ones

alex: HAAAAAA BI KING WHO GOT HIS HAPPY ENDING AND DIDNT GO TO JAIL FOR FLOORING THAT RAPIST!!! HOW DO YOU BRYCE AND MONTY STANS FEEL THAT BOTH OF THEM ARE 6FT UNDER WHILE ALEX IS FREE 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 i’m so happy he got his happy ending and became secure in his sexuality, that’s all i ever wanted for him since s1. i’m not saying this because i’m biased and he’s my favorite character, but he truly was one of the only characters who didn’t annoy me this season. he had a great arc even if it was super rushed, we finally got a zalex mutual love confession (i’m still bitter that we didn’t get our endgame but in my head we did), and i love how even if he and justin had their differences in the past seasons he was there for him in the end. i don’t really have any complaints about him besides the whole charlie thing being super rushed and so random?? why did the show put 2 bottoms together like we wouldn’t notice 🤨🤨

jessica: jess is my favorite character tied with alex, both of them have been since s1. i loved how she continued to be her badass self this season but a lot of the things she did/said kinda rubbed me the wrong way?? like i applauded her for calling out ani for judging who she was sleeping with after ani slept with bryce, but when you think about it diego literally is a rape apologist too?? jess tyler is literally your friend why would you date the guy who’s defending his rapist?? also don’t get me started how diego treated clay horribly this season, he was suffering with his mental illness and he played pranks on him and called him a psycho??? clay has always been there for you jess and he’s also one of your friends why would you still hang out with diego?? also in the first episode where justin breaks up with her and she got mad at him i got upset with her, justin made valid points he’s a recovering drug addict who needs to focus on himself not a relationship. i don’t understand why she got so mad at that, it was lowkey ooc for her? overall i still loved her i just hate how the writers reduce her to only a guy each season, but she still was amazing over all and looked beautiful!! her scenes with ani were great and i cried so much at her scenes with justin at the end.

zach: another one of my favorite characters who the writers did so dirty this season. i’ve loved zach since s1 as well, he’s in my top 5 and i’ve always loved how even if he was a jock he was still good hearted and there for everyone. i hated how in this season the writers forgot all of his traits and basically wrote him as a new person?? his drinking storyline was beyond random and had no build up/not even a resolution in the end. where even was his mother or sister this entire season. the show always paid him dirt and never focused on his home life when it was clear he didn’t have the best relationship with his mom. i’m so annoyed at how they wrote him as a “drunk” all season and didn’t even acknowledge his struggles. his scenes with alex were great, and i loved every single one of them. i’m still dying on the zalex hill and saying that they missed the perfect opportunity to make them a couple, it would’ve helped his storyline just like alex’s.

justin: oh my god, when i say my heart broke in the last episode it really did. i remember hating justin in s1, and then loving him in s2 with him being in my top 5 favorite characters. he had the best redemption arc, and i loved his portrayal of a recovering drug addict. i’m thinking now and he also didn’t annoy me this season just like alex, he was great and i’m so sad how they basically stomped all over his arc by killing him. it’s clear the show only killed him off because clay started the show by losing someone he loved, and ended it the same way. him dying by aids was so random and made 0 sense, i honestly thought he was gonna die from an overdose when discussing theories because i had a feeling it was either him or alex who were gonna die. they didn’t have a buildup for his hiv/aids- only added scars/bruises throughout the season which no one noticed if they weren’t closely examining him. i’m so saddened by his death and i will be planning a funeral for him along with zalex’s 💔.

tony: honestly a great character throughout the whole show, never was annoying and always was there for literally everyone. tony has always been a fighter and has been through so much without showing it, and i’m glad he got to go to college at the end and see his sister. i’m also so happy we got more scenes between tony and caleb this season because they are one of my favorite couples and are so underrated in the show and with fans ❤️ i was upset when he didn’t believe tyler, but i understood where he was coming from because he just wanted to be safe.

tyler: he’s so pure and i also loved his arc throughout the show, i’m so happy he has friends who love him and him and estela were so cute! i wish they explored more about him and the sheriffs working together because i honestly was confused about that before rewatching scenes. i also hate how they made him feel bad about monty dying when it literally was not his fault a rapist got killed in prison- monty’s rotting 6 ft under hello let’s celebrate to that!! i also loved how he was so supportive when he found out about winston and alex on the camping trip, he seemed worried about alex when winston said they broke up. i also love how alex was the only one who truly believed in him the entire show.

bryce: good riddance!! when i say i yelled when jess saw him when she was burning the tape why did he smile like pennywise?2@/@20so glad we saw no flashbacks of him this season and that he was just an annoying ghost, but even that annoyed me

monty: just like bryce good riddance!!! thank god we didn’t get that much of a redemption arc because i would’ve lost it- even though i literally rolled my eyes every time his ghost tried to say something that was supposed to make us feel bad for him. he’s rotting with bryce 🧚🏻‍♀️🤩

charlie: i loved him, he was so nice to everyone and so pure. i just wish they let him and alex be just friends because that came out of nowhere. i hope he’s baking more cookies and being happy

caleb: such a supportive bf i love him and tony, wish we saw more of him but i hope he’s living his best life <3

winston: he gave me joe from you vibes the entire season why was he creepy lowkey s:@:&;&!392&-03@3&4 nobody @ me but for a second i thought him and alex were cute during the bowling scene then i remembered who he was. he was a rape apologist which i hated, like dude he’s dead get over it i promise that dick probably wasn’t that good that you have to do a whole fbi investigation for him. the fact that he fell in love with monty and alex after like a week is sending me oddjdkckdkdj but i too am in love with alex standall so i see where he’s coming from, he gets points for not turning alex in at the end but i expected him to be a bigger villain this season but thank god he wasn’t because i would’ve floored him

chloe: my best girl who i wish we saw more of we only saw her for like 3 scenes?? the show did her dirty even in s3 she should’ve had more scenes her storyline was amazing :/ i did enjoy her and zach’s friendship it was so refreshing to see a m/f friendship and i’m glad they didn’t make them romantic. i didn’t expect her and scott to date but go girl!!

diego: literally came out of nowhere where were you for the other 3 seasons? i literally laughed every time he would talk about missing monty like who cares if he got you into football he was a rapist no one cares. i hated how he made clay go literally insane by pulling those pranks on him and calling him psycho?? “why’d you bring a knife” MF YOU GAVE IT TO HIM???? he was nice at the end so i guess i’ll give him some points and he also wasn’t a HUGE jerk i liked how him and justin helped each other when the cop was being racist/a dick and that he seemed upset at justin’s funeral

estela: her and tyler were super cute together and i loved how she acknowledged what monty did and didn’t try to make excuses to defend him. also loved how she wanted to join HO and was completely different from monty

so overall that was my review of the season, i will miss the characters so much and zalex will continue to haunt me every night i cannot escape 💔 jess and alex are my emotional support characters who would’ve thought. selena gomez and the 13rw writers you will pay for your crimes this season!

[crocgirl420]

naddpod anon here, happy almost new year (it’s 9pm rn)!!! listened to the finale, it was grea. the amount of damage hardwon dealt rocked me to my core!!! jaw dropped at how big those numbers were. i thought thiala’s ideology was very interesting and i appreciated how she was a complex villain. i am also with you that they need to #releasetheletter. the last time i heard a true DND show finale was TAZ, so i expected to know more about how the characters lives resolved, but i appreciate the (1/3)

ambiguity because it allows us to revisit them later potentially! idk if they ever would but it’s nice to be able to create your own ending too. it makes me v happy to know that you hate amir actually bc a shitty ex of mine showed me jake and amir vids and i did Not Get It but now that i like jake i was like “do i have to admit that i was wrong” but i trust that no i was not! it was just amir throwing off the vibes. i am watching unsleeping city s2 but i’ve only seen the first 2 eps cause (2/3)

i’m still living at home (i’m going back to my college city on jan 3rd so i will have time to consume lots more content like the rest of eldermourne past ep. 1). i love that murph is a paladin again because as emily says, he just is one at heart and it’s nice to see him enjoy himself like that. i think it’s gonna take a bit of time for me to become attached to cody like the rest of the gang but i dig that he’s almost an antagonist in a way! (3/3)

Happy New year!!!!!!! I love this update, thank you so much for sharing. like truly a really nice note to end the year on. 

First, RELEASE THE LETTER. Jake said on a recent livestream that he sees it all the time because he typed it in his notes app and he doesn’t have a lot of notes or whatever so it’s just there whenever he opens the app. Idk if you have patron access/listen to the short rest, but for what it’s worth, after ep 99 Emily and Jake talked about their characters ~feelings for each other~ and it basically came down to Moonshine wasn’t interested in “settling down” or monogamy or whatever, and Hardwon just wanted to keep being her biggest fan. but they made it clear that there were def romantic feelings on both ends. 

Second, I agree that Thiala was a really good villain! Like was she wrong and evil? yes. But murph really captured the grayness of it all where she would frequently make good points but like.......okay the answer to that problem still isn’t fascism? But I remain steadfast in this: Thiala is SEXY

After the finale I did go insane a little bit over the Thiala/Alanis dynamic and made a Thialanis playlist which is my most listened-to playlist of 2020. The Light by Stars is on it and Angels by the xx and Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars and a few other songs and it TRULY taps into something absolutely feral in me. Yes I've drank half a bottle of champagne already tonight. But like imagine you’re a genius stoner wizard bitch and you just saved the world with your hot nun girlfriend and your jock best friend and then all of a sudden your nun girlfriend becomes a fucking genocidal fascist dictator and you have to dedicate your next FIVE LIFETIMES to finding a way to stop her that doesn’t allow another fascist dictator to rise to power in her stead? 

Third, I LOVE Cody. It might take you a second to warm up to him, but he builds a REALLY good dynamic with both Pete and Ricky. He really brings out the best in Pete and the worst in Ricky and it’s soooooo good. I just finished watching this week’s episode and I simply can’t get enough Ricky/Cody dynamic. 

POTENTIAL ELDERMOURNE SPOILERS BUT JUST STRUCTURALLY NOT PLOT-WISE: caldwell is on paternity leave (!!!!!!!!!!!) so they’re leaving the current characters behind for a second and cutting, game of thrones style, over to another part of the world with new characters, and they just announced today that LOU WILSON is going to guest for the entire arc! I'm soooo excited! I love Lou, I think he’s SO funny and he’s a fantastic role-player. I think he’ll bring some really intense role-play out of Jake and I'm excited to see it!

love you! happy new year!!!!!!!!!! please continue to keep me posted, it truly is such a delight

[jessicahambys]

charmed reboot s2 rant below the cut!

so I finished the first season of charmed reboot, started season 2, and got so upset half way through I started typing a rant about the changes that got too long I deleted it. but now a couple hours later I’m still just So Upset I have to type it out. I’m not watching the second season because the changes are too great. the new showrunners really did press reset on the show wow. I’m gonna miss lucy, niko, and parker. they really stripped maggie & mel both of their powers and their main supporting characters didn’t they? cause really niko and lucy don’t seem like they’ll be coming back since they’re attached to the old setting, and it’s a longshot if jada and parker will return from wherever they each went in s1 now that the new showrunners are changing everything. 

I don’t mind hacy, but as a non-shipper from s1, the fact that they are suddenly shoved in our face with sexual tension and dreams despite the fact that 3 weeks ago in canon macy lost the man she loved, really just confuses me and turns me off? i would have preferred a slow burn for them, since I really didn’t see much (if any?) indication that these two would become a Thing until that last episode of s1. like I know they had sentimental moments, but harry had sentimental moments with all the sisters. and when the show tipped over to macy/galvin come the second half of the season, i followed along with them. in fact, coming into watching this show I knew people shipped harry/macy and was prepared to see a lot of them in s1, but was thoroughly surprised at how little I got from the pairing (personally I got more from harry/maggie dynamic), that when they seemed to hint that harry had feelings for macy in the last episode, I was surprised. they really leaned into macy/gavin and harry/charity in s1, that now that they’re leaning hard and heavy into harry/macy right off the bat in s2, I’m just a little blindsided by it. I’m okay with the ship, I just don’t like that they seem to be leading the way with the plots this season, that this dynamic in particular is so big in the show already given that there seemed to be little lead up as to why it is that way. 

I also hate that maggie’s not in school - we saw her struggle with that decision in s1 before deciding to become a pysch major, and now because they’re moved to seattle she’s just like nah, no school just gonna be a receptionist to carry my weight? ugh. I hate that! I hate that all her plots from s1 are basically gone come s2 (her empathy abilities, her relationship with lucy & kappa, her confusion over pursuing school, her love for parker). I hate how this random assassin has moved their lives entirely, and I hate that they used that to move them from their home, because when they inevitably defeat this foe at the end of the season and can come out of hiding, we all know they won’t be returning to hilltowne. 

also, how are these girls supposed to protect all witches if only 1 of them have their powers? I know they’ll get their powers back eventually ofc (tho I hope it’s the same powers they had in s1 and not new ones - that’d just be another thing completely changing for no real reason other than that the new writers want CHANGE! so bad they’ll literally take away the powers the characters spent a whole season learning to channel)  but I’m not a fan of maggie & mel being totally helpless while macy retains her demon abilities (new abilities tbh? we never saw her burn shit before, the most her demon abilities did before was evil sight, give her a new language, and gave her access to dark spells - nothing as active as what she’s got s2). in s1 I felt macy kinda Took Charge the most and had the most active power and thus was the one most involved in the fights/wins (mel’s time stopping was great but not Huge in action scene potential, really macy took the lead there). Now it’s just even more blatant that the girls can’t do anything without macy, and I don’t like that. 

I’m just thoroughly upset of the new direction of the snow. I know the first season was fast, plots were resolved within 2-3 episodes and it was a lil cheesy, but I enjoyed it. it was light, and fun, and when a plot came around that I didn’t much care for (harry’s son, for instance), I knew they wouldn’t drag on, which I appreciated. I also really really enjoyed their array of supporting characters. lucy was a standout - everytime she came on the screen you knew fun things were going to happen, her dialogue alone being enjoyable. niko felt important, the whole rewriting history storyline was emotional, and her relationship with mel felt soulmate-y, and I hate that we didn’t get a proper resolution to the end of their relationship (literally what was that? niko woke up from her coma with all her memories right? she clearly still had feelings for mel, and she was aware mel was a witch now - a secret that was drifting them apart now revealed. by all measures they should have been moving closer together following these revelations to niko, instead mel just gave her a wave goodbye (niko still wearing her magic-resistant ring), and disappeared? and niko’s just cool with that??? especially since everyone beilives they all died, niko’s a pi who is aware of the dangers of being a witch for mel - surely she must not believe she’s dead right??). parker was maggie’s first love, their love akin to that of star-crossed lovers, what with him being  a demon and her a witch, and how much they fought for each other. their relationship was essential to the overarching plot in s1, and at the end of s2 it’s v v clear they still very much love each other despite parker’s need to gain control over his new full demonness. tho he promised to return when he regained control, I’m nervous with the new showrunners, they won’t bring him back, and if they do, it’ll be in a love triangle fashion he might lose with the introduction of jordan as maggie’s new li  (I feel like it’d be just like the new runners to prefer their own li over someone leftover from s1, despite how much that s1 li developed as his own character and came to be important in an “I’ll always love you” way to to maggie).

I’m just upset over all these new changes, and I’m not a fan of them in the slightest. I’m feeling the same way as this reviewer here for the most part, and I’m just not happy about it, because I thoroughly enjoyed season 1, and was excited at the possibilities moving into s2 with the charmed ones leading supernatural forces far and wide (especially excited to see new pixies since chloe was so cute) in hilltowne, I normally don’t have any problems with dark shows, but with such drastic changes all the way through, not just in tone, but in setting and relationship dynamics as well, I just have little to no appeal in watching anymore. anyways, I had to get this down and share bc I’ve been binging this show these last few days and getting so into the relationships and characters, and was so excited to watch s2, that being so thoroughly disappointed and shocked come watching s2 just really surprised me and I wasn’t prepared for it, so I had to rant

[sometimesrosy]

A fan asked Bob at SW4 if Bellarke will happen or not in s6 romantic wise and he laughed and said ‘mmmm..s7’ laughing. So do you still think that they were telling a 2 season story instead of postponing Bellarke till their relationship no longer runs its course?

I didn’t hear that. What I heard was Bob saying he couldn’t say anything about bellarke because it would all be a spoiler. So to me, anything he says after “I’m not telling you,” especially if it’s vague and he laughs while saying it, is not evidence. 

I’m just going to assume that he’s not going to tell us anything, no matter how much we want his statements to be confirmation or denial. And as that statement doesn’t say much, contradicts what he already said, and I did not see what he said or the context of it, it doesn’t make sense to consider it evidence before more information can clarify it.

When I talk about Bellarke, I’m not REALLY looking at the external commentary. I might take it into consideration, but as always, I am analyzing the TEXT. My speculation is based on the text. I DO listen when JR tells us what themes and stories he’s going to explore in the main story or in the character arcs. Because that’s part of understanding story. But I don’t take the commentary ABOUT the show to be the show itself. Everything they say has to be held up against what is happening in the story.

When people listen to actor comments at cons, especially after them saying they aren’t telling, and then use that as the ENTIRETY of their understanding, that’s not analysis. That’s gossip. I don’t like gossip. 

Taking what they say and applying it to the canon to see how that affects your interpretation makes it analysis. “If I look at s5 with this quote in mind, how does it affect the story or my understanding of the story.”

My theory that they were telling a s2 story didn’t actually come from Bellarke. It came from Raven, I think. When I felt dissatisfied at her lack of story and character development. She’s always gotten big character development before, so what happened? Murphy got all the character development, and usually his character arc is a side story. And then I was like, hey, he got more development than usual and Raven got less. Oh wait, that’s kind of like they just expanded the story to fit two seasons instead of just one.

And THEN I took that theory and started holding it up against all the other storylines. And i noticed that MANY of the storylines were left hanging. Madi becoming Heda, Kabby, Zaven, The Blake siblings, despite how IMPORTANT a story it was, it left us with Bellamy nearly denying that she’s his family? There’s no way that couldn’t feel unfinished. It’s too important to the entire story. Echo’s story really barely got started. JR told us her story was about family, belonging and loyalty, AND that her character ended season 5 “controversial,” but we never went INTO those themse and Echo wasn’t controversial, so I thought, okay, I can see where those themes COULD fit, and there’s a start to them with the raven-shaw argument, but we never go there. So that said to me that he was talking about his WHOLE story arc for Echo– but we have barely started it? So that’s where it’s going? So he’s telling the story as if s6 was the s5 story. And that fits with my expanded s5-6 storyline. 

And THEN when I look at Bellarke’s place in the story, and it feels like so much was left unsaid, and there are literal major secrets that affect Bellarke’s relationship that are just HANGING there waiting to be spoken to change everything, it is clear that their relationship story is still smack dab in the middle. 

I don’t even know what you mean “postponing bellarke till their relationship no longer runs its course.” You mean baiting? No, man. I think bellarke is currently romantic in canon, so it’s not baiting, it’s HAPPENING. They are smack dab in the middle of it. Love stories are about what happens BEFORE they get together. Getting together is the CULMINATION of a love story. If you stop in the middle of a love story, They aren’t a couple. Heck, you can stop nearly at the end of Pride and Prejudice, and there is no Eliza and Darcy, because we’ve just found out that Darcy is engaged to another woman and his aunt has told Eliza that she has NO CHANCE WITH DARCY. it’s over. donesies. “postponed till their relationship no longer runs its course.” But if you get to the END of the story, you find out that was the motivation for Darcy to realize that Eliza actually cared for him. And he came back to her. And asked her again. And she said not one word to tell him to stop. And then they got married. End story. Bait? No. STORY. 

So what was the Bellarke story line for season 5? They start off separate/dead. 5.01 is about them living WITHOUT each other. The REUNION was a slow reveal that lasted through 5.01, 5.03 and 5.04, and still leaving us kind of unsatisfied. They kept taking steps towards each other, but never really felt TOGETHER until…. well, until the last 30 minutes of the season finale. 

I said. What does that mean then? That means that season 1 was a bellarke story. from 5.01-5.13 in which they told the story of how Clarke and Bellamy were reunited– as soulmates. And I thought about the season and realized that each episode, even the ones where they were not together showed movement IN THE STORY OF HOW THEY CAME BACK TOGETHER. The WHOLE season was about the NON ROMANTIC REUNION.

AND YET! And yet, within the non-romantic reunion of partners, the head and the heart, they dropped HEAVY romantic feelings visible to all. Which were plot points that turned the story. And THEN they refused to to talk to each other about them, or admit that was going on. So now we have the non-romantic reunion with CANON romantic feelings hanging over our heads. 

2199 days of pining. Bellamy torn between his official girlfriend and his soulmate who was back from the dead. And NEITHER of those stories resolved, but both affecting Clarke, Bellamy, Madi, Octavia, Marper and Echo– although she doesn’t know it yet. And THAT she doesn’t know it yet means it’s a story still happening. 

And yet it’s not a cliffhanger. The cliff hanger is the planet. The Bellarke relationship hit a pause in it’s development in their reunion, like the moment before it revs up the engine to go faster, with that 2199 reveal, and Bellamy’s changed behavior but lack of confrontation about it. It’s like a bated breath as we wait for the other shoe to drop. 

So then it became clear to me that they were telling a romantic story in s5. 

I then compared the story they were telling to my speculation for last year, because, of course, I was wrong about it happening so fast. And when I compared the s5 to my ideas about how Bellarke would develop I realized that my theory for last season was actually still correct and still on target, but only half way there. I was rushing the set up because I saw it in my head as the tropes that were already clear. But they did not rush it. They slowly set it up in 5.01, 5.03, 5.04, 5.05…. yeah all season. pulling it out of stories with characters who were not Bellarke, and so actively making romantic Bellarke PART of the narrative for all the characters. 

It was clear to me that s5 was a slow burn love story about the obstacles keeping the soulmates apart. Clarke’s death was solved. Their changes as people was actually the longest story there, and was solved. Their conflict over Octavia and Wonkru was solved. Clarke feelings of not being his people was kind of solved, but that might expand into belonging and spacekru in season 6. So she got back together with BELLAMY but not the rest of the family– wait that’s half way through the story. S5 INTRODUCED B/E and made it a REAL obstacle (in the trope of soulmates it is not going to stop them so i don’t worry about it, but in the narrative it’s a REAL obstacle,) that has been presented, caused Clarke to draw back, served to point out that Bellamy’s love for Clarke is not platonic but ROMANTIC, and put to bed, literally, until morning. A story that is HALF WAY TOLD. 

So. Like, my theory was influenced by some things that JR said, but mainly is working on narrative storylines that are being told, being set up, being resolved or not resolved. Look. I write novels. When you start a story, you finish the story. The 100 writers are proving that they come back to stories to finish them, and it might FEEL like they aren’t addressing them, but they are. The fandom feels unsatisfied with the stories (like bellarke or the blake siblings) because those stories halted in the middle. But if you TRUST them to finish the stories, you can see they are setting up the events that would naturally finish those un finished stories, and they’re using the other characters and the plot to do so. 

So then I take Bob’s (unconfirmed, i still need to see the source,) statement and say, how does that reflect upon what I know and interpret with the show itself and what he and other people have already said.

First question is: What does “romantic” mean? Because if you ask me “is romantic Bellarke going to finally happen in s6, I personally am thinking… errr it’s happening now, so what do you think counts as romantic if you’re not counting the romantic story on screen? Are you looking for the trifecta of confession/kiss/sex? Are you looking for established couple? Are you looking for the culmination of a romantic relationship is marriage, family and children? Then knowing that he’s not allowed to talk about ships, and you’re putting him in an awkward position and he’s awkwardly laughing. I mean. You don’t count romance in front of you so he can say anything, right? None of it will be a spoiler because you don’t see it. Maybe you never will until after you get kiss/confession/sex and an acknowledged relationship where they get to be official. IDK. Sure. s7. Go crazy.

me: stick to the text.fandom: BUT THE GOSSIP IS CONFIRMATION OF RANDOM THEORIES THAT ARE NOT BACKED UP BY CANON!!!

i don’t know nonny. If you don’t want to interpret the show with me and would rather be like BUT BOB LAUGHED AT ROMANCE, i don’t know what to tell you. You kinda got the wrong blogger. Although maybe not, because I just showed you how i dealt with extra-narrative commentary within my analysis. 

Listen. I’m a story geek. That’s what I like. Story. Narrative. Writing. Sci Fi. Character development. When I fangirl, it’s through these things. I am not, nor have I ever been into gossip, rumors, fanwars, shipwars, stan or antis. I like talking about stuff I love. Fandom is too interested in fandom politics, power plays, who said what, character assassinations, and invalidating the canon so that fanon and fandom can be more important. Not my thing. Don’t come to me and go “AH HA!” what do you think about canon now? Did that statement change canon? No. Does it work with canon? No. Did bob already tell us he’s not telling us? Yes. Let it go. They aren’t giving us confirmation of Bellarke, one way or the other. 

[fba-art]

Just out of curiosity, why don’t you like young justice??

aight, so i knew i was gonna wait to respond to this ‘til i had some time to explain.

and i want to start out by saying that i don’t think Young Justice, as a property, is a bad show. in fact, i think it’s a show that had GREAT potential. i watched every new episode via livestream every saturday lol. and now, i’ll be honest when i say it’s been some time since i’ve rewatched it, and i’m always open to changing opinions. a few years back, i wanted to give it another, fresher perspective and dove in for a rewatch, but ultimately didn’t finish. i don’t remember my reasoning exactly, but i recall being disappointed.and it’s funny i received this ask this week, b/c my friend and i were planning on giving it another rewatch for shits and giggle after finals ( sober or not is tbd ).

but so, here’s where i stand on the show.

i started watching YJ when it was abt 5 episodes into s1. and i binged those first five and stick to my guns that holy SHIT 1-3 are bomb as FUCK. super strong start! Independence Day will never not get me SO HYPE and remind me why i fell in love with DC’s teenage heroes in the first place. it’s so… youthful. a fun conversation for another time.

and now, when i started watching YJ, it was like four months into my making my TT!Kid Flash rp blog, and two months after i’d gotten into reading comics; when i found out Wally was like a biG DC CHARACTER, NOT JUST AN OLD CARTOON ONE-SHOT, i went EVERYWHERE to get my hands on more about Wally West. ironically, the first purchase i ever made from a comic store was a silver age Teen Titans tale, issue #2 of TTY1, and two issues of the old Young Justice comics ( still some of my favorite comics to this day; more on that later ).TL;DRi saw a commercial for YJ, ft. my fave DC char and my fave comic title and went “HOSHIT”.

as the episodes pushed the show’s plot along, it was fun and explorative of a more intense side to the idea of a group of superteens in the DCU. and again, very TEENAGER-Y, which i say in the BEST of ways, considering that was the target audience as well. but, as part of that audience at the time, one of the things that had started to bother me was the character relationships. yeah, i was loving on most of the main cast at the time, but for the first half of the season, the team’s supposedly-close friendships were pushed to the backburner ( EXCEPT for KF and Rob’s, which was one of the only things that got me through the season ). the first season WAS about straining relationships. the social drama was palpable. you NEED conflict in your plots, and char-v-char is especially fun. but i remember feeling like there was little bonding. they were a group of acquaintances, learning to co-habitate the same space- not to say that they didn’t seem like friends, but there was a lack of balance between “teens being professionals in their field” and “teens being immature teens”. both were squeezed in, but both consistently felt forced.

which brings me to the next point: forcing relationships without developing them!i wasn’t sure why i was supposed to care about Roy, like. At all. the team always bringing up that they trained alongside him, grew with the guy, and then??? nada, except when the plot needed edgy tantrumy angst.then there was spitfire. i ship spitfire now, but the ENTIRETY of s1 i was SO FRUSTRATED, because all those two did was bicker. wally was pretty foul to artemis, who was also just plain mean to wally. and i say this with the two of them as my TOP FAVE CHARS.and don’t get me STARTED on the best char on the entire team, KALDUR’AHM!!!! who was shit on by EVERYONE– fandom and plot, alike. actually, i do recall in my last rewatch starting two tallies of everytime kaldur was DISRESPECTED and TREATED LIKE GARBAGE BY TEEN AND ADULT CHARS, versus everytime he was treated respectfully. this boy was BRUTALIZED through s1.m’gann and conner, too– a cute concept, but borderline cringey, even creepy, at times. i was rooting for supermartian. i was. but it was like the writers didn’t know how to write a slowburn. the idea was honestly better on paper than in execution.

the YJ spinoff comics filled in a lot of these gaps, i’ll admit. it explored the chars, their relationships, and their behavior in ways the show seemingly didn’t have time to do, and i LOVE the spinoff series. but i also firmly believe that you shouldn’t need a second media to fix the first. it’s capitalistic and no fun.

through the duration of the show, there were also issues such as the hiatuses. i don’t recall them coming with much warning at a time, nor sticking to much of a schedule. i don’t actually remember what they were for, either. but, before and after each of (three?? was it three?) hiatuses, the showrunners would introduce a new character during a new arc, give said character some liners or plot fodder, and do away with them for the rest of the season ( i.e Rocket, Zatanna, Garth and Tula, etc. ).

i have some other, nitpickier issues– why was wally That Way, why was clark Like That, how come bruce was the ENABLER the entire time, etc– but many can be argued as whether they affected the show as a whole or not.my actual biggest problem was the direction.the director.Greg Weisman.bc idk what the hell he was doing half the time, and i don’t think he knew, either. the writing wasn’t GREAT, but at least it was consistent. Weisman truly had a marketable property, a fan favorite, and one of CN’s best running shows at the time. but between the hiatuses, the writing’s faults, the insufficient character development, and a HUGE ego thanks to his fanbase, Weisman was unable to uphold the integrity of his show. there was both fan-pandering, AS WELL AS consciously going AGAINST fans’ wishes. there was that whole “Ask Greg”-thing, too, where he would get back to a fan once every blue moon and answer background questions about the show’s universe, which became a scene of hot debate. Greg Weisman became the JK Rowling of DC, and lost a lot of my respect with his lack of damage control, and impulse control.

then, with the very inception of the show– and i don’t actually know if i can blame weisman for this or not, but i wanna know who pitched it, otherwise– the show’s CONCEPT. why was Young Justice made with this particular cast of characters, cherrypicked through DC history, aged down or revamped or just cut-and-pasted where they didn’t fit? why was its concept, “COVERT TEAM OF ADOLESCENTS WITH SUPERPOWERS WORKING TOGETHER WITH LACK OF SUPERVISION”? why was the show called “Young Justice” when what they wanted was the TT v3 comics? WHY DID WE NEED TO TURN SUPERMAN INTO THE UNAVAILABLE-FATHER TROPE????? questions that will forever remain unanswered. that’s a lie, i can answer most of them, myself.but all in all, a show with great potential that failed in execution.

season 2, i actually enjoyed more than season 1– it felt like there was more of a handle on the story and cast, alike. did i approve of season 2 and what went down? debatable. but that’s a very subjective view. objectively, season 2 flowed better than season 1, but still didn’t follow through on subplots, nor resolved relationships or even characterization ( m’gann, girl what the fuck?? ). very little team bonding, save for, once again, two chars out of the whole team. again, another season of SO much potential, but one that fell short.

its pros, however– i really enjoyed the darker themes, getting darker as time went on. there was a lot of tragedy in s2, and different perspectives and walks of life to watch through different lenses. a much more diverse cast, and very different conflicts to tackle. i was impressed. i don’t think all the controversies were resolved, but i also wasn’t quite as upset that they weren’t; open-ended conflict is frustrating, but is a great lead-in to another season.

————which, for better or for worse, we weren’t supposed to have.i personally would’ve rather the show ended there, not quite on a high note ( are u fucking kidding me fjaoisdfjoaifio waLLY, this was during the n52, too ), but with a concrete END. of course there was more to explore, the world they’d built was a big one, but we didn’t need to.

i was literally just yesterday chatting w my sis, bc after school lets out, we wanna watch season 3. i really do. i’m upset that there is one, but i do wanna know what happens to my faves. and, on top of that, i’ve been meaning to do one BIG rewatch, anyways, to get me set up for s3. as a student of film, it’s a huge philosophy of mine to rewatch EVERYTHING and go in with the intent of giving it a fresh start and a clean slate– both medias i love, and medias i hate. it’s important to analyze pop culture critically, and even things that aren’t good can still be enjoyable.

for me, Young Justice wasn’t a phenomenal show to begin with, from its technological side to its creative team to its politics, and i stopped enjoying it pretty early on. but, that isn’t to say it didn’t accomplish GREAT things, and isn’t UN-enjoyable; it has its moments. also i would DIE for most of the cast, i fucking love the characters.

i don’t think anyone is wrong for liking Young Justice. i try to stay in the loop about it, and form new opinions based on whatever information is out there until i can get ahold of the source material. and, i do like aspects of the show. but ultimately, it just isn’t my cup of tea. 

[unnaturalsolace]

My anime-watching schedule (and sleep schedule) have been pretty screwed up as this semester nears its end, but I managed to finish off the winter season! Ended up dropping some more stuff, but I did finish what I wanted to.

Dimension High School: Honestly this was really weird. I like how it was kind of pioneering an interesting mix between 3D and 2D, but I don’t think it was very popular with most. I did find it fun though. I haven’t watched any live-action shows in a long time so it was pretty refreshing.

Dororo: Just waiting for the second half to start, still really enjoying it and Hyakkimaru is moe as usual. I’ve had a glimpse here and there of the manga, and it seems to be kinda loosely following it but changing some stuff? I do hope that Tahomaru doesn’t become super antagonistic though.

Doukyonin wa Hiza, Tokidoki, Atama no Ue: Cute anime overall, cute human and cute cat. Very comfy anime, although it’s hard for me to fully appreciate comfy stuff right now with how busy I am.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Great adaptation of a hilarious manga. I have high hopes about an S2! The manga seems to be taking an interesting turn though...

Kakegurui XX: I think the beginning episodes were the best. Last few episodes I kinda lost interest. And they basically shoved a random new character in just to be the antagonist for the last 2, and everything gets resolved super quickly. They also moved the tower arc into the middle of the election, which just felt so out-of-place for me. 

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Futeiru: Great anime overall. I will say that I think it was a lot longer than it needed to be, although just 12 episodes wouldn’t have the same buildup. In the middle would have been fine. But I feel pretty proud of the characters. And I really liked the Kakeru/Prince bromance slightly ship it.

Mob Psycho 100 S2: Superb adaptation. I’ll be honest, I think episode 11 was the best episode tbh. The last fight felt really short and less impactful to me. But still amazing overall. I think 1 more season could finish off the whole manga, and the manga has a pretty great end that I hope also gets the love it deserves. I think S1 and S2 were both equally great so I can’t really place one over the other.

Tate no Yuusha no Narigari: I ended up dropping this with a 2-3 episodes left. I just didn’t really care about the story anymore I guess. 

Tensei shitara Slime Datta ken: Technically I finished the main story? But I dropped this before the extra 2 episodes at the end or whatever. I just got bored of this one too. Even the hot ogres weren’t enough to keep my interest.

Yakusoku no Neverland: Good adaptation, although if they do adapt further I don’t think I’ll watch it. Like I said before, I’m kinda ambivalent about the manga.

For spring season I’ve got a lot on my to-watch list, but most of it is checking out 1 episode and seeing if I want to continue. But there’s definitely some that I really look forward to, like Kimetsu no Yaiba this Saturday! And Fruits Basket apparently aired today, I really want to watch it but I’m making myself study first. :(

[kihocrystal]

Spring 2018 - Final Impressions

Sorry this post is so late (again)! I had a *really* busy July, which really didn’t help at all. But anyway, here’s my thoughts on the shows that I finished this past season! All but one are sequels, though (and the one non-sequel was a carryover from last season)... Don’t worry, I’ll watch stuff like Megalobox and Hinamatsuri eventually! :’D

All “reviews” are listed in alphabetical order!

Amanchu! Advance - 8.0 / 10 (B-)

I liked season 2 as a whole! (Except for one episode / thing…)

QUEERBAITING SUCKS

I dunno if this is the fault of the anime or the source material…

…but this is still the most blatant example I’ve ever watched >_>

episode 11 didn’t need to happen!!! Why couldn’t Kokoro just… be a girl

or y’know, just let Pikari and Teko continue to “love” each other as they have! OTL

maybe why it annoyed me so much is that it’s like… a total bait & switch that went on for 2 SEASONS

to be fair, the reveal kinda went over my head? But when r/anime pointed it out, that’s when the salt began :/

yet the finale still has them blushing over reading thank you notes? It’s like this show wants its cake & eat it too

at the end of the day, the Kokoro stuff just… got in the way of Teko & Pikari’s interactions, platonic or not >_>

Also I’m one of the few people who actually liked the Peter arc

and it gave Ai some spotlight time!!!

it’s nice to have a little story arc to change things up (as opposed to an episodic structure)

(though I understand why many didn’t care for it… it leans a lot more towards supernatural than usual)

IMO they at least gave precedent w/ that one lucid dreaming episode w/ Teko, though

AND THERE’S ACTUAL SCUBA DIVING THIS TIME \o/

the underwater moments can be very magical… definitely the visual highlight

And the cast of characters is still enjoyable to watch too~ (def. a good group dynamic there)

Kokoro is considered a polarizing character for sure

I didn’t mind him that much until, y’know… his gender reveal led to the queer-baiting thing >_>

The finale was really nice though! It had pretty diving scenes and had cute Teko & Pikari moments~

In any case, this is still a very relaxing and heartwarming anime~

It has all the things I enjoyed about S1 here; it’s just the things added on top were a mixed-bag

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card - 8.0 / 10 (B)

EVERYONE IN THIS SHOW IS BEING VAGUE AS SHIT

But at least the mystery is interesting!

It’s just too bad it took like… 20 episodes to start getting any kind of explanation :’)

I actually watched the original series through a r/anime rewatch at the end of last year!

(meaning there wasn’t much time for me going from that series to this sequel)

I enjoyed the callbacks to the original series as well!

(including going from *anime* canon! i.e. the 2nd movie actually being canon)

The visuals look nice! Even though it almost looks a bit… *too* rounded in comparison to the original

I enjoyed watching Sakura capture all the new cards in different ways~

Even though this season was VERY light on plot (mostly), this aspect provided the action~

Also I enjoyed watching the character interactions too ^^

But yeah… the lack of overarching plot development and VAGUENESS kinda holds this season back

that being said, the final episodes set up some potentially interesting developments to come

and the finale itself *definitely* was not a conclusive one, so S2 better be confirmed soon!

Overall, I still enjoyed this continuation for the things it did right! I’ll be looking forward to a S2~

Darling in the FranXX - 8.0 / 10 (B)

Well this is/was a… polarizing show, to say the least.

I enjoyed it overall, but certain things about it hold it back from a higher score for me.

There’s two main elephants in the room with this series, really

#1 is… the heteronormativity

this was basically from the get-go, and in the roots of the story / themes itself

since the themes revolve around male/female partnerships & the importance of that… Yeah

one of the core quotes being “a female and a male aren’t complete w/o the other” …Yeah, again

also the sex-like positions of the “stamen” and “pistil” while piloting also doesn’t help

the workings of this world’s society has hetero relationships as the standard and doesn’t really allow for other options

(i.e. the FranXX piloting, Ikuno’s female attraction not working out in both operating the mech & her feelings for Ichigo, etc.)

at least Ikuno and Ichigo got a scene to talk about their attraction feelings & make up somewhat ^^

plus the Nines are basically gender non-binary but are seen as antagonistic forces for most of the show… Yeah

and just basic hetero things (like sex & pregnancy) were like being attacked in this show (when it’s not in real life???)

there’s an image meme that’s like “no, Prime Minister Abe… this will not get people to have babies” (…agreed :’D)

sure, there are *many* ways you can interpret this show, but the fact that so many people have seen it as such is Not Good

#2 is… the show supposedly “jumping the shark” towards the end

the main culprit of this (for many people) seems to be the “suddenly aliens!” reveal in episode ~20

this didn’t really impact my enjoyment of the show at all, but I definitely understand why people would be disappointed

in a way, it does kinda shift the story away from the themes it was using prior to this…

perhaps the lack of foreshadowing was another reason the shift in plot didn’t go well

plus it tends to directly riff off of certain visual cues from other mecha (like Eva & Gurren Lagaan)

Those two main gripes aside, the directing & visuals in this show were what kept me interested throughout

music choices, visual choices, etc. just really made certain moments better than they probably should’ve been

I enjoyed the characters as a group as well (even if most of them individually weren’t anything to write home about)

Goro’s a good bro, Ichigo went through good development, Kokoro & Mitsuru developed as a good pair…

Futoshi ended up being kind of a fat joke to the end though (& it was interesting that him & Kokoro didn’t end up together)

of course, Zero Two is the one everyone loved (& I liked her & Hiro’s dynamic as well)

sure, some people felt like she had “no personality” after she realized the truth about Hiro, but I didn’t mind the change

Plus I like that this show had a… pretty good ending, actually! (All things considered)

Directing as always was on point, and we got to see everyone’s lives over time (& Hiro + Zero Two eventually re-uniting as kids)

I just wish the main group got to see the two of them again :’)

though I do wish VIRM actually got full-on destroyed instead of a “we might come back” ending :/

and the ending was also kinda like “oh yeah, all the Children sent away didn’t actually die!” ???

This show will likely have a legacy not unlike Guilty Crown going forward, but I thought it ended better than that show, for the record

But yeah, this show is far from perfect and has questionable themes. But I still enjoyed it over all for the things it did well~’

Nanatsu no Taizai S2 - 8.0 / 10 (B-)

Unfortunately, not as good as S1 (but I still enjoyed this season overall)

S1 felt like its own self-contained story, but this season is clearly a “Part 1” for things to come

I wish Diana had more to do this season… she lost her memory early on and STILL doesn’t have it back

she was out of the main conflict (& separated from the group) for most of it :/

she also had these WEIRD ANGLES & POSES all the time… the fan service w/ her was *Really* distracting

the only consolation is that we got to learn some backstory for her & meet her fellow giants

oh well, at least she’s met up with King again and is enjoying his company by the end :)

The Gowther twist is interesting, but the way they revealed it was kinda… underwhelming

plus that *also* hasn’t been resolved yet (like many other things this season)

Some good moments this season were centered around Ban

such as his relationship w/ Jericho, time w/ a resurrected Elaine, and the small arc w/ his foster dad :’)

Also the final Sin got introduced w/ Escanor! PRAISE THE SUN

he’s a fun character; skittish by night and INVINCIBLE by day

The addition of power levels was kinda weird

it wasn’t necessary in S1, so why add it now???

The training arc gave us a full flashback to Melodias’ past w/ losing Liza, which was nice (and sad ;~; )

plus the vs. 10 Commandments fight actually showed Melodias full-on dying? That doesn’t happen much

it was a brutal death too! Hard to watch ;~;

plus they even changed the OP animation to reflect that he died… now that’s commitment

of course he came back later on, but there’s a catch… (since he loses some emotions every time)

There were some good fights, mostly during the “tournament” arc

(especially Melodias vs. all commandments… a sakuga highlight for sure)

The finale had a good stopping point, but it definitely makes clear that the story’s not over

so yeah, unlike season 1, this season *needs* a season 3 to be worth the watch

So yeah, there were some good moments & fights this season, but as a whole, it’s weaker than S1

Shokugeki no Souma S3 (Part 2) - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

I enjoyed this season! Continuing on the darker tone that the first half of S3 set up

This plot line of Central taking over the school is still my favorite plot point thus far, tbh

in other words, shit is finally going down!

…even if many of Central are just mustache-twirling villains :’D

Erina’s gotten great development from this arc too…! She’s not just a typical stuck-up tsundere anymore

her backstory is definitely a harsh one. It was great seeing her gain the courage to stick up to dad!

We also learned more about Souma’s dad! :O

Especially about how he was seen as feared, and the pressure of success got to him :’(

along with how this backstory tied into Asami’s motivations as well

Most of the season was kinda a gauntlet of opponents for the “resistance” to face off against

seeing Akira turn evil (for a bit) was interesting, but it’s a good thing he turned good again~

we oddly haven’t seen a lot of the Elite Ten in cooking action yet???

The final part of the season started off the big Team Shokugeki! …but it only got through the first round

the stakes are definitely high for this one, and also seems like the big conflict of this arc for sure

it’s just, y’know… the season ending in the middle is not a good look, really

at least the ending wasn’t abrupt; it was open-ended but still had a sense of conclusion

All in all, a good second half of season 3 (with some of my favorite plot content thus far!). Keep it up!

[aspiestvmusings]

More quintis headcanons for when they're finally parents!

Hi, anon. 

Thank you for your submission, But Im a bit confused here. 

Did you  mean to send this message to this blog or some other blog? 

Cause the “more headcanons, please” confuses me, as I’ve not made any actual “Quintis (baby/family) headcanons” posts… At least not recently.

I have “wish lists” and “theories” and other kind of posts in the past that I have posted, where I share my thoughts on what I want the story to do for the Quintis baby storyline, and all that, but…  

I’m sorry…I’m confused right now about what you mean by your ask. I truly think you meant so send it to someone else. ?

As for posting more headcanons or wishes for the BABY QUINTIS plot… I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I’m not comfortable posting something unfinished, and as you’ve probably noticed this blog basically has no original content this year… so I do not think there will be much more besides the weekly “quintis moments” vids coming. Maybe I’ll write something before the finale, maybe not. 

I would like to ask anyone reading this to make their own post on this, and let’s tag it all the same way #BabyQuintis #QuitnisBaby #QuintisHeadcanons so they’d be easy to fid!

My Headcanons: 

Quintis Baby gender: Girl…with a slight chance of boy (I’ll decide after I watch 418 & 422)

Quintis Baby “neurotype”: genius… with a sligh chance of normal 

Quintis Baby name: Grace or Alex …with  a slight chance of other names 

Quintis Baby looks: asian/half-asian 

Quintis Baby origins: bio, bio with help from science/med, non-bio? #youknowtheanswer the only thing I’ll say about this is: if a bio kid will happen now, then adoption later/end of the series & vice versa: if an adoption will happen now, then a bio kid later/end of the series. That is my guess. 

Quintis Baby arrival time: season 5 (depending on possible timejumps & use of time and how things work… in a realitic/non realitic way…etc…): Nov sweeps, Xmas ep, Feb sweeps, S5 Finale (TV characters, whose pregnancy is revealed in season fianle, often give birth in the next season finale..having an impossible 52+ week pregnancy)

Quintis as parents: Happy will be the more serious mom, who’ll teach their kid to fix cars & Toby’ll be the more fun dad, who’ll play silly princess tea party games with their kid. 

Team Scorpion & Quintis Baby: it takes a village/Team Scorpion to raise a Quintis Baby! 

Quintis in S4: What I do love about it that though they’ve now added the infertility to the list…there has been no hint at Happy wanting a kid with 50% her and 50% not-Toby genes. It’s all or nothing for her…. that was made clear at the end of 416 already/again. And I also love that Toby is 100% supportive of her, and her decisions… regarding their future kid. I kinda think he actually had read her mind… a bit… during the 403 end scene… and he knew/knows what she wants (even before she speaks the words)… so despite how the scene might look… I think he was waiting for her to say… all …that… and we might be lucky and hear him reveal…in a future scene… that he actually knew all along…and just waited for her to be the one to start the conversation. #ImBeingCryptic

INSTEAD OF “HEADCANONS”, I HAVE A RANT, SPOILERY RANT: 

I have had many wishes for the QUINTIS FAMILY PLOT #BabyQuintis #QuintisBaby (that I have shared in my many past post regarding this storyline) and I love that it does look as if we’ll get to meet the newest, smallest TeamScorpion member in S5/next year and I love that we & Happy/Quintis get their forever dream/wish granted, but… I also have major issues with the shows handling of the plot (this has been going on since mid-S2, ep 2x13…basically..with season 2B hinting at the coming plot, then the S3 Cd-baby plot, and the ongoing S4 actual road to their family of more than two. And though we only have time for “it’s gonna happen” news this season… with meeting the kid having to wait til next season… we’re close now.) because they’ve used so many not good tropes on the way...

But despite how much I’ve wanted this plot, I must stand by my words, and say I still think the same way as I did in S2, and early S3…when I first posted my thoughts on the storyline and plot idea and all that. And despite loving many things about the plot (how, etc), I also have huge issues with it. And certain things about it. (about how some things were done). And I cannot say yet what exactly, cause that’d give away details about what happens in 418…and the eps after that. (meaning: how exactly this plot is resolved...after all this time)

Most importantly: this show is like any other network show… not brave. (I do not know if the “stalling” decision came from the studio, network, or writers/creative team, but whoever decided that it’s too soon in S3, because “babies mean end of crime shows” is the opposite of brave. #IveDetectedaWimp 

Because as much as that plot was amazing (S3: Happy’s journey to becoming a mom & S4: Toby’s journey to becoming a dad), and needed for Happy’s EQ development & for more..., then to use every single “bump on the road” to their desire for a family… doesn’t make a good story IMO. Too many cry-stories (mom died at childbirth, horrible childhood years with no parents/absent parents, false-positive and “losing the bay that never was”, decision to have a baby…with no continuity -- mention of the S3 emotional experiences, their/teams financial situation, the different options, the prep for this step) and worrying after just a few unseccuful months of trying, to fertility issues, and IVF treatment ... with yet another case almost ruining the important day of the procedure)… 

Just like the shows dedication to follow through with Paige’s/Ralphs Pilot-ep created rule “Scorpion saves everyone” makes the cases boring, and predictable, and not interesing to follow (cause it’s too predictable, too network TV style checking all the boxes, and following the same structure too much)... it’s same with this plot...for me.

And we all just know that either the 1st try won’t work and/or there’ll be pregnancy and/or birth complications, and/or issues with the babies health. Cause somehow there is a need to use every single plot idea for this. And that’s an issue with TV.. they try to do too many things (instead of using just some of the ideas/roadblocks...but make it good)…all at once…and there’s not enough time for all the plots, and most of the ideas get dropped/not finished properly…and same with this plot… and so…as much as I love it…and that it’s happening… it’s not that great. 

I can now say: I have issues with it (yes, I know how it ends/how it is resolved… though I don’t know what’s waiting in s5...still) Even with the happy ending..that was obvious… I’m not giving a “A+” grade for the plot as a whole. For each individual ep/part of the plot… yeah…but not to it as a whole. It’s finally time for everything I wanted..from the start (and it kinda feels like reading fanfic… cause I’m certain I’ve read the same scene in some fic…almost word-to-word…) & I can’t believe it’s gonna be canon..soon, but… I honestly can say that I didn’t really want it like this… 

I’ll end with a quote from Toby/the show: “We love each other. We’re gonna have a family. You’re gonna wait outside a school and you’re gonna build a crib and you’re gonna share tools with whatever baby is lucky enough to have you as their mom. It’ll happen when the time is right. It is gonna happen.“ - Toby to Happy, Scorpion 3x07 Quintis end scenes #itishappening