#very sad that gold and others from that arc didn't get to show up more

[secretsonicshowdown]

Competitor 10 is...

Gold the Tenrec from the Archie comics!

She appeared in the Silver Age arc, which was a Silver focused arc set in the future

She's a telepath who can make other people hear her thoughts and is strong enough to have been used as a power source. She originally came from another universe, but fled to this dimension when her world was destroyed. She's got the coolest little outfit ever. She is so nervous but has an incredibly cool reveal when she first appears

[ginalongillustrations]

Vox Machina Details

I realized that now that I've completed all of Vox Machina, I wanted to show off the symbols I chose for each member and their designs as some of them I'm super proud of! If you're unsure what any of the symbols are meant to convey, just read blow the line.

Keyleth

(side note, I finished her original version at like ep 35 and had worked so hard to stay away from spoilers so I had no idea what most of the symbols meant and was struggling to think of things)

Kraken- I included it because the kraken fight will go down in my personal history as the fight that was the biggest... slog to get through. You felt the weariness of it as shit just kept repeating, and unfortunately half the table was slightly drunk making everything worse, and it was so pivotal because Vax died and that hastened his deal with the raven Queen and it was Keyleth completing her journey and it was Tary's first real adventure. It also was right after my Roman Empire Vaxleth quote so it had to have a place.

Goldfish -iconic

Acorn- so this is one that has nothing to do with her journey, but it's something I chose to symbolize what I love about her. I love her passion for life and her willingness to protect it. I chose it after she went against Grog during the Whitestone Arc and ran back to help the townsfolk fight the zombie giant. I loved it because she refused to let those people fight on their own to live, and it really stuck with me. Her unadulterated anger at the death of the fire ashari and so many other times she cares about life and I wanted to represent that, so much that I included it in her personal symbol at the top of the designs.

Fire - obvious reasons

Raven feather - gonna represent the love of her life

Snowdrop- yeah Vax got two but I'm so glad I did because that last episode had me sobbing just like Marisha and it's such a symbol of goodbye and love and stolen time

Vex

She is one of the most straightforward ones, another one that I had help on from the community because I didn't want spoilers but did want to encompass her entire journey and not just what I had seen.

Grizzly paw - for the best companion out there

Gold coins - Her greed is such a defining trait for so much of her journey to the point where it, in part, got her killed by wanting to steal the armour. It is her hating to spend 30 gold on a very useful book, it is so much of her and I love it.

Sun - Paelor, since she was chosen by him

Broom - As much as I wasn't a fan of the broom, it truly is such a big part of her, her fighting technique, and her personality again tied to her greed that I couldn't help but add it.

The gun and the dagger - for the two most important people in her life.

Pike

Her ship - It's cute how often she brought it up even when we never once see her at sea. I think Ashley really enjoyed that part of her backstory even asking about it in campaign 2.

Her holy symbol - Sarenrae is the God who has my heart simply for her kindness to Pike. Her warmth and love and how important that relationship is to Pike. More so than any other cleric, it feels like they get each other and I love that. I'm also sad Sarenrae hasn't been around much in the other campaigns. Someone give this God some love please (I'm on ep 46 of c3 so who knows)

The lute - even if they never go on a date during the campaign, that relationship is super important. It was the first relationship I shipped in VM and how often they look out for each other. I'll always be sad Ashley couldn't be there for ep 85

Grog's axe - adoptive siblings for life

Iris - since it's the flower of Westruun, I thought I should add also because Matt was able to pull that out of his ass when asked was incredible and needs to be remembered always.

Glabrezu claw - even if it's not a death we saw, that death echoed throughout the campaign and it affected Pike so much

Scanlan

Scanlan was harder. So many of his moments are intangible. How do you draw a counterspell? A wish? The hunt for drugs that are actually just cooking spices? the meat man? Modify memory? Scanlan will always be MVP of the VM campaign in my eyes, and so it was so hard to do him justice.

The three eyes of Ioun - No one expected Scanlan to be chosen but chosen he was and the world is better for it.

Triceratops - That fight was the first time Scanlan really showed he could hold his own. Hell, the rest of VM came out worse with 5 people than he did. It was the first time you saw how much of a beast Scanlan could be.

Pike's mace- the woman who made him better

The beret - I had just finished the briarwood Arc what I was working on him and I thought this the best representation of Sam willing to just roll with the stupidest running bits.

The Burt Reynolds mustache - His love of disguises and also one of his most iconic lines

The flute - representing his meeting Kaylie and how that changed so much of his journey.

Percy

I struggled with Percy and his symbols because I couldn't always grasp what was important and what drove him as tangible things outside his family, Revenge, and Vex. I also just have the most trouble connecting to Percy so I think that played a part.

The bird skull - I felt it showed his connect to others? As it passed through his hands it showed a care for others and I dunno, this one just stuck with me. So it's there.

Black powder -no way in hell I'm leaving Viktor out

De Rolo crest - His family and all that he lost

An arrow - his future, his shining north star, his better half

Black smoke - Orthax and how much control it had over him

Vampire teeth - a bit corny I know but had no idea how to represent the briarwoods so I rolled with this.

Vax

Snowdrop - the mirror Keyleth, and if you have the prints next to each other with Vax on the right and Keyleth on the left, the snowdrops mirror. They're the only two of the series to have that (can you tell who my favourite couple is?)

The raven Queen mask - she needed her own spot because she is.. the looming shadow over so much of Vax, his choices, and his story. She is unrelenting, she is ever-present, she is inevitable. And I hate her for it.

The arrow - twins for life

The antlers - This man supports Keyleth's rights and her wrongs and I adore him for it. I love that he says if you're going to your death to fight this dragon then I'm with you no questions asked. He worships her and it makes me weak at the knees.

The feather - those wings become as much a part of his identity as the broom is for Vex.

The belt - his love for that belt but also his use of equipment. Vax, more than anyone I think, has his identity was tied to his equipment and his icknic moments. His boots, his armour, his belt, his daggers. They make up so much of him.

Grog

He's another super straightforward one because we'll, Grog wasn't meant to have a deep and rich and complex character. He has amazing moments but again how do I show them? Craven's edge was something I tried for but it just didn't read as exactly that so I sadly left it out. Believe me, it hurt.

The deck of many things - Those cards were Grog's roman empire and it bit him in the ass at the end and I love it. Also just Travis and his absolute inability to not push the red buttons.

Ale - no group has loved taverns as much as VM, and no one in that group loves a night of drinking as much as Grog.

The Lute - for his best bud

The Mace - for his sister

The shapes - callback to the original audio intro with Grog being first

The bag of holding - few things were as paired as Grog and that bag. No one has their inventory as well organized as that Goliath.

Tary

Blondies - I know he was only a portion of it and I think because he was there for the time they mentioned it the most, I connect Tary the most with the Slayers Cake. It's the friendships he formed in his time with the group.

The list - thinking of him saving Keyleth and getting to mark off rescuing a maiden will never fail to make me laugh

The arrow - his best friend

The gun - his other best friend

The book - his many grand tales all documented in one fantastical book

The helmet - I really wanted it in the original design but it just wasn't going to work with the pose I wanted, so it ended up at the bottom.

Yepp so these are the things I connect with these characters the most. It's silly and so much effort for such a small part of the print, but I'm proud of them.

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Let's talk about Shoma...NHK edition...

Two 2nd places and Shoma is in the GPF. He had a much better free skate than at CoC. So it should be something to be happy about. But clearly I am not.

If you have seen my post from CoC you know that I am not upset about Shoma getting 2nd, I am upset about the way he got 2nd. Fight me on this but in any other tech panel of the season he would have a 195+ score for his skate, if not even 200. (And if you looked at the tech box it was 106 TES and that would have given him a 198 score even with those PCS) I don't want to speculate about any political games or anything, for now I simply want to believe Shoma was simply disliked by the tech panel ppl.

(And btw I like Yuma a lot and I am happy he is back! Iif one is winning over Shoma, I am happy if it's Yuma just not like this and this isn't Yuma's fault ofc, so nothing against Yuma.)

What's most sad about Shoma's silver today is that it made him question competing and his abilties. 😭😭😭

He felt good about his performance and then tech panel completely deflated all positive feelings. His comments are so defeated. Ofc he is Shoma so his reaction is still polite and everything and he smiled at Yuma and interacted like normal. But still this is a new low. He perfomed good, he did all combos, landed the 4F and Axels that he was insecure about in the practice, even yoloed a 4T which alone shows his superiority bc who else can do that??? And yet it wasn't enough for the fcking judges to give him high scores.

We all knew Shoma wasn't gonna skate forever and I always knew that it could very well be his last season, but his comments didn't sound so final, so I thought there was maybe a tiny bit hope he'd still continue. But today I am not even sure he will not retire after Nats. I have my doubt he would neglect the opportunity if he's selected for Worlds but if you'd ask him today he probably won't go. Pulling a Tatsuki Machida never seemed more real...and part of me wouldn't even mind. I would lie if I say I won't be sad about Shoma's retirement, but all I really want is him happy and if competing isn't making him happy anymore...better retire on own terms than the Jfed and ISU waving you goodbye by lowballing you...

I hope though that while his comments now are negative, that he will rethink the attitude bc it's not him who has reached a limit or who isn't capable of better scores, it's a fcking judging mishap. Keiji said his 4Loop was brilliant and rotation clean, Shoma himself said he was surprised about the 4Lo and 4T being called (as he could see his landing), Stephane shook his head at the score, no it's not your fault Shoma. And I hope he gets the prep talks of his life by his surroundings!

There are two ways this could lead to, Shoma being on the verve of retiring and motivation for competition is completely lost or Shoma is fired up and rebounds stronger than ever from this disappointment with new fire. As Shoma fans we have seen many ups and downs of Shoma and usually Shoma always came back stronger. Ppl saying that's the end for him after IdF 2019 -he went on to win JNats, ppl saying he is done at WTT 2021 proceeds to win an Olympic medal and World Gold 2022, let's see what happens now...atm a positive way seems impossible but after a few days the world may not seem as dark...

I am truly furious for his 2nd place and petty me who thought I could stand seeing Shoma in 2nd is now completely on skating gods pls let Shoma win all Gold medals from now on as perfect revenge arc 🔥🔥🔥

[aceofspades-sml]

My (extensive) notes about the Newsies ensemble + secondary and background characters in the UK production

Again disclaimer, I sat in Manhattan so I am aware I missed lots of interactions between the boys but I already have a lot to say from what I saw

Also I will put race in my other post about the main characters because I have way too much stuff to say about him

Uksies spoilers below the cut

A few thoughts about the ensemble :

The level of character in this show is genuinely so good ?? Like even background newsies with little to no line still have a kind of character arc through the show

Because it's not just about what's going on "officially" on stage, it's all the little interactions they have in the background or when walking through the aisles. It's the way they hug and show affection to each other. It's the way they clearly all have preferred friendships, people they will choose to go to, even tho they are close to all the others. It's the way they run to help each other during Seize the day, the way they look so sad and betrayed when the scabs appear for the first time- And I could go on for hours about all the little interactions like those

Also they added so much stuff to give more depth to every single character ??? Like in Seize the day they all come into a triangle and say their name, and yes it's important for the strike on a symbolic level but also in the show, because they aren't just members of the ensemble. Each of them is his own character with his own personality and honestly that's really interesting and meaningful

+ this is echoed later on when the girlsies all come into a circle and say their name during Brooklyn's here (also they have their own dance break !!! Center stage !!). And the Brooklyn girls don't play a major part in the show after that song (except maybe for Spot), but here, in the same way as the boys, they get the opportunity to be seen by the audience as their own character

So yeah I could say a lot about the ensemble stuff but tbh this part was so striking to me I really wanted to talk about it because it's really beautiful and I love the fact that this was included in the show

Anyway a few of my favorite things about the secondary/background characters, in no particular order because I basically just wanted to write down my thoughts

Tommy boy < 33

If you know me you know I love him, and Jack bromage owns my heart and soul

When I talked about how background newsies get a character arc, I was specifically thinking about him. During Seize the day he is the last scab to change his mind (they gave him the "My father's gonna kill me anyway" line !!!!), and then later during the rally he is really angry and screams "WE HATE YOU" at jack at the top of his lungs. Yes he is insecure and mad at Jack because he was the one who convinced him to join the strike and now he is just giving up on them

Tommy boy okay

Also I already mentionned this but in the "who wants Brooklyn" scene he just goes lying face first on the ground and plays dead, which is even funnier because 0.0005 seconds earlier he was among the most eagers to talk to the others neighbourhoods. Comedic gold I swear

Finch

I LOVE DAMON OKAY

His mic was broken at the beginning and there was a moment of panic when he realized it but tbh he coped like a boss

Gayest Finch and I'm not sorry

When the scabs come in and he says "They think they can just walz in here and take our jobs ?", he sounds genuinely heartbroken and betrayed. Those guys are his friends and he can't believe they are doing this. Also when he was saying this line it looked like he was talking directly to one of the scabs but I didn't see which one

Henry

Update on my Henry hyperfixation : it's stronger than ever

Give me Matt's Henry or give me death

"I'M COMING RACE" Okay king

At the beginning of Carrying the banner he scratches his crotch very agressively with his towel and then proceeds to wash his face with said towel. Got quite a reaction from the audience

His attitude and costume clearly put him among the oldest boys along with Finch, Race, Specs and Albert

Before wwk it felt like he was one of the angriest about the prices, tho he also seemed quite bewildered and lost and didn't know what to do about it

His "What the absolute fuck Race" attitude during kony was extremely strong

Also him and Race seemed to be pretty close ! E.g. when the boy all come in front of the gate before wwk, he is pulling a carriage with Race on it and when Race gets down he ruffles Henry's hair, which I thought was a pretty cute detail to add

Mike

He seemed so young ??? When all the boys were discussing the strike he just looked really tiny and anxious

It has been officially established that he is among the youngest newsies and um sir. It shows.

Also he is very loud and visible. He has like 1 solo line but you can't miss him. He talks loudly, gets angry, moves a lot...

Also he goes on the zipline at the end !!

Romeo

"Me thinks the lady needs to be handled by a *snaps suspenders* real man"

Cutest Romeo I swear

Also his "thank you lady" at the beginning ? Not only was it perfect but also I'm pretty sure some of the boys winced (Mark I'm looking at you) and judging by his voice George himself was close to losing it

Overall my favorite interpretation of the character and I was really sad I didn't get to focus on him more

Elmer

Not the one I focused on the most, but Rory looked so sweet honestly !

"I dunno sister but it's bound to rain sooner or later" amazing as always

Everytime I looked at him he looked kinda happy and cheerful, elmer is and will always be the human embodiment of pure sunshine

Splasher !!!

Given that he is a new character, he was the only newsies I didn't know anything about when I came in and I immediately fell in love with him (I mean how can you not)

Okay part of it is because they gave him my favorite line of the show : "at the end of the say who are you gonna trust ? Them (affectionate) or them (derogatory) ?"

And he is genuinely so sweet ?? Everytime I looked at him he was smiling and tbh his smile his very contagious

In seize the day he is the first one to get hit by the cops (he has the line "it's about time you showed up") and um hello ??? Give this boy a hug already

Also obviously, the talent of this guy is incredible. Absolutely rocking the floor in Seize the day + he has an amazing voice !!!

ALBERT

He was ??? Perfect ??

He is loud he is arrogant he is a hothead he is a pure ball of chaos

The leg of lamb scene was legit the most ridiculously funny line delivery. He just comes stumbling on stage in nothing but a towel like "hey race guess what very interesting thing just happened to me-"

During Carrying the banner my boy was straight up ready to fight the Delanceys

"TAKE IT DOWN SHORT STOP" okay but it isn't just the voice it's the way he takes a tough pose and his whole mocking attitude toward Les. Jacob said he was trying to mimic the attitude of the Les he has in front of him and honestly, it shows

Also for anyone wondering yes the Race/Albert friendship was very present. He also seemed kinda close to Specs

Also Specs !

I didn't get to focus on him as much as I would have wanted (same goes for Mush, Jojo and Ike actually that's why I'm not talking about them here, I really hope I'll be able to look at those four more when I go back) but still

They cut "I lost my shoe" ??? The worst part is I actually knew about it but forgot so during wwk I was expecting this line and was really thrown off when they just skipped to the next lyrics

Before Seize the day when he is on look-out and Jack (?) asks if he has any news of Brooklyn he goes "no" and adds "I'm sorry". And like it's a new thing and the way he said it ??? He was so sad and hopeless I just wanted to give him a hug

Okay yes I didn't get to look at them at other moments but still huge shoutout to Josh Denyer and Arcangelo for absolutely rocking the floor during Seize the day

The girlsies < 33

I LOVE THEM ???

Their entrance was so dramatic and sassy pls

Also I will never stop talking about it but- they get a dance break !!! They get to say their names !!! They are so much more important than in any other production I love it

Also they don't just stay in their own little corner, they interact with the boys ! They all seem to be on pretty friendly terms, they talk together, hug and wave at each other...

They aren't just plot devices with one (1) dramatic scene, they are characters ! They have friends !! They have actual friendships with the Manhattan boys !! And it makes the whole Brooklyn's here scene so much more meaningful bc it really feels like they are coming to help their friends

Did I ever mention how much I love Spot ? Lillie slaying as always

She is tough she is sarcastic she is ready to kick your ass I love her

Also at some point Lillie said Spot was very close to Davey in act 2, and if I'm being honest I had some doubts about this friendship but boy oh boy I would die for them

During the rally + during and after once and for all they seem to be talking together a lot and be on very good terms which was actually pretty cool !

Okay moving on to some non-newsies characters and then I'll stop I promise

Bill and Darcy !!!

They switched the costume colors around, Darcy has a dark suit while Bill has a white one so that was a change

Also George said "My father owns the tribune" (instead of just "the trib" like I'm used to) so that threw me off for a bit but actually I liked it

Also I loved the way Alex said "And proud to be a part of your revolution !" It felt really natural and nice I love Bill okay he's so sweet

Anyway then they were just. Vibing by the printing press. Good for them honestly

The Delancey

They are literally evil. They aren't just messing around, they actually mean harm. E.g. when they are taking Jack in the cellar he just falls on the ground and they keep kicking him

But what's to like in this production is their dynamic with each other. They are extremely physical, everything they come in they are always very close, shoulders brushing or something. Also they often gently push and tease each other

Overall in this version they feel so much more like brothers, their dynamic as a family and toward the newsies was much deeper and more interesting than in any other version imo

Also they aren't just physically affectionate with each other. The three scabs ? They were comforting them and patting their shoulders before pushing them towards the other newsies. When the first scab joins the strike (I don't remember who it was), they are being very gentle with Tommy boy, from where I was it looked like they were telling him he was gonna be okay or smth

Hannah < 333

Hello ??? Bobbie Chambers I owe you my heart and soul

She was amazing pls

Extremely light-hearted and a bit sarcastic

At the end in Pulitzer's office she starts going "actually they put up a pretty good banner" and so on and then she sees Pulitzer's face and just goes *okay sorry" in the most oh-shit-don't-kill-me voice ever

Anyway every single one of her lines was delivered perfectly nothing but love for her

Finally, Medda !

Amazing as always, I feel like her relationship with Jack was really explored here !

It's the way they hug the first time Jack comes in the theater. The way she cares so deeply for him and worries about him. It's the way she looks genuinely sad about the fact he wants to go, she knows it's a bad idea and wants to hold him back but at the same time she knows it's his choice so she doesn't force him to do anything

Also the That's rich performance was pretty cool !!

[love-geeky-fangirl]

Since you gave us such a fun poll about overrated ships, name ten ships that you consider overrated and a sentence or two about why you don't love them as much as most fans do :)

Ooh this is fun, okay:

Rachel and Ross from Friends- okay, I know they are not very popular on this site specifically but generally they are held as this gold standard of will-they/won't-they iconic couple that basically invented shipping and other couples are compared to. But if you look at the actual show, you might realize they actually dated only for 10% of it. The rest was bickering and excuses.

Blair and Chuck from Gossip Girl- everything I said about Roschel applies also here, but in this case I literally can't stand them (with Roschel I am pretty neutral). When I first watched the show I thought: "these two are toxic af but I could see why people like them or find them entertaining" but now it's not even that. When I did my rewatch of some of the seasons I found myself cringing whenever these two had a romantic scene together, because I just saw no chemistry! This is extremely unpopular I know, but I wish they kept Chuck a chaotic villain and not turned him into the romantic lead because it just felt so forced.

Joey and Pacey from Dawson's Creek - this is very unpopular even on this site, so please don't send hate, but I just prefer Pacey with Andie, because imo that love story is much better written and progresses more naturally. With Pacey and Joey it seemed like the writers themselves couldn't agree if they want them together or not. I could write a whole essay about this so if you are interested just send an ask lol.

Haley and Nathan from One Tree Hill - I know on paper I should love this couple but I just don't. Their enemies to lovers arc was so rushed- they literally went from hating each other to dating in like 5 episodes and then from dating to marriage in less than a season, while they were still in high school! I also didn't like how there was so much focus on sex or lack thereof while they were dating.

Brittany and Santana from Glee - I used to like them before I realized how messed up they really are. Brittany outed Santana twice, once on a public YouTube channel, and tried to force her out of the closet by making her a t-shirt that says lesbian and telling her that if she loves her she will wear it. And then once Santana was out of the closet, Brittany leaked their sex tape!

Ian and Mickey from Shameless - I just can't get over the fact that Mickey brutally beat up Ian in season 3. I know that this is a show full of messed up people doing messed up things, but this is stopping me from ever seriously shipping them.

Effy and Freddie from Skins - I don't understand why she chose him over Cook, when the whole season she seemed to be pining over Cook and Freddie's feelings for her seemed very one-sided. At least up until the point Freddie got a gf and stopped pining after Effy, she didn't seem to care about him too much. Also she and Cook are much more similar while Freddie is such a boring character whose only personality trait is that he's sad.

Lorelai and Luke from Gilmore Girls - it pains to say me so much, because their buildup was so great, but their actual relationship was a mess.

Logan and Rory from Gilmore Girls - okay these two are not overrated in the sense of everyone loves them but many people if they are not full shippers say that they are the "only healthy and mature relationship on the show", which is not true. They fight, ghost each other, give each other silent treatment, get jealous and possessive of each other, and have communication issues too. They are not some pinacle of healthy relationships.

Last but not least, Romeo and Juliet were supposed be some kind of a romantic tale of love? The pinacle of romance? I am convinced that the people who say that didn't even read the book.

I feel the need to clarify again that these are all just my opinions which I am aware are unpopular. If you like one or multiple of these, that's also fine, that's nothing wrong with that.

[laoih]

It's really sad how Amazon butchered the Elves in their Middle-earth fanfic series.

Sure, to each their own interpretation – but I don't have to like each interpretation, and as far as I am concerned, Amazon's imagination is very poor when it comes to Elves.

Almost none of the male Elves has long hair. Instead, they have weirdly modern hairstyles. In the North, almost every Elf-women aside from Galadriel is veiled. In the South, the Elves are occupiers of human villages. Elven soldiers are a joke – they easily get tricked, captured and killed by Orcs in the South and easily get taken out by the troll in the North.

And those Elves that were originally created by Tolkien... it's a mess.

Galadriel, one of the oldest Elves, coming from a house of kings, is portrayed like a moody child throughout the show. She constantly talks about her pain but shows no empathy or concern for the opinions of feelings of others. She antagonises everyone she meets for no apparent reason. She demands to see the manager at least twice. People tell her that she's behaving poorly, but decide to admire her anyway because the series demands it. She manipualtes others to get what she wants. In the 6th episode she suddenly wants to torture and kill her prisoners. In the 7th episode out of nowhere Galadriel suddenly feels guilty for what happened in Mordor for no reason. And the show tries to give her a character arc from not being able to let her dagger go in episode 1 to letting it go in episode 8, but the reason behind what happens in 8 has nothing to do with what happens in 1, so this isn't actually a character arc at all. She just stays the annoying, childish, dislikable character that she's been from the start.

Gil-galad is just as badly portrayed as Galadriel. He is constantly dressed all in gold instead of silver. He lets Elrond write his speeches, as if he doesn't know what to say by himself. He shipps his political opponents off to Valinor. He somehow believes that the Elves will all fade and die by spring because a tree is losing leaves. He seems to know darkness is spreading, but pretends it's not happening, ignoring the signs of trouble that have been found. And he comes up with super dumb strategies to get Elrond to spy on the Dwarves in Khazad-dûm, and even tells Elrond to break his oath. Sure, Gil-galad is not a very well-developed character in Tolkien's texts, but this is just not him.

Celebrimbor is almost worse. He is an old man, spending most of his time suddenly remembering random stories that he can tell Elrond about his father. At times he actually looks like he is tired or slightly disoriented because of his age. He is supposed to be a master smith, but doesn't know how alloys work. Gently coaxing mithril to be combined with gold and silder imply means dropping the mithril piece into the liquid gold and silver mix. And the Three Rings are not the height of his craft, but a relatively sponatous project because the plot says the Elves will soon fade or leave Middle-earth. Everything about this is just horrible.

Elrond is probably still the best portrayal of Tolkien's Elves. He is somewhat sympathetic at least. Yet even he has to suffer from the poor writing of this show. The legacy of his father is acknowledged, but Elrond is still not considered an Elf-lord. He is portrayed as someone ignoring his friend's marriage and the birth of his children. He lies to his friend, he spies on him, and tries to discover his secrets despite it being obvious that they are supposed to stay secret. He swears an oath to his friend to protect his secret, but later on breaks it, even though the show tries to make us believe he didn't.

Finrod is barely shown in the show, but the few bits and pieces are more than enough to mess up this character as well. Finrod here talks in dumb metaphors, and then gives his sister questionable advice – advice that Sauron would later used to build his argumentation on! In addtion, even though his death stays very vague, the show images that imply that his heroic end has been changed.

I have love the Elves ever since I was a child and listend to a radio play of The Lord of the Rings on the radio. This show can't expect me to like it if it treats the Elves like this.

[horn-of-leo]

i feel like i talk too negatively when going on rants here so i wanted to share good news :D

I rewatched the whole series again with my sib and it was honestly great to sort of go through the rollercoaster again, especially because she's never watched past the Sanctuary arc(I'm the only one who's watched it full through) so it was cool to experience it again with someone reacting for the first time plus we've made so many funny jokes out of the whole run

I'm gonna just be talking about the whole experience in here of what we've watched (cuz it will be the whole series)

Sanctuary Arc:

The good ol '80s anime, my sibs and I grew up with the English dub(the ADV one), and sometimes I see people saying it's bad but I don't think so, honestly tho this dub was probably the reason I had no clue everyone was supposed to apparently be young teenagers/adults since everyone voicing in this ver is obviously a 30+ year old man, I mean some characters do sound like they recruited the first guy they found at the office to fill in for the role and probably only told them the name of the character but never showed them what the actual character looked/should sound like(*cough* Camus) but other than that I think everyone does a great job. idk probably bias since I grew up with it but I'm telling you that no other dub will go as ham as the ADV one. It's such a shame they didn't at least get to finish the Sanctuary arc and only got up to 60 episodes. I actually got a little sad when we finished out the eng dub episodes too lol and I know there's the other one but I ain't watching it

ANYWAYS, it's honestly very funny to look at all of the fillers for this arc and just know the anime did not know what type of series it was going to be since the beginning, it's like they tried to do a villain of the week format since they had the basis of the mad grab for the Sagittarius helmet that was also apparently the most powerful cloth in the world and it turns you into a super saint that could destroy the world if taken into the wrong hands, and it's the only gold cloth in the world...until like another 20 eps in where they have to start writing around what they had and go with the manga continuity as best as they could

I really do enjoy the fillers that they have for this tho, because it not only gets the main five to like chill from doing the main plot for five seconds but it gets to add more character/bonding between them. One thing I really liked is that there is more development of Saori reaching out to them and making up for how she's treated them in the past since they're all already on edge with her since she was so spoiled and treated them like garbage when they were all kids. So to see them all gradually warming up to each other is great and it makes it more plausible that they'd want to still keep fighting for each other (as compared to the manga where they still hate her even into the Sanctuary arc and they only arrived to fight for their own personal reasons and tolerate her at best because she's Athena, it's so disheartening to read actually, like WHAT'S THE ACTUAL POINT THEN IF THEY DON'T EVEN LIKE HER???)

Another thing is that I really like is how they handled Shiryu's character arc when he lost his sight. As compared to the handwave from the manga, he's greatly affected by what's happened and might have to come to terms that he'll never be able to fight again beside everyone when something like the fight against the Sanctuary is so near. And it's a huge blow to the team as well that they basically just disband right there for a couple of seconds (but then get back a few eps later since the Algol vs. Shiryu fight was earlier and they still had a few more silver saints to get through).

So when the anime cuts back to Shiryu, it's shown he can't adapt to his life right away and is still suffering from ptsd of both losing his sight and the fear of being left behind that he's honestly lost hope that he'll ever recover. But after having his fight with Ohko(anime-only guy he's trained with as a kid) it kickstarts him find his drive to fight again and that even if he is blind, he's found out that it's not the end for him as a saint and his life in general too.

I did enjoy the other fillers about the others doing stuff too, though poor Shun having nothing to his name tho😭(he deserved to have something at least but I guess his character arc is a slow burn since he doesn't really develop as a character until near the end of the arc itself/later arcs)

Anyways on to where the ball really drops at the 12 houses arc:

No need to individually talk about every single battle lol cuz that would get so long and I don't really have anything else new to add while rewatching.

Personally, I think there's quite a dip to where the arc kind of peaks the first time around the Leo-Virgo temple where I start to tune out then basically get interested back around the last three houses where everyone starts to die for real. It doesn't help really that before Shaka's fight, we just have two long episodes of Ikki getting his ass beat and Shaka personally making sure Ikki is getting his ass beat which is a little funny and he was so petty for that.

But anyway after Shaka, it starts to drag a little going on with the Libra house then with Milo having the best anime original fight against Seiya/Shiryu to having the ugliest episode of the whole series.

Also sorry, I only liked the part where Seiya and Shiryu fight him, the actual fight between Hyoga and Milo I start to tune out. Honestly though, while the Milo vs. Hyoga is definitely one of the most disconnected fights of the arc, I did appreciate the fight cause it still is good for Hyoga's development (plus its probably to make up for him doing basically nothing the whole arc until now).

Skipping ahead to the fight against Saga, I remembered that Seiya has basically checked out since Aioria's fight(which I cannot blame since he did get super fucked up during so) but that last hour really hangs on for a good 6 episodes.

I think it was sad we didn't actually get to have the flashback where Saga turns evil since the anime team(godbless them) had to make up the craziest shit to fill in for the story, only for Kurumada to cancel out every single story plot they wrote so they couldn't possibly ever really try to even say it was Saga who was the pope for the last 13 years. Since they introduced Pope Ares as the first Pope's evil brother who has just recently took over shortly after Seiya left after earning his armor and was straight up evil for no good reason that it seems almost stupid any of the Gold Saints could even think he was a good person when the first thing acknowledged by both Aioria and Marin when he was introduced is that he was pure evil. Which isn't even the start of how they tried to write around that plot point for the anime afterwards where it gets even more confusing of where Saga really comes in the picture and basically settling that since it was a good 60 episodes ago, you'd basically have forgotten the lore they've written up to let it slide, which is fair tbh.

Also, I think the anime has a better conclusion to this arc since everyone joins up together to jump Saga at the end. Plus Saori got to roast him too so that was cool.

Asgard Arc

It felt very bittersweet to move on from the Sanctuary arc into Asgard. I wanted to give this arc a chance, unfortunately I still couldn't find myself really getting into it. Plus the subs are very bad around this part so it was hard to know what the characters names were and ultimately we just skipped around until there was scene that was either originally in the manga/final parts of the arc that carries on into the next one.

I guess it's not great for group watching when none of us are really interested since the changes of the artstyle/armor designs is a little disheartening to see. Plus the pacing was kinda of not great(?) like the cuts were way too fast or skipped to a wildly different scene from the last that we couldn't tell if we like missed an episode or it was the opposite where we just sat simmering at a scene of the characters acting like dragon ball characters for a good 5+ minutes for padding.

Personally, I do think the character designs are super great though and probably the only thing I wished that happened was that they all lived so their back stories wouldn't be completely useless to know (tho ig Siegfred could die since it had some reason to it, tho it's still kind of dumb how it happened) but I'd maybe have to go back to watch it myself to maybe appreciate it more but who knows? I just wish there are better subs out there that I could probably stand watching it.

Poseidon Arc:

Kind of a lukewarm arc tbh, I don't feel like I have anything else to add really on this rewatch.

I have my gripes about certain characters/stories in this arc and they've made some changes I definitely don't like. Main offender is the scene where Seiya take Poseidon's trident to shield Saori when this scene was originally supposed to be Kanon's redemption scene and ultimately it adds nothing because Seiya just walks it off. Though the only reason why I can guess they made this change was because I assume it would confuse people when Kanon comes back in the Hades arc and it turns out he survived but it wasn't known then and that arc wasn't animated until a good 10 years later. And I'm pretty sure the anime already knew it was wrapping up by then, so they chose to have Seiya take the blow and not seemingly kill Kanon and instead just left it more ambiguous if he was able to make it out of Atlantis or not when they sealed Poseidon. Though it's just my speculation.

It was a little sad to finally finish the whole 80s anime but I think it's good they at least got to finish up til the Poseidon arc. But other than that I think that they had a good wrap up with everyone being happy in the end and they gave Shaina great drip when they're all out in their normal clothes again, so bonus for that ending.

Hades Arc:

Man, this one was super long to get into. Gotta divide them up for each OVA. We're getting into the 2000s babey!

Sanctuary OVA:

I'll be real this one is literally so good. The opening, the animation, added scenes are super cool. The op definitely has that sad 2000s vibe but that's what makes it really good and it really captures the feels of the whole arc too and the song slaps so hard. I'll be real the 3D is a little cheesy and off-putting but they tried so I'll give it to them. I wish the OVAs all had the same quality as this one, it's really such a shame this one was basically as good as it gets Hades arc-wise. Personally, I think everything was done really beautifully during this arc, and I guess it helps that this part is mostly Gold Saint-focused. I really liked watching this part honestly, idk why it has this sentimental value to me, I guess it was just the opening lol. All the scenes just hit and its sad to me ;w;

It was a great comeback tbh, though I guess it's too bad that it's only downhill from here...

Inferno + Elysium OVAs:

I'll just combine the last two OVAs together, because not much good things to add afterwards. It's more of just getting through with it unfortunately. By here, I really can't get invested since technically everyone's character arcs are basically over other than just pointlessly fighting because they need to do so.

I think it was said that the animation studio changed or at least it wasn't the same one like in the first one, and it's super noticeable with how static everyone is and it really only gets worse in the Elysium chapter with its cheesy ass google slides transitions.

Personally though, I like the new voice actors (even if it's kind of sad we don't hear the old ones) but I don't think there's really a problem they've recasted them. I just think there is a point where it's very noticeable that the voice actor is too old for a role and it really doesn't fit anymore. Though the only one I actually have a problem with not fitting at all is Takahiro Sakurai as Shiryu(plus the guy sucks now apparently, but his pitch never fit Shiryu in the first place and that's my main argument).

I thought the opening is great and goes hard. I think it was good they decided to go for at least one upbeat song since most of the tracks are all basically ballads. Also the ending song for the Elysium OVA is so amazingly good, it's such a shame they didn't actually make a real animation to go with a song like that until the last episode(I mean if you just kind of count the slideshow of the characters as animation). This one plus the Inferno one didn't get an ending either unfortunately.

Maybe this was still kind of critical lol but it doesn't mean I hated it or anything, and honestly I think it's good I've found myself invested in something again after a really long time. I think honestly this show has really influenced a lot of stuff about my interests/my own art style too so I'm glad to rekindle my love for this series again!

Overall is the ending of Saint Seiya good? Absolutely not. But did I enjoy rewatching the series again? Absolutely :)

[burr-ell]

"(And the church, not-so-accordingly, but we don’t have time for me to list all the things that annoy me about Dorothea.)" 👀 if you don't mind I'm kinda curious about that lol :o

Speak to me everything about your dislikes about Dorothea. I'd 100% love to hear it. She's not high on my BE list, either, but aside from two from that class, maybe three, if I push it, the rest fall fast on my, "Nah", list.

oh gods anons yall tryna get me in trouble with ALL of twitter

As far as story is concerned, Dorothea just falls flat for me. I don't get much of a dynamic character arc from her. The game tries to go with this "ooh, she starts out flirty and sexy, and then the war starts and she's sad and pretty and hates war! isnt that different? isn't that sad??" like no........it's not?? really??? That's not an arc. I found that Dorothea's comments about the war read more like the game trying to hamfistedly declare that War Bad because War Made Pretty Girl Sad, rather than actually taking the time to show it. They at least gave her a little more meat when they included that line in SS about her taking care of orphans, but it never goes anywhere.

On top of that, I found a lot of her lines and views to be flat-out mopey and whiny. The worst offender I can think of is her post-kill line in the Red Canyon:

maam this is a military school

Like, this school was canonically founded to unite the three nations to fend off Almyran invasions. It's called the Officers' Academy. What'd you THINK you were gonna do? But no, it's a Very Incisive And Thought-Provoking Line About The Evils Of Crusading Religion, or something. Did they not give yall like.....pamphlets at orientation??

Her hatred of the Church and the goddess is also misplaced—which could be interesting, but it's written in such a way that she never has to confront it. No, the Church didn't do anything to help her when she was impoverished...because the church got chased out of the empire over a century beforehand. No, the goddess didn't do anything to fix her situation...because the goddess was slumbering inside Byleth. But Dorothea never canonically learns those things, so she never has to deal with her preconceived notions being challenged. Now she can access a Hidden Talent in Faith, but I find it. hmm. that when she brings it up to Byleth in one of the student goal change requests, she explicitly frames it as "I don't believe in the goddess, but I believe in you". In other words, it's resolved by more player pandering instead of taking a real opportunity for character growth.

(I love Byleth, she’s my pfp and I stan Claudeleth, but the Black Eagles are full to bursting with player pandering to a degree that the other houses just. don’t have, and it hurts the characters and the group dynamic as a result.)

She wants to attract a rich husband and secure her future financially, but doesn't actually do anything other than shove her boobs out and sing—she doesn't want to learn any military or diplomatic skills, she doesn't seem to have any interest in learning hospitality or statesmanship, and she actively insults many of the nobles she can support with. As Lorenz points out, being even a minor noblewoman is harder than that; it requires an actual formal education in politics and running a household. Now that could be an interesting character beat, that she unconsciously sabotages herself because she believes she's not really worthy of the future she claims to want, or because she just tells everyone she wants to be a gold digger but really she wants true love, but that's not a concept that's addressed in the story. She comes off—at least in the lolcalization—as a shallow, Sad But Pretty Yas Kween Slay archetype rather than an actual well-rounded dynamic character.

Like other characters in the Empire, she's incredibly self-pitying, hypocritical, and annoying to watch, and often behaves as waifu bait because the devs wanted you to pick Black Eagles first. She's at her most interesting on Silver Snow, but it still feels incomplete, and fandom hates that route and only wants Communist Kween Who Says Eat The Rich—and that means that the most utterly stale and boring versions of her are the popular versions that I see everywhere.

(There's this idea that because Dorothea had it rough, she should be allowed to do and say whatever she wants and get whatever prizes she wants, and you're obviously a bad person if you don't like her. Like with Ashe and Bernie, fandom turned a character who just sort of mildly annoys me into a character I find utterly insufferable.)

[loudestcloud]

Okay so I just wanna talk about Sanji outfits I think about a lot and yes, I do think about almost all of them but here me out. (Labeled withe when they show up) call it a fashion exam if you will.

First outfit: I removed the pic cos I needed space for a less iconic fit but y'all know the one so it's chill. It makes me remember a fee wholesome moments at the start n is very nostalgic. The style of his classic jacket is called a 'double breasted suit' jacket and I think that's very on brand, not gonna lie

Davy Back Fight & End of Water 7: I like men in pink and I like it when he loses the jacket. Gives a little chilled out vibe but not off guard. Still business but good to have some fun. Also the ball hat makes me smile every single time.

Z's Ambition, Adventure of Nebulandia, Episode of Chopper, Strong world & Film Gold: More pink!! but this time, they're 100% good vibes only style and I am so here for a relaxed Sanji look. Most of the pink looks happen on days you don't expect anything to happen but then oops, it does! Strong world's jacket and hat are extra nice 😘 and yeah I know, the film gold one is just an undercover outfit n he looks angry but it's still a look. Also note in Z's Ambition and Strong world that he's not in black trousers? Kinda mad but very nice.

Thriller Bark: AHHHHHH ❤️😍🥰🧡💛💚💙💜💖🖤💞💕💗💘🏩👉👈 Yesyesyessir oh my god! I talked about it before but this works so well n it's beautiful character choice. To have a character always in a suit to show a more sophisticated look then go to a hoodie shows his mood change as well. He is so relaxed and ready to completely just chill out for a while and you can feel that so well with this jumper. I want it irl so badly...

Zou: A chief in an apron? Unheard of! No but for real... more Pink 😘 and the necklace and the pouch? The simplicity of it all is so cute! Then the top few buttons open cos he's just HAPPY!!

Whole cake: Sanji, my beloved, you set my soul on fire when I see outfits like this but I wish it didn't come at such a sad arc for you, bb 😔 It's such a beautiful set of looks and accomplished exactly that Fairytale prince style it was going for and under other arc, I'd not hold back at all to go mad over it 24/7. On its own tho, those looks is my everything 😣 Also again with the lack of 'black legs' but this time as it's not a movie I feel it was done for effect. It's literally the opposite color like he isn't 'Black leg' anymore, you know? Sick style choices here, man!

Little East Blue & Skypiea: DAD👏SHIRT👏SANJI!!👏Sir!! Nothing makes me more happy than Hawaiian shirts and not only is the Skypiea one pink but it low key looks like a pink version of the one Franky and Luffy have (in Dressrosa) I do not remember Little east blue at all but this shirt has always stuck with me n I had to go on his wiki gallery to find it so it's understandable if y'all don't but once again, I wasn't these irl so badly.

Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island: Hehe... He looks like pesent boy Shrek in the first one 😂 Anyway, virtual yellow stripes 😊 and the Wano fit really reminded me of this and I did have to take a moment cos I know a lot about this movie n its scary. But, he has those glasses! (I really wanna get to watching it but I got busy)

Film Z: (I put the outfits in the wrong order, sorry) Okay okay okay so- first off is nice hot pink jeans, a BEAUTIFUL over shirt and that tea pot your ma makes you in Animal crossing then WHOA OKAY leather pants and jacket like a fucking king! And to top it's off classical pirate getup!? All with brown shoes too 👌 This movie kills me with everyone's style tho like have you seen Brook in that gray jacket!? Gods, don't get me started 😅

Film gold: He gose from the most casual a man can get, orange crocs, hat n all, to the most dressed up he's ever been (save for whole cake) then back to the casual style we get a lot, nice stripes and new colors, just to flip and go undercover in a leather look jumpsuit!! This is one or my most seen movies, not my fave but m one I get lost in the details with a lot.

Stampede: It's might not look like much but he's wearing my favourite colour! Because yes, while reading all this you may think it's pink but it's actually the type of green. I call it ugly green just because it's not usually a color anyone likes but Ironically, it's like moss. I have a dress like that I completely adore n it looks like this jacket and when I see Stampede I feel like I have to wear it. It's actually getting quite small for me now so I could try and make it into this jacket 👀 also a dark stripe pattern for once, very bold of you, animators! Nice choice!

This was written while listening to simp playlists 😅

Zoro

Luffy

Nami

[gaybarbiegirl]

00s Barbie rewatch - The Princess and The Pauper (2004)

Two God tier movies in a row, I feel blessed

This is the first movie without a proper Storyteller Barbie, though 💔

I swear to god, Preminger isn't even trying to hide that he's evil, why would you trust a guy who poses for his portrait like that?

He is an icon though

Free is the best musical opening number in history

And how can I refuse is the best villain song in the BCU

I'm still upset that the whole fool's gold thing never lead to anything

Anneliese and Julian really just ran off and left the ambassador waiting like that

This first verse of written in your heart is so pretty, why didn't they sing it in the final version?

Their first meeting ❤

Here comes the best song of the movie

Look at the two of them bonding over their struggles and laughing at their own misfortunes together, truly a special scene

Wolfie to the rescue, hell yeah!

Hervé deserved better, he was the biggest sweetheart

Preminger CANNOT contain his excitement to show the queen his fake letter

He's practically laughing in her face, iconic

Julian's sense of smell is really something else

Erika is such a good girlfriend friend, she's known Anneliese for like, 5 minutes, and she's already commiting crimes for her

Baby Wolfie jumping on the bed ❤

Why did Julian just have an Anneliese wig lying around? What does this man get up to in his free time?

I feel like people undermine Anneliese's problems a lot when talking about this movie. Like, obviously Erika had it worse than her, that's not even a debate, but that doesn't mean Anneliese had it easy

Once again, Preminger is not even trying to hide how mad he is that the princess is back

There goes Julian solving problems by smell again

Thank god Preminger isn't dumb and realised that even if Anneliese did escape, something about the whole thing was off

This whole movie is just a bunch of smart characters making genuinely good plans that cancel each other out

How did the wig not fall off while Erika was asleep?

I changed my mind, the cat's meow is the best song in the movie. Wolfie absolutely deserves a whole musical number about how great he is

LOOK AT THIS BABY PLAYING WITH THE BUBBLES

I can really relate to Dominick in this scene. If I was just walking around somewhere and I overheard a girl singing to cheer up her cat, I'd instantly fall in love too

A canon off screen kiss, you don't see a lot of those

Look at Preminger being smart again, truly an iconic villain

Sad Hervé 💔

You DO NOT know your own daughter, ma'am

She almost introduced herself by the wrong name yesterday and you didn't suspect anything

Look at his evil laughter, Genevieve WHY did you trust him, just be smart one time in your life please

WOLFIE AND HERVÉ SCENE, WOLFIE AND HERVÉ SCENE

"Are you Wolfie, Serafina's friend?" "I'd like to think so 😊"

Come on Genevieve, use your brain, I know it's there somewhere

Who crowned this woman?

And in the end, Hervé saved the day, just as he should

"Thanks to Anneliese... 💕"

I know everyone already praised the ending of this movie for having Erika prioritise her dreams over her romance, but I'm gonna go ahead and do it again. This is a really amazing thing to be showing young girls, and it's still very unique to see this type of thing in children's movies. Also, it fits the character really well. Erika is a well rounded protagonist, and this is a logical conclusion to her arc that feels true to who she is

And we sign off with a poly wedding, what more could I ask for?

Final thoughts:

You probably don't need me to tell you that this movie is a masterpiece. It's the most well praised Barbie movie, and I can totally see why. It has two well rounded, strong, and compelling protagonists, an interesting plot, amazing music, a memorable villain, and Wolfie and Hervé. What is there to not love?

Something I really like about this movie is how Erika and Anneliese aren't the dumbass protagonist you usually see in these switching places type of movies. Like, they don't meet for 5 minutes and then decide they want to abandon their own lives and let a stranger impersonate them (which is, you know, a really dumb decision to make). They're just kind of thrown into each other's lives against their wishes, Erika to help out Anneliese, and Anneliese as an actual accident. They also don't idealize each other's lives and have a lot of respect for each other's struggles, which is a nice change from the "look at them, their life is so perfect, I wish I could be in their place" mentality that we see in the protagonists of most of the movies in this genre.

Overall, this movie is great. It's no wonder mattel keeps trying to remake it every time they run out of ideas, and it's no wonder all of those remakes fail in comparison to the original. They have big shoes to fill.

[astridthevalkyrie]

What do you like/dislike about Riverdale, if you were to make a list? I'm curious, because I didn't think you would like something like that, and it doesn't seem like you're enjoying it that much.

i have so many mixed feelings about riverdale, thank you for the ask!

what i dislike (because we end on high notes)

- my biggest problem with the show is that it completely forgets that its cast has to interact with each other. you’ve got four main characters, each with a foot in a different world and plotline and that’s great, but there has to be a plot connecting them, otherwise it doesn’t matter! archie and veronica’s stories were so boring in season 4 that i actually skipped past some of their scenes. why should i care about fred’s mysterious twin brother? if you skip all his scenes, you literally don’t miss anything because he didn’t matter. i want to care about the core four as a friend group, but they always pair up betty/jughead and archie/veronica. there should be more crisscross, more of the boys and b & v, put jughead and veronica together, throw cheryl and toni and kevin in, mix it up, or at least have more group scenes!

- the reason betty and jughead’s stories are more compelling (at least, to me) is because they capture what i watch riverdale for, spooky murder mysteries. it’s always them (mostly betty) who’s thrown into danger, who tries to get behind it all, and if you compare that to veronica’s rum business, it just....doesn’t work. it’s sad because archie and veronica are good characters who are given useless plot lines. with more spooky stuff, they could actually shine.

- unpopular opinion time (i think) - i dislike cheryl strongly. i liked her in the first two seasons, she was a zany, fun character who needed a hug, but the way she treated toni in season 3 and 4 was....awful. she admitted to gaslighting her! plus the whole business with the gangs. i hate that it was treated as a feminist issue. fangs didn’t get kicked out because he was helping his sick mom or something, cheryl stole from hiram for the hell of it, and then when she was kicked out for violating a rule, acted like it happened because she was a girl. proceeded to lead a beating of two men, one of whom is a POC. she is a rich, privileged girl, who has treated her girlfriend terribly.

- jughead should have been a POC with the storyline that he has. 

- some things that should mean a lot just...don’t mean anything. why tf is veronica okay with penelope running her rum business when she tried to kill them all? how is archie making a truce with hiram when he is The Worst? alice gave away all of betty’s college money??????

- what happened to hermione’s character after season 1? she was so interesting and they just...made her hiram’s puppet.

- probably more but i can’t think of it

what i like

- if you don’t take it seriously it’s so fucking funny iwfgegf like.....the scene where betty is the gryphon queen, ethel’s seizure, archie’s classic “epic highs and lows of high school football” plus “i am red” and the fact that edgar evernever was in a fucking rocket like what a funny show

- the core four! betty. hot take? i think? but betty is not a bland character. the show romanticizes her mental illness which sucks big time, but she herself is very compelling and fun to watch. she gets emotionally tortured a lot, but the actress does it pretty well (lili reinhart was kinda bad in season 1, but she improved a lot). her arc with the black hood and with the farm were my favorite parts of each season. jughead. like i said, i think he should have been a poc with his storyline, but he’s still fun nonetheless. my favorite jug was the one in the first season, because archie and jughead was such a cute friendship and i miss it. archie. my boy has a heart of gold and he’s a dumbass and makes bad decisions but you can’t help but like him. the show likes to forget that he’s supposed to be the main character. veronica. she has such an interesting character and backstory and it’s a crime that all she does is run her underground club or whatever because if you throw her in a murder mystery, it would be very interesting.

- the season 4 murder mystery was, in my opinion, the best one. moreso than jason’s, because, like, you kind of suspect clifford blossom anyway? they’ve already considered him, but in season 4 the full reveal of who and how and why was unexpected and i really really love bret and donna as villains, i hope we see more of them.

- as ridiculous as it was, i enjoyed the breakfast club episode. 

- everyone is so hot in this show. the core four? hot. the serpents? hot. the pussycats? hot. the parents? hiram and hermione lodge could step on me, please and thank you.

- bughead is cute and i’ve read a couple of fanfics about them. there was basically no buildup in canon, we don’t know how close they were before the show started, but like. meh. it’s one of those basic ships you like because the actors have chemistry and they’re cute.

- something i complained about before, but i like the core four as a group! all of their scenes together are the best. the booth at pop’s, survive the night, the entirety of the lake house episode (the jeronica kiss was :) don’t @ me) 

- it’s a good show to watch to pass the time and you may find it satisfying if you’re thirsty for murder mysteries like i am.