#this was a recurring theme of their rivalry that both of them both played into and pushed against

[batsplat]

The talent of Casey Stoner and the ambition of Valentino Rossi

The most famous quote in MotoGP history contains a truth about Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi.

An advertisement said that power without control is useless. The same goes for talent without ambition . Two abstract units that have been used together for a decade when talking about MotoGP riders. Specifically since that April 3, 2011 when Valentino Rossi fell with the Ducati in Jerez and dragged Casey Stoner, who at the end of the race said to him: “Obviously your ambition outweighed your talent". The phrase, said with irony by the peculiar Australian pilot, was not only true. Unintentionally, he was x-raying the essence of the Italian pilot and the contrast to his own . Being two of the best pilots of the 21st century, one has nine world titles and the other only two. A difference of seven world titles that cannot be explained by the difference in talent, but rather by ambition. Rossi's ambition has always been boundless . His life revolves around motorcycling in general and victory in particular. However, if there was one thing that Stoner had boundless, it was his talent for riding a motorcycle. Stoner decided, almost a decade ago, to leave MotoGP and pursue other ambitions more related to family and a peaceful life. A perfectly respectable decision and as valid as any, but one that makes it clear that his ambition as a rider was never in line with his talent . Casey Stoner 's victories and titles were the result of his formidable talent for going fast on a motorcycle. A talent so extraordinary that it allowed him to achieve many triumphs with ease and to become MotoGP world champion without apparent effort when everything was going his way. Rossi, on the other hand, is still on the grid at the age of 42, fighting against riders who were not even born when he was already world champion. With his talent undeniable, if there is one word that defines the career of 'Il Dottore' in motorcycling, it is ambition. Going beyond logic, challenging the limits. Not being satisfied even when being the best. When he was winning titles without breaking a sweat with Honda, he decided to go to Yamaha because his ambition wouldn't let him settle. And when he had already won more world titles than anyone else in the premier class with Yamaha, he decided to go to Ducati with the ambition of being the first rider in history to be champion with three different brands. The creation of the Academy and the Sky VR46 are explained in the same way: he also wanted to be a vehicle for transmitting knowledge. His ambition for motorcycling is such that it overwhelms his own body and he has to make room for himself in others. And this also explains why he gives up a golden retirement: for the ambition of achieving more. One more podium, one more victory. So, yes: Stoner was right. That day, Rossi's ambition outstripped his talent. But not just that day: every day for the past 25 years. If it weren't for that, the Italian would have a few less titles and would have spent many years watching the races on TV. Because talent alone can lead you to glory, but it is a fleeting glory. It is the mixture with ambition that makes you eternal.

April 2021 (emphasis from the original article)

[highheels-powerplays]

Female Rivalry and the Performance of Power

One of the most recurring and emotionally charged themes in Gossip Girl is the rivalry between Blair and Serena. A dynamic that both fuels the drama and reflects deeper cultural anxieties about women, power, and friendship. While the show often frames their conflicts as personal (jealousy, betrayal, romantic competition), these tensions also expose how media frequently pits women against each other as a means of controlling and containing female power. 

Blair and Serena’s friendship is defined by cycles of loyalty and sabotage. At various points, each undermines the other. Blair posts gossip to damage Serena’s reputation; Serena retaliates by dating Blair’s ex-boyfriend. Though framed as personal drama, these plotlines mirror a broader cultural narrative in which female ambition and power must be policed through internalized competition. Instead of joining forces to challenge the patriarchal structures around them, the girls often tear each other down, reinforcing the myth that there is only room for one woman at the top. 

This portrayal isn’t unique to Gossip Girl. Media scholar Susan Douglas, in her book Enlightened Sexism, argues that postfeminist media often creates the illusion that women have achieved equality, while still circulating content that emphasizes cattiness, backstabbing, and “mean girl” behavior. These stories, Douglas notes, reassert the idea that women can’t be trusted as allies—especially not in positions of influence. In Gossip Girl, this trope is embedded in almost every major storyline involving Blair and Serena, where collaboration is rare and rivalry is the norm. 

The show also reinforces this pattern through how power is performed and distributed. Blair’s power is strategic and often comes through manipulation or social maneuvering. Serena’s is more intuitive. She doesn’t fight for power because it’s given to her, thanks to her beauty, family legacy, and natural charm. When these two modes of influence clash, the result is a carefully staged battle over who is more desirable, more successful, and more worthy of social dominance. These performances of power are not just about personal validation, they’re about who best conforms to the unspoken rules of gender, beauty, and class. 

Even the show's narrator, the anonymous "Gossip Girl" herself plays a crucial role in escalating this dynamic. By turning every personal moment into public spectacle, Gossip Girl ensures that Blair and Serena's rivalry is never truly private. Their identities are shaped not only by their actions, but by how they are perceived, gossiped about, and ranked in an unrelenting social hierarchy. This reflects a broader truth about media culture: for women, power is not just about having control, but about being seen to have it, and being judged accordingly. 

[glamstudiosalons]

The Real Housewives of New Jersey: A Glimpse into the Drama, Family, and Glamour

The Real Housewives of New Jersey (RHONJ) is a reality television show that has captivated audiences for over a decade with its dramatic storylines, lavish lifestyles, and unforgettable personalities. As one of the most popular installments in the Real Housewives franchise, RHONJ offers viewers a front-row seat to the lives of wealthy women living in New Jersey, balancing family, friendships, and careers while navigating intense drama and conflicts. The series has become known for its emotional highs and lows, epic arguments, and moments of genuine camaraderie, making it a standout show in the reality TV genre.

A Unique Blend of Family and Drama

At the heart of The Real Housewives of New Jersey is the intense family dynamic, which often takes center stage throughout the series. From the start, viewers have witnessed the relationships between the cast members evolve, with siblings, cousins, and in-laws forming the backbone of the show. One of the most iconic family storylines is that of Teresa Giudice and her brother Joe Gorga, whose ongoing feud has been a focal point of many seasons. The family conflicts are often explosive, and watching the cast members confront deep-rooted issues has kept viewers coming back for more.

What sets RHONJ apart from other shows in the franchise is how much of the drama is centered around family, rather than just friendships or business rivalries. Viewers get an inside look at the intricate dynamics of Italian-American families, where loyalty, tradition, and strong opinions often lead to unforgettable confrontations. However, these tensions are often followed by emotional moments of reconciliation, which make for compelling television.

The Glamour and Lifestyle

While the drama is undeniably entertaining, RHONJ also showcases the glamorous lifestyles of its cast members. From extravagant parties to luxurious vacations, the women of RHONJ live a life of high-end fashion, beauty, and indulgence. Their homes are breathtaking, and their wardrobes are nothing short of stunning. Whether they’re attending a charity gala or taking a trip to a tropical destination, the ladies never shy away from living their best lives.

The show highlights the financial success of many of the women, some of whom are successful entrepreneurs, businesswomen, and authors. Their ability to balance career ambitions with their personal lives is a recurring theme, and it often leads to discussions about empowerment and success. From opening businesses to writing books and launching fashion lines, the women of RHONJ serve as examples of how women can achieve success while navigating the complexities of their personal relationships.

The Power of Friendships

Though RHONJ is known for its explosive family drama, it also celebrates the power of female friendships. Despite the conflicts and rivalries that often play out on-screen, many of the women share strong bonds with each other. These friendships provide a sense of support and solidarity amid the chaos, and they remind viewers that, even in the face of drama, the women of RHONJ value loyalty and camaraderie. From heartfelt heart-to-heart conversations to fun, lighthearted moments, the cast members often lean on each other during tough times, offering a glimpse into their more vulnerable sides.

Throughout the seasons, several friendships have emerged as fan favorites, such as the bond between Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice. Although their relationship has had its ups and downs, their shared experiences as sisters-in-law have allowed them to navigate the complexities of family life together. Likewise, friendships between other cast members, like Dolores Catania and Margaret Josephs, have contributed to the dynamic of the show, with both women offering wisdom, support, and a healthy dose of humor.

The Newest Cast Members and Fresh Storylines

As with every season of RHONJ, new cast members bring fresh storylines and personalities to the table. The addition of new faces, such as Jackie Goldschneider, Jennifer Aydin, and Rachel Fuda, has kept the show evolving and ensured that it continues to captivate viewers. Each new cast member brings a unique perspective, whether through their professional achievements, family backgrounds, or personal challenges.

For example, Jennifer Aydin’s candid discussions about her personal life and her family’s wealth have added a fresh layer of drama to the show, while Rachel Fuda’s entry in the latest season brought a fresh dynamic to the group, offering a new perspective on family, business, and friendships. These new additions keep RHONJ relevant and exciting, offering longtime fans new personalities to connect with and root for.

Conclusion

The Real Housewives of New Jersey remains one of the most beloved and enduring reality TV series, offering an intoxicating mix of drama, family dynamics, glamour, and genuine emotions. Whether it’s watching the cast members navigate explosive conflicts or cheering for their business achievements and personal growth, RHONJ never fails to entertain. The strong personalities, deep-rooted family ties, and unforgettable moments make the show a must-watch, and with every season, RHONJ continues to prove that it’s a staple in the world of reality television. As new faces and storylines come and go, one thing remains constant: the drama, the family, and the passion that keeps viewers coming back for more. For more details visit our website: www.glamstudiosuites.com

[firequeenofficial]

OP mentioned in their tags about the games making people more blood thirsty, I'm assuming meaning the more games they play, the more into it they get. They implied this is a reason why Grian and Martyn are such good character foils.

I'd like to add to this:

Grian the Watcher, trying desperately to escape the Watchers, to be free of them, and in his attempts, he creates the death loop that keeps the Watchers feed.

Martyn the Listener, trying to bring down the Watchers, and in the meantime, he falls into their control as, like op said, the repeated games makes him more blood thirsty.

They are narrative foils, yes, but also parallels.

They are both hopelessly devoted to another, long after they supposedly "moved on". Both won their games after killing their only real ally. Both spent the entirety of the season they won protecting and guarding said ally.

They are both working in their own way to defy the Watchers, and both get sucked into the trap of helping them anyway.

For an unscripted series, it's unbelievably fascinating. The recurring themes, the parallels and foils. Things like the soul-bound winners, and Scar and Grian being soulmates after 3L, everyone being turned against Scar which led up to his win in SL, Joel's assassin task on Scott after five seasons of rivalry, Jimmy being first out every time except Secret Life. It all just flows beautifully.

Screaming, crying, throwing up. What do you mean immediately after killing Scar, Grian says "I don't feel good" and immediately after killing Impulse, Martyn says "oooh that feels good"

[rosepetalgold]

I offer you: The dark sides as a magician trio

Remus is the one who comes up with most of their new tricks and is famous for his ingenuity and creativity. Loves doing big, flashy magic, especially escaping from chains, water tanks, etc. Makes all of their specialty props himself. Also has a penchant for carnival tricks that aren't really magic, particularly the more dangerous ones like fire eating and knife throwing, but Janus has banned him from using these in shows after he nearly burned a stage down.

Janus is his partner in crime and has an unrivaled understanding of the psychology of magic, the art of misdirection and manipulation, the effective use of illusion, all that fun stuff. Specializes in close-up magic. Excellent at sleight of hand. Uses it in his everyday life to confuse people (and annoy Virgil) just for the fun of it. Also enjoys card tricks and knows how to stack the deck in every way fathomable. Play poker against him at your own risk.

Virgil has a natural knack for street magic but nerves get the better of him in front of large audiences so he gets roped into being Remus' and Janus' fancy showgirl assistant. Does he complain about it constantly? Yes. Does he secretly enjoy it? Also yes. One time was very tired while they were practicing their version of the 'saw a person in half' trick and forgot that he wasn't actually being cut in half and freaked out. Remus and Janus have never let him live it down.

(They also have an adopted bunny they rescued from another magician who used her for 'rabbit in a hat' tricks and the like. Her name is The Esteemed Ms. Fiddlenose and she lives in the absolute lap of luxury because they spoil her rotten.)

Bonus points if they have a rivalry with fellow magician trio The Light Sides comprised of Roman, Logan, and Patton. The media is enthralled with the idea of rival twin magicians and both groups play up the tension between them because hey, any press is good press.

Extra bonus points if both groups have a recurring theme of using an orange in their shows with absolutely no explanation.

[narutakijune]

About ATLA Relationship Arcs

So, this is me, finally trying to write some meta after lurking in my little tumblr corner for months! Hi!

Although I’ve tried to tag properly, if you are a Kat*anger and just want to enjoy your favourite couple in peace, this might not be the post for you. I am not trying to bash characters but I do have a lot of critical stuff to say about the writing.

Anyway, you have been warned and here is my story about my personal first Atla experience: I watched the show this year for the first time, and after the end of Book 1 I decided to look up spoilers, because after what happened to Yue, I wanted to make sure that Zuko and Iroh would be ok. So I knew what was going to happen: Kat*ang endgame and absolutely no Zutara at all. Still, by the end of Book 3, I was convinced that I had read wrong - that there would be an epilogue with a different ending or at least that Aang would only get together with Katara post-show- in that Korra series or something - because anything else wouldn’t make sense- right?

….

After I got over my shock and surprise, I went online and found out about that decade-long aggressive passionate ship war and how even the showrunners got involved.

And then I really worried that I might have missed a few points. Apparently ”Aang and Katara were the DNA of the show”, according to the creators themselves, and “Zutara could never have happened”.

Another popular anti-ZK argument I found was: Why do you always go on about Katara and Zuko? Just look at Zuko and Aang! They are the hero/ anti-hero and each other’s foils, their relationship is much more meaningful!”

So I tried to find out what it was that I apparently couldn’t see.

(Another disclaimer: I love analysing stories (like many Zutarians apparently) and this will get long and rambly. If you get bored to tears when people start talking about “narrative structure” you will probably not like this.)

Talking about narrative structure, I do believe that, in order to let your story, your characters and their relationships really shine, a good basic structure is important. There should be a recognizable development and individual parts of the story that build upon each other and lead to consequences and change, until there is a completed arc - because it is all about the journey that takes you to a satisfying ending, right? So that’s what I tried to do, with my personal Kat*ang vs. Zutara take, I tried to look at the structure and development of their relationship arcs.

The argument that threw me off track for a while is that compared to Aang and Zuko, Zuko and Katara’s relationship is not supposed to be that relevant for the plot. After all, Zuko is the foil, the anti-hero, the deuteragonist to Aang, who is the hero protagonist.

This is all true of course. But then why is it that in every finale, Zuko’s main opponent (and later ally) is not Aang but Katara? Why is it that their sun/moon, red/blue, fire/water dichotomy is so obviously highlighted?

I think one reason why Zuko and Katara are paired off so frequently in the story - as opposite elements, as opponents and as allies - is that they BOTH are Aang’s deuteragonists. While Zuko also acts as antagonist and Aang’s foil/mirror, Katara takes over the more traditional deuteragonist role of confidant / best friend/ narrator.

Protagonist Aang is what connects them, although they are on opposite sides: Both need Aang because he represents their hope to save their world. Very simply put, Katara protects him, so he can make the world a safer place again, and Zuko wants to capture him, so he can go home and be safe again. That rivalry between them is already established in the first episode, even before they meet each other: Katara, who hopes that the Avatar will return (as she tells everyone in the intro), and Zuko, who seems to be obsessed with finding him for more sinister reasons.

And just to make sure, I am not talking here about the characters’ feelings and emotions! This is just about the abstract roles they have been assigned within the narrative.

When regarding Zutara’s special connection to Aang and their rivalry with each other, it makes absolute sense to stress their “same but different”ness as well, visually and metaphorically: Red and blue, fire and water, sun and moon, arguably Painted Lady/Blue Spirit, and, when you put into account their story arc, also Oma and Shu.

With this basis, which puts them together and sets them apart simultaneously, their relationship already becomes very dynamic and interesting, even before you consider any romantic potential.

And here’s another thing, Zuko and Katara also have their own story arc within the main plot. Although they don’t have many scenes together before Zuko joins the Gaang, when they do meet there is always a new shift in their relationship and in quite a few cases their interactions are important for the main plot as well. If you just look at their “end fights” at each book’s finale, there is an obvious and consequential build-up, like any decent story arc should have:

Book 1 starts with Zuko as the powered-up enemy and Katara as the weak newbie waterbender. Both are battling over Aang. At the end of Book 1, they are finally established as equally powerful fighters but still fundamentally different (You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun!)

In CoD at the end of Book 2 happens the next step: they realize that they are not different at all! But Aang still doesn’t represent the same for them and they end up on opposing sides of the war again.

In the Book 3 finale, when Zuko has completed his own (anti-) hero's journey and Aang represents the same “hope” for both of them, they do not only join forces: Their “same but different”- traits make them such a uniquely suited match that they are even able to save each other’s lives during their fight with Azula (who in turn happens to be Katara and Zuko’s antagonist/mirror/foil).

And in addition to their own story arc they even get an individual recurring theme, which also appears in every book whenever their relationship status changes: The lost mothers, especially Katara’s mother.

In Book 1, Katara’s necklace (the symbol of Kiya) plays not only a major part in two of Zuko’s capture attempts, it is the reason for their very first one-one one encounter in the story.

Their first friendly connection in COD in Book 2 happens because they start talking about their mothers. And in Book 3, their final reconciliation (sealed with a very cathartic hug) happens after their life-changing trip which is, of course, all about Katara’s mother.

Again, I am not even trying to analyse their characters and motivations within the story - there are many metas that have already done that much better, more detailed and with screenshots. This is just dry structure and tropes and themes. But I think people recognize and connect with a well-structured arc, even subconsciously, which is one of the reasons that makes Zutara such a compelling couple. They complete and contrast each other, their relationship dynamic constantly changes, builds up, falls apart, reconnects. Such a setup is the perfect playground for a lot of creative takes on what-ifs and alternative scenarios and of course, shipping them romantically is extremely tempting - think of all the possibilities! It’s no wonder that the Zutara fandom is still so active decades after the end of the show. And it’s also no wonder that the Zutarians are known for “over-analysing everything”. You can only over-analyse if there is anything that gives you enough food to analyse to begin with. Which brings me to

KAT*ANG

I just go right to the top and take the quote from Br*yke themselves:

Kata*ng was in the DNA of the thing from the start…. [Zutara] was just dark and intriguing.

If you read this quote and then start watching the show, I would (grudgingly) agree that:

Aang and Katara understand and complement each other really well. Aang gives her the chance to have fun and go on adventures and in turn, Katara is his fiercest supporter from the very beginning, something that he really needs after he lost all his people AND has to find out that the world thinks the war is sort of his fault. In turn, the journey to the North Pole is as important to Katara as it is to Aang, because it is her dream to learn waterbending properly. That’s what she literally says when Sokka & Co try to banish Aang: (Sokka: Where do you think you’re going? Katara: To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole.) In that way, they are friends who give and take equally and are equally taken care of. They even have the last Airbender/ last Southern Waterbender status that connects them. The few times they have a fight, Aang does something in the end to redeem himself (perform some heroic feat) and Katara sees that she is right to believe in him.

Aang has this very sweet crush on her and it will be very sweet and wholesome when Katara will return his feelings at the end of their adventure after he has hit puberty. On the other side, there is also some heavy shipbaiting with Zuko: I save you from the pirates. The betrothal necklace. June and her excellent shipping taste. But in the end they are enemies, they barely know each other and, come on, it would be too dark and intriguing! There is no real threat against friends to lovers Kat*ang, the soft heart of the story. It’s very straightforward and there are a lot of simple “the hero saves the day” scenes for Aang but that’s fine! It’s not really my kind of ship but that’s not the point, it works for the story they want to tell.

End of Book 1.

In my - probably harsh- opinion, everything you really need to know about the Kat*ang relationship has been told by this point. If you want to be really mean, already by Book 1, episode 3.

That explains maybe why many (not all! but many) pro-KA arguments sound as if their shippers have not watched Book 2 and 3 at all. The Book 1 synopsis also perfectly sums up Bry*ke’s quote above. But then Book 2 and 3 are still there and I don’t know what happened but it seems as if they somehow decided that the Kat*ang story does not need any new and lasting input. Maybe because they were afraid that too much new development and change would stray too far away from their original Kat*ang vision. But there are still 2 more books and more adventures and Kat*ang somehow has to be kept apart until the finale.

So the tension in their potential romance is based largely on the question whether or not Katara will return Aang’s feelings. In general I don’t have a problem with that will-she-won’t she-technique. It works well in books where the love interest is not a POV or in shows/ movies where the love interest is not one of the main characters. But Katara is not only the female lead but also arguably the narrative voice of the whole story! As a result, this kind of writing makes Katara look as if she doesn’t have any agency in their relationship, which is not surprisingly a very popular anti-KA criticism.

Additionally, since her dream - learning waterbending - has been fulfilled by the end of Book 1, the relationship work becomes a bit one-sided. Of course Aang is the hero and his journey is the heart of the story. But in order to highlight their special connection it would have helped to give Katara another personal agenda, which Aang could have supported in some way. She is still the last Southern Waterbender and he the Last Airbender but this is not really explored in the Kat*ang relationship. And her other personal agenda, her mother, is already reserved for the Zutara arc.

Instead, in Book 2 and 3 the Kat*ang story is somehow all over the place. Of course there is new conflict and a few romantic scenes as well. But obstacles are either introduced too late or just dropped when not needed anymore, conflict is not resolved and their flirty, romantic moments never lead anywhere- and if they do, they lead to more conflict that is not resolved (yes, I am looking at you, EIP Kiss!).

Take for example Katara’s very sudden argument that they cannot be together now because there is a war going on. We hear her saying that for the first time in the very last episode (EIP) before the 4-part finale. That is too late to have any impact! That she has these kinds of thoughts was never even alluded to before. Not once.

Or the pattern Aang runs away/ is flaky - Katara is upset - Aang comes back and does his hero thing - Katara is relieved. In regards to their relationship arc, nothing changes here between Book 1 and the finale, only the stakes for Aang’s heroic performances get higher.

Or Katara being the one who is able to calm Aang down when he cannot control the Avatar state (which, in my personal opinion, is neither romantic nor healthy). This is also connected to the problem with the seventh Chakra, that Aang needs to let go of his attachment for her. I will be angry forever with how they wasted this for a possible relationship development! That Aang has to decide to either do his duty or save his forever girl (because let’s be fair, he did try to let go and only ran when he had the vision of Katara in danger) - that’s a fantastic setup!

But no, it doesn’t have any real consequences for Kat*ang at all. Instead there were only half-baked attempts – Aang does lie about his failed practice with Guru Pathik but the ultimate reason why his chakra is blocked is Azula, not his decision to run. Aang does try to let go of Katara for a little bit but then Azula shoots him. Nothing in Book 3 shows any change in his feelings that could have been a result of his instant let-it-go. If anything, he gets weirdly obsessive - which could have been used as a side effect of his blocked chakra but – again, no, nothing happens.

I suspect the whole thing was just introduced to create temporary drama for poor Aang, but it is never explained why Katara holds him back, what aspect of the attachment is blocking him or what would happen if he did let her go. Maybe they tried to make a statement about how love is more important than Avatar rules – which would have been fine but it’s also never properly explored. Instead, as soon as that plot point becomes inconvenient it’s simply dropped like a random rock™.

Compare all that to the Zutara arc, where both characters’ feelings about each other are always very much in the open, and where every interaction causes lasting effects in their relationship. Yes, it is unfair to compare that to Kat*ang, because up to the end of Book 3, Zuko and Katara almost never meet, while Aang and Katara spend almost every episode together – of course they cannot do meaningful things all the time. But on the other side, with Kat*ang, there would have been a great chance to show a subtle, gradual build-up instead.

It also doesn’t help that the Zutara arc seems hellbent on sabotaging every romantic moment Aang is allowed to enjoy:

There is Kat*angs first maybe-kiss in the dark before the background of the Oma and Shu legend. But it does not lead anywhere. Instead, Zuko and Katara almost reenact the legend itself in the Book 2 finale as two real enemies to almost-friends, including a glowy rocks-backdrop and the right costume colours, just so nobody misses the message.

In Footloose The Headband, Aang and Katara have a really sweet dance together, and everybody can see how they almost intuitively know each other's moves. This could be a great hint on how well they will fight together in the finale. But is it plot-relevant? No, because the final tag team is Katara and Zuko! While Aang gets paired off with random rock™.

Then there is Aang’s riding off to battle- kiss in DotBS, which Katara is not even allowed to enjoy, because keeping her feelings vague is apparently more important than character development at this point. It is the only romantic moment that gets mentioned again, but in a way that sinks the former cute and wholesome ship into the deep ocean, and the reason is - Aang is jealous of Zuko!

If all of this was only done for the sake of shipbaiting, then it really went out of control at some point.

In the end, the showrunners still had their reasons to choose Kat*ang, maybe because that corresponded more to their own vision, and there are still enough people out there who agree with them. Which is absolutely fine! In the end, what matters most is how you personally connect to the characters and nobody needs to defend their personal taste. But the typical anti-ZK claim, that all the Zutarians with their crazy analysis and rambling meta essays are reaching and delusional and that they desperately try to construct something that isn’t there, is not only a very lazy argument but simply not true.

And I’d claim that in spite of the canon choice, Zutara is technically the better written relationship. By far.

[xbrokenreflection]

TEN Q’S:

1. when are you usually online?  

My mornings and evenings, mostly. I work on weekday afternoons, so I’m rarely active then! I’m also a night owl, so my bedtime is anywhere between 11pm and 2am depending on how much the day drained me.

2. what verses are you involved in outside of this page?

I write mostly in a semi-canon verse for Ryu, though I’m also building an AU Pokemon verse for him! (Speaking of, if this is asking what other fandom verses I write in, Pokemon is currently the main one! I have a fandomless OC as well, and Noragami muses!)

3. what is your biggest RP pet peeve?

Got a couple that go hand in hand:

1. Real time RP. As in, the passage of REAL time affects the threads and relationships, and if I disappear for a day the other muse is wondering where mine was. (This is why the vast majority of my stuff is plotted or semi-plotted.)

2. Endless domestic shippy fluff. I like ships, but I prefer a slow burn with plenty of outside drama, not... happy married life.

Other than those... I also really don’t like purple prose.

4. are you drawn to specific types of muses?

I really like characters with an internal struggle who also want to make the world better in some way. Even if they make a lot of mistakes, they’re trying.

5. are there recurring themes in your writing that people might not notice?

I don’t know if it’s hard to notice the themes I like? But I think a big one is the ripple effect: a person’s actions will leave marks on the world around them.

Sometimes, a small gesture makes a big impact.

6. what are your favorite RP trends?

I’m very glad to see more people writing relationships BEYOND romantic ships. Last time I was active, it felt like... those were the main thing people cared about, and partners that wanted to stay friends (or explore stuff like rivalries!) would get dropped super quick.

I also think the little banners people use now are super neat? I love how people find and make stuff that fits their muse!

7. what is your process for starting a new story with someone?  

Meetings are some of my favorite things to approach, actually! I try to figure out an idea that’s fun and memorable, and as unique as possible! (Naturally, there is bound to be some overlap. Especially because I adore certain tropes, lol.)

I also try communicate with my RP partners, figure out what sorts of things we both would like to explore with our characters! I think it’s important to be on the same page about the general direction threads are going.

8. how do you feel about duplicates?

I adore other Replikus, and whenever I write with them I have a lot of fun! It’s so interesting to see how people choose to develop the character, what name they have him go by, whether or not they make changes to his appearance... and of course, how similar and different they all are from Riku AND each other!

Plus, the threads themselves tend to be funny. It’s amusing how often they can actually tell it’s another replica! “Wait, you’re not HIM, you’re ME!”

9. how long have you been involved in roleplaying?

RP in general? About 14 years!

Tumblr RP and Ryu specifically? It’ll be 10 years next March!

10. is there a muse or verse you wish you could write in, but haven’t?

There’s a lot of muses I would love to write, but I just don’t have the time or energy to have more or get involved in totally unfamiliar fandoms.

I haven’t gotten to dive into Ryu’s Pokemon Verse much yet, but I’m excited about it! Other than that, I think the only underused verse that I COULD do a lot more with is “Sleeping to Dream.” I’d love to rp out the adventure Ryu and Xion had playing the Reaper’s Game! (A lot of the active TWEWY blogs don’t seem to interact with KH blogs, though.)

TAGGED BY: stole it from @litoredeem​ TAGGING: steal it from me!

[longinglook]

I may or may not have spent my entire Sunday binge watching all of I told sunset about you and Gaya sa pelikula and now I have so many thoughts and feelings that I need to write about them so here we go! Under a read more (if tumblr allows me to) because it’s 2k words hehe

First of all, I knew next to nothing about both shows before starting them. I had seen a couple of gifs here and there, but really had no idea what I was in for.

I started with I told sunset about you, which has 3 episodes out of 5 out. All I knew is that it was going to be beautiful and possibly sad, and it was. Everything about this show is so high quality, from the audio to the dialogue to the locations to the acting, just wow. The production is better than a lot of movies I’ve seen, and every technical aspect is perfect. I am really loving the plot so far as well, I find the childhood friendship to stubborn rivalry to grown up friendship again very relatable. I think it’s a very common experience for a lot of non straight folks to develop an extremely close bond with a same sex friend when you’re too young to realize what you’re actually feeling for them until you’re a lot older and suddely the jealousy and possessivenes all make sense.

I love the recurring themes sprinkled throughout the episodes, starting from the chinese vocabulary that expresses the core thoughts of the two main characters: rival, intimacy, secret, male protagonist, as promised. They could easily be the episode titles, or the names of imaginary sections the show could be divided into. It’s a great way to integrate metaphors and deeper meaning into the plot.

That’s how most of the communication goes in this show, deep emotions are never conveyed through words because words are scary and loud and they can’t be taken back once they’re out there. The plot advances though stares and gestures and touch and gorgeous shots of the landscape. The pace is slow with hour-long episodes that could each be a movie of their own. This worried me a bit before starting, and I have to admit that at times I struggled to stay focused, especially during scenes that set the mood but don’t do much plot-wise. This is just a personal preference, though, and in no way I see it as a flaw. 

The dancing around each other the main characters do, sometimes literal, is frustrating but it determines an emotional build up that’s just starting to reach its peak. This is one of those shows that has me screaming if only they talked to each other, but the silences and unspoken words are so well directed and acted that it works. I struggle a lot with keeping in mind that they’re still in high school, they’re very young and I can’t expect them to act rationally just yet. 

I was really worried about Teh possibly going the insufferable Theory-of-love-khai way, and I am still not 100% sold on him. When he started helping Oh-aew again it felt like he was just doing it to make himself feel better about the whole thing. It was frustrating to see him so possessive and jealous while also so deeply in denial about his own feelings, to the point where he had me rooting for Bas instead. He was getting better, but then he fled at the end of episode 3 and now I have no clue what’s going to happen next. About this, I really have no idea if they’re going for a happy ending or a sad one. I’m really hoping it will be good, because so far there has been barely any emotional payoff for all the repressed longing and misunderstanding the show has put us through.

I do like their dynamic a lot though, I have a weak spot for childhood friends reconnecting and an ever weaker spot for informal mentor/mentee relationships. Oh-aew asking Teh to tutor him until he passes the admission exam was an almost exact mirror of Yuri on ice Yuri begging Victor to be his coach until he retires and I loved that a lot.

Now on to the one issue I have with this show: it feels too much like an art film. It reminds me of Moonlight and Call me by your name, in the way that I wasn’t able to connect with those movies because they are too perfect. They are so beautiful and carefully crafted that I can’t fully immerse myself in them. There’s a filter that stops me from relating to the characters and constantly reminds me that this is not reality. It’s pretty, it’s extremely well done, but it feels like art. It has some quirks, some scenes that feel too artificial. One scene in particular, the one where Teh buries his head in the paper Oh-aew wrote with his coconut scented pen to sniff it, which is a direct parallel to Call me by your name, bothered me in particular. Just as it felt over-the-top and purposefully weird in the movie, so it feels in the show. It’s a way of showcasing how a confused teen deals with attraction he barely understands, it’s raw and animalistic in a way, but it’s so quirky that all it accomplishes is to remind me that I’m watching an lgbt show. It makes me wonder if a scene like this would make sense in a straight relationship because here it seems to highlight how different and primal his attraction is. If I had to pinpoint it, I’d say that I have a problem with media showcasing queerness though peculiar, purposefully awkward scenes like these instead of normal kissing and cuddling.

Overall, I can’t wait to see how this show ends and I still think it’s one of the best bls to air in 2020, if not ever. It’s refreshing to see something with a big budget used well! So far my rating is 8/10, which I know is a lot lower than what everyone else seems to think but it’s still very much subject to change! Just hoping they won’t pull a Make our days count, but I doubt they’ll go there.

And now Gaya sa pelikula. Wow. Again, I knew next to nothing about this show before watching, and I was coming from a 3 hour I told sunset about you binge watch, so the bar was pretty high.

And boy, did this show deliver. I was blown away by the depth and the humor of it. It feels like the writers had fun taking all sorts of common tropes and stereotypes just to show everyone how well they can be evolved and made complex. Two strangers who somehow find themselves sharing an apartment sounds like the start of so many fanfictions out there, but it’s so well executed and interesting that you don’t even stop to think about how weak the premises for their meeting are. It doesn’t matter and it’s not even that far-fetched, either. The sister and the neighbor are also two characters that start off as extra stereotyped, but in just a few scenes they unveil an incredible depth and backstory. It blew me away.

Each character is so realistic. Everything they do and say makes sense, they all have their reasons and their past and they react accordingly, it’s so coherent. It’s impressive how everything takes place inside the house and you barely realize it because things happen and the plot moves anyways, and the way information about external events and people is conveyed is so seamless that you don’t even notice it. In only 7 episodes (so far) they have managed to give everyone a complex background and personality through the use of objects and small details and wow don’t get me started on the music.

The soundtrack is SO GOOD. I never really pay attention to music in shows but it plays a very important role here in my opinion and, well, it’s exactly the kind of music I like listening to and ahhh I just spent 4 hours playing the first kiss song on loop so I might be biased. Right from the start in episode 1, when Karl gives in to Vlad’s music and starts dancing to it, it’s established that it’s an important element to the mood of each scene. I love how the dancing I talked about for I told sunset about you comes back here, but while I saw it as a hesitant dancing around each other there, here it’s the opposite, it’s freeing and it’s about accepting yourself. And the end of episode 6 highlights this, with the beautiful quote “You are entitled to a love that lets you dance without fear and shame.” It made me cry a looooot.

I think the development of their relationship is masterfully done. It doesn’t happen too quickly nor too slowly. Karl goes through some needed shocks that act as his wake up call. When I’m watching bl shows I care the most about them feeling real and relatable. I don’t want to feel like they were written by a straight person trying to guess what it’s like to be gay. Now I didn’t look anything up about the Gaya sa pelikula writers, but I’d be very surprised if they were straight. I can relate to both Karl and Vlad for different aspects of their stories and their worries and thoughts. There was one part in particular that hit so close that I had to take a few breaks because it hurt too much. I am a lesbian, I’ve had relationship with a girl that lasted over a year, I am out to some friends but not all. I never came out to my parents, who are both very open minded and friends with a lot of gay people and would love me just as much if I told them, and yet I can’t. It’s not just that, I am terrified by the idea of them already knowing or being able to guess. When Karl freaked out over his uncle guessing, it hit me so hard because I’ve felt the same way so many times.

Episode 7 was amazing. I hate badly written drama the most, and 99% of shows can’t come up with any good reason for drama but they have to put it in there anyways and it sucks. This was the complete opposite, I adored it and I say this as a lover of fluff. It feels right, I think it’s an issue that would come up between two people like them. They are both right and the only thing that could happen there is what actually went down. I definitely think things will be fixed by the end and I am looking forward to it, but I am very glad this issue was included because it’s so important and so true to many lgbt people’s lives.

Another aspect I absolutely adored are the multiple references to lgbt theory and language, and Vlad has some of the best lines I’ve ever heard coming from a bl. When he tells Karl not to be afraid of the word, when he explains that “you don’t look gay” isn’t a compliment, when he scolds his sister for not acknowledging the things she used to say to him by covering them up with her ally act, those are all such important and educative moments that I hope everyone listens to. I love that Vlad is not correcting some ignorant bad guy, but it’s his accepting and loving friends and family that make the mistakes, because sometimes being supportive your own way isn’t enough if you’re not actively learning from the ones you want to support.

This is a 10/10 for me right now. I can’t find anything I don’t like about it. It never feels boring, it never feels overdone, it never feels cheap or unoriginal. It went straight to the top of my favorite bls.

And now I can’t help but compare the two a bit, because yes they are two different shows but right now the relationships they portray have reached the same point: there has been a climax and now the one who is more confused about his sexuality is panicking and taking a step back. It’s a coincidence that I watched both shows on the same day when their last aired episodes end in such a similar way, but it really leads me to compare the two. I don’t want to put them one against each other or say which one did it better because that’s not the point of this, they are both two amazing and important shows who are excelling in what they’re doing. 

Gaya sa pelikula is down to earth, it’s explicit and it’s straight to the point in explaining what’s going on inside each character’s head. It feels like watching real people deal with real struggles. I told sunset about you is a lot more subtle and quiet, and since we don’t really have a clear insight in the characters’ heads sometimes it’s hard to completely understand what’s going on with them. It’s a completely different way of narrating, and while Gaya sa pelikula makes me feel like I’m a part of the events, I told sunset about you feels like I’m just spectating from an outside perspective. They are different choices, but one of them ends up feeling a lot more emotional to me than the other.

To wrap it up, I highly recommend both shows and I can’t wait to see how they’ll end! They are both among the best shows of the year, both free of all those annoyingly stereotyped characters and plot points that most bls tend to overuse.

[hitchell-mope]

How I’d readapt the cartoon

The bullshit is dead and buried. (I hate it so much). Which is the perfect opportunity to bring the cartoon back properly. And I’ve though if a way to do it. By sort of combining the sitcom and the two cartoons by way of the animation style of the new ducktales. And of course. This comes with character descriptions

Zelda. Massive science nerd. Knows all the greats by name. Even the lesser known ones. Still the serious one and the most likely to ground Sabrina. But less of a killjoy and more of a firm but fair parental type. Team dad

Hilda. Fun. Slightly vampy. Also total soccer mom. Knows when to rein in the craziness when necessary. Mostly just before the kaiju show up. Think. Lorelai Gilmore meets Theresa Russo. Rivalry with Vesta literally spanning back to the dinosaurs

Sabrina. 12-14 years old. Always wears purple (like in secret life). A prodigy. But also a total klutz. Which is why most of the plots happen in the first place. Living with her dads sisters here because her folks are going through a messy divorce and they both thought she’s be better off with them for a while. A combo between Alex Russo/Kim Possible/Barbie Roberts

Salem. Fourth wall breaking narrator. Still a cat for trying to take over both worlds. And oscillates between being ok with it about and being a megalomanical large ham wannabe villain. Flashbacks to when he was human are prominent.

Harvey. Best guy friend. Like in the animated series a massive sci-fi nerd. So he’s probably closest to Zelda in terms of friends getting on with family. Slightly more cautious about using magic because he just doesn’t want anyone getting hurt. But even he can’t pass up the opportunity to create his own fully functional tardis. I’m thinking he and Sabrina have either a kimron dynamic or a Dreamhouse Adventures Barbie/Ken dynsmic

Chloe. BFF. Closer to Hilda since she coaches her soccer team. More on the wild side but still knows when to be serious. Always ready to confront Gem. Has a fantasy forbidding mother who acts more out of misguided fear then intentional malice but still proves a spanner in the works

Quigley. Here he was Salem’s right hand man in his would be dictator days. Until he sold him out to the witches council. As punishment he was stripped of his magic but allowed to keep his human form and longevity if he was Salem’s keeper for the century he’s a cat. This explains why he more nervous about using magic then the girls

Spooky jar. Gift from her dad. Family heirloom. Therefore a little glitchy. He’s supposed to be a homework helper. Like a magical version of a smart computer. But he talks in annoying riddles and causes more obstructions then solutions. They keep him around cause he’s family

Enchantra. Head of the witches council. Another tough but fair authority figure. But because of protagonist centred morality. They’re not fond of her. Has a special hatred of salem due to them being an item when he was in human form. He actually used her knowledge of both worlds to further his plans. She’s only just got back her position and does not intend on losing it again

Gem. Basically a flat earther. Doesn’t believe in magic. The whole “you gotta work in live to amount to anything” schtick even though her family’s money dates back to three centuries before the mayflower. But you try telling her that. Still thinks Sabrina’s a freak. But that’s because she doesn’t understand that maybe perhaps people prefer the nice ones with a genuine personality rather than a stick up socialite that buys peoples loyalty. The real kicker is that her dad is on the witches council as the representative for the mortal realm. So she really doesn’t have any excuse to a flat earther. And yet she is. Because she’s a terrible person

As for the others. They should bring back Roland the troll. However. Instead of being disgustingly obsessed with Sabrina, cause you know, she’s a teenager and he’s a grown ass man, he’s more like councillor Chang from American dragon. Even tougher then Enchantra. And secretly working for Tim the Witchsmeller Pursuivant. Her dad should be a recurring character. Voiced by either Robby Benson, Dan Stevens or Dan Payne (take a look at who played him in his first appearance in the sitcom). Obviously the aunts from the sitcom also make appearances like Vesta, Dorma, Irma etc etc. Just to flesh out the family tree. Her mom also makes intermittent appearances but not to the degree of her father. The ten characters above should be voiced by the actors I used in my earlier DAC fancast for the show. And again. Jennifer Morrison should sing the opening theme song. You know it makes sense. That’s all I can think think of really. So. Tell me what you think

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 5x05 Shifting Sands

After four really strong episodes at the beginning of season 5, this is a slower episode focused on developing the new dynamics. This episode is by no means bad, and there are some lovely character moments in it - but this is, unfortunately, where the plot starts getting kind of boring. It’s the start of many subplots that, either intentionally or unintentionally, ended up not mattering much for the overall story.

Some of the subplots introduced:

the mutant worms - I’m not a fan of this subplot, which the show will literally chuck out 5 episodes later. Also, it’s gross. I don’t like to have to actually avert my eyes from the screen. The show was really going for the Alien vibe here.

Zaven romance was probably meant to be Raven’s endgame, but unfortunately, Jordan Bolger got another role and we know what happened. And now all that screentime devoted to the development of their relationship feels like a waste of time, which may be unfair to season 5, but it is what it is. In itself, it’s not the worst romantic subplot by any means, but it’s another rushed romance.

It seemed like the show was going somewhere with the friendship between Diyoza and Kane (with some flirty moments that could have at least suggested even more) - don’t get me wrong, I was very much against it being a ship (not a fan of Stockholm Syndrome romances, and Kabby is one of the very few well developed romantic relationships on the show), but every relationship involving Kane got pushed aside when Henry Ian Cusick decided to leave the show. In S6, only Kabby and his friendship with Indra were addressed. On the other hand, it’s always it’s nice to get more Diyoza backstory, which we get when she tells her story to Kane: her suicide attempt - when marines who used to be her own team came to arrest her and after they killed her father. 

Both Diyoza’s shock collars and Vinson are introduced. Vinson is a very unusual character for The 100 - which is full of leaders, warriors and cult leaders, but which doesn’t usually feature cannibal serial killers. I have to say that I quite liked where they went with this character - he was like an embodiment of Abby’s demons (addiction, cannibalism during the Dark Year) and the demons that almost destroyed the Kabby relationship.

The last scene sets up the main plot of the next episode, which is Octavia and Bellamy arguing about Echo… Not the best subplot out there.

In Eden, Diyoza shows again that she may be ruthless but she’s smart - she is against waging war in Eden and potentially destroying the only habitable land on Earth. Not such good news: she wants to use missiles on Wonkru, which makes sense - especially since they are, from her POV, a bunch of dangerous fanatics. (Actually, they are a bunch of dangerous fanatics, period.)She is aware that the rest of Spacekru are still somewhere in the woods, as is Madi (since she knew 5 of them were almost captured by her people, when Madi saved them). The rivalry between her and McCreary is highlighted again - and we also learn about their history. (Which is going to be important because of a certain reveal that will be coming soon…) I guess Diyoza was more honest than McCreary knew when she dismissed his sexual prowess as “that was torture, too” - since we learn in S7 that she had sex with him to get him to be on her side in the rebellion.

Diyoza’s choice of sex partners may not be the best, but she has good taste in music and hates speed metal or trash metal or whatever that was just as much as I do. “Play something with a beat” - exactly!

Kane in the meantime offers intel on Octavia in exchange for a guarantee of protecting Raven and Murphy, but his other reason is that he thinks Octavia will get all of Wonkru killed and wants to stop her.

And we get more of McCreary torturing someone, this time Raven and Murphy. McCreary torturing various people is a recurring thing this season. Is there any episode where he isn’t either murdering, torturing or both? I guess no one has told him that torture is not an efficient or reliable way of extracting information… but it’s quite possible he doesn’t care. Shaw gets to be reluctantly present during someone’s torture again - not a great way to get to know your future girlfriend. The fact that she’s in pain and tortured for who-knows-which-time may be why Raven is showing her judgmental streak again, this time dissing Shaw for lying about the fact he was the one who disabled the missiles and accusing him of getting them tortured to save his ass, which is technically true but ignores the facts that 1) he saved hundreds of Wonkru, 2) he saved Raven’s and Murphy’s lives, and 3) admitting the truth wouldn’t have helped anyone. But Raven also shows her smarts and comes up with a good plan how to get Murphy out so he can inform others about the missiles - and does some really good acting when she pretends she’s furious with Shaw.

One of the highlights of the episode is Murphy meeting Madi for the first time (”hobbit” as he refers to her), as everyone is in the Rover that Madi is driving. Murphy is not happy when Madi says she thought he would be funnier, and even less so when she says Octavia is her favorite. (It’s OK, Murphy, Hope and Jordan (during his rebellious phase) will love you.)

Contrary to what you’ll often hear in the fandom, Spacekru have been, in these early episodes, talking repeatedly about the fact that Clarke saved them and thanking her. They mentioned it all by themselves in 5x03. Bellamy told Clarke ‘Clarke, you saved us all!” in 5x04 and Raven tearfully thanked her for saving their lives. And now Echo tells Madi they wouldn’t have made it without Clarke, and Harper confirms it.

When Murphy realizes that his shock collar/tracker can be used as a bomb, he tells the others to leave him and save themselves and go warn Bellamy - which , I believe, is the first time that Murphy has been really unselfish and unconcerned with saving his own life. Emori has, up to that point, been hostile to him, accusing him of selfishness (she even jumped to the conclusion that he left Raven to die to save himself). But the moment he says this, you can see her face and her whole attitude changing. She says nothing, just staring at him - and then stays with him instead of going with the others. (Murphy will again be unselfish and ask others to leave him to save thrmselves in the season 5 finale, and Emori will refuse to leave him.)

………..

In Polis, there are more reunions: Clarke gets to interact with Jackson and Miller. Jackson tells her they could have used her in the bunker (Clarke replies that they had her mom, and Jackson’s silence hints that something is wrong, but she’ll only find out what much later).This is an interesting “What if” - what if Clarke and/or Bellamy had been in the bunker? How would that have affected everything - Octavia and Abby, above all? Indra later tells Bellamy that Octavia needs him. She is clearly not one of those who drank Kool-Aid and hopes for Bellamy to be a good influence on her, the way she obviously wishes she could be, but Octavia is not listening to her. Cooper, on the other hand, is Octavia’s yes-woman and clearly encourages her worst behavior. Miller still seems somewhere in between at this point - unlike Jackson, he tells Clarke not to get involved, but then changes his mind and tells Blodreina that Clarke has something to tell her.

(This is also a rare occasion: an actual Mackson kiss.)

Clarke and Bellamy are starting to realize that Octavia is pretty scary now, starting with the way her cult worships her and turns against anyone daring to criticize or question her, and then with the way Octavia herself has changed. The episode does a good job of showing that she has been losing her grip on reality,  and apparently drinking her own Kool-Aid a bit too much. She is obsessed what she sees as her messianic role pf delivering her people to Eden, and trying to get her people through the desert during the sandstorm, contrary to the advice of Clarke, who actually knows the terrain, (Maybe she’s taken it too much to heart to continue Jaha’s legacy.) Some of the things Octavia says in this episode:

“The wind hasn’t met Wonkru” - many people mock it as one of the worst lines in the show, but I like it, I think it’s intentionally hilarious, one of the few funny moments this season - and meant to show what ridiculous things Octavia says when she’s boasting in front of Wonkru. All the Wonkru members fully accept it while only Bellamy and Clarke are looking at her with WTF? faces.

She also says “Wonkru doesn’t retreat” And then orders retreat at the end of the episode. She’s not fully delusional.

“That valley is (our home) and we’re taking it back” - Back? When did she/they have it exactly? I guess she may just be considering everything that any of the clans had/where they lived as belonging to Wonkru… but she’s never even been there

“Thanks to you, we’re at war” to Bellamy again (would it have been better to stay locked in the bunker forever?)

“You don’t understand because you’re not one of us”

and finally, she straight up threatens her brother if he keeps questioning her.

During a meal by the campfire at night, while Wonkru are chanting “All of me for all of us”, we find out that Octavia is trying to live by the “Love is weakness” maxim, which is here retconed as something that all Flamekeepers teach all Commanders (and that Gaia is teaching her now, accordingly), rather than just a Titus/Lexa thing, as it seemed in season 3. (Which in itself was a retcon, since it first seemed in season 2 that it was just something Lexa came up with as a result of her tragic experience with losing her lover Costia.) And yes, it’s love in general, not just romantic love. “Love no one, and no one can hurt you”, says Octavia, and she clearly includes her brother in that. Indra rejects that and replies with “I love you”, asking if that makes her weak. This is a recurring theme in the show: Clarke and Octavia have both gone through “Love is weakness” phase. (And now in season 7, it’s time for Bellamy - only this time, this idea came to him in the form “love is selfish”, and that he should love all mankind rather than focus on love for individual people.)

Clarke finds something “beautiful” and impressive in Wonkru’s unity - maybe because she has been alone for so long. The long isolation has changed her - she seems less assertive when she’s around others, although, to be fair, it doesn’t help that she’s not in the position to be a part of the leadership while they are around Wonkru. But she’s also shy and vulnerable when Bellamy - after telling her how amazing she was for surviving so long on her own - tries to make her talk about that time. She starts saying “Well, I wasn’t alone�� - and if she immediately answered “I had Madi”, that would be nothing strange, but the way Clarke makes a long awkward pause and seems to catch herself, before saying “I had Madi”, and then quickly leaves, almost as if running away - suggest that maybe she was, for a moment, thinking and going to say something else - something about radio calls that allowed her to keep her sanity. Subsequent events have certainly supported this interpretation - we will learn in 5x13 that Clarke has been keeping it a secret from Bellamy (when Madi tells him, she says “I probably shouldn’t be telling you this”), and when Bellamy finally reveals in 6x01 that he knows about them, Clarke is again very shy and embarrassed and almost runs away from the conversation.

But at this point, Bellamy doesn’t know any of that, and I don’t think he understands Clarke’s state of mind. To him, it must seem like she’s withdrawing into herself. 

Later on, the two of them get another moment, and this time it’s Clarke’s turn to tell Bellamy how awesome he is. She praises him for not killing the prisoners in cryo and for saving her, and says “the Heart and the Head” - recalling their conversation from over 6 years ago,. in 4x13, when she told him to use his head and not just his heart. She’s saying that he’s using both his heart and his head now. Bellamy repeats “The Heart and the Head”, and I believe that’s the first time they’ve said that phrase to each other. Now they have another canon catchphrase to describe their relationship, in addition to “Together”. (They will say it again - a little different - in 6x10: “The Head and the Heart”.)  Clarke then asks Bellamy “What does your head say about fighting a war (etc.)” and he replies “Same as yours”. Which is just crying for a callback to happen in the final season. Will we get Bellamy and Clarke saying “What does your heart say…”?

Clarke - in a rare moment of medically treating someone (something she did a lot in season 1, but rarely after that), saves Octavia’s life from the worms. And - in one of her better moments in this episode - Octavia thanks for her saving her life. Sadly, their relationship is not going to be that harmonious in the rest of S5.

And at the end of this episode - more reunions! The rover comes with Madi, Monty, Harper and Echo, with three memorable reunion moments:

I love the moment when Monty greets Octavia (he still has no idea how much she has changed) and she greets him back with the most awkward smile ever. It’s like she isn’t sure if she can be Octavia now that she’s Blodreina but she’s acting like her old self for a moment with an old friend who has no idea what she’s like now. 

And this is just moments after she has threatened her brother. This camerawork in this episode is quite interesting - the way it plays with focus. When Octavia threatens Bellamy, while Clarke looks at them, concerned, we have Octavia/Bellamy in focus and Clarke out of it, and then the reverse.

And then in the reunion scene at the end, after we see Clarke and Madi running into each other’s arms for a big hug, and then we also see Echo and Bellamy running towards each other - it’s interesting and very telling that. as we see Clarke and Madi hugging and Bellamy and Echo kissing, in the same frame, the Becho kiss is out of focus throughout, while the camera zooms on Clarke’s reaction. While the first Becho kiss we saw (in 5x01) served the purpose to reveal the relationship to the audience, this time, the kiss is there just for Clarke’s and Octavia’s reactions to it, and this frame screams - what matters here is Clarke finding out about Becho.

Does this look familiar? Oh yes, we saw the same kind of scene and the exact same facial expression from Clarke in 1x05 when she learned that Finn had a girlfriend.

(But in case you ignored this moment, since it’s subtle - the dramatic music only starts with Octavia’s reaction to seeing her brother with her old enemy, which is the cliffhanger - don’t worry, you’ll get another scene of Clarke looking sad while Becho are kissing, in the next episode.)

And here’s the (melo)dramatic cliffhanger! I guess the audience is supposed to be on Bellamy’s and Echo’s side as Octavia is showing once again she can stare daggers - but I suspect many were on Octavia’s side on this one, since we’re pretty much in the same boat as Octavia and Clarke -, for us and for them, comes from nowhere, after we’ve only known them as enemies. Especially Octavia - Clarke did spend semi-amicable moments with Echo and witness Bellamy spending them just before Praimfaya. Octavia's last memories of Echo are… Echo mortally wounding Ilian, Bellamy almost strangling Echo for trying to kill Octavia/cheat them all out of the bunker, and Octavia banishing Echo. and Echo briefly trying to threaten her with telling the other Grounders about the Skaikru rebellion.

Was this really necessary in terms of the conflict between the Blakes? I don’t think so. They’ve already been butting heads over Octavia’s leadership and actions and her intention to fight a war - but yay, we are getting an episode centered around Octavia objecting to Bellamy’s girlfriend, which will ultimately go nowhere and matter little in terms of overall Bellamy/Octavia relationship this season.

Body count: 12 Wonkru members died: Obika died a horrible death from mutant worms. (His death will haunt Miller, who was with him when he was attacked by the worm, during the red sun eclipse in 6x02, when Miller hallucinated having bugs inside of him and yelled he would end up the same as Obika.) 11 other Wonkru members died from Diyoza’s missile, which means there are 801 left.

Rating: 6/10

[warelander]

Thanks to my Sonic comic binging and how much I ended up enjoying both Archie and Sonic The Comic, I have been musing about what I'd like a Puyo comic to be like. 

Most who know me are aware that I prefer Puyo to be more of an ensemble thing like the Anniversary games, which give the cast at large a chance at some spotlight. This got me thinking of a format I'd totally adore, that being a Sonic The Comic styled format.

StC would, on average, have 4 stories per issue, though to compensate they would all have a rather low page count. Still, even then it still pulled off longer arcs just fine and I think this would be a nice way to grant the entire cast some needed spotlight.

Let's say we got an issue of Puyo The Comic so to speak:

Story A centers around the A Trio doing their thing, standard stuff.

Story B, since he has no part in Story A, stars Sig who ends up on Pwurp and has an adventure with the Accursed Knights.

Not my fault they are the best Quest characters.

This could even be a recurring theme for Sig story arcs, much like Tails' adventures as the Zonerunner in StC.

Story C is a Schezo centric tale, ala' Tower of the Magician. Schezo-relevant characters like Witch, Lagnus or Succubus can play parts as needed.

And Story D would be a little one-off. Maybe something staring Harpy and Panotty, to capture the adorable dynamic they had in some Compile material or perhaps a Risukuma story similar to his 20th campaign.

Due to the format, once an arc finishes, they can then go on to new arcs, with different focus characters.

Like the next Issue has:

Story A, which puts the Amitie and Raffine rivalry back into focus for the first time since...Fever 1, really.

Story B stars Sig and Arle and explores the paralels between the Arle/Satan/Rulue and Sig/Oniko/Onion Pixie love triangles.

Story C puts Ringo and Klug together, to see how the two fellow smart students would play off of each other.

And then Story D is a slapstick-y one-off story where Ocean Prince is trying to hide from Otomo.

I really like the concept behind this format, because it would allow them to really play with the larger cast and be more character and interaction centric, which is what matters to me most in Puyo.

[anotheruserwithnoname]

Thoughts on Victoria Series 3

Some general thoughts on the just-concluded (well, in North America, anyway) Season 3 of Victoria. Obviously spoilers ahead - and I will be talking about some of the season’s major moments, so read on only if you’ve seen the show or don’t care about spoilage!

To start at the very end, the cliffhanger finale appears to have answered two questions: will there be a fourth series and will Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes be a part of it. Of course we won’t know officially for maybe months to come, but I think it’s relatively rare for British seasons to end on a cliffhanger if there isn’t a follow-up season already in the bag. Maybe some examples can be given of cliffhanger cancellations - The Omega Factor, maybe? Red Dwarf went off the air for four years having left things on a cliffhanger. So maybe I’m wrong, but considering S1 and S2 both had “full stops” (albeit with S2 having a Christmas special as a postscript), if nothing else it suggests confidence.

And as for Jenna continuing - well, they could change the actress on a cliffhanger, I suppose. Maybe we’re going to jump ahead closer to Albert’s death and not directly resolve the collapse. But Jenna is on record as talking about what she wants to do in Series 4. Time will tell.

Looking at the season as a whole, although I greatly enjoyed it, it did feel perhaps a bit uneven. There was perhaps a greater emphasis on supporting characters this year, but with the Francatelli/Skerett arc cruelly cut off midway through the season, and surprisingly Ernst and Harriet being absent completely - there was greater emphasis on Lord Palmerston, who I think deserves a show of his own, and Victoria’s semi-estranged sister, Feodora, who I found was played perhaps a bit too much like a costume-drama villain. Similarly, the romance between Sophie and William the footman was well handled, but at times felt like it belonged in another series - though I loved the verbal thumping that Victoria gives Sophie’s abusive husband, and the Penge-William dynamic was interesting to see. Mrs. Turner, Skerett’s successor as Victoria’s dresser, is also an interesting addition, especially as Victoria starts to use her as sort of her own Baker Street Irregular.

I was very surprised at Ernst and Harriet being absent from the season, especially as I could have sworn David Oakes and Margaret Clunie posted about filming. Were their scenes deleted? Is it possible that, as a consolation for ITV delaying broadcast of Series 3 well beyond the US airing that this time British viewers are going to see the bonus scenes? I don’t know. But we get no more of their budding romance (which might be for the best as it was rather “doomed to history”). Also totally forgotten about is the marriage of Lord Alfred and Wilhelmina Coke that was expected to follow the Christmas season (though Paget is still present). Diana Rigg was also nowhere to be found. We still had  Penge and Brodie, and Lady Portman provided some interesting dynamics with Lord Palmerston. Peter Bowles (who I’ll always remember from his appearance in Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner) gets some great moments before bowing out as the Duke of Wellington. As for Francatelli and Skerrett, things seem to be going well ... then they suddenly get cut off in their prime.

I know there are people really angry about what happened to them, but I actually didn’t mind it because, realistically, once they left the palace, there really was no further value to the characters in terms of helping tell Victoria’s story. Plus, it gave real stakes and consequences to the deadly disease that afflicted Londoners at the time. It was a brave choice, and I think a good one. they couldn’t exactly kill off Albert 20 years early, right? There was also a line of dialogue implying that Lord M is no longer with us. Robert Peel’s death isn’t mentioned; instead we have John Sessions as rather undynamic Prime Minister Russell, though he’s undynamic mainly because of Lord Palmerston taking all the attention.

Also new this year were the Prince and Princess of Foreshadowing - otherwise known as Vicky and the future King Edward VII. I thought the storyline involving Bertie’s learning disability was well handled, but I did find myself eye-rolling a little bit when Bertie professes his love for his cousin Heidi. And in Vicky I could sense Daisy Goodwin giving a bit of a wink to today’s audiences; after all, it wasn’t until William and Kate’s first child was nearly born that Parliament finally did away with the “first male is the heir” rule. Had it been in place in the mid-1800s, we might have had Queen Victoria II come to the throne in 1901 (albeit only for a short while as Vicky only outlived her mother by about 7 months). The tension between Bertie and his father - which Victoria later blamed for contributing to Prince Albert’s early death - is foreshadowed pretty heavily.

What kept me truly engaged, once again, were the performances by Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes. Both approached their roles with renewed confidence. Jenna clearly was still working on the momentum of The Cry, and Tom had himself been busy filming between seasons, and it shows. Tom’s Albert has a drive to him I haven’t seen since the Series 1 episodes about the trains and his speech about slavery; he successfully manages to overshadow Victoria several times. Jenna’s Victoria exhibits the type of maturity expected of someone who has worn the crown for more than a decade and has had 7 children (and the season doesn’t sugarcoat the impact that has on both Victoria and Albert). The show comes back to a recurring theme that Victoria doesn’t like change - in particular when people leave her. Her upset at Skerett’s resignation, her sadness at Wellington’s retirement, and her rather pointed words that may or may not have changed Sophie’s plan to elope. It’s pretty consistent. The relationship between Victoria and Albert is strained this season, less romantic at times - Victoria even comes to the conclusion Albert doesn’t love her anymore - but in the end, their relationship is more mature than ever. They aren’t teenagers anymore; to have them acting as such is perhaps unrealistic. And the result being two people still deeply in love and bonding like never before. In an odd way I could almost compare it to the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald vs. the Twelfth Doctor and Clara. The first relationship was giddy and first-date like; the second was the deep bond of love (that goes “beyond romance” to quote Peter Capaldi) of the type you get when two people mature together and have life experiences together. Still in love, but differently, as Series 3 establishes.

If there is one disappointment, it’s that Series 3 didn’t - for me - produce any standout single episode, the way Series 1 had the train episode and Series 2 the Scottish episode. Perhaps the closest was the dysentery episode, though more because of its tragedy than the heartwarming feelings generated by the first two. The finale was good but it had to deal with resolving several plot thread (or at least setting them up for cliffhangers).

I know Victoria is not to everyone’s liking. I’ve seen people criticizing it for violating history in much the same way that I’ve seen Trekkies going after Star Trek Discovery for violating Trek canon. It even has a bit of Discovery vs The Orville-style rivalry happening as there are those who prefer the harder edge and Netflix trappings of The Crown. But Victoria is, above all, a generally light-hearted romantic drama. It’s not a documentary. And it certainly hews to history closer than, say, the Reign TV series about Mary Queen of Scots or, for that matter, the recent movie about Mary Queen of Scots. (That said, in casting Laurence Fox as the dynamic Lord Palmerston they did try the same thing they did with Rufus Sewell’s Lord M; Palmerston was considerably older than Fox in real life.)

Victoria Series 3 did its job - it was entertaining, it transported me out of a rather unpleasant period of my life for an hour or so, and it was good. Even if I wasn’t a Jenna Coleman fan, I’d still have watched it. I loved it.

So is Victoria done? Well, leaving the series on a cliffhanger (a couple of them) would suggest they hope to come back. Will Jenna come back? They certainly seems to have set things up that she has to return. But then in the new Harper’s UK interview out just today (March 3) she talks about going to LA after her play is finished to look for movie roles. That doesn’t sound like someone expecting to spend 8 months filming Victoria starting in the summer. She could be just covering her bases like any good actor and not assuming that a renewal is guaranteed (there are videos out there of the casts of Magnum PI and Brooklyn Nine Nine being told about their renewals and the sense of relief of continued employment is palpable). Maybe my guess is right and we’re being set up for the most depressing Christmas special ever? Time will tell, the saying goes.

Regardless, I will miss Victoria and if she is indeed finished in the role, I can’t wait to see what Jenna does next (starting with the play which is to have a National Theatre Live cinema showing).

[twitchesandstitches]

I have an idea for two new factions to play parts as antagonists, but I need suggestions since I’m sort of operating a bit outside my usual series and I don’t want them to become like super over-saturated with just a few specific series.

Opening up suggestions for characters for two other factions, and I really would appreciate it if you send in suggestions ASAP!

First group is the Ringers, a warlike faction that’s intended to be a lot more morally darker than the Cobalts and serve as ideological opponents to the fleet, though they have some ulterior motives that make what they do reasonable, if not sympathetic at all. Their goal is to plunge the multiverse into endless war and conflict, in a fashion similar to Talon from Overwatch; they believe that warfare and conflict force people to evolve and become better people, and also seem to know something about an upcoming disaster or terrible shift in the multiverse that will make it necessary for people to be hardened in order to survive it.

Their overall themes include: Conflict Is Good, War as desirable or natural (with possible social darwinism), the craving of bloodshed and warfare in general, frowning upon idealism and notions of honor, building character through strife, and in terms of moral alignment, being a lighter shade of black; they’re not pure evil (for the most part, and those that are may be tolerated) and they’re better than the uncertain forces they have foreseen, but to those affected by their rampages and plots, but not by much.

Generally they go about stirring up conflict or engaging others in massive battles, attempting to attack people and force them to build alliances or exaggerate rivalries, and are usually plotting to find some relic or secret to do the one thing to make everyone start fighting.

Alternatively, they may be out to conquer the multiverse, or much of it as they can, in order to safeguard it from this unknown threat, and have a mentality that only they have the authority to do so and the will to do it. They may also have different sub-factions with different views, but in the end it comes down to the same methods.

I have some characters in mind, and may switch around others from various factions if they might fit better here, but i mainly need more Big Lady characters. Generally I would appreciate suggestions from some of the following fandoms: Marvel, Disney, DC, RPG-style games I can update for the setting, but I’m good for stuff I’m not familiar with. Just suggest whoever and I’ll see if they fit!

Some possible characters for this group of endless battle: Javik from Mass Effect, with elements of Doomfist from Overwatch (giant gauntlet that amplifies powers, the same motive, and goals). Azula from the Avatarverse, in full Evil Overlord lady mode, and perhaps Kuvira from Legend of Korra as a more straightforward warlord queen?

Airachnid from Transformers Prime, with characteristics of her IDW incarnation; less sadistic and more experiment-minded, and interested in psychological experiments on a vast scale. Also the Combaticons, all female here, as rough and tough soldiers that are like anti-Dinobots.

Maleficent from Disney, playing up her fae aspects to the full; she may have little interest in the actual purpose behind a multiverse of endless war, but is going with it for her own plans or amusement. Depends on how the Disney stuff interacts with this? She might be a dark goddess of magic backing them, too

The Condesce/Meenah Peixes, from Homestuck. In this continuity she was originally doing her endless war against all the multiverse in an attempt to build a homeland for the trolls, after their lost their homeworld of Beforus. After eons of endless war, she’s become incredibly bloodthirsty and perhaps a little addicted to slaughter, and may be losing track of her original goal in favor of slaking her bloodlust. (Alternatively, I may choose to put her into a criminal organization as part of the Midnight Crew and other groups that are criminals but not, y’know, total bastards. Depends on whether I want to play up her canon traits, or soften them.)

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka from Warhammer 40k: he’s the embodiment of ‘orcs as warlike brutes’, how could i not?? Maybe a girl version for Ork Amazon fun?

Yellow Diamond: I previously implied that she, White and Blue were captives of Megatron and mere jewelery for him, but I might have it that she has become freed and joined up with these guys, embittered and coming to believe in their cause, desperate as she is to save her people.

Hel from Marvel, but with more traits of her mythical inspiration (perhaps she shifts between two extremes, one cold but fair, the other rather playfully malicious and hungry for death), acting as a divine backer for them?

General demony characters associated with battle and warfare: no specifics here at the moment, but characters that fit this motif would be good

In general, blood knight-types, femme fatales that can be read as warriors, and anyone that has a big character emphasis on strength would fit well here!

The second faction is a variant on the Suicide Squad/TAsk Force X from DC; an elite group of agents working on behalf of mysterious benefactors. Their true numbers are in the millions, but this refers specifically to a squad that is a recurring set of characters. They are not normally antagonistic, though their goals may bring them into conflict with the Fleet, and certainly they don't like the militant guys up there and the Cobalts fight with them….. A Lot.

This task force consists exclusively of anti-heroes, reformed villains, and characters who were once straight up pure bad but have since reformed. They are people looking for a chance to find a new life, atone for their misdeeds, or simply are looking for a better cause and were never bad to begin with.

They are run by Amanda Waller of DC, who may either be part of, or answer to, a governing assembly of big multiversal figures trying to bring some stability to the cosmos. They might also have divine backing; some of their agents are people who are definitely dead, but are still looking for a second chance.

Some possible members:

Reaper/Gabriel Reyes from Overwatch, playing up both his ghostly qualities and the idea that he is a double agent. Most likely the leader and role model for them, and is a straight up ‘anti hero that kills bad guys who deserve it’ character here, rather than the vengeful wraith he is in canon at present.

Blue Diamond: Assuming that its the same case with Yellow, she’s come to regret what she has enabled over the eons and come to conclude that Pink/Rose Quartz had been right all along. Note that her true form is likely planet-sized here. A good chunk of her loyal gems may attend as the squad’s brute muscle.

Shockwave: From Cybertron, mostly using his IDW characterization. Specifically, this is Senator Shockwave. Once this famously cold, heartless and logical ‘Con was a hopeful idealist until the corrupt leaders of his homeworld took his face, his hands, and his ability to feel anything but cold logic. Following recent events, though, his mind has been freed, and he is in shock at millions of years of horrifying cruelty, and he would like nothing better than tho put his scientific acumen to work helping the multiverse.

Bucky Barnes/The White Wolf: He’s Wallers’ attendant, representative in the squad, and something of a political officer, muddled by his tendency to be everyone’s obnoxious brother.

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy: A two-for-one deal, both of them usually giant ladies or even a full on fusion, and their canon tendency to become better people by being around each other has blossomed into full on attempts to go Good. Harley’s actual job is to be an on-team psychiatrist, while Ivy has transformed into a full on plant monster lady who sees it as her job to restore devastated worlds to full health again.

Lust, from Fullmetal Alchemist. Honestly undecided if she belongs here or with the warmonger faction; either way, she is mostly akin to the canon Lust from the manga and Brotherhood, but with the motivations of her first anime counterpart. Big, busty and largely embodying bloodlust, she has somehow incorporated most of her fellow homunculi and gained their powers, most obviously Pride and Gluttony, becoming absolutely ravenous and death to all that face her, and she is called in to devour entire planets and absorb their souls if there is no other way to save them from otherwise certain doom. They can then be extracted from her and given new bodies at some later date.

Giganta, from DC. Drawing on the more benign or ‘hey, being a baddie is just a job, y’know?’ takes of her. With a bit of the friendly valley girl vibes she had in the DCU!

Slade Wilson/Deathstroke and DEadpool: Considered as one unit here because this version of Deadpool is a flawed clone of Slade, who was a highly skilled super soldier for hire. The squad dealt with Deadpool’s frustrated actions his makers forced him to do, and subsequently recruited both Slade and Deadpool into their ranks, with the latter being treated as an obnoxious little brother to Slade. This Slade is heavily based on his Arrowverse actor, and Deadpool looks like a melted version thereof.

Any additional characters are, again, highly encouraged! Generally I’m looking for characters who were anti-heroes or reluctant villains at best (think Mr. Freeze types; ones that felt they had no choice and they made you REAl SAD) or you could see them regretting what they did and wanting to atone for it.

Generally speaking, these guys aren’t antagonists except in the most genuine sense; they might have opposing goals to the fleet, but they are more likely allies than not. Occasionally their purposes might run counter and a fight starts, and they should ideally be so skilled as to pose a serious threat to even the most extreme numbers.

I’m rather lacking in Sexy Lady-Types for this faction, so I especially welcome suggestions on that score. Send ‘em in, please!

[veryotl]

I'm intrigued by Wonwoo's relationship with the members, and where exactly he fits in. He doesn't have any other idol friends, and tbh that kind of worries me, the poor awkward bean.

Wonwoo is an interesting bean. In my experience writing with him, he’s always been a fun one to try and pin down. Since he’s more introverted, his role in the group is a much more subtle one. However, that ends up playing to his advantage more often than not. If I had to pin down a role musically for Wonwoo, it would be the impact hitter. When you want a bridge that sends chills down your spine, you get Wonwoo. When you want a rap verse that completely changes up the song, you get Wonwoo. His interesting, deep voice is a contrast to all the other members in the group, and I think his role in the group dynamic is similar. He’s a very good foil, he provides a very good contrast to members such as Hoshi and Mingyu. You can see this demonstrated in his individual relationships, how he interacts with each member and who he’s closest with. So I’ve decided to lay this post out like I did for the “Woozi’s relationships” post, going through each of his individual dynamics. So hopefully you enjoy this quick look through Wonwoo and his place in the group and his mindsets with his friendships!

Wonwoo+S.Coups 

For two people in the same unit, there’s not even that many interactions between the two members to analyze. I think the two of them have a pretty chill dynamic, where Coups pretty much gives Wonwoo the space to do his own thing without bothering him too much, and when Wonwoo is feeling playful he’ll open up to Coups because he doesn’t feel like Coups is too excitable or overbearing and easy to handle. It’s a very amicable, sweet dynamic, really. Coups respects Wonwoo’s boundaries and Wonwoo sometimes feels safe and happy enough to open up to playing around with Coups.

Wonwoo+Jeonghan

I discussed a few of Wonwoo’s relationships with members in this post about members who are awkward with one another, but the main one I want to bring up is Wonwoo and Jeonghan. In summary, if you’re not interested in reading that post, Wonwoo and Jeonghan very often point each other out as the member they’re most awkward with and this is likely because they both express affection through receiving and giving attention, however Wonwoo prefers the attention to be individual and to and from those who he really cares about and Jeonghan is very open about giving it and will sometimes try hard to get it from others, making Wonwoo seem too closed off to Jeonghan and Jeonghan too clingy and overbearing to Wonwoo. Despite this disconnect, when they make an effort to see things through one another’s eyes, they understand one another better than they think they do. It’s just a matter of being able to listen to what the other is saying, and it’s really a cute relationship that you can really cheer for them to become closer.

Wonwoo+Joshua

Similarly to Coups, there’s not a whole lot of content on Joshua and Wonwoo interactions, however it’s my belief that Joshua’s quiet but humorous nature causes Wonwoo to be a little more comfortable and drawn out of his shell. Generally, their interactions would be in the background whispering to each other, glancing at each other, making small jokes, or if Wonwoo’s feeling particularly comfortable, Wonwoo poking at Joshua’s arm or pretending to bite him. Again, it’s not a very strong dynamic, but it is a very friendly and relaxed dynamic that makes Wonwoo comfortable.

Wonwoo+Jun

Wonhui is actually an established ship with a dynamic that is noticeable, so there’s quite a bit more content to elaborate on here. Wonwoo and Jun’s friendship stems from their similarities, but also their slight differences that balance each other out in their similarities. They’re both generally quiet people who become excitable when they’re around people they feel comfortable with, however Jun enjoys making his friends laugh and Wonwoo enjoys surrounding himself with people who can make him laugh. I’ve said this before, but a lot of Wonhui moments are very mundane, things like Jun asking Wonwoo’s opinion on ramen or Wonwoo attempting Chinese and Jun telling him that he’s working hard and getting better, but I think there’s a real charm and real feeling to those interactions. Their friendship becomes clearer when they’re not just close when entertainment value is high, they’re close in boring every day aspects as well. As well as this, there’s also a recurring theme in a lot of Wonwoo’s friendships that his friends are people who you generally think wouldn’t be his friends, people who seem hyper and excitable and too loud for him. Wonwoo’s friend circle is very balanced with people who play foil to him; who contrast him in a way that brings out the best parts of him, and I think Jun is no exception.

Wonwoo+Hoshi

I think Soonwoo is a ship that not a whole lot of people saw coming. It flew under the radar pretty well up until about Boom Boom era, and it just grew and grew until culminating in the events of One Fine Day Japan when they had a cute playful rivalry running for almost the entirety of the show with the catchphrase “enemies who have good chemistry like friends”. And they do have good chemistry. Hoshi has a very iconic personality that Wonwoo enjoys being able to make fun of him for and Hoshi enjoys being able to make fun of Wonwoo too, usually to the swift punishment from him. In general, their relationship is like this. They’re very close, but they’re close on a level where they understand when they’re each only teasing and not trying to be mean, which opens up a whole new level of jokes and a fun dynamic of constantly poking fun at the other. Here’s some examples of Soonwoo chemistry.  Also, another subject I haven’t touched on yet is the fact that two prominent friendships of Wonwoo’s are in the same age line as him, born the same year. I tend to emphasize this sort of thing when I notice it, because Korean culture really puts a lot of emphasis on formality in age difference. It’s a very natural thing to be closer to those who are a similar age to you due to the cultural importance placed on proper speech and actions around older people, and while it’s not everything, it does factor into potential friendships, especially for someone like Wonwoo who might have a hard time approaching others to begin with.

Wonwoo+Woozi

This is another ship without a lot of content, and since it involves two members who both aren’t known for being the first to approach other members to break the ice. It’s not a bad thing, though, they don’t seem to dislike each other. Maybe in the future, there’ll be some more interactions with them! 

Wonwoo+DK 

Right off the bat, this pair has my most favorite gif in the history of ever

From what I can tell, they have a dynamic similar to Joshua’s. DK is sweet and outgoing enough to make Wonwoo come out of his shell a little, but most of their interactions are lowkey and in the background. Although the difference I would note is that they take more selfies together. Possibly, they hang out together much more on a casual basis, or possibly they just match each other well aesthetically. I think the takeaway is this: Wonwoo prefers not to draw too much attention to his relationships, and isn’t as outright about it as some others might be. This’ll be brought back up in talking about Meanie, but if it helps make you less worried about him, he seems to have a lot of members who he’s at least comfortable being around, he just prefers to be quiet and not as out front about it. So maybe he has some idol friends that he prefers to keep in touch with quietly, without drawing attention to them.

Wonwoo+Mingyu

Oh. I guess this is the next one up... That last part feels a bit anticlimatic since we’re getting right into it. I don’t think there’s very many Seventeen fans who don’t know the Meanie ship, especially early era/debut era fans. It was a very popular ship, rivaled in size by Jihan and Soonseok, however recently from Mansae era forward it’s begun to fall out of the light a bit. Why? Well, as I mentioned before, it seems that Wonwoo likes to keep a lot of his relationships away from the spotlight, and I’m thinking Meanie got a little too much attention and it started to scare him away a little. I think friendships don’t come naturally to Wonwoo, as he’s a bit more introverted, and while he does try hard, he’s also a little scared of messing up, and the pressure of thousands of people constantly watching you hanging out with your best friend might sap the ease out of letting loose and having a good time. However, as he acclimates and adjusts to the environment, he seems to be getting a little more comfortable and he starts to be able to enjoy himself again. Wonwoo and Mingyu are like peanut butter and jelly, cliched as the comparison may be. They’re almost polar opposites, and they work so well together that their friendship comes off as very comfortable and natural. Mingyu makes him laugh and naturally accepts Wonwoo’s quiet attention without pushing him into bigger things. Wonwoo encourages Mingyu to slow down and Mingyu encourages Wonwoo to work hard and come out of his shell. All considered, Meanie is the most infamous of the Wonwoo friendships, and they work well together, and hopefully they continue moving past the awkwardness.

Wonwoo+The8 

It’s seemed to me that Wonwoo and The8 are kindred spirits in the group. Their circle of friends are almost exactly the same, their personalities bear some resemblance at a base level as well. On a broad sense of their dynamic, I would say it’s a slight reverse dynamic because I think The8 would find Wonwoo a little cute and charming. Since he’s used to hanging out with loud people such as Jun and Mingyu, someone like Wonwoo who is quiet but also likes to laugh would be a nice change of pace for him, and the same would go for Wonwoo. While it would be a bit awkward at first, their paths do overlap due to their similar friend circles and I think they ended up naturally becoming pretty good, casual friends. 

Wonwoo+Vernon

I actually really love the dynamic of Wonwoo and Vernon. They start off a lot like S. Coups and Wonwoo, they’re in the same unit but there’s nothing to really compel them to hang out, but there’s one key difference: Vernon is younger than Wonwoo. S.coups and Vernon get most of the attention in Hip hop unit, and S.coups is older so he can’t really do much about it, but it would be really easy for Wonwoo for harbor animosity towards Vernon. Wonwoo has a really unique rapping tone and some really great lyrics, but he seems to be outshone by Vernon in a lot of cases and he could’ve been bitter over it. However, their dynamic ended up a lot more friendly like a big brother who cares for his younger brother. He hypes him up during his solo parts, he bounces around onstage and dances with him, and will even throw an arm around him. His attitude towards Vernon seems to be a lot more encouraging and lighthearted instead of bitter, and that’s really sweet and awesome and great to see. It’s one of the things that makes Hip hop unit such a pleasure to watch, the support they have for one another even when it could’ve been the opposite.

Wonwoo+Seungkwan

More than anything else, I think Wonwoo’s relationship to Seungkwan is one of admiration. While it seems he’s not always a fan of the spotlight, I think he can appreciate when he notices how Seungkwan keeps control of situations and is able to make everything sound so exciting and fun. Wonwoo isn’t the first person who comes to mind when I think of “overflowing love for his dongsaengs”, but when it comes to Seungkwan he really seems to just melt for him. Lots of laughing and smiling, lots of relaxing out of his shell, and even more skinship than usual for Wonwoo. It’s really sweet to see how much Wonwoo takes care of Seungkwan and watches out for him, and their dynamic is unlike any of Wonwoo’s other relationships.

Wonwoo+Dino

Although, that being said, Wonwoo and Dino are also close in a similar fashion. However, as opposed to Wonwoo thinking Seungkwan is cool, I think Wonwoo wants Dino to look up to him. Dino looks up to a lot of members, like Hoshi and Vernon and even Woozi, and I think Wonwoo tries his hardest around Dino to be someone he can look up to as well. Dino has a lot of potential, and I think Wonwoo sees that and (here’s where there’s a bit of similarity between him and Jeonghan appears) he wants to be someone who helps Dino reach his potential in the future. They aren’t terribly awkward around each other, I think Dino realizes Wonwoo’s intent and pays attention to him, and this leads to a nice cute friendship between the two of them. I hope in the future Dino starts to take his lyrics to Wonwoo and Wonwoo’s able to help him and they get even closer <3

So, in conclusion, Wonwoo really is hard to pin down in his relationships and he’s very interesting to explore. A lot of his relationships, we just don’t know much about because he’s a more background kind of person, and some it seems it’s hard for him to become closer with because he’s not a proactive initiator type of person. However, as he gets more comfortable being in the spotlight, both in his personal relationships and in his relationships with the fans, we’ve seen him break out and grow and hopefully soon we can see him start to make friends with other idols and really find where he belongs in the industry, as well as pursuing some of his other passions such as OST singing and such~

[cogentranting]

What's your overall opinion on BS? In terms of narrative purpose in s5 and more so in s6? Do you think its likely she might travel the redemption train.

I like Black Siren. She’s got a cool style to her, her cry is pretty cool, she’s sufficiently slippery. I usually like the recurring villains (Deadshot, Chien Na Wei, Cupid, Helena) I think it’s fun to have a thorn in the team’s side who keeps showing up and causing havoc but isn’t the grand mastermind big bad. So keeping Black Siren around as a regular in season 6 should be a lot of fun. 

I think in general she plays this really unique role on the show that brings out a lot of good character stuff in a wide range of different characters. Her season 5 storylines are pretty easy to break down. Her first appearance in 5x10 is all about whether or not Oliver has held on to hope. It’s sort of a test to see how much killing Billy broke Oliver- and so we get this episode all about Oliver striving for Black Siren’s redemption. And it brings in the strong contrast of Felicity who lost a lot of her belief in redemption back in season 4 and has a lot of her hope drained out of her by Billy’s death. And so those two are brought into conflict over Black Siren. And since then Felicity has regained a lot of that and kind of come through the other side of her crucible, so we’ll have to see what defines her relationship with Black Siren in season 6- will there still be an element of rivalry, will they be juxtaposed as the woman who lost (her version of) Oliver and the one who got him back, will Felicity’s friendship with the real Laurel come into play? I don’t know, it’s uncharted waters, but there are lots of options (and she might not have much to do with Felicity specifically at all). However, Oliver fighting for her redemption is, I think, going to be a big ongoing part of her story. 

She also brings in the idea of legacy and serves as the opening to bring in Dinah. And those two have a dynamic that’s really interesting. It’s sort of the expected legacy and the true legacy. Black Siren is a version of Laurel but she’s become twisted and evil. Whereas Dinah has no true connection to Laurel but is the real spiritual successor and fits well within the Lance family dynamic. And it really emphasizes the idea of Dinah within this dynasty of heroes, which is continually evolving, and it challenges Dinah’s self-concept and allows her to grow. I also think (assuming he lived) Lance will have a lot of growth in his relationship to Dinah and we’ll see her becoming like a daughter to him, while we see Black Siren offsetting that relationship. 

And so on and so forth. She’s a really unique villain because she has all these built in connections to the main characters. And that should play really nicely in a season with the family theme. Because she’s tough and she’s evil, but Oliver and Quentin and maybe Thea (and Sara if she’s ever around at the same time) are sort of these built in weaknesses, where she never knew them but she loved different versions of them (and vice versa) and seeing how that plays out with each of them. 

And with that, I think it will be a sort of question of Black Siren (and Evelyn?) being the wayward family members- the ones who are lost and need to be redeemed and brought home. And so, as I said, I think the question of Black Siren’s redemption will be ongoing. HOwever, I don’t think she’ll be redeemed. What would be perfect (in my opinion) is both Evelyn and Black Siren getting the offer of redemption throughout the season, and having Evelyn ultimately accept it, but showing Black Siren as someone who is unwilling to let go of her bitterness and her darkness and rejects the redemptive path. Sort of a twist on Laurel’s line from Birds of Prey “Once you let the darkness in, it never comes out”. 

I think redeeming Black Siren would be a step backwards- essentially it would just be going back to regular Laurel who they already made the decision to move away from. I think it would create a surplus of sonic-powered team members- if Siren’s redeemed and stays on the show, then why isn’t she on the team, if she’s on the team, what does that mean for Dinah, sort of thing. And I think Dinah’s here to stay. I think all the really really interesting connections that Siren has, instantly become 90% less interesting if she’s redeemed. And, frankly, I think her actress is much better at playing a villain than a good guy. 

I could see them sort of bringing her halfway, though. A shifty frenemy, like season 3 Merlyn, or even Deadshot. But I don’t see a full redemption happening unless she’s killed or written off immediately after. 

[disco-vampire-thing]

Gothoughts - 3.15, How the Riddler Got His Name

SO!

I’ve decided to do a bit of a review for the newest episode of Gotham, along the lines of my comics and movie reviews.  Spoilers, unsolicited opinions, and undignified squeeing behind the cut. :)

As far as I’m concerned, Gotham’s return with “How the Riddler Got His Name” is a home run.  I know some fans were worried, looking at the earlier promos, that Oswald would be too quickly forgotten or we wouldn’t see the emotional fallout from his murder.  Instead, what we get really surpassed my expectations, with some fantastic interplay between Ed and his hallucination of Oswald, as Ed struggles both to come to terms with what Oswald really meant to him, and to take the next step into truly embodying the Riddler.

Speaking of which, I love the fact that Ed knows who he is, but is struggling to become that.  I love that, for him as it was for Oswald, the birth of the legend as we come to know him is not easy.  I think that’s one of Gotham’s real strengths.  While most supervillains do get their own origin stories in comics, I’ve found that a lot of versions then skip straight from the origin story to the villain as a fully-fledged threat, as if the decision to become a criminal meant you got a welcome basket with a pre-tailored costume and a starter pack of henchmen.  I know that it’s often done to make the villains seem more mysterious and, therefore, more threatening, but I think there are a lot more storytelling opportunities in letting us see, not only Batman’s training and struggles and failures, but those of his rogues’ gallery, too.

Something that’s interesting about Ed’s origin story in particular:  Okay, so Gotham always kind of rides this line between gritty deconstruction and comic book show, and sometimes teeters a little too far in one direction or the other. When I first heard Ed describe what he’s doing in this episode as “becoming a villain”, it made me wince.  “Villain”, in this sense, is basically a metafictional concept, and it’s not one that people would generally apply to themselves.  You know the saying, “Everyone is the hero of their own story”?  When you make yourself a villain, you’re essentially making yourself an obstacle in someone else’s story, and in real life, people don’t tend to do that.  

And Gotham is usually fairly realistic in this respect.  I’m pretty sure this is the first time anyone in this show has called themselves “a villain” unironically.  Mobsters like Carmine Falcone or Fish Mooney wouldn’t think of themselves that way – they’re powerful, ambitious businesspeople. Even someone unhinged like Jerome or Barbara would probably only say it in an ironic echo of how they think the world sees them.  I don’t think Oswald, in real life, would have said it about himself.  His path hasn’t been driven by the urge to become a villain, it’s been driven by the urge to rule Gotham. Even his becoming “the Penguin” was kind of unintentional.  He claimed that persona, but he didn’t set out to construct it.  (And hallucination!Oswald even unpicks this onscreen: he didn’t teach Ed to be a villain, he taught him to be Edward Nygma, “a man who could run the underworld and hide in plain sight”.)

But I have to say, this episode won me over in this respect.  I came to realise that out of all the rogues in Gotham, Ed is the one for whom this explicit “becoming a villain” shtick actually works.  I can see Ed deciding, “I recognise myself as a villain/recognise the villain in myself, and I will set out to embody him.”  It’s a reflection of how Ed tends to approach life and interactions with people in general:  it’s this attempt to apply high symbolism and abstract systems of rules to the real world. Which, incidentally, is also a pretty good description of how riddles work.

As for the way this episode explores Ed’s relationship with Oswald, I basically have nothing to offer but delighted shrieking. :)  I was expecting Oswald’s “ghost” to be tormenting Ed, the way Kristen’s has in the past; the fact that Ed takes such genuine pleasure in seeing him (even to the point of thanking Oswald for being there, as if he’s real) and is even taking drugs to be able to see him – a pretty big departure for someone who’s as invested as Ed is in control – came as a pleasant shock.  The moment where he finally says goodbye to Oswald, and admits how much he cares about and misses him, is genuinely heartwrenching.  And hallucination!Oswald is a delight throughout, from his eating popcorn to his exasperation with Ed selecting Jim as his archnemesis. :)  He’s wonderfully salty (as with his line about how he’s “not really a fan” of the view from the docks), but he also knows exactly where and how to slide the knife in under Ed’s defences.  Robin Lord Taylor is a tour de force in this episode – his performance as hallucination!Oswald is an exaggerated version of Oswald (because this is Ed’s mental reconstruction), but still nuanced, and he’s just fantastic to watch.  And holy shit, but that serenade makes me happy.  Ed actually hallucinates Oswald, dressed in gorgeous clothes, singing him a sexy ballad under a red spotlight.  I’m not only really pleased that the creators took it that far (making it pretty undeniable that Ed at least has some attraction towards his friend), I’m also impressed that they pulled it off. That scene could have so easily tipped over into being silly, but it’s executed with a deft hand and grounded in two really strong performances, making it erotic and eerie instead.

(Also it seems somehow cosmically unfair that anyone is as good looking as RLT, just saying.)

I’ll admit, I was underwhelmed by how the reveal of Oswald’s survival was handled. Granted, I don’t think anyone was actually going to be shocked, but I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic than him waking up in bed in an admittedly charming chintzy sweater.  What, no surge upwards out of the water of Gotham bay, mirroring the first episode?  Not even a scene of Oswald being discovered washed up on shore?  Just, oh, hey, you’re awake, isn’t it handy that gunshot wound and the accompanying near-drowning weren’t fatal?  I realise the episode packs a lot in and the creators probably didn’t want to spend too much time on the mechanics of how Oswald survived, but it still felt like a bit of a letdown. (However, pretty much the only letdown in a stellar episode, so I’m not too fussed.)

Speaking of Oswald’s survival:  Ivy was also absolutely nowhere on my list of prospective rescuers.  I assumed, as I think a lot of fans did, that the most logical person to pulls Oswald out of the harbour would be Fish.  She believes in his potential, so she might well think he could be useful to her long-term; she may also feel like she owes him for sparing her; she’s got access to Hugo Strange’s revival technology; and it would open up some pretty heady symbolism (Fish fishing – hee – Oswald out of the water after he pushed her in, the maternal imagery of her bringing him back into the world). Jim was also a possibility, as was Gabe, or the Court of Owls (who’ve shown an interest in Oswald before), or even Selina. I never would have thought of Ivy, though, and it seems somewhat out of character for a woman (a girl, really) who’s never really shown much of an altruistic streak.  (This wasn’t just a spontaneous moment of kindness, either – she’s apparently nursed him and hidden him for weeks!) However, I’ll admit that I’m intrigued.  Oswald and Ivy make an odd pair, but one with a lot of potential.  Both shunned as children for being different, both grown ruthless largely out of necessity, and both (as we’ve now learned about Ivy) with the capacity to be selfless, even self-sacrificing.  I can see them as a team.

So, that takes care of the Nygmobblepot elements (the Nygmobbleplot, if you will) – what about the rest of “How the Riddler Got His Name”?

I think one of the standout elements, for me, is the rivalry that’s shaping up between Ed and Lucius Fox.  We’ve seen them square off a few times before, providing a foundation for their evolution into archnemeses here, and I’m really glad that the show went in the direction of making Lucius Ed’s foil, rather than Gordon.  It helps break up the recurring theme of “Jim Gordon is the central figure in everyone’s life”, which made some sense in the first season, when Jim was the only honest cop in the city (and therefore naturally the most likely to be complicating the life of your average Gotham rogue), but has started feeling increasingly forced.  More than that, Lucius fits the role perfectly.  He’s a lot more willing to pursue Ed through all the labyrinthine twists of his games than Harvey or even Jim would be.  He’s as frighteningly brilliant as Ed, and (as Chris Chalk confirmed on Twitter), Lucius recognises a similarity in the way both their minds work.  (Hell, they’ve also both scientists who’ve been on the receiving end of what Lucius has called the GCPD’s “fascistic meathead culture”, so I suspect Lucius may understand all too well some of the forces that shaped Ed.)  And Lucius hasn’t given up on Ed, which I think is fascinating – especially as Ed seems shaken, at least temporarily, by Lucius’s sympathy.  I’m so looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

Their confrontation on the stairs, playing mind games for Harvey’s life, is just brilliant.  It’s a shining moment for Lucius – not just for the way he solves Ed’s puzzles, or even because he manages to best him at the riddles game by coming up with an answer Ed hadn’t thought of.  It’s the fact that Lucius actually pieces everything else together just from the few, tortured fragments that Ed lets slip.  And ohhhh, that moment where Lucius picks up that something’s wrong, that Oswald’s gone and Ed is coming unglued without him, that something happened.  So good.  

I also like how the riddles tie into the wider themes of the episode.  Ed’s answers are all solitary, in keeping with his mindset (loneliness, an individual, a reflection), whereas Lucius’s are more upbeat.  But Ed’s insistence that, “You have to come up with my answer,” mirrors what he’s been doing for the entire episode.  He knows, deep down, that he killed a part of himself when he killed Oswald, he knows he can’t really replace him, but he’s still pushing to get an answer he likes better, to get his answer.  (And of course, the answer to the third riddle being “a reflection” is fitting, as it’s normally a bit of poetic licence to say that your reflection “knows your every thought” because it mimics your expression, but for Ed, his reflection really does know – and is a manifestation of – his thoughts.  And then the “reflection” imagery becomes terrifyingly literal in the next scene when Bruce spots his clone in the mirror.  I love it.)

Incidentally, you could also call this episode “How Harvey Bullock Flirted Shamelessly with Lucius Fox for the Entire Length of an Investigation”, and it is glorious.  I’m not saying I don’t love Jim Gordon, but I’m starting to wonder if we really need him back in Gotham, at least right away.  I would watch the shit out of a show that was nothing but Lucius being a jaw-droppingly brilliant investigator and conducting Interrogation Via Weirding People Out, and Harvey, as his partner, showering him with fond looks and ten-dollar words (“Did you see how I used that word, ‘allocate’?”), fishing for compliments on his suits, and generally failing at pretending he doesn’t fancy Lucius rotten and also getting tied up occasionally because hello kink I didn’t realise I had.

I can’t wait to see where all this goes next week.

Random points:

I do have legitimate questions about why all scientists in Gotham work in big glass cages, but that’s by the by.

Robin Lord Taylor isn’t the only one showing off his acting chops here by playing with different versions of a character.  David Mazouz is amazing at getting across the subtle distinctions between Bruce, clone!Bruce, and clone!Bruce pretending to be Bruce.

You have to wonder if Harvey ever just flops down at his desk and contemplates what his life has come to, that he’s now in charge of frantically dredging the river for the guy he once arranged to have shot and dumped in the river.

Speaking of which, I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when Harvey (presumably) first interviewed Ed after Oswald disappeared.  Neither of them is all that keen to find him, but they’re both forced to pretend that they’re desperate to – and on top of that, they both loathe each other. That would have made for some interesting viewing.

There is no limit to my love for Ed’s fruit messenger. (Why IS he a bunch of grapes?  Who knows?  It’s brilliant.)

It’s probably a testament to how many gimmicky serial killers Gotham has that not one of the people who used to work closely with Nygma, know him as the riddle/puzzle guy, and know he’s murdered people connected him with this rash of puzzle-related murders.

It is pretty comical how much shabbier Harvey’s nicest suit is than anyone else’s suit.  It’s also a little bit heartwarming.  Remember when Harvey had a few Italian suits that had just wandered into his closet after they were confiscated during a bust?  Now, his nicest suit is clearly something he bought on his un-supplemented, honest cop’s salary, and takes good care of.  It’s this bit of meta sweetness.

This is such a weird thought, but – how did the Court duplicate Bruce’s clothes?  Do they have an entire wardrobe based on his wardrobe (how?), and when he left the house some surveillance van called in to say, “It’s the black turtleneck and the three-quarter-length black coat today”?  Or did someone run out and try and buy those clothes based on a photo, and dress clone!Bruce in them, all in about half an hour?  How do you go out shopping in a city the size of Gotham for ten minutes and manage to exactly match clothes that could have been bought a year ago?  Am I overthinking this?  (The answer is yes.)

Is it just a thing in Gotham that when you want to test someone’s loyalty and maybe kill them, you take them to a cabin in the woods?  At least Jim’s uncle isn’t trying to hold his hand romantically over the breakfast table.