#I’m rewatching s1 and s2 so I can binge s3 in one day

[whovian378]

I’m so ready to see my baby transition!

#am dying #4 days left #i can’t wait #I can’t wait to obsess over this again #I’m rewatching s1 and s2 so I can binge s3 in one day #the umbrella academy season 3 #the umbrella academy #tua #tua season 3 #tua s3 #umbrella academy #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #number five #ben hargreeves #victor hargreeves #sparrow academy #lila tua

[zimshan]

august braindump: on the state of tv and heartstopper

the last year has been such a strange time for me and tv. i honestly cannot remember a time i watched less new tv shows. it’s not for lack of trying but every show/season i started, i was just dragging my heels to finish. some of that is because they’re older shows that aren’t as good as their earlier seasons. stranger things s4 took me an entire year to finish. the pacing was just wildly off to me, and that’s disappointing after the incredible structure of s1. some of that is because of subject matter. i haven’t been able to work myself up to watch outlander after the s5 finale because i just don’t have the mental bandwidth for a sexual trauma storyline. babylon berlin i stopped watching because they were threatening to kill another kid. i’ve noped out of so many shows because of the ratcheting stakes, something that i'm so so tired of seeing done just for the hell of it.

of all the shows, i probably watched the great s2 quickest because it was just so off the wall and the tone of s1 still fascinates me. but even that dragged and was partly guilt tripping to justify my hulu subscription, and i could never let my guard down because it was always going for the most outrageous grotesque thing. i’m stalled on s3 now that they’re killing off characters left and right.

i watched shadow and bone s2 like 15-20 minutes at a time in july because i just found it a snoozefest compared to s1. i legit just wanted to finish it to cross it off my list. how terrible is that? the moment i finished, i started the fame game, a bollywood show, literally because of one gifset on my dash. and watched that 4x faster than anything else i’ve seen all year. cementing my idea that the best of netflix is their international shows. but that shit was pretty dark too.

so beginning of august, i opened up netflix sleep deprived and looking for something to get my mind off my impossible deadline and fuel some writing inspiration. someone on my dash was recently talking about Heartstopper, and it reminded me i missed watching it last year when everyone was talking about it. so seeing it pop up on my netflix screen, i absentmindedly thought, "what the hell let’s see what the fuss is about" and started the first episode. and you know it did the impossible. it grabbed me from the first few frames, and i looked up 2 hours later like oh right sleep. and now i just want to analyze it like a bug. what the hell makes it work where others have failed?

the binging culture inherent to streaming tv is fascinating to me because i almost never do it. if there is one anti-binger out there, she is me. i miss the era of one episode a week on a certain night every day for years. my patience maxes out at 45 minutes every time. i think it’s terrible that shows need to be so bingeable millions of people have to watch an entire season in a weekend to get renewed. because even the best shows i can't commit to doing that for. where does anyone find the time or brainspace, idek.

i know most of the coverage and reaction to the show seem to be about representation and i agree. but there’s something about the elements of Heartstopper that just work where other tv shows lately have faltered and i want to break it down for parts. because on paper it does seem so simple. some of it really is just basic storytelling in tv. those first three episodes are key and the pacing is excellent, every second counts and the acting, editing, and music really drive the show and keep it compelling. on rewatch, i can see how the addictive quality is very much in the editing, in the music, to keep it punchy so that you never think to stop watching. but it’s also in the white space, the moments they give to the lead actors to let a moment breathe. i've been beating this drum for decades now but this show gave so many good examples of it.

several 5-minute sequences caught me thinking god that so compelling why how. the one that stood out on rewatch is the texting sequence in 102 after nick’s interception of the assault scene. there’s zero dialogue but the editing, acting, and music work together to feel the weight of the moment and then lift up from there.

all these essentials combine with something unique like the animations as visual representations of emotions and attraction and create some kind of magical alchemy. it’s been a long time since i’ve thought about it but “lightning in a bottle” describes the best seasons of tv i’ve seen: where it feels like everyone on set, all the actors, every one of the crew, writers, directors, care about the story and are working on all cylinders to do their best job. in the age of streaming, this seems to be more rare than ever and learning about mini writing rooms during the WGA strike has helped to understand why. so has seeing those checks to send home the overall state of residuals in the streaming era. to do the best job people need to be paid fairly. full stop.

so i started Heartstopper and watched 4 episodes in the blink of an eye. the next day, 6; the last day 4. then i did a thing i almost never do anymore: i looked up the soundtrack. music has always been a driver for me, a tv show that nails a score or soundtrack is always gonna get under my skin more than one that doesn’t. it’s part of the necessary ingredients for a good show for me. all my forever tv loves, music plays a central role, music that defines and sets the tone for the show and then becomes forever married to it. you can create a list of the songs and play it back and see the show unfurl again in your mind. its my favorite way of revisiting a show without actually watching it, after a good vid that is. but it works best when the music is a dead lock for the scene or character and typically this is sound driven more than lyrically driven. this show uses a 2012 era style sound i already have a strong affinity for, i have multiple work playlists from the last decade to drive me through a deadline with Foster The People, Fitz and the Tantrums, et al.

but it also did a thing i haven't seen in a long while: the lyrics were used as an extension of the script for internal character POV. in the first episode alone you have the following lyrical-visual pairs: -i'll go anywhere you want to go on charlie getting ben's text to meet -i wanna get lovesick with you on nick watching charlie run and asking him to join the team -right before i'm swallowed by my mind and cursing at the sky on charlie out of place on the rugby field before nick pulls him in to the group -what's the point of looking at the view? cause every time i do i just see you on elle and tao missing each other -the world ends it's you and me/in my head if we can be together/maybe we'll live forever on nick tackling charlie and the leaves animations around them -i see the signs of a lifetime on nick getting charlie's thank you x text paired with the flowing bird animations roll to the credits

this is vidding happening here.

so i spent a good two days listening to the soundtrack and related albums as i got through my deadline. and then i started getting some more questions about the timeline on the story (the soundtrack is of a style popular circa 2012 that i associate with 8tracks playlists even though the actual songs are a bit later, 2015 onwards) and looked up the books the show was based on. i started Solitaire after seeing it was the author’s first book and wanting to read tori’s POV after the glimpses in the show got me thinking about her elder daughter role.

then i looked up the comics when i realized the timeline of Solitaire was a year later and wanted to fill in the gaps. and wow, i’m in awe of how much of the show was already here, how much detail went into the show to match certain frames. the comics are basically acting as storyboards for the show. i used to do the most basic storyboarding for vidding a lifetime ago. i’ve recently gotten the storyboarding itch again the last few months after watching some BTS docs on TCM about storyboard artists and remembering how fascinating and underappreciated the skill actually is. there's some beautiful storyboarding out there, but it doesn't have to be beautiful, it's just got to be functional. at its heart, it's about the frame, the shot, the visual that tells the story. and a lot of that is already done in the comics and translated straight to screen.

i’m inspired learning about alice oseman’s story as a young author, how she started and finished Solitaire before graduating high school, writing the story she wished she saw on the shelves. then how she was taken with her two secondary characters and started teaching herself how to draw to visualize and bring to life their own journeys. it’s such a great example of how storytelling takes on a life of its own and how you are not defined by only your current skillset. there are no boundaries on creativity and curiosity but the ones we self-impose on ourselves.

the last few years, i’ve been thinking a lot about why some works fail to resonate while others succeed, especially in regard to book to screen adaptation. it probably started with the absolute fail that was GOT S8 and rereading THG next to the films and grown from there with my TCM pandemic focus. obviously it’s a gamechanger when the author is the showrunner and that alone is rare. the whole nature of Heartstopper as a webcomic first and driven by subscribers and kickstarter donations is unique as well. alice has built up a passionate audience to create for that helped promote the show and that makes a lot of difference.

but the streaming element is an added issue. by the time i finished season 2, my one overriding thought was wow, imagine society if this had aired 20 years ago. i couldn't help but think of the kids this show could have helped, seeing such an sincere example of queer community on screen. but interrogating that further, i know it’s a silly thought. it wouldn’t have gotten made at all. in 2000, dawson's creek kicked up hate over one gay kiss that amounted to almost nothing. my best friend at 15 came out as gay and felt like he had to pirate QaF asap as the only piece of queer rep around but something far outside of our age group. this story is age appropriate for the age that needs it. in 2023, homophobic parents are waging wars on the school board and libraries in our area for carrying books with queer representation including those of oseman's. no network would greenlight 22 episodes of a queer tumblr webcomic. netflix gave the show 4 hours for its first season in the middle of the pandemic. it only gets made in the streaming era. it is a product of the times, even if the story originates 10 years earlier.

[]

the picture of queer community and lifting up and supporting others is essential for the age this is targeting. i know i'm 20 years older than that target and am mindful of that. this show is not for me. but it's been a while since i've watched a teen series, probably skam, which is a big outliner in teen shows. i think from my dash i assumed the show was going to be pure teen fluff but instead was surprised how much texture it has. the love story is the focus of the gifsets, but it does sell the show short imo. the world doesn’t ignore the dark parts---homophobic bullies, abusive partners and clueless parents, trauma and its long tail, anxiety and eating disorders, the ways love and community can uplift and support but not cure. reading Solitaire i can see where it’s coming from, a dark story that starts the verse. the darkness is there not ignored but part of the journey. its presence makes the light more powerful. but its best virtue is that despite its dark parts, it’s at heart a comforting story. and i think this is an overarching reason why it succeeds as a show. the comic does right by each character and in turn cares for the reader. so everyone working on it saw the story as a comfort themselves and did right by the story. that care shows on screen.

the way Solitaire ends is a thesis statement of sorts for the osemanverse: support and lift each other up, you’re not alone and stronger as a community. it matches skam's thesis, and heartstopper continues it. that reminder is a balm to these times. it's the ethos of organizing but it got lost in isolation of the last few years. its simplicity is part of its power. part of lightning in a bottle is timing. i know some people have lived with this story for years, but after 4 long plague years, its sincerity speaks to me. i can’t think of a reminder i needed more than this story at this time. sometimes you really do stumble on the right story right when you need it.

anyway, this verse has gotten in my brain now so fair warning. heartstopper/osemanverse posting ahead.

#heartstopper #ive been stuck in bugs grief narrative for too long #this is a balm to my soul #i love it but im also breaking it down for parts #my txt #RB off #2023 #sometimes youre just running on empty and dont even realize it til a fandom blindsides you #havent done a tv braindump in ages #this is why #long post #pulling together all of my tag thoughts into one post

[karivem]

Favorite TV Shows & Movies I watched in 2020

In chronological order, divided by month.

J A N U A R Y

Anne with an E Season 3

What a beautiful season! I loved Anne’s character growth and her relationship with Matthew and Marilla. This season had so many interesting storylines and compelling characters. I always love the life lessons and women empowerment this show presents. The romantic aspects of the season and the kiss in that last episode were perfect.

Parasite (2019)

This is a masterpiece. I watched it with my family on cinemas and we all loved it. The acting was great, there was a perfect combination of comedy and drama and the ending was amazing; it was depressing yet very realistic that it hurt my soul.

F E B R U A R Y

Ragnarok Season 1

Never thought I’d like a show about Thor, but this take on norse mythology was amazing to watch. I loved the protagonist and the setting of the show. This is a Norwegian fantasy show and all the actors are very talented. The characters (although weird) were very unique and the ending left me so excited for season 2.

Altered Carbon Season 1

This is not only a show, is an experience. The cast, the setting, the plot and the relationships are fantastic. It has many action scenes I enjoyed, it has mystery and a great protagonist. The world building is so rich and interesting. I love Joel Kinnaman and Martha Higareda, they did an amazing acting job and their chemistry was wonderful. Everything about s1 was so great but, don’t watch s2, it is terrible. You can just watch season 1 as a mini series and be happy.

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

This movie broke my heart but also made me laugh so hard. I love the characters and the actors. The soundtrack was brilliant and the development of the story was so well done. It has many remarkable moments and quotes I loved. I never thought I’d like a movie about the second world war this much but I did. This movie deserves so much more recognition because it is fantastic, one of my all time favorites.

M A R C H

Elite Season 3

Not the best season of the show but it was great. It was one of my most anticipated season premieres and I binge-watched it like crazy. I love the characters and the relationships, I’m so invested in all the stories and the vibe of this show. The new characters were the weakest part of the season but overall there were many amazing moments I loved. Even Kevin McHale made a cameo!! Can’t wait for season 4.

The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy (2005 - 2010)

I watched these movies after reading the book series and I feel in love with the characters. I love the Pevensies so much, Edmund is my favorite but I love them all. The lion the witch and the wardrobe is my favorite movie out of the 3 but they all are great movies in my opinion. Caspian is also a fantastic character. The magic and the meaning of the stories are amazing and timeless.

The hunger games saga (2012 - 2015)

I rewatched this saga with my sister and we loved it. We cried and suffered throughout Mockingjay part 1 & 2 of course. I love this world so much, it is vast, interesting and full of epic moments. Katniss is a queen and Peeta is my beautiful soft boy. I love Finnick, Haymitch, Effie and many other characters. The social commentary of these movies and the rebellion are very impactful aspects the saga achieved.

A P R I L

El hoyo (2019)

This movie is disturbing in many ways but it is so great. This is a dystopia that talks about the worst aspects of society. It’s hard to see people’s behaviors and attitudes towards each other but you know they are realistic. The movie shows many things you can reflect on. The acting was great, the characters were interesting and the tone was grimm and mysterious.

Outer Banks Season 1

Teenage drama, summer setting, a hidden treasure and many adventures. The characters are interesting, the cast is gorgeous and the found family relationship of the group is beautiful. This show feels so fresh and exciting, the plot is very fun to follow but it also deals with hard topics like toxic relationships and abusive families.

M A Y

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 (2010) & part 2 (2011)

I rewatched these movies after reading the book and I fell more in love with the world, with Harry and with the conclusion of the story. I love part 1 a little bit more but both movies have such an epic feeling to me. I love the anticipation for the Battle of Hogwarts and the exciting fighting scenes. The ending always makes me cry, I love it.

The imitation game (2014)

This movie is so important, everyone should watch it. It is based on true events and Benedict Cumberbatch is amazing in it, his performance was stunning. I loved the protagonist, the story and the side characters. Upon this rewatch I noticed more how everything was remarkable, there were a lot of well written dramatic scenes and the moments near the end broke my heart.

J U N E

Gotham Season 5

I love Gotham so much!!! This season was amazing but so short, I needed more. I love Bruce and seeing how he became Batman was an epic experience. I love the heroes, the villains, the dynamics between many characters and the humor of this show. I will miss Gotham and the many great episodes and adventures it gave me. Also, I love Oswald and Nygma together and for me they are married and in love.

Dark Season 1 - 3

I rewatched the first 2 seasons in preparation for the third one’s premiere and I watched s3 in a day. I was so obsessed. This show is so brilliant, it plays with your mind and it deals with a lot of existential topics. I love it so so much, is one of my favorites forever. Season 2 is my favorite but overall the show has so many great things to offer. It has drama, great characters, shocking plot twists, an ideal amount of romance and the weirdest, most complicated family tree ever.

Star Wars Original trilogy (1977 - 1883)

I’m surprised I finally watched these movies, and I’m even more surprised I loved them! Luke is a fantastic protagonist, Darth Vader is an epic villain and the world is so immersive. I want to be a Jedi, I want to have adventures around the galaxy. I love Han and Leia’s love story and I love R2, C-3PO and Chewie. 

J U L Y

Star Wars Sequel trilogy (2015 - 2019)

These movies for me were amazing, well episode 9 not so much but overall the trilogy was great. I love the new characters and all the references to the original trilogy. Episode 7 feels so nostalgic to me even though I watched the whole Star Wars saga this year. I love the character development of practically every single character here and I love the epic feeling of the fight scenes. In my opinion this trilogy is worth watching, you can’t change my mind.

Barbie and the magic of pegasus (2005)

I’m a sucker for old Barbie movies and this year I made a rewatch marathon with my sister. This one was the one that stayed on my mind for many weeks. I love the magic of the story and the relationship between Annika and Aidan.

The truth about the Harry Quebert affair Season 1

Amazing actors, intriguing premise and a well written mystery. I love this show and its book so much, this is an awesome book to tv adaptation. The plot is brilliant, the setting is beautiful and the characters are interesting. I love Harry and Marcus’s relationship, I love Nola, I love how the pieces fit together so perfectly and how there are no loose ends. This show is very underrated, it deserves more recognition because it’s fantastic.

The baby-sitters club Season 1

This show is so cute and funny. I love the cast, they’re perfect for their roles. It has quite a simple premise but it talks about many important topics of today’s society. The aesthetic of the show is so beautiful, is perfect to watch with you family and it has great pop culture references. I love the vibe of the show and I’m so glad it got renewed for a second season!

A U G U S T

The umbrella academy Season 2

I watched this twice and I liked it better the second time around. I still can’t decide which Hargreeves I love the most, they’re all amazing in their own way. This season was great, it had many beautiful moments and great action sequences. It also had baby Pogo. Do yourself a favor: watch it and listen to the soundtrack.

House of Anubis Season 1

I rewatched one of my favorite shows of my pre-teenage years and I loved season 1 a lot, s2 is not that great and s3 doesn’t exist for me but s1 is perfect. I love the mystery, the boarding school setting, the teen drama and the characters so much. Fabina forever!!!

The truman show (1998)

This movie is FANTASTIC. It has comedy, drama, romance and sci-fi elements with a concept that makes it an instant classic. This was the first time I watched it and I’m amazed by how brilliant it is and how many references to spirituality and capitalism it has. It has a great villain and a protagonist whose character arc is wonderful to watch. I loved the iconic Truman Burbank quote and the ending was just perfect.

S E P T E M B E R

A series of unfortunate events Season 2 & 3 

Rewatching and old favorite always feels so great. I have no words to describe how much I love this series and the Baudelaire siblings. This show is perfect, it has a hilarious sense of humor I love. I love the drama, the tragedy and the ridiculous schemes Count Olaf plots. It also has music and a cast of actors I adore. Season 1 is also amazing but my favorites are 2 & 3.

Tinker Bell and the great fairy rescue (2010)

I made a marathon of all the Tinker Bell movies with my sister and this one was a surprise. I never thought I’d like it because my memories of it weren’t particularly good but wow, this movie was so cute and full of heart. Everything you hope to see in a fairies movie is here. It’s entertaining and very magical.

O C T O B E R

Julie and the Phantoms Season 1

BEST SHOW EVER! I’ve been screaming my love for jatp everywhere, I even made a video about it. This show came to save my 2020. I love the characters, the cast, the ships, the MUSIC, the plot... Every single thing is amazing. I can’t recommend it enough, please watch it and you will see the great masterpiece Kenny Ortega created.

The rocky horror picture show (1975)

I rewatched this movie for Halloween and I realised how much I enjoy it. I love it. It is weird and very sexual but it’s brilliant and has awesome songs. The characters are unique and the situations are bizzarre, the plot starts being simple but it ends in full science fiction madness. Now I need to go to a screening of the movie.

N O V E M B E R

Lost Season 4 

I mention only season 4 because with this rewatch I realized it’s my favorite but ALL SEASONS are part of my best tv shows of the year. Lost is a show that changed my perspective on tv and gave me so many great life lessons. It is a masterpiece. It has an awesome cast of characters, drama, comedy and mystery. This show is superior to newer shows in many ways, it is so well done and the season finales are always packed with action and emotive moments. It uses foreshadowing, flashbacks, flashforwards and many other brilliant narrative devices that make the show a unique experience. Worth watching even after many years after its ending.

D E C E M B E R

Gravity Falls Season 1 & 2

Another rewatch. This is my favorite animated show. I love it so so much. Dipper Pines and me are practically the same person, I relate to him a lot. I love the mystery of the show, all the supernatural creatures, the science fiction and the plot twists. This is more than just a show for kids, this is a masterpiece of storytelling and animation.

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

I decided after re-reading the books to give this movie another chance because I didn’t use to like it. But oh boy, this time I loved it. I loved the songs and the madness of Wonderland. I get now why is many people’s favorite.

The queen’s gambit Season 1

I guess I love chess now, like every person who watched this show. The acting was superb, the characters and the plot were very well written. The pacing, the soundtrack, the setting, I loved everything. Anya Taylor-Joy is a queen, I have no doubt of that. I loved the ending, I was so proud of Beth Harmon!

A Christmas carol (2009)

My sister has always loved this movie but I wasn’t a big fan. This year I read the book, and watching the movie again made me appreciate the story a lot. I’m a big fan now, I think this movie is unique because it has motion capture animation, a timeless story and Jim Carrey acting multiple roles. A true gem in my opinion.

*the end* thanks 4 reading

Also check these:

My favorite ships of 2020

My favorite characters of 2020

#favorite tv shows of 2020 #favorite movies of 2020 #kvm #anne with an e #parasite #ragnarok netflix #altered carbon #jojo rabbit #elite #the hunger games #el hoyo #the platform #outer banks #harry potter #the imitation game #gotham #dark netflix #dark #star wars #barbie and the magic of pegasus #the truth about the harry quebert affair #the babysitters club #the umbrella academy #house of anubis #the truman show #a series of unfortunate events #tinker bell #julie and the phantoms #jatp #lost

[ghostcat3000]

SKAM season 3 talkback series: episode 10, “Minutt for minutt”

The SKAM season 3 rewatch talkback series was done in conjunction with a first-time watch for a small group of newbies. I talked to a cross-section of fans about each episode so our newbies could get a varied taste of what the SKAM fandom was about.

Talk back with first wave fanwork enabler, @skamskada​​ (aka imminentinertia on AO3)

SKAM 3.10: Minutt for minutt conducted on 22, December 2019

@skamskada​: Hello!

@ghostcat3000​: Hello, hello! Welcome to the chat for Minutt for minutt, the final episode of SKAM Season 3! Thank you, skamskada for joining us!

skamskada: My pleasure :smile:

Ghostcat: Just got back from last minute Christmas errands. I am still not ready. I will never be ready.

skamskada: Well, in that case...

Ghostcat: I mean for Christmas, not for this sit-down. Can you give us some background on how you started watching SKAM?

skamskada: As so many great things, it started with a nasty cold. And I needed something to watch while I wallowed in my snot and misery

Ghostcat: No Murder Channel on Norwegian cable?

skamskada: Don't really use linear TV… However, everybody was talking about Skam so I gave the first season a go. HOOKED.

Ghostcat: Was this after it had aired or while it was airing?

skamskada: From the first episode. It was just at the start of S3.

Ghostcat: What was it about that first episode that nabbed you?

skamskada: Binged all of S1 and S2 in a day and a half. Basically I'm Eva. I loved the acting, which is remarkably non-stilted, and I loved Eva.

Ghostcat: Yes, beautifully natural. Unusual for a teen show.

skamskada: And then I watched S3 live.

Ghostcat: Ha ha ha, welcome to the terrordome.

skamskada: We all LIVED AND BREATHED s3 and s4. But I'm sure the other Norwegians have talked about that. Oh hell. Cat incoming. Brb. Had to clear her off the laptop.

Ghostcat: Sure thing. They love warmth.

skamskada: I loved S1, wasn't so keen on the Noorhelm arc but liked Noora.

Ghostcat: Understandable. though I'm always surprised to hear that it was popular.

skamskada: SUPER popular.

Ghostcat: All that “William must answer!” business.

skamskada: I couldn't see the appeal but apparently dysfunctional relationships are the shit.

Ghostcat: Lol. So going into season three, were you excited to see Isak's season or just mildly curious?

skamskada: Excited! It was obvs a coming out story, or so we thought after seeing that gorgeous trailer.

Ghostcat: Right, fantastic trailer.

skamskada: And I'm queer. All queer kids on TV are my brothers and sisters.

Ghostcat: Yes, definitely something many of us can identify with.

skamskada: At this point I'm sure you all know that it was less of a coming out tale and more of a story of acceptance and understanding others and oneself.

Ghostcat: Did you go in with preconceived notions about how the story would be told?

skamskada: I trusted Julie to not do the obvious shit, since she's broken up Eva and Jonas, but I was a bit scared since she did Noorhelm. But at that point I don't think anybody took anything for granted. She kept throwing curveballs.

Ghostcat: One relationship has a great deal of subtlety and depth, the other I never quite believed.

skamskada: And that goes for E10 as well―watching live, we were scared shitless when the first clip of that episode aired, since she was unpredictable. Even though we'd had O Helga Natt.

Ghostcat: That first clip is unusually hushed and tender but interestingly, not mawkish. It's unsentimental, brisk but full of feeling. That is so difficult to pull off.

skamskada: It's so comforting, and so beautifully teenage-y still.

Ghostcat: And yet, there it is.

skamskada: Amazing acting and amazing instruction. Which was precisely Julie's goal, bless her.

Ghostcat: I'm constantly amazed watching this show how it manages to dole out messages, have teaching moments WITHOUT being condescending. All these messages feel earned. Lived-in and true.

skamskada: Isak has learned so much! And he applies it!

Ghostcat: Always. He's learning and applying. But also gaining strength. My favorite moment in that scene is how he shuts Even down with that decisive, hoarse little Nei.

skamskada: Enough is enough. He's obvs scared of losing Even (again) and he's not having it.

Ghostcat: Just one eye clearly visible and with a trembly voice.

skamskada: I have to give endless kudos to the cinematographer.

Ghostcat: Clear something up for me if you know it...is it the same D.P. (director of photography, @newyearsirresolution​) as season one?

skamskada: Can't remember tbh. I'd have to check.

Ghostcat: I'd heard that there was a different one for season two but that it was the same one as season one… The cinematography and direction for season three was so specific. Precisely because of the Luhrmann nods and the various movie call-outs. It has a very tight visual look, deliberate but not labored.

skamskada: The great resemblance between the two seasons is that it's very sparse, tight as you say. Noora's season is wider, visually richer. And that reflects the characters.

Ghostcat: I love the switch too, from the the velvety darkness of that first clip to the brightness of Isak by his locker, with that big, fluffy hair. Everything about the clip is a big, clear inhalation/exhalation.

skamskada: He floofs up when he's happy.

Ghostcat: He's relaxed.

skamskada: So he puts on his big boy pants and even apologises to Emma.

Ghostcat: The way he laughs with Vilde, but then deals with her without being a dick and then closes the loop with Emma.

skamskada: He tidies up the messes he's left when he had a really shit time. Let's not forget that he lived in a basement for a while, even. I really dislike the grumpy Isak fanon since he DID have a shit time and anybody would be a little testy if their life was that down the drain.

Ghostcat: The episode has got a similar vibe to the end of A Christmas Carol only way more chill. Isak is no Scrooge but there he is, doing his best, spreading the love. A valuable member of Kosegruppa at last.

skamskada: He is, albeit a little reluctantly when it comes to running Vilde's errands. But he DOES. He goes and gets the damn tree.

Ghostcat: With Even.

skamskada: Very likely with Even. After Even has made the Great Reveal―looking like a sparkly Disney princess as he does.

Ghostcat: Gets a smoochy photo on insta, isn't that from that day and running that errand? Maybe I'm getting the social media mixed up…

skamskada: The #No filter photo is from that day.

Ghostcat:  

#nofilter

The social media this season is superb. All of it looks so natural, not stagey

skamskada: Beautifully done.

Ghostcat: Were you surprised by the Great Reveal, as you call it, or had you suspected as much watching live?

skamskada: Watching live, the masses were divided on Even being interested at all or just playing Isak, but I took one look at Even at the Kosegruppa meeting and went "oh, he's thirsty af." So I was pretty sure he'd at the very least noticed Isak when their eyes met in the cafeteria.

Ghostcat: Ha ha ha.

skamskada: It wasn't a huge surprise that he'd crushed on Isak for two months at that time.

Ghostcat: Yes, Even is AMPED at the Kosegruppa meeting. When is the first day of school roughly? Late August?

skamskada: He's scanning the crowd and he stops when he sees Isak! Mid-August.

Ghostcat: MID-August. As Isak says, Wow.

skamskada: Summer is pretty much over in Norway by then so.

Ghostcat: Plenty time to really build someone up in your head.

skamskada: Definitely.

Ghostcat: HOW ON EARTH DID ISAK NOT NOTICE HIM? A mystery for the ages.

skamskada: Even must have been so elated when Isak finally did!

Ghostcat: Yes, that first look in the cafeteria.

skamskada: And that's where Even decides to give it a go, I think.

Ghostcat: NOW'S MY CHANCE TO SHINE.

skamskada: ASSUME THE PAPER TOWEL USAGE POSITION.

Ghostcat: Ha ha ha.

skamskada: But Isak's face when Even tells him, omg omg omg. That little "oh."

Ghostcat: It is the cutest thing. You can feel it! That warmth is our warmth.

skamskada: It's HUGE for Isak so he just ohs and smiles but that smile comes from all of his body.

Ghostcat: It's funny that Isak thinks all of that was just him at the start.

skamskada: If I hadn't already fallen in love with them being in love that scene would have cinched it.

Ghostcat: They sell love really well this season.

skamskada: Right down to the pragmatism in the last clip.

Ghostcat: Just the window scene alone felt so real. Like actually falling hard for someone.

skamskada: SO HARD.

Ghostcat: (Refrains from making joke)

skamskada: Shush.

Ghostcat: The fandom was very divided on Sonja too, I'm sure.

skamskada: Er. The hatred was unmixed, I'm afraid.

Ghostcat: Did everyone loathe her?

skamskada: Definitely. But come on. Even cheats.

Ghostcat: Did that first clip restore her reputation a little?

skamskada: Not a nice thing. It did, yes.

Ghostcat: There's an interesting dynamic there for sure.

skamskada: They seem afraid to let each other go while at the same time they're evidently tired of each other.

Ghostcat: It's all they've known since they were 14, which...makes sense.

skamskada: Possibly all through Even's diagnosis.

Ghostcat: Young people sometimes think I'll never have this again

skamskada: And no doubt it was good once.

Ghostcat: Yes, though it is interesting that Even stresses that his feelings for Isak are different. It's not that Isak is a way out, but that it is much more than that―he is something real. Which is one of the themes of the season. What is real and what is not. What we believe and what is true.

skamskada: I suspect Even has forgotten what falling in love with Sonja was like, so falling in love again must be intense.

Ghostcat: Sure, but then again, falling in love at 14 is not falling in love at 18 or 19.

skamskada: It's not.

Ghostcat: You have a better sense of yourself. It's more than a pretty face, a kind voice, shared likes.

skamskada: And Even may have been pretty shook when he could fall for someone, hard (no jokes!), even though Sonja is a permanent fixture in his life. It must have made him question a lot of things.

Ghostcat: (HARD)

skamskada: Shush.

Ghostcat: Definitely. Though I wonder how much of a part of his life Sonja continues to be after this. That's also a big life lesson.

skamskada: Could go either way, good friends or ripping out those pages of one's book.

Ghostcat: The end of that first relationship that used to mean so much but when it is, there's this vast relief you never expected.

skamskada: Sonja is SO GENEROUS in the first clip of E10 though.

Ghostcat: Definitely. I'm thinking of her relief mostly.

skamskada: She seems like a very good person at heart, so I hope they stay friends. But now we're into fic territory.

Ghostcat: I don't think I've seen too much exploration of that in fic? Which brings me around to a detour… When and how did you get involved in fan work for this show?

skamskada: Oh God. Cracks knuckles. I've lurked in fandoms for over a decade and was quite active in one back in the day, so I kept an eye on AO3 for Skam fics―the first one is from October 2016 and it's Isak/Eskild, btw.

Ghostcat: Really?

skamskada: And then @towonderland72​ started posting a chaptered fic, and she asked for help with some Oslo stuff in her AN, so I commented. It's all her fault.

Ghostcat: Isak... x Eskild??

skamskada: Indeed, Isak/Eskild. This was before we knew Evak was endgame.

Ghostcat: Huh.

skamskada: The next one was Evak though.

Ghostcat: You volunteered to be a point person for Norwegian facts. That's BIG.

skamskada: Um. The Americanisms were killing me.

Ghostcat: Like what?

skamskada: Hahaha. Blankets in bed, not duvets. Bottled water at home. Trojan condoms.

Ghostcat: Ha ha ha

skamskada: etc etc etc etc. So with towonderland72 as an enabler, I wrote the guide and posted it, and answered a fuckton of pms.

Ghostcat: I've been thinking about how English language writers in non-English language fandoms struggle with specificity with language.

skamskada: Oh yes.

Ghostcat: It's difficult to do.

skamskada: I was actually a Brit-picker in the HP fandom, so I figured I can Norway-pick.

Ghostcat: This is the first fandom where I've seen fics in the show's actual language and have desperately wanted to read them.

skamskada: With good reason, some of them are AMAZING. Also Swedish ones.

Ghostcat: I'mma hit you up for recs at some point.

skamskada: Aye aye. I've translated a couple of my own. But only the short and easy ones.

Ghostcat: Nice. You’ve certainly done a lot to generate fanwork and deserve a big shoutout for that.

skamskada: Thank you!

Ghostcat: :clap:

skamskada: I'm very pleased with the @evakteket​ challenges. People have enjoyed them and they've generated nice fics. Oh and that's how I started writing fics again, after I quit many years ago...

Ghostcat: Can you translate that for the uninitiated? -teket?

skamskada: The Evakteque, basically. The Evak library.

Ghostcat: Lovely.

skamskada: Where towonderland72 and I recced fics for two years. With the aid of  @fille-lioncelle​ the last half year or so. We wanted fandom to have a good rec blog, and so we ended up making one...The first challenge we made, we were terrified nobody would want to write for it, so we wrote ourselves to get at least two participants. Cough. And that's how I ended up writing fic again.

Ghostcat: you HAD to. FOR FANDOM.

skamskada: Hahaha.

Ghostcat: nO oThEr REasoNNN.

skamskada: In total, there were four rec blogs in fandom, but one posted for a month or two. Now there are none, really.

Ghostcat: I still see recs here and there.

skamskada: Yeah, but sporadic. Personal faves, mostly

Ghostcat: Back to Minutt for minutt.

skamskada: Yes, ma'am.

Ghostcat: Kosegruppa has a party and we don't really expect to see Even there.

skamskada: No, because he has practically begged off, but THERE HE IS. And Isak is delighted.

Ghostcat: But there he is looking a little messy but smiling and Isak is all dressed up in a nice shirt, holding his beer like he's having tea with the queen.

skamskada: Tarjei holds everything soooo gently.

Ghostcat: Such a poised young man. (And probable handless alien as per @newyearsirresolution​ theory)

skamskada: Isak is in a great mood, everything is in place and he's even seen his mum and dad again, although briefly―I miss some texts with them in that episode tbh.

Ghostcat: Like, ummm where'd you go, son? Missed the Nils Bech concert. poor form.

skamskada: I so love the final scene with Eva, where Isak isn't at all "oh this will be great for ever and ever", he's learned so much and he's not taking it for granted.

Ghostcat: That brings me round to @heihallohadet​'s question for you.

skamskada: I also love the girls making questionable decorations. Yes!

Ghostcat: What did you think of Isak’s answer to Eva’s question “is he the man of your life?” Were you surprised or disappointed that he was saying he wasn’t sure Even was the man of his life, or did you interpret it positively?

skamskada: I interpreted it as "We'll see how this works out" which I ADORED, but which surprised me a bit. So positively, yes. I'm not a fan of believing a relationship is for life when you're 17 and 19.

Ghostcat: Surprised you because of how strong this love story was, that hearing that answer was not your typically TV thing?

skamskada: Yes, exactly. No riding into the sunset, pragmatism all the way. Like how the best solution for Eva is to be single for a while, happiness isn't necessarily the Significant Other.

Ghostcat: I love how fucking smart it is. It's absolutely focusing on the here and now and brings about the final surprise of the season. More than a coming out story, more than a love story but an almost philosophical season.

skamskada: S3 encompasses coming out and a love story but it's so much more.

Ghostcat: How to best go about being an authentic and kind person.

skamskada: It's about forgiving others and yourself, it's about making the best out of what you have.

Ghostcat: Living life with realness and depth.

skamskada: Life can change quickly but the important thing is that you try not to be fake, yourself.

Ghostcat: Isak's best subject in school is biology―the study of life―and we end the season with a potent message: Life is now.

skamskada: That ending. I tear up just thinking about it. So powerful.

Ghostcat: He's not just book smart-

skamskada: He's life smart

Ghostcat: He's life smart. JINX.

skamskada: Hahaha.

Ghostcat: And the thing that is necessary to go from one to another―the person that reads stories, experiences other people's stories, watches other lives but doesn't take part―is to take a chance and participate, get hurt, learn, pick up, keep going. Here we have all of that, in ten, tidy little episodes. What a miraculous season this was.

skamskada: A masterpiece.

Ghostcat: Truly. Thank you so much, immy, for joining us for the last of these glorious episode guest chats.

skamskada: It was fun! And it's been fun watching the newbies watch. Takes me right back, it does.

Ghostcat: Thank you, guys, for joining our chat! Please continue the discussion below!

skamskada: I looooove how quietly confident Isak is in the last clip. How comfortably out and happy with his friends and boyfriend.

@etal-late​: Thank you both, I could only get here now but this was a great chat to read through. Ghostcat, I love what you said about Isak the biologist’s mastering of the study of life through the series.

@whatwillthegirlbecome​: I don't think I will ever ever tire of hearing what other people think of this season! Thank you, skamskada and Ghostcat for sharing your thoughts!

*

Next week we have a two-parter! First, then-first time watcher @bryrosea and I will hash out the experience that was watching this season outside of the real-time furor. Then noted SKAM scholar @lightsandlostbells​ talks with us about the glory of season three’s structure.

#SKAM #skam3rewatch2020 #SKAM season 3 talkback interviews #skamskada #3.10 #Minutt for minutt #tw: long post

[laufire]

In depth fandom ask: the last fandom you joined bc I can't remember it now

Well, I guess the last fandom I’ve properly joined --making a few edits, starting yet-another-WIP etc.-- is Black Sails, so. Plus I want to talk about it a little, spoiler-free, in case you decide to watch it ^-^ (I’ll leave that to the s3 post I need to finish...).

Top 5 favourite characters: Max is my number one, without a doubt, and of the rest of my faves Silver has an edge... but the remaining positions are a tough fight between Flint, Jack, Madi and Miranda, and I honestly can’t choose DD:

Other characters you like: Mr. Scott, Anne, Idelle, the Maroon Queen, Billy, Eme, Abigail... This show has a lot of great characters tbh.

Least favourite characters: I still loathe Peter Ashe with every fiber of my being. Alfred Hamilton is obviously The Worst(TM). And though it hasn’t grown into hate (yet), I don’t like Woodes Rogers one bit ¬¬

Otps: Flint/Miranda, and the combos in Flint/Madi/Silver and Anne/Jack/Max (in no particular order at the moment because I just HAVE TONS OF FEELS ABOUT THEM ALL).

Notps: I don’t have strong NOPE feelings towards anything, but I’m not into Eleanor/Max (which is a dynamic I actually really like BUT that I’m glad it doesn’t return to shippiness LOL); Eleanor/Rogers (I might be indifferent towards Eleanor most of the time but I haaaaaate Rogers for her. RUN GIRL), Flint/Vane (booooooooring).

Favourite friendships: Max & Silver (THE duo I swear), Jack & Max, Flint & Silver, Idelle & Max (I might not have said so before but I guess I like a little conflict LMFAO), Billy & Flint (NOT a friendship, but their relationship absolutely cracks me up I swear. “Who’s Billy?” XDDD).

Favourite family: Madi’s family, which is all I can say without getting spoilery. I just. *lies down on the floor overcome with emotions* xDD

Favourite episodes: the problem with binge-watching (okay, I’ve taken s3 more slowly but) is that they all kinda blur together LOL. Hmm. The season finales are all *chefs kiss* so far (sometimes in a very painful way... I’m looking at you s2. Though the ominous Flint/Silver moments in the s3 were A LOT too); any in which I get to see Max & Silver scheming together ofc. And the first handful of eps in s3 were particularly enjoyable to me because I was drowning in PURE ANGST and Flint & Silver feels xDD (I can’t NOT believe the fandom seems to call one of those “the shark date” asñldfjasdfñl).

Favourite season/book/movie: oof. I honestly can’t pick; s1 is probably the “least” because the others include better moments for some of my secondary faves, and because there’s a plot that’s really hard to watch... BUT it has things on it I adore to pieces too. s1-2 doesn’t have Madi (major drawback xD), and s3 is after one of my faves’ death... but frankly they’re all neck and neck so far.

Favourite quotes: “I am ruined over you” always comes to mind DD: “Liked is just as good as feared”; Max combo with Eleanor about sand (typing that down made me think of Anidala LMFAO. The scene itself is very different though! xD) in the s1 finale; “in another time, in another place, they would call me a queen”; “this ends when I grant them my forgiveness, not the other way around”, Mr. Scott’s “No. Only YOU.”... honestly, this show’s dialogue is just too good(TM), I could just quote it all back xD. And of course, I HAVE to mention “WHO’S BILLY”. It’s the law.

Best musical moment: the score is perfection all around, but given that I never skip the intro just to listen and watch it... yeah, the intro xD

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: well, I *might* have lost it the moment CAPTAIN FLINT COMES OUT TO LONG JOHN SILVER OVER A BONFIRE, IDK XDD

When it really disappointed you: the fact that I won’t get to see a fully fleshed out Mr. Scott-Silver dynamic is MAJORLY disappointing, let me tell you. That Flint’s actor didn’t somehow get his mother (aka Maggie Smith aka Professor McGonagall aka Lady Violet) on the show too ¬¬. LOL.

Saddest moment: character’s deaths of two of the characters listed on “top 5”/“others you like” xD.

Most well done character death: the hanging in 3x09 was well done and served its purpose.

Favourite guest star: for a value of “guest star”... I’m going with Idelle.

Favourite cast member: Jessica Parker Kennedy is the one that I know and love for other projects she’s done.

Character you wish was still alive: THE ONE WE TRAGICALLY LOST IN 2x09.

One thing you hope really happens: I’m cheating because I know there’s some of that in s4, but I want to watch more Flint/Madi interactions pls.

Most shocking twist: well, I wasn’t spoiled for Mr. Scott’s plot in s3 so I was (pleasantly) surprised by that xD

When did you start watching/reading?: a little over two weeks ago; I watched (devoured) s1-s2 and 3x01-3x04 in a few days because I wanted to meet Madi, and then I tragically had to slow down :(((

Best animal/creature: I will always love Treasure Islands’  parrot that Silver named after Flint LMFAO.

Favourite location: Nassau aka Max’s ~domain xD. And Miranda’s house.

Trope you wish they would stop using: noooooone. I love the tropes this show reuses LMFAO. Romantic Betrayals(TM), triumvirates, “good things happen in the dark/away from civilization”, the power of narratives, social climbing and revolt... bring them oooooon.

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: quite a few xD. But one that really stands out to me is the dialogue; both the ~deep and sorrowful type (there were so many quotes where I had to take a break to freak out properly lol), and the humorous ones.

Funniest moments: I know I’m repeating myself, but I recently rewatched the pilot to edit some scenes and I keep remember the WHO’S BILLY one xDD (which I maintain it was Flint trolling him. He could give Abigail a rundown of Billy’s whole life story AND he shamelessly checked him out that one time. Flint knows who Billy is, he’s just an asshole xD). Really, all the scenes between Billy and Flint in that episode are comedic gold lmfao. Billy’s “oh dear I fucked up” expression when he tells Flint the crew has started to think him weak and Flint looks half a second away from murdering him right there, his WTF face at Flint’s antics with the stolen page... Gold, seriously.

Couple you would like to see: I meannnnnn. I would’ve been very happy if the show had decided to go with Flint/Madi/Silver, for one. Bonus if Miranda could’ve been included. Or just explicit Flint/Silver in poly arrangements (THEY ARE IN LOVE, IT’S JUST ~COMPLICATED XD).

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: MAGGIE SMITH DAMMIT.

Favourite outfit: literally everything Max wears in s3. Eleanor’s s1-s2 outfits were things I’d love to wear too. Flint’s ~dramatic coat. Miranda’s collection of supposedly-puritan-but-showing-the-goods dresses xDD (and ofc her London clothes), Jack’s clothes (he’s Nassau’s fashion icon lbr).

Favourite item: the books!! Especially when Flint gave Miranda “La Galatea” as a gift (given that sometimes he reminds me of my OC Latoya, you might understand the freakout I had when he gave the other member of my OTP a book titled like that xDD).

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: no, but I kinda want to. I did have a Treasure Planet computer game I tragically can’t find... it was about collecting money in increasingly difficult scenarios LOL. And I probably have more pirate-y/Treasure Island theme stuff. I had a long pirate phase xD

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: Max’s because I like being on the winning team, thanks xD (though I do ~align more with Flint and Madi’s lbr...).

Most boring plotline: Eleanor and Vane’s ~romance is not at all badly written... but the fact that I find both of them boring kinda ruins the whole thing because I always wish that time went to someone else xD. Also, Blackbeard. Meh.

Most laughably bad moment: n/a.

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: the London flashback where Miranda goes to Flint’s house unannounced to take him to an art gallery, she finds him half-naked and he gets all awkward about it lmao. And then they hook up in the carriage :DDD

Most layered character: we get to explore Flint and Silver the most. Silver’s development in particular is something that never ceases to impress me ngl.

Most one dimensional character: except the one-note characters I wouldn’t really call anyone completely one-dimensional, tbh. Though I do think the fandom attributes more complexity to Thomas than it’s seen in canon? Like, I like what I see; I think he’s functional, he works well, and he adds wonderfully to Flint’s (and Miranda’s) story, but I don’t see him as a full character in his own right. Which is perfectly fine for the narrative so far, but I fear it might fall apart for me at the very end.

Scariest moment: I never know what to say in this... I mean, I guess Flint killing a man with his bare hands in the pilot Like That was scary xD. I understand why Silver freaked out LOL.

Grossest moment: any of Max’s interactions with Vane tbh. Stay away from her ¬¬

Best looking male: Flint has that ruggedly handsome thing going on for him, if you’re into that (and sometimes I do appreciate his ~aesthetics... very sad he shaved his head in s3 though. Like, I get you did it for the Angst, honey, and trust me, I Feel U, but still). I feel like I might be forgetting someone, but seriously, none of the dudes in this show so far do anything for me LOL. I can honestly say I love them for their personalities xDD

Best looking female: I have a weakness for Max, but Miranda, Madi, Anne, the Maroon Queen, Idelle, Eme... all of them are gorgeous in their own way. This show is good for sapphic women’s enjoyment in that sense xDD.

Who you’re crushing on (if any): I could crush on any of the women mentioned above tbh.

Favourite cast moment: I have literally only seen this post about an interview where Flint’s actor says he’s too old to party with The Youth of the cast and just wants to chill on the weekend... with bonus Max and Eleanor’s actress talking about how Vane’s once climbed the side of a building up AND back down. I’m with you, Toby Stephens, you don’t need those shenanigans xDD

Favourite transportation: the Walrus, for sentimental reasons LOL. I liked stolen Spanish warship too.

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): lots of good ones, though I think my fave might be the one of Miranda sitting by the window in London. Or the one of Charles Town burning down, I liked that :))) (I remember thinking “Flint better go full Daenerys on them”. And he did! It was nice xD).

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: n/a, so far.

Best promo: n/a.

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: I liked it from the word go, but the moment that TRULY cemented it for me was in 1x03, with Max making a decision that I... frankly didn’t expect. It made things worse for her in the short-term, the storyline itself was difficult and disturbing to watch and I still have some mixed feelings about it. But what it said about her as a character and how her journey goes after that... I was in awe of her, and of the show.

#missbrunettebarbie #replies #my thoughts #black sails #black sails thoughts #talking to the void #bsmax #miranda barlow #james flint #john silver #flintmiranda #silverflintmadi #silverflint #silvermadi #billy x flint #bsmadi #i think those are the most prominent ones #thanks for the ask :D

[championmuffin]

I made a Royal Pains timeline!

It was EXHAUSTING, but I have a pre-show timeline! With birthday (months and years) for Hank, Boris, and Evan. Guys, they're WAY older than most of us guessed. I'll put the timeline before then the sources at the bottom!

June 1965: Boris born

August 1973: Hank born

August 1979: Evan born

Fall/Winter 1988: Hank's father leaves

Summer 1989: Hank's mother dies

1991/95/98/01: Hank starts college at Northwestern /med school at Mt Sinai/res/work at Brooklyn Mercy

2004: Boris leaves Marisa

Okay, let's line by line the sources. I would really love to give exact episode numbers but my Tumblr app really loves to surprise refresh and lose everything. But I CAN give you seasons and descriptions of what happened in the episode.

Boris was born in June 1965! He's a whopping 43 years old in the pilot (set in memorial Day weekend 2009) and turns 44 during 1.07 (the fanservice physical). How did we get here? In the episode where Boris takes Hank to his safety deposit box in his bank, Hank confirms Boris' father died at 43 and his grandfather at 44-- "about the age you are now". Later when they're arguing about Marisa's clinical trial in Cuba Hank says Boris has "outlived [his] father AND [his] grandfather".

Hank "fountain of youth" Lawson was born in August 1973! Hank is 35 in the pilot and turns 36 that summer. How did we get here? This required a LOT of supporting information.

In season one Evan says he's been in contact with Eddie R for a year. "A year ago he called me up like it hadn't been 20 years and we just started taking" was the approximate quote. Since S1 and S2 are set in 2009, that means 21 years earlier would have been 1988.

Hank says shortly after that Evan was only 9 when their father left. Evan, therefore, was born in the summer of 1979. Evan would have been 30 during the pilot and turned 31 shortly after (even though his birthday was in S2).

Speaking of S2, we can find Hank's birth year when Hank goes to lunch with his father and goes for the jugular-- "I knew by the time I was 15 exactly the type of man I didn't want to become". At the time this line is delivered it's summer 2009.

2009-> 21 years since Dad left→ 1988 → Hank is 15 years old → born 1973. We know Hank has an August birthday (the 23rd) because of the episode (season 4, I think?) Where Hank treats the undercover DEA agent at the car show and she rattles off the day and month of his birth.

Assuming Hank didn't take any time off, he started college at Northwestern in 1991, med school at Mt Sinai in 1995, his residency in 1998, and his job at Brooklyn Mercy in 2001 (in S8 Hank's mentor says he trained Hank to replace him, so it stands to reason that was his first attending position and most likely the location of his residency).

In season 7 when Hank has the actor shadowing him he confesses that it's been 25 years since his mother's death and he's never been to visit her grave. Season 7 is 2014 in the show timeline (two years behind the real year because S1&S2 were one summer and S3&S4 were one summer), so 25 years earlier would be summer of 1989.

Evan says in late S8 to the oldest sister of the kids he and Paige foster that Hank tried to keep them together but couldn't always. That would make sense if Hank was newly or almost 16 and then a college student--the 6 year age gap would have made Evan around 10. It also explains why Hank remembers his mother as being very difficult, and Evan remembers her as being a very lovable angel.

Boris leaving Marisa would have been in 2004, since they were separated for 5 years in 2009.

I think that's everything! Hank was a full 4 years older than I originally thought when I started doing the math (I do the math a lot I guess? XD ). That makes his desperate bid for love and marriage in S7+8 a little more sympathetic if he was already 42 and ideally looking to date before knocking a girl up.

Ps, guys!! Royal Pains is leaving Netflix May 1st if you live in the US. It might be moving to Peacock, the NBC streaming service, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. I'm binging HARD and rewatching the entire series a sixth time again. Anyone want to join in?

PPS- I have another shorty oneshot coming out soon! I'm not sure if I've actually ever said it, but I'm Kummerspeck7 at A03!

#hank lawson #royal pains #Boris kuster von Jurgens-Ratenicz #Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz #ages #how old is he #how old are they? #major plot #timeline #i did the math #i did the research #i did the best i could #Evan Lawson

[literaetures]

omg ive never met anyone who likes the medici show!!!!! pls share ur thoughts

you must be new here bc i Love the show! it’s one of my all time fave period dramas (coming from someone who knows nothing about the actual history of the family other than the one (1) page history that was given in her high school history textbook and sporadic wikipedia diving when watching the show— i just love period dramas) and i often quote this post by @hotniatheron when talking about this show (because that’s literally. the whole show)

the cinnamon topography, the sets, the characters the costumes, the d r a m a, the storyline! i love it all! i’ve written a few posts on the show as well that i’ll link here if you want some memes (and usually gifsets i rb are filled with commentary) but if you really care about why i love the show, i’ll try to give you as much of a summary as i can (w o w so this got long because i have a lot of feelings so i’ll leave this under the cut but tl;dr i adore this show and i think about it more than once a week and have tons of half-written meta posts sitting in my drafts fjwkjfewn)

i watched s1 when it first came out and immediately fell in love, watched the whole thing in one day (avoiding a paper i had due lmao) and completely fell for it. i loved the morally ambiguous leanings of everyone in that season— no one was quite Good™️ or Bad™️, they all did things with their own ambitions and their own ideas of what a good future may look like in mind— i loved all the scenic shots and the duomo (the true protagonist), i loved the characterization of “the banker that wanted to be an artist”, the attack and murder of albizzi and his son! in the forest! in slow motion! while the duomo is being consecrated! the mist of the forest combining with the smoke from the lamps! still gives me chills! i hated every moment cosimo wasn’t respecting his amazing wife who rode in oh horseback! in the signoria! just to save his ass! and he completely shunned her for it! i loved lucrezia’s depth they gave her towards the end that was later extended in s2 (where you could Tell contessina took her under her wing and gave her the single braincell of the family) and even more, i loved the multi layered storyline of the season— the coming of age story of cosimo, the murder mystery of who killed his father, the PLOT TWIST of who killed his father!!! (i kept forgetting in my first and second rewatches of the season and every time i forgot it felt like i experienced it for the first time all over again!) but most importantly, i loved the narrative of not knowing what to do in life, that every decision you made is a gamble with outcomes that are both good and bad, but there will be people around you who support you and get you through it

and then. s2. by far the better written of the two three seasons with a more clear plotline and timeline that allows you to really take in the characters and the plotline at once while allowing for more nuance and depth in a way that we didn’t get in s1! here we have the distinct battle between Good and Bad which was shocking after the morally grey complexity that we saw in s1 but made for a fresh new season that i instantly enjoyed! b u t!!! it did not go! where i thought it was going to go! as someone who knows nothing about the history, i went into it completely in the dark and solely began crafting possible endings in my head. i thought. i had pictured. that lorenzo and francesco started off enemies, francesco realizes his uncle jacopo (sean bean) has been manipulating him, switches to the “good” side, hears the acts of betrayal, and instead of falling back into his uncle’s plotting and manipulation, i thought! i assumed! that francesco was playing him! i thought! that francesco would see through the manipulation and the abuse and was in a double agent scenario where he was plotting the “pazzi conspiracy” but he told lorenzo and giuliano about the plot and they’d catch jacopo in the act, give him a trial, and give him a prison sentence! i thought this WHOLE thing! even at the end of ep7! even after the hugs (i thought the extra squeezes was francesco signaling to lorenzo and giuliano that everything was going according to plan (because remember the whole Good and Bad clear divide? i thought this was going to be the grey zone of s1 to remind us of moral ambiguities)) and even when ep 3 “mass” was going. i was sitting there in my clown paint waiting for francesco to get! his! redemption arc! because i forgot! that this! was a historical period drama about real events! and it wasn’t until lucrezia’s scream that i realized “OH. it’s not going to get better” you can imagine. my pain. but i think that’s what made this season so good? anyone could have watched it and fallen in love with the storyline and good narrative they presented that allowed you to get lost in the characters and the story

and as for s3. i’m withholding as much of my thoughts as possible because i will be watching it when it finally airs on netflix and i want to properly give it the binge watch that i’ve given the past seasons to really sit with my thoughts to have fully formed thoughts and onions on it!

in any case, i love this show. so much! i cannot wait for the renaissance project to happen with seasons about all the artists, but g o d am i going to miss this disaster family so! much! (and all those scenic duomo shots) 

i love contessina and francesco (those are my two fave characters from the show) and there’s honestly so much more that i can say but honestly you can scroll through my series tags and see me cry about it because i’m rambling so much i know— if you give me a chance to tell you my thoughts on my obsessions! i’m so sorry in advance!

but i’m sure this is. not the length that you expected, but i hope it’s at least a bit entertaining! thanks for letting me talk about my obsessions for a bit!

#messages #anonymous #thank you for letting me talk about something i love for a bit! #i really enjoyed it! #and sorry if it's overwhelming

[incarnateirony]

S 2-3, 3.10 -> S14, 14.10

So I’ve been talking about the S2/3 parallels in S14 for a while, but I finally got back up to 3.10, and I am. Legit. Screaming.

(edit, trimming down this OP and adding a cut, now that I’ve managed to form legible thoughts)

I’m. Screaming?

LIKE.

I

can’t?

Go watch?? 

Like if you can’t binge all of S2-3 in the next few days at least go rewatch 3.10?

Fuckin’ it’s even in the same episode position?? like?? 

“What do you want?”

More behind the cut. After the snap cut to black, of course.

Okay, I’m going to try to form some coherent thoughts here, but I won’t deep dive each independently, just 3.10

Though I may get strung up for saying it, season 13 had a lot of Dean-John parallels, most explicitly, grieving!Dean and arguably grieving!John, as in the attitude imparted by the loss of Mary, a foreground laid out for us almost like a prequel in S12 (which I argue is essentially what S12 is to the 13-14 era.) Read it as Destiel, read it as family being equal to Dean, I really don’t care about it as much as we can understand that Dean reflected John, to the dismay of many Dean stans, while still coming to a healthier resolution -- because John isn’t Dean. But I believe it was even Davy that giggled in public about similarities, which we can, I dunno, pretend they were only there accidentally, or maybe planned. *shrug*

Either way, S1->S13 reasonably has a lot of reflections as a result, but I don’t think we’ve properly explored that and now that this may bring it into some retrospect I’d love to see other people talking about it.

But I’m going to shorthand S2&3->S14. Why both seasons together? I dunno. Maybe because 13 was truncated. Maybe they just blended well.

I’ve already hollered about 2.01->14.04, Ghost of the Comic Shop Owner Bearing The Keys To The Legacy upset, and lashing out at one of the legacies. People were quick to associated some things but oddly ignored things like the squirrel T-shirt while he was downed, I dunno. Reasons I guess. If you want to extrapolate your own thoughts, just... 2.01->14.04; there’s a lot to unpack there.

S2 & 3 are pretty rich in surrounding parallels. Blood experiments and special children, hives and extending “family” in unusual ways, the inability to let go, versus depressed letting go, versus just letting go; everybody’s been on about season 14′s fairy tale themes when 3.05 Bedtime Stories literally exists and, while it’s Snow White and the fandom’s been more locked on Sleeping Beauty, realistically the two aren’t so dissimilar. You know, the whole Deep Sleep thing, and I might poke people to relook at 3.05. 

Optimism also rings strongly with “what’s dead should stay dead,” which harkens to 2.04 Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things over unhealthy refusal to not Let Go. Also taps on John issues and thus cycles back to 2.01, I mean... oh and the Colt’s gone kinda like the magic spear they chased instead. I mean, I could go on.

But 3.09 greets us with “Nothing can save you because you don’t want to be saved,” (given we also hear this for Cas later in the show) but this was Sam to Dean regarding his deal.

And then 3.10 strikes. The freddy kreuger head hopper. We find Bobby in his dream original house, but haunted by his worst nightmare; he’s liberated, but the threat remains and they dive back in.

They get out of the car, looking around. As they walk in front of the car, music can suddenly be heard. DEAN looks behind him and then when he turns around, a corner of the clearing lights up, and there sits LISA BRAEDEN (from episode "The Kids Are Alright") on a little blanket and a picnic basket. DEAN just looks at her and she smiles up at him. (MUSIC starts playing: "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by the Mamas and Papas, with an echo reverb)

LISA Hey. You gonna sit down?

DEAN doesn't move, he just looks at her. She has a glass of red wine in her hand and she reaches for another glass in the basket.

LISA Come on. We only have an hour before we have to pick Ben up from baseball.

She holds the glass for him, giving him another smile.

Dean stammers in denial, having No Idea What That’s About He Swears (because she totally wasn’t his original endgame or anything, but we’ll get back to that), before... tripping into his nightmare.

I know some people have speculated FacedownGuy is Dean too, I know I sure have, but this... well. Let’s get a little further into this sequence.  LONG transcript blurbs inbound.

DREAM DEAN Talk about low self-esteem. (he chuckles) Then again, I guess it's not much of a life worth saving, now is it?

DEAN (to himself) Wake up, Dean. Come on, wake up.

DREAM DEAN I mean, after all, you've got nothing outside of Sam.

DREAM DEAN (continues) You are nothing. You're as mindless and obedient as an attack dog.

DEAN (smiling in denial, braving it out) That -That's not true.

DREAM DEAN No? What are the things that you want? What are the things that you dream? I mean, your car? That's Dad's. Your favorite leather jacket? Dad's. Your music? Dad's. Do you even have an original thought? No. No, all there is is, "Watch out for Sammy. Look out for your little brother, boy!" You can still hear your Dad's voice in your head, can't you?

He motions with the weapon to his head.

DREAM DEAN Clear as a bell.

DEAN (smiling) Just shut up.

DREAM DEAN lowers the gun.

DREAM DEAN I mean, think about it ...  all he ever did is train you, boss you around. But Sam .... Sam he doted on. Sam, he loved.

DEAN I mean it. I'm getting angry.

DREAM DEAN Dad knew who you really were. A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument. (angry) Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died. Why should you?

DEAN (angry) Son of a bitch!

DEAN pushes DREAM DEAN hard, knocking him into the wall above the desk.

DEAN (screaming angrily) My father was an obsessed bastard!

DREAM DEAN tries to get up and DEAN kicks him down on the desk again. DEAN holds the weapon as a bat and hits DREAM DEAN once and then pins him to the wall with it.

DEAN All that crap he dumped on me, about protecting Sam! That was his crap. He's the one who couldn't protect his family. He-

DEAN steps back and swings the weapon again, hitting DREAM DEAN twice.

DEAN He's the one who let Mom die.

DEAN pins DREAM DEAN again.

DEAN – who wasn't there for Sam. I always was! He wasn't fair! I didn't deserve what he put on me.

He backs away from DREAM DEAN.

DEAN And I don't deserve to go to Hell!

DEAN shoots DREAM DEAN twice in the chest. As he lowers the weapon and looking at DREAM DEAN, we see the latter is dead. Blood is splattered on DREAM DEAN's face and his eyes are closed.

DEAN approaches DREAM DEAN on the desk, looking at him. Suddenly DREAM DEAN's eyes flickers open and they're completely black, as when a demon possesses a human. DEAN widens his eyes at that. DEMON DEAN sits up, looking into DEAN's eyes.DEMON DEAN (hard and angrily) You can't escape me, Dean. You're gonna die. And this? This is what you're gonna become! 

 We see DEAN, when he first snapped his fingers. His eyes are now black as night, he's a demon. He smiles and snaps his fingers and the screen goes black.

Huh. That’s kind of wild now, isn’t it?

So again, there’s a lot to unpack here and this I will, in shorthand. Dean’s daddy issues aren’t new, but we’ve been hollering about John coming back and, as if by magic, or almost like they’ve been coding and prepping it to come back, he’s coming back! But Jack has helped Dean already deal with many of his issues, the ghost of those keys to the shop/car. His family has extended.

Reel back to Lisa. 

5.22 - “It’s never too late.” - Dean almost had that ending, had it taken from him, and yet what was it that everybody was banging drums about in 13.5? Oh right, It’s Never Too Late. That was his Big Win. Can’t forget that. 

Again, read into that side of the relationship however you want. What I’m here to bang on gongs about is what did Dean want - “They chose family.” And Michael tried to get his hopes up, tried to crush them, and packed Dean away.

Tell me again bardude isn’t some part of Dean.

We see in the preview that the blue is a powerful blue, depressing and ominous. And when the family comes in, Yellow light instead takes the bar for the battle. This is something I already discussed earlier in the season with the use of Blue & Yellow in 14.06 as exploration of the psyche, and in a side meta dividing Red and passion from life choices, with Dean followed by family yellow rather than red drive.

So I mean,

And here it is again. I mean, try to get bolder with it, I dare you.

Either way about it, a question given to Dean, by Dean, more than ten years ago is about to be faced, and they are about to come in support of him, but in reality, Dean Winchester will need to save himself. He will need to recognize he has what he wants - he has family, it isn’t too late, it’s here, and they’re there for him, facing his shadows. 

Dean spends season 3 teaching Sam things, like how to take care of the Impala when he’s gone; but that’s because Sam, like his inner self literally taunts him over (as if, perhaps, in wanting of that Family Dream?) was all he had. But he’s no longer all. He’s important, but he’s grown. He doesn’t need to just Take Care of Sammy. Sammy’s taking care of himself, strong, building his own legacy. Dean instead spends S14 teaching Jack, letting go of the wheel. It’s Jack that learns about the Impala now. It’s family. And they’re here for him. Facing his shadows.

Season 3 was “I have to get you ready for this.” Season 12, Dean looked at Sam and said, “you’re ready for this.” And season 13, Sam was ready for this. And they’ve grown. It’s about family. And they’re here for him, facing his shadows.

“And in the end, isn’t that really the whole point?”

Where that leads us from now, I’m starting to highly suspect I’m going to have to watch a little bit further into S3 to figure out, but the question is if saving himself spins out another ending, or if he truly accomplishes it, or if it comes back for him - or if “see you soon, Dean” strikes and we do endure a trip to the Empty to overcome. After all, the Empty will come once Cas is truly happy and Take It All Away. Is that to be the end of our season? Dragged not by hellhounds to hell, but instead, by the shadow to the Empty? And does that leave us at the cusp of S4 again in how to recover Dean?

#supernatural #spn #meta #kinda #help #my meta

[fba-art]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#Anonymous #LONG post under read more #rambley. sorry about that it's 1 AM

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 1x12/1x13 We Are Grounders (Part 1&Part 2)

So I’ve come to the end of my rewatch of season 1. (The season 2 opener post will come soon. I’ve already rewatched it.) Overall my opinions on the quality of the season haven’t changed much, though I did like some episodes more and some episodes less this time. It was, however, interesting to see how much foreshadowing there was of later events and how many moments later got callbacks and parallels in later seasons. 

I’ve also tried to now keep track of the timeline and body count in every episode...but I’m now starting to realize, after how confusing the numbers got in 1x11 and in these two episodes, that I’ve probably given it much more thought than the writers ever did. In the end, I had to look up The 100 wiki – but it seems just as confused as I am.

Back when I first binged the show, some 7 months ago, I was posting about it on SpoilerTV in the daily discussion threads. Sometimes I wrote just a few lines, but about this two-parter, I wrote a very detailed post - and I wish I had posted it on Tumblr, too. Maybe I’ll dig it up and post it as an annex or something.  Funny thing, before that, after 1x11, I made my list of predictions for the two-part finale, and all of them turned out to be true. I liked it anyway - predicting things isn’t always bad, it may mean that the storytelling is logical and that plot points were well foreshadowed. But it’s also one of the reasons why I didn’t find it as mind-blowing as the S2 one or S4 , or even S5 one. (But it’s certainly miles better than the S3 finale. Although that’s not saying much, since the latter was pretty anticlimactic and is one of my least favorite episodes.)

I’ve always felt that Part 1 was the stronger episode, and that hasn’t changed.

Ranking and ratings of season 1 episodes:

1x12 We Are Grounders part 1 - 10/10

1x13 We Are Grounders part 2 - 9/10

1x08 Day Trip - 9/10

1x10 I Am Become Death - 9/10

1x05 Twilight's Last Gleaming - 8.5/10

1x06 His Sister's Keeper - 8/10

1x03 Earth Kills - 8/10

1x11 The Calm - 8/10

1x04 Murphy's Law - 7/10

1x07 Contents Under Pressure - 6.5/10

1x09 Unity Day - 6/10

1x02 Earth Skills - 4.5/10

1x01 The Pilot - 4.5/10

 Season 1 overall - 7.54/10

Part 1

One of the few things I didn’t guess about this finale in advance was Ark coming down the way it did. It’s kind of funny that Kane tried to have a sacrificial redemptive death, but Jaha got there first, and had his best and most useful and most heroic moment ever… but then the show didn’t let Jaha have a redemptive death but let him live. And then he went on to make terrible mistakes and be an antagonist for at least 2 seasons, before having a morally grey (and most suited to his character) role in S4.

Every time someone tries to sacrifice themselves on The 100, they live on, and almost every time a major character has a big heroic moment, they are brought low the next season and make terrible mistakes and/or do antiheroic things. 

I like it whenever the show has a flashback of the life on the Ark or goes into the past in some other way. And it’s always nice to have another little reminder of the time when Wells used to exist for 3 episodes, which usually happens through his father’s memories or hallucinations. Here it’s Jaha watching an old video of Wells and Clarke, which helps him figure out the solution to how to bring the Ark to the ground.

And look at Jaha opening a 97 year old bottle of scotch, “The Baton” This bottle is almost a recurring character - doesn’t it also appear in the season 4 finale?

I remember that I Kane and Abby’s chemistry was so obvious in this episode, and their scenes so close and extremely friendly (what a contrast to where they started... like mother, like daughter?) that I made a comment that they seemed like they were going to start making out any moment, LOL. And I wasn’t even shipping them then, it was more like “Wait, is this going to be a thing now?” Well, I wasn’t wrong, it just took them 2 more seasons.

A few bullet points about things first mentioned in this episode: 

First appearance of Tristan, sent by Lexa, who tells Clarke “I’m the man sent to slaughter your people”. Well, at least no one can say the guy is not honest and straightforward. Also the first time we hear about the existence of “the Commander” and learn that Anya isn’t actually the leader of the Grounders. An interesting bit of trivia I’ve learned since is that the Commander was originally supposed to be a child. JRoth must be really In love with this idea, since he went back to it eventually with Madi.

First time we hear about and see the Reapers, and the scenes with them looked like something right out of a horror movie and was genuinely horrifying. Lincoln not answering Finn’s question what they are but simply saying “Pray you never find out” was, of course, a way to keep it a mystery for us a bit longer, but now we know it was really more about, pray you never get to become one, which happens with Lincoln in season 2, while Finn will unleash his inner monster in another way.

 First mention of Luna by name, though Lincoln had already talked about her people to Octavia earlier in the season. I wonder how much of her role was already planned in season 1. With all the Mount Weather mentions and other things like the acid fog, Lincoln’s drawings etc., it’s clear that the main arc of the first 2 seasons was planned since the beginning, with Grounders as secondary antagonists that the 100 mostly deal with in season 1, and the Mountain Men as the main villains, who will get focused on in season 2. But I’m not sure that this was the case with any of the season 3 arcs.

Lincoln finally explains why he is helping the 100 and that it’s not just about Octavia: “What my people are doing to your people isn’t right”. The same reason why Maya and the other rebels in MW will be helping the Delinquents in season 2. In the show where people too often justify their actions by “it was for my people”, it is great to have characters who prioritize what is right. 

And god, how good it feels to hear lines like that again. Maybe JRoth and the rest of the writers should have rewatched season 1 and remember the things that actually happened in their own show? Back when they still hadn’t gotten it into their heads that the 100 were somehow the bad guys in that scenario because they were desperately trying to survive after being forced to go to the ground (sent by the Arker leadership because the Arkers were going to die in space), and that Grounders were somehow the good guys for attacking and trying to kill them all for no reason but paranoia and prejudice?

Two big things that happen to Finn: he has a reaction to having directly  killed someone for the first time (even though it was a Reaper) and then made his big love declaration to Clarke- only to be rejected, in one of my favorite moments of season 1. I’ve always found Clarke’s reactions throughout that storyline and particularly in this scene really relatable - her feelings for him haven’t gone, but she was hurt and couldn’t trust him or go there again. “You broke my heart... I’m sorry. I can’t.” I always thought that she would never give him a chance again, and that, while the feelings were still there, she was slowly starting to move on and that, in any case, he was her past rather than her future, long before he killed a bunch of people and she had to mercy kill him. Overall, while I really didn’t like Finn/Clarke or Finn/Raven as relationships, the atypical way the C/F/R love triangle was resolved (both girls reject Finn, and become friends) was one of my favorite things about S1.

Finn’s line “I should have fought for you” always struck me as odd (that’s not exactly what I’d say was the problem: he should have been honest with her and told her he had a girlfriend, or then he should have been honest with Raven and told her the truth, he shouldn’t have been playing both of them, he should have made up his mind and been honest about it rather than waiting for Raven to dump him…), and I’m not sure what exactly he meant (fought against whom? Or did he just mean, been more decisive and not let passively wait for things to happen?) but I guess it reflects Finn’s state of mind? He was always trying to play a white knight, first to Raven on the Ark, then to Clarke. And in retrospect, this may be one of the first signs that of where he ends up in S2, when he becomes violent and obsessed with the idea that he’s going to find and save Clarke. But the show has never been fully clear on how much his mental state was PTSD due to war and fighting, and how much his increasingly unhealthy obsession with Clarke.

Speaking of saving Clarke, the fact that Bellamy was able to be very rational about the fact Clarke, Finn and Monty were missing and focus on protecting the camp rather than going on a rescue mission, as opposed to the way he acted in 3x02 when he learned Clarke was in danger and immediately got dressed as an Ice Nation warrior and went on his own behind enemy lines to rescue her, says a lot about how much Bellamy’s feelings for Clarke became stronger between the end of season 1 and beginning of season 3.

This was the episode when Bellamy definitely became one of my 2 favorite characters, with how he dealt with the Murphy situation, and showed what a leader he had become. (Which Jasper also recognized, verbally and with a big hug.) If I were to dig up my SpoilerTV post I wrote back then, you’d see a lot of very embarrassing fangirling over Bellamy. ;) 

This time I was able to focus more on Murphy’s motivations and characterization, which I didn’t think that much before.  When  Murphy is trying to taunt Bellamy - after putting a noose around his neck - saying things like “You think you’re so brave”, “You think you’re stronger than me” – I’m pretty sure that’s what Murphy thinks, deep inside. He has a deep inferiority complex. Which is exactly why he wanted revenge on Bellamy in such a way, hoping to see him afraid and brought low. He used to defer to Bellamy in the early days at the ground, so when Bellamy threw him to the wolves, then later tried to kill him in rage, exiled him and showed multiple times how little he respected him or cared for him (compared to, say, a little girl), that must have brought on a lot of resentment. But the whole “I know the truth, you’re a coward” thing would work better if it wasn’t in a situation where Bellamy was risking his life to save Jasper and actually being just as awesome as Murphy was trying to prove he wasn’t, so the whole revenge attempt was a huge, pathetic failure by Murphy. And Murphy going on about how he’s maybe now going to become the leader of the 100 after both “the princess” and “the king” die, now seems less like a villain’s threat, and more like empty bragging that he probably didn’t even believe in himself. He knows he’s not a leader type and he’s much better at making people hate him than follow him.

The speech Bellamy gives at the camp is impassioned and emotion-driven and gets the Delinquents full of passion to stay and fight – for a moment, until Clarke gives her short speech where she simply points out that they’re likely to die if they stay and convinces them to leave. This is a good example why and how the idea of Bellamy as “the Heart” and Clarke as “the Head” makes sense: it’s not that he is all emotion and can’t think rationally or that she’s emotionless – both of these things are obviously untrue – or that he’s always acting on emotion or that she’s always making her decisions rationally (there are plenty of examples of either of them doing the opposite), but it’s how they tend to approach leadership and decision-making and the arguments they used to appeal to people: his tend to be emotional, hers practical.

Part 2

 …And Clarke points that out to Bellamy when she convinces him to go with the others rather than stay on his own to fight, in one of her many pep talks to Bellamy about what a great leader he is. “You inspire them”. (She’ll tell him the same in the S4 finale.)

The Blake siblings scene was beautiful and emotional and one of my favorite scenes in season 1. But now, after that relationship got a lot more dysfunctional in the following seasons, I can’t help but notice that, while Bellamy takes back his statement from 1x06 that his life ended when Octavia was born, saying it was the opposite, Octavia never really took back her accusations that Bellamy was at fault for their mother dying and pretty much everything. (In the following seasons, Octavia will keep the tradition of always blaming Bellamy for everything ever. She does, however, tell him“I love you, big brother”.  I believe she says that two more times, in the S4 finale and the S5 finale. But in the latter, it understandably doesn’t get quite the same response.

And here we go again, Murphy is once more captured and tortured by the Grounders… how many times does Murphy get tortured or has other bad things happen to him during seasons 1-3?

Fans who like Finn more than I do have argued that he jumped in and saved Bellamy during the battle because they are comrades. But since he was earlier willing to let Bellamy stay behind and probably be killed, I think the main reason Finn did it was because Clarke was showing concern for Bellamy and upset about him potentially dying.

 My main problem with Part 2 was always the scene where Clarke has to pull the lever and close the dropship door, before Jasper incinerates everyone outside. Or rather specifically, the scene where she and Finn stare at each other for a couple of seconds during battle, with dramatic music and all, which was weird because he was pretty close by and it looked like she could have yelled at him to get inside, and he could have come inside, so I was never sure if the scene was just badly done, or if it was supposed to be deeply meaningful (Finn starting to lose it and desperate to prove himself as her hero? A reaction to her rejection? PTSD? All of that at once?) but it didn’t quite work because she looked frozen and emotional, but he was just kind of blankly staring at her… And I’m afraid I still don’t have no idea what the scene was supposed to be.

In any case, the entire thing with Clarke’s dramatic and heartbreaking choice to close to door on Finn and Bellamy to save the others should have felt more epic and had more weight, but it kind of does not. It happens quickly, and then there’s more focus on whether the Delinquent crowd will act inhumane and lynch a vastly outnumbered Anya. And, of course, there’s also the fact that I’m pretty sure no one in the audience ever thought Finn or Bellamy were actually dead. But at least the scene where Clarke goes outside and stares at two charred skeletons was good because you really felt what she must have been thinking.  

However, I love the parallel/contrast to this scene in the S5 finale, when Clarke keeps waiting for Bellamy to come inside the ship and doesn’t pull the lever to close the door (while Raven is hurrying her to do it, same as Miller was here).

The visual of the Ark coming down is beautiful - it looks like a ‘falling star’ - a callback to the earlier conversations about making a wish on a star.

Kane and Abby looking at the Earth together kinds of reminds me of Bellamy and Clarke watching the new planet in the S5 finale. (Except the former two at this point aren’t nearly as close to pull each other in an embrace.)

The ending with the Mountain Men is well done, but that was one of the things I predicted at the time: that the finale will mostly be about fighting Grounders, and then the Mountain Men will appear at the end, and they will be very technologically advanced. With so many mentions of them, it wasn’t hard to guess they had to be the S2 antagonists who appear at the very end of S1 in a cliffhanger - shows often do that. (I actually didn’t even make the Mount Weather connection, since I’m not from USA and had no idea what it was. But the mysterious Mountain Men had to be different from Grounders and Reapers, and the opposite of what you’d normally expect from people called ‘mountain men”. Which doesn’t mean it was not a good twist - it’s just hard to fully surprise fans like me who have watched so much TV .)

Timeline: I used to think season 1 lasted about a month, month and a half, but now it seems that it can’t be more than 3 weeks, at most. And even that’s a stretch.

We know for sure that episodes 1-6 lasted 10 days (and a week passed between 1x03 and 1x04), but events in episodes 1x06 to 1x09 were happening very fast, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of days, and ditto for episodes 1x10-1x13. The only possible times when more time could have passed was between 1x9 and 1x10.

Body count:

Part 1: 

1 Delinquent (Myles), wounded last episode and now murdered by Murphy as revenge for the lynching.

1 patient on the Ark that Abby wasn’t able to save.

1 Grounder killed off-screen by Lincoln

2 or 3 Reapers

1 or 2 unfortunate Grounders being eaten or about to be eaten by the Reapers.

Part 2: Lots of people.

About 300 Trikru warriors (and some of the Reapers who had been fighting them, probably) – most of them burned in the ring of fire.

Either 31 or 29 Delinquents – first a redshirt Drew, killed by a scout before the battle, then a bunch of them in battle with the Trikru (or maybe burned). This is where it gets confusing. At the start of Part 2, Bellamy feels he’s failed and says there have been 18 dead, and Clarke tries to comfort him, saying 82 are still alive. But only 16 Delinquents were killed before 1x13. So, either 1) two more died of that illness or were killed by the Grounders off-screen, or 2) he was assuming Monty and Murphy were dead or would soon be dead. And in season 3, Bellamy tells Kane “Trikru killed 37 of my friends before you even touched the ground”. Out of the 16 Delinquents who definitely died in the first 12 episodes, 6 were killed by Grounders (3 directly, 3 by bio warfare/illness). That would mean either 2 more + Drew + 29 in battle, or Drew + 31 in battle.  In any case, in season 2, 48 were captured in Mount Weather, while 6 survived outside of it (Octavia, Murphy, Finn, Monroe, Sterling, and one boy killed by Tristan in 2x01) – which would make 54, plus Bellamy and Raven.

A bunch of people died in the landing of the Ark, but there’s no info how many. In 1x07 they said there were 2,237 people on the Ark. (Which means that, before they sent the 100 to the ground and Raven took the escape pod, there were at least 2339.)  In 1x11, Kane said there were about 1,000 survivors on the Ark. But he also said 1,500 died in the shutdown of the Ark, which definitely doesn’t add up, as it would mean there were about 2,500 people before that, and that’s without the few hundred that died with Diana on the Exodus ship (which Kane may or may not counted?). Either Kane is terrible at math, or the writers got things mixed up. Anyway, let’s say that 1,000 survived, that means about 1,200 died either on Exodus or due to the shutdown on the Ark. But some of the 12 stations probably exploded before touching the ground, so a few hundred more Arkers probably died.

#the 100 #the 100 rewatch #we are grounders #the 100 1x12 #the 100 1x13 #the 100 season 1 #the 100 season 1 finale #clarke griffin #bellamy blake #finn collins #octavia blake #jasper jordan #marcus kane #thelonius jaha #abby griffin #wells jaha #raven reyes #john murphy #lincoln kom trikru #mountain men

[ettadunham]

A Buffy rewatch 3x21 Graduation Day Part 1

aka give us a kiss with a fist

Welcome to this dailyish text post series where I will rewatch an episode of Buffy and rant about it in 10-3k words. What you can expect: long run-on sentences and disjointed observations, often focused on one tiny detail about the episode. What you shouldn’t be expecting: actual reviews that make sense.

And today’s episode has a lot of everything, but I guess I’ll mainly just talk about Buffy and Faith. It’s been like 5 days since my last Fuffy rant anyway.

First of all, I wanna give a shout out to the anon namedropping the Still Pretty podcast into my inbox the other day. Congrats, I binged through the s1-s2 discussions already, and while I often don’t agree with a lot of points, it also put me into this weirdly critical headspace now. So there’s that.

But you know what, we’re gonna ignore a lot of that. There’s a lot of cool stuff in Graduation Part 1 that I like, even with some of those positively weird and questionable slices.

I mean the whole argument between Buffy and Angel is basically just reminding me that I too just want this to be done now? And you know what, here’s a hot take - Angel had no business there with Buffy on that crime scene. She didn’t want him there, she didn’t need him there, so of course she was annoyed with him. She doesn’t need to be the mature one when he’s the one adding nothing to this operation.

I also have a lot of mixed feelings about Anya and Xander at this point. The writing just went from 0 to 100 on the whole Anya likes Xander subplot and it’s weird.

Okay, over to some of the stuff I liked.

Buffy and Joyce’s scene here paints a nice picture of how far they’ve come. There’s something sweet about Joyce understanding what her daughter needs. Even if it is her staying away. (Which also somewhat foreshadows Joyce’s minimized role in the upcoming season.)

The difference between where they were at the end of s2 and s3 is also palpable if you look at the ever-present coming out metaphor.

Buffy:  Mom, I know that sometimes you wish I were different. Joyce:  Buffy, no.

Speaking of which, here’s also some delightfully out of context Bi Buffy reference for you all:

Willow (to Buffy):  You can’t do both? Xander:  Both what?

She can and she will, of course. But that’s for when I decide to re-read season 8 comics. I don’t know if there’s enough rant to cover all the nonsense in those though...

Buffy also has a lot of opinions about the Council, and that made me cheer. It’s so weird that we’re even now still treating the Council like this authoritative force, when Buffy pretty much told them to fuck off in Helpless. Now she’s just making it more official.

Wesley: The Council's orders are to concentrate on... Buffy: Orders? I don't think I'm gonna be taking any more orders.

Love that for my girl.

I guess in that context Buffy turning her back on the council isn’t necessarily about them, but about her turning her back on authority in general. Buffy saw the order and the system under which the world operates and she rejects it. She is here to carve out her own way, to truly “graduate”.

Meanwhile Faith has surrendered herself to the system and the Mayor’s authority. But there’s also nuance in that choice, thanks to the relationship the two develop along the way. Faith is following orders, but she’s also doing things her own way, and she clearly craves the direction she has thanks to the Mayor’s tutoring. There appears to be genuine affection between them, and much like between Buffy and Giles, a textual father-daughter relationship.

Faith even opens up a bit, talking about her mother and her childhood. During those moments was when I wondered about the Mayor’s treatment of her the most. He doesn’t seem to push her to talk and open up more about those experiences, and part of me wants to think that it’s because the Mayor has Ascension on his mind, and doesn’t actually have that much of a genuine care for Faith and to connect with those parts of her... On the other hand, pushing Faith to open up is a guarantee for her to shut down, and he probably knows that.

It’s... a tough line. Because I do think that the Mayor loves Faith, but it’s closer to the kind of love vampires have for each other, than truly selfless love. In my opinion, he mostly wants to mold Faith into the daughter he wishes to have in her.

Mayor: You look lovely. Perfect for the Ascension. Any boys that manage to survive will be lining up to ask you out. Faith: It just isn't me, though.

I know, Faith. The Mayor is so weirdly obsessed and heteronormative about Faith’s love life, he really is like any classically hellish parental figure.

Which brings us to Faith’s real obsession: Buffy.

I like that while we’re showing Faith seemingly relaxed about her whole position with the Mayor, we also see her murdering a punching bag, and having those half-finished sentences about her childhood. Despite everything, you still get the sense that there’s a lot of stuff going under the surface that Faith isn’t dealing with.

Having seen Five by Five also changes the entire context of the fight scene between Faith and Buffy. It of course begins with an innuendo, as all fights between the two do, but the end is what truly sets the mood and leaves me with a deep impression.

As Faith stands there at the edge of the balcony after Buffy stabs her, telling her ‘what a ride’ it was... You get the sense that this is how Faith saw it end all along. She’s been falling ever since she betrayed Buffy, and it was only ever going to end one way.

Giles tells Buffy that Faith ‘has her at a disadvantage’, because she’s willing to kill or whatever, but I don’t think that was ever true. Faith may kill people, but it’s not because she’s motivated. She’s certainly not motivated to kill Buffy.

Faith is just... going through the motions. She’s lost all her drive. Nothing seems to penetrate her heart.

Buffy on the other hand is highly motivated to save Angel. And that is the ultimate blow to Faith. Faith being in love with Buffy has been the rapidly textual subtext for the entire season, even if the Mayor of course tried to retcon it into Faith wanting Angel, or some other nonsense. But textual or subtextual, Faith’s actions were always about Buffy, one way or another.

And here Buffy is, ready to kill Faith in the hope of saving Angel’s life. That’s how little Buffy seemed to have cared about Faith in the end.

I’m not sure how much that played into Faith’s mental state, but I do believe that at this point, she was just tired. She was ready for it to end, much like in that haunting, unforgettable scene at the end of Five by Five.

And yet even then, she did one last favor for Buffy. She chose to take that last fall on her own terms.

There is an interesting question of what Buffy would’ve done if Faith didn’t take away that choice from her. When she stabs Faith, you can see the pure shock and horror on her face as it dawns on her what she’s done. Sure, she went to Faith’s place with this exact goal, but she wasn’t truly prepared to kill. And certainly not to kill Faith.

You can see in SMG’s face throughout this whole sequence, how horrified she is. Which definitely makes me think that she probably would’ve taken Faith to the hospital herself after that... but on the other hand, it’s Angel. And we’ve seen time and time again how much Buffy was willing to give up, even of herself for him. That was sort of the point of their whole relationship falling apart - the fact that they were constantly on the verge of losing themselves in each other.

So I find this a fascinating what-if scenario that I don’t know the answer to. Buffy killing Faith for Angel in that moment would’ve fundamentally changed her character. And I can’t say with certainty, that she wouldn’t have gone through with it after the shock subsided.

That’s why I love Faith for taking away that choice from Buffy. Because even if she were to die, her taking that jump meant that she would’ve died for nothing here, becoming a constant reminder and warning for Buffy about taking a life.

Killing another human being should be pointless and horrifying. That’s the lesson Faith chooses to teach Buffy in what could’ve been her final moments.

Meanwhile on Less Fucked Up Relationship Land, we have Oz and Willow “panicking”. I love them and they’re delightful, and I don’t have much else to say about that, other than that’s at least something much lighter to close on.

Sadly, I’ll probably only get to watch Part 2 about a week from now, but at least I’ll have plenty to process up until then.

#buffy rewatch 2k19 #btvs talk #btvs

[bugheadfamily]

Bughead Family Discord Member Spotlight

This week the spotlight is on Mari ( @writeraquamarinara )! Click the read more link below to get to know our member!

Spotlight by Mila, @jughead-jones | Graphic by Katie, @betty-cooper

Mari | @writeraquamarinara

Name: Mari

Age: 18

Location: Montreal, QC.

Any other languages aside from English people can contact you in?: Italian.

Favourite Riverdale characters and ships?: Betty, Jughead, Pop, Fred, Mary, Kevin, Joaquin, Bughead, Joavin, and Choni.

Favourite moments from S1 & S2?: The scene that got me hooked to the show was when Reggie questioned Jughead about killing Jason, and he replied with a snarky little “It’s called necrophilia, Reggie. Can you spell it?” Other favorite moments are pretty much any Bughead scene from S1, but especially their first kiss. I had been shipping them together since the Blue and Gold scene in 1x03, but 1x06 really hit me hard. They’re both two broken kids who find solace in each other. As someone whose mother is all too similar to Alice Cooper, hearing Jughead tell Betty that they aren’t their parents made me so emotional. I rewatched that scene on repeat when the clip came out on Youtube the next day. To this day I can’t listen to Emily Afton’s Lost without crying. I also really love the hug from 1x13 after Betty, Veronica, and Archie go to Southside High for Juggie. S2 favorite moments are also only Bughead scenes, but not all Bughead scenes, if you catch my drift.

What are your hopes for S3?: Are a coherent plotline and consistent characterization too much to ask for? Also maybe have the parents on the show (other than Archie’s) actually respect their children and treat them well, but that’s never going to happen. On a more realistic note, I’m hoping to watch some fun interactions between Josie and Kevin now that they’re going to be step-siblings.

Other fandoms you’re into?: I don’t really have an online presence in other fandoms, but I do love to geek out over Percy Jackson, That 70s Show (specifically JackiexHyde), The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and nearly all of the Marvel movies.

What are some of your favourite movies/TV?: As I mentioned: That 70s Show, The Office, Parks and Rec, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Marvel. I’m currently bingeing The Good Place and The Mindy Project. I also went to watch Crazy Rich Asians in theaters and loved it. So basically I’m trash for rom and com. Sue me. (Or don’t. I’m a broke college student who can’t afford that ish.)

Favourite books?: The Book Thief, The Color Purple, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, Pride and Prejudice, and, most of all, The Glass Castle.

Favourite bands/musicians?: Nina Simone, Alicia Keys, ABBA, Of Monsters and Men, Christina Perri, and Imagine Dragons. 

If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?: I thought a lot about this question. The obvious answer would be “one with magic, or mermaids, or superheroes”. But then I thought that I’d rather live in a world like ours, more realistic, but where women are equal to men, diversity is celebrated, people accept each other for who they are. That’s a very idealistic world, I realize, and (if my preteen love of dystopian novels has taught me anything) one that’s most definitely unattainable, but it’s still nice to think about it. If anyone knows of a fictional world like that, sign me up.

Favourite food?: Gosh, that’s a hard one. Probably my grandma’s lasagna.

Favourite season?: Fall, definitely. It’s my birthday season, and I love the colorful leaves and breezy weather and going apple-picking with my family and friends. Unfortunately, Canada’s fall doesn’t last much more than a day, so I missed out on all that this year.

Favourite plant?: Nelumbo nucifera, aka the Lotus Flower.

Favourite scent?: Aftershave? Weird, I know, but it reminds me of my childhood and my father.

Favourite colour?: Periwinkle.

Favourite animal?: Hummingbird.

Are you a night owl, an early bird, or a vampire?: Night owl, definitely.

Place you want to visit?: The Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan in Iran, and Ryoanji in Japan.

Do you have pets? If you do, tell us a little about them: I don’t have any pets that live with me currently, but I’ve got a pet back home with my parents. She’s a rescued pup from Mississippi, probably some kind of mix between a Pointer and a Labrador Retriever. Her name’s Sassy and she’s super energetic. If you had asked me this question a week ago I would’ve also said I had a cat named Puma but he was twelve and had cancer, so…yeah.

Tell us a little about yourself?: Um, I never really know what to say to that question. Like, what do you really want to know? I’m Mari (the name comes from my AO3/tumblr username, and not my real name). I was born in New Jersey, grew up in New York and Italy, now go to university in Montreal. I’m super passionate about art history, women’s rights, and politics. I hope to be a dermatologist, but honestly, who knows where life will take me. I’m the oldest of four and the first in my family to go through the American school system, so my parents have always referred to me as their “guinea pig”, and that totally hasn’t given me a weird obsession with being the perfect child, perfect student, perfect daughter. For some very obvious reasons, I relate way too much to Betty Cooper.

Fun or weird fact about you?: I fenced competitively for eight years of my life, traveling all around the US and to Europe for training and national competitions, including the Junior Olympics.

Asks for fanfic authors:

How long have you been writing?: I’ve been writing since I was little, but they were always stories with original characters. I didn’t start writing fic until I was sixteen, nearly seventeen, so it’s been a little over a year.

Which is your favourite of the fics you’ve written?: Geez, that’s a tough one. As much as I love my little one shots, I’d have to say Little Talks. It’s largely based on my own high school experience, and therefore my own way of coming to terms with the end of that chapter of my life.

Favourite fic/chapter/plot-point/character you’ve ever written?: Oof. Another tough one. Um, I’d have to say that I really love my characterization of Alice in Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. She’s a villainess, but hopefully one you love to hate.

Which was the hardest to write, and why?: Again, Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. I have a bit of a plot twist planned for the story, but I’m really not sure what kind of reception it’s going to get from readers, so I’ve had the chapter half-finished for months. I just need to get the motivation to finish it, and the courage to say “I don’t care if people hate this, or think it’s weird.” I’ll get there eventually.

How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? (examples: Do you draw inspiration from real life? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?) Do you have an process to your writing?: I’ve answered this in a tumblr ask before, but I get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Mainly from real life, because I like to observe and speculate and ask a bunch of “what if”s and go from there. So, like I mentioned, Little Talks is largely based on my life. But there are definitely some plot points in the story that are a result of me going “well, what if I had done this? Or he had done that?” Another example of a real life-inspired fic is my oneshot I <3 You, which was inspired by that instastory (Cole or Lili’s? I can’t remember) of a cake with bright orange frosting that spelled out I <3 You. I also take inspiration from other creative works, such as books or movies. One of my many upcoming fics is based on How To Train Your Dragon, and another is a crackfic based on the Suite Life. Other times, fic ideas come to me out of nowhere. I was in the lab last summer, waiting for my breast cancer tumor slides to go through antigen retrieval, when I came up with the idea for Blue Sunshine and Golden Rain. My brain works in very strange ways.

Idea that you always wanted to write?: I’ve always wanted to write a lot of fics (I have a whole list of them), but they’re in the works so I won’t spoil any more than I already have. The main fic that I don’t even have an idea for but just want to write is a heartbreakingly angsty fic. One that makes me cry while I write it. Here’s hoping it comes to me soon, because I feel like that could be a really interesting experience as a writer.

Favourite character to write?: Alice. Which is strange, because I don’t like her in the show, but there are so many different directions you could take her character that she’s always so interesting to me.

Best comment/review you’ve ever received?: Oh, well, all of them? Is that an answer? Because all comments and reviews make me super happy. But if I had to choose one then I’d say any comment from @earthlaughsinflowers, @mothermaple, @dottie-wan-kenobi, or @notanotherotherone. I kind of cheated by not picking one, exactly, but oh well.

Best and worst parts of being a writer?: The best part of being a writer is putting a story that you put a lot of your soul into and getting support and love for it. Because I only put stories out there that I’m happy to write, happy to read, but to see that they make other people happy, too? That’s an amazing feeling. The worst part is the amount of time it takes to do absolutely anything, especially when you’re not in the right headspace to write. When I’ve had the worst week ever, and I have to physically push myself to spend time that should be spent resting to write because an update needs to come out soon, it goes from being a fun hobby to being a stress-inducing chore.

Do you have any advice to offer?: I haven’t been a fic writer for a long time, so I wouldn’t say that I’m going to offer up the wisest advice, but here’s what I’ve garnered so far: Do what makes you happy. That goes for all of life, not just writing, and is often hard to follow, but here’s how I see it: If you want to write a story because it makes you happy, write it. If you want to quit your WIP to start something else because that makes you happy, do it. If you need to take a break from writing altogether because it’ll make you happier, take it. Write what you want to write, at the pace you want to write it, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

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This is the twelfth instalment of Bughead Family’s Member Spotlight series. Each week, a member’s url is selected through a randomizer and they will be featured in a spotlight post. In order to participate, please join the Bughead Discord (more information found here). Thank you.

#bughead #riverdale #bughead fanfiction #member spotlight #bughead family discord

[massmurdera]

2018 best (and some worst)

2018 was the shittiest year of my life personally and I was a trainwreck almost instantly. I was real hopeful going in, but I got my heart broken as badly as I could get (and it somehow just kept getting worse). Ugh. It’s boring to articulate, but it was a never-ending Russian nesting doll of heartbreak, disappointment, and frustration. But I made more positive changes in the last 12 months than I did in the last 12 years. So that’s something.

TV Funniest go-to show: Desus and Mero (wish they didn’t go on hiatus when they left for Showtime) Favorite shows: 1) Big Mouth 2) Atlanta 3) Killing Eve 4) Bodyguard 5) Haunting of Hill House

Other shows I enjoyed: American Vandal; Homecoming; Americans; GLOW; Better Call Saul; Succession; Cobra Kai; Kominsky Method; Corporate Meh: Barry; Sharp Objects; Who Is America?; Daredevil Favorite Comedy specials: 1) Rory Scovel 2) Bert Kreischer 3) John Mulaney

MOVIES 4 ½ stars: Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse; Sorry to Bother You 4 stars: Quiet Place; Hereditary; Mission Impossible: Fallout; Blackkklansman; Deadpool 2 3 ½ stars: To All the Boys…; Incredibles 2; Game Night; Revenge 3 stars (solid rental): Game Night; Upgrade; Revenge; Ant-Man; Hold the Dark 2 ½ stars (OK rental): Black Panther; Avengers Meh: Love Simon; Support the Girls Probably Good but bored the shit out of me: Roma; First Reformed; Eighth Grade Hated: Mandy; Ballad of Buster Scruggs 

STILL NEED TO SEE: Bad Times at El Royale; Bodied; Creed 2; Death of Stalin; Favourite; First Man; Free Solo; Green Book; Halloween; If Beale Street Could Talk; Minding the Gap; Solo; Star is Born; Vice; Widows

MUSIC Favorite Records: 1) Brian Fallon-‘Sleepwalkers’ 2) Story So Far-‘Proper Dose’

1975 has great songs but they have too much filler in their records. Damn good songs: Foxing-‘Nearer My God’; Wonder Years-‘Pyramids of Salt’; Thrice-‘Beyond the Pines’ PODCASTS Favorite Podcasts personally: -Filmdrunk Frotcast (Movies/comedy) -Dollop (history PLUS comedy) -Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast (one-man rant from the best comic alive) -Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend (comedy + conversations) -Rewatchables (Movies/comedy) -Bill Simmons (conversations) -Pardon My Take (sports + comedy) -Chapo Trap House (leftist politics + comedy) -Press Box (media) 

Intercepted’s takedown of George HW Bush is great. That show and Citations Needed has its moments. I think if you’re a historian/leftist, the best podcasts are Hardcore History or Common Sense (Dan Carlin), Citations Needed, Intercepted, Chapo Trap House, and the Dollop. Dan Carlin is the one you can enjoy if you’re on ANY political spectrum—and the Dollop is not too far behind; that’s truly the most special when it hits.

Other: My Favorite Murder; Revisionist History; Matty + Nick; Hound Tall; We’ll See You in Hell; Binge Mode: Harry Potter; Bertcast/Open Tabs; Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez

Re-listening to Walking the Room for the 3rd time; that’s my favorite podcast of all time. Late pass: ‘Embedded’ series on Trump is amazing. Doesn’t come out often but when it does? Fascinating and goes in on Trump stories that don’t get talked about. Podcasts I’d recommend: In the Dark; RFK Tapes; Slow Burn (S2 on Monica Lewinsky scandal is great)

‘In the Dark’ is by far the best. S1 in 2016 I prefer over S2; check out both.  Podcasts I’m going to check out: Crimetown: Detroit; Serial S3

Vince Mancini (Filmdrunk/Uproxx) has an annual best list on the best investigative/true crime podcasts each year that are the best lists I’ve seen. Best Dollop Episodes of the Year (must-listens on serious subjects): Donald Trump; the Resnicks: Water Monsters; George HW Bush; John McCain; Wells Fargo; Erik Prince & Blackwater 

The above subjects deal with subjects to be genuinely outraged about versus faux things to be outraged about everyday (Russia; Louis CK or what a comic said) and the way the media talks or ignores subjects completely. The way it’s done is so great (Dave reading a topic coldly while his friend interjects with commentary—and then in the end coming together with a South Park-esque take on what the fuck is happening)

Other: Feinstein and the Flag; Levittown: the White Suburb Funniest episode of the Dollop:  1908 New York to Paris Car Race (live w/ James Adomian). Hands down the funniest. Dave purposely saved a great one for the fucking great and underrated James Adomian.

I can tune in and out of some Dollop episodes, but when it goes in on a subject or has a particular guest, you know it’s going to hit.

BOOKS Favorite book: City of Thieves by David Benioff Late pass great: ‘Slaughterhouse Five’ Pretty good: ‘Devil in White City’; ‘Lexicon’ Meh: ‘Sirens of Titan’ Hated: ‘the Bell Jar’

Best twitter follows/online writers: Justin Halpern; Drew Magary; Brian Grubb

BEST EVENTS: 1) Gaslight Anthem 59 Sound 10th Anniversary 2) Boston Calling: the National, Menzingers, Queens of the Stone Age, the Killers 3) Bert Kreischer @ Wilbur: near front row 4) Bill Burr @ TD Garden 5) Pats-Titans playoff game

Biggest regret and disappointment: Moving my ‘ex’ into my friend’s house in January (with the hope that I’d be living there half the time too)—only for her to end up wanting NOTHING at all to do with me that same day after I helped her unpack out of nowhere, threaten suicide in a non-joking manner in front of her new roommates and my friend after a political argument at the end of the first night she moved in, get with someone we work with behind my back almost instantly (a bland and lame cokehead who got busted for cocaine 18 months prior and faced 7 years in jail), try to fuck my friend when I was mid-conversation with them both first time seeing her 3 months after it all ended—and for her to eventually date my friend’s roommate who my friend warned me would try and fuck her but I didn’t take seriously because I thought he wasn’t good looking, tiny, just vaped all day long, and kind of a douche. Cool. Awesome.

I mean, that’s a simplistic breakdown of it all and how I feel about it when I’m angry. It’s more complex and fucked up than that and I could write a book on it to elaborate my thoughts, good and bad. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to articulate it and I withheld that from her:  part of the reason why I moved her into my friend’s place (she didn’t know him or anybody) was because I wanted her in my life and didn’t want to lose her. Instead, it felt like I locked myself out of a party, I’m banging on the door and it’s cold outside, but nobody hears me. It’s just that feeling constantly. At the same time, it’s also very simple: she just wasn’t that into me, valued me, gave a damn, respected me, or cared. It’s NOT as angry or mean as it sounds. It just is what it is. Do NOT move the person you’re seeing into a friend’s place. If it doesn’t work out, make sure you can get a clean break. Oh, and probably do NOT date at work if you can until you know one of you is leaving (or, in my case, she leaves 10+ months after it’. I fucked both up and it’s been impossible to move on. Thankfully, she just left work 2 weeks ago and there’s less anxiety, mental work (thinking about her all the time which I still do but it’s not on maximum overdrive) and tiny heartbreaks each day. I mean, I was devastated when she told me she was leaving and there was finality. I miss her and have missed her all this time, but it’s a good thing: there was nothing I was getting out of it. But still: why did she say yes to moving into MY friend’ s place if she was just going to do a 360 heel turn, be an asshole and resentful towards me out of nowhere, never bother seeing the place I moved into/what I did with it?. Just a disaster of my own creation. I like to think in time I’ll get over it all and move on. I highly doubt I’ll ever see or talk to her again. I refuse to ever go back to my friend’s house for a variety of reasons and I had those thoughts even before the Cinco de Mayo party, but definitely after. I just don’t belong there and it hurts. And I know she’s uncomfortable too if I’m there even if she says otherwise.

Best thing personally: my brother got married, his wedding, friends, and my family. It’s cool to see my brother have his life together, be married into an awesome family, and meet a nice girl. I’ve seen my brother have his heartbreaks, but it’s nice to see him finally have peace and consistency. He’s got a really great house near where the Pats play (closer than where we’d park to games), works 4 days a week and makes bank too. 

BIGGEST CHANGES I MADE moved out to a place of my own in late January-it’s my uncle’s 3-decker, which he intends to pass on to me. So I’m saving $ by being here and it’s decent. The drawback is that it’s 3rd floor and inhospitable during the summer when it’s an oven with no windows where they should be to put an AC unit in (I just stayed at my parents: I would have toughed it out but I desperately need sleep for school). But yeah, I’m over 30 and needed a place of my own. I’d love to live in Boston, but it’s completely fucking unaffordable unless you work 2-3 jobs.

One annoying thing: my driveway gets egged EVERY day since May. We have fake cameras, but pretty sure it’s the next-door neighbor and not some punk kids on their way to school. It is enraging. Who eggs a house everyday? And it’s literally only my car or the lady next to me, not even close to the street. I keep on looking at the trajectory of the eggs and it’s fucking ridiculous. Luckily, because of school (and because I was away during the summer), the egging doesn’t happen until after 8-10 AM.

I’m 10 minutes from my parent’s place (halfway to my workplace and gym as a cut-off place), 5 minutes from the school I attend, and centrally located to things I want to be (Boston, my brother, Cape Cod, possible job changes or to where I intend to move if I can)… went to school to be an electrician-In school 715 to 1245 Monday-Friday. Pain in the ass schedule and tiring, but a big change. I suck at being handy. Most people are sons of people in the trade or went to trade school. Then there’s me: never picked up a drill or a hammer. But I’m working on it. 

I mean, the job IS risky (it’s not an office job) and any job outside of going back to school for a master’s or doctorate to get ahead (I fucking tried!) requires backbreaking manual work that breaks you down in most cases (construction, plumbing and smelling bad to even fixing cars where I hear that breaks your body down). Being an electrician seemed like the least of them all unless you want to be a linesman stuck outside no matter the weather for National Grid or down in manholes—because they pay REALLY well (most people in class actually want those jobs without reservations). I’m fine with being paid pretty well while enjoying myself. I’ll stay away from something monotonous like solar panels or being on a roof all day though.

Jiu-Jitsu-did this for 3 months and loved it. Had to take a break because I can only do weekends and it’s expensive. And I’m too exhausted for 9 AM class come Saturday. After a 6 AM to 12AM schedule M-F, I just completely fucking crash come Saturday. I fully intend on going back and doing yoga too when I finish school in July. 

Most people start doing jiu-jitsu because of Joe Rogan. My answer got a laugh. ‘Yeah, I wanted to try something new. Also, I watched John Wick about a 100 times.’

Therapy-post ‘break-up’ I realized I needed help. I spent a month in February not being able to fall asleep (maybe 24 hours sleep in 3 weeks) before I finally got meds. About a million waking nightmares (holy shit that’s a thing). Constantly crying, particularly on the weekends without her, separation anxiety and just anxiety that did not go away at all: a constant weight. We had a Jim-and-Pam relationship at work, even when it was over—but once she started dating my friend’s roommate, she distanced herself more than ever and it was just fake as fuck. I was frustrated with not finding a job to not passing a test that I studied my ass for 3+ months for that would allow me to leave my job AND the girl. They threw in shit that was not on the study guide at all in the test. Blah. I punched a hole through my bedroom wall (like they do in the movies) and fucked up my hand a bit. 

But yeah, I’m working on my confidence, following through with my goals, challenging myself, making adjustments, facing fears, getting over my anxiety, relationships. I’m proud of how, even without therapy, I handled the girl who was cold and distant: I was ALWAYS warm and welcoming, had a good attitude about it with her. It wasn’t a point of pride to be that way; I just was. If I was around her, the hurt just kind of all faded, however briefly. In the back of my head I wanted to light her the fuck up for how she was acting or NOT acting, but I just didn’t. But it’s hard. I am depressed all the time, but not nearly as overwhelming as I was. I’m really lonesome—and I want to reach out, but I don’t know to who a lot of the time. I feel left out and it’s hard to maintain relationships, but I am trying. It’s hard at 32 but people fade away. You think you’re wiser and more mature that it won’t happen, but it does. It’s just harder to make friends, I guess. I ruminate all the time and think too much. I’m trying to be mindful and in the moment. But I keep on thinking about all the things I’m NOT doing or the things I’m waiting for to happen. But there’s always going to be that. I am doing a LOT and the changes aren’t coming all at once. I like my therapist (I had one when I was in 5th grade and again when I was 19: I didn’t like them: finding a therapist that fits you is the biggest thing)

I realized a lot of the problems I had were patterns even going back to the heartbreak I felt at 18-20 when I was the worst mess I ever was. It wasn’t the girl who broke my heart, but it was me. I should have been better and stronger far before I met her. I wasn’t really living I don’t think. In some ways, I gave up and was sleepwalking through things. But everything I thought I was past just bubbled to the surface. And I had to get it right, something needed to change, and I needed help.

I withheld my problems from everybody because I didn’t want to be a burden. I especially did NOT want to be depressing but I think I became a burden for the girl who broke my heart. She had nothing to give and she was upset at me for talking to her at work and being cheerful, telling stories, or anything. Secretly, I was a mess and it was painful. In a way, I was denying myself and that made it worse.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think I’m that big of a mess. I might be lonely, but I got a good head, attitude, and people generally like me. I make people laugh easily and without trying. I got a lot going for me and I got support.

Tattoos -got the lighthouse tattoo I always wanted since I was 18. I didn’t believe a tattoo artist could carry out my idea. Liked the tattoo artist so much that I stretched it out into a full sleeve. I want to do more and have some ideas. We’ll see.

Other-new car; collecting board games; got tour posters and Pats memorabilia framed WORST POLITICAL: the chaos that comes with Trump-Well, that hasn’t changed. I’ll hate the GOP/Republicans and that goes without saying. I have some small hope with people like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, but I don’t have any faith in the Democratic party at fucking all: they will rather work with Republicans than work with people who actually want to make an actual change. You kind of just realize how shitty a party they and Obama were and how they are bought/paid for and resistant to any meaningful change. We are fucked.

LOOK AHEAD TO 2019: -finishing school in July and starting new career as electrician -cousin’s wedding and going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party (I’m more psyched for the awesome house we are staying in than Vegas itself) -Pats playoff run and possible end of Brady-Gronk: I’m not hopeful, but I’m going to enjoy my favorite Boston athletes of my lifetime. Couldn’t ask for anything more from them. I just wish Bill Belichick did a better job as a GM and not fucking up nearly every draft since 2006 besides 2010 and 2012. They’ve won 5, but feels like Belichick cost the Pats 3-5 more minimum. Every year you have Tom Brady, you’re in the AFC Championship or Super Bowl. Belichick and Patricia mailed in the Eagles Super Bowl on defense. WTF was that? -doing jiu-jitsu, yoga, taking up swimming, continue following through on my gym program: my goal is to delay having a bad back as long as possible. I’m in the best shape of my life by far, so that’s good. I want to cut some of my gut weight out though: when I bend down to put on my work boots, I feel it. -more tattoos? -dating again (I am struggling so BADLY with online dating and need to work on having better pics: I can’t get a single match/date) -looking at buying a condo or home. I’ve got about $100K saved up and just slowly collecting things in my apartment for the big transition. Still would like to see where I end up working. Ideally, I’d love to have a lake house somewhere decent and centralized.

BOOKS: -Don Winslow wrapping up cartel/border trilogy -new Gillian Flynn?!? -Marlon James’ African Game of Thrones trilogy begins -Stephen King

TV 1a) Desus and Mero returns 1b) Game of Thrones final season 2) Veep final season 3) Lovecraft Country 4) Watchmen 5) Stranger Things 6) Good Omens 7) Devs 8) Fosse/Verdon

NEW: City on a Hill; Deadwood movie; Star Wars; Veronica Mars

MUSIC -Boston Callling -new: 1975, Bruce Springsteen

MOVIES: 1) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2) John Wick III 3) Us Toy Story IV 4) Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw OTHER: Avengers; Captain Marvel; Glass; It 2; Joker; Lego Movie 2; Spiderman; Star Wars; Under the Silver Lake; Where’d You Go Bernadette; Zombieland 2

[klappertart]

my anime journey

I’m so bored lol so enjoy this weird essay

I started watching anime for real in 2014, last year of my highschool. I used to hate anime with burning passion in my elementary and middle school until my mother (lol) showed me “My Neighbor Totoro”. So I thought, Japanese animation isn’t only about weeb sh*t and loser, there are also good animes out there. I went hardcore Ghibli fan in 2012, but still hate other animes. In the same year I played Japanese RPG horror Ib and really love it that I finally tolerate my ‘anime hating’.

Here’s some titles that leave most impressions in me:

1. Another

This grosteque anime is my first anime series I watched by streaming, in 2013, I just put this here to mark this is my first anime lol. I still don’t like most anime when I watch this and I simply watch because of my interest in horror stuff. Tbh this anime didn’t really leave impression on me. Uh, except umbrella.

2. Shingeki no Kyojin

Everybody watched this. The boys in my class watched this, we put this on the projector in class. Ofc finally I watch the entire anime in 2014 and traumatized (even when I say I like horror), I can’t stand too much gore and dying people lol. I even read the manga, until SNK s3 takes place and maybe some more. SNK is the first anime that REALLY leaves impressions in me and I went crazy for some months because of that. SNK is great, it has no oversexualized characters or pantyshots but the gore part and edginess is too much for me to handle. I’m not going to rewatch it, or watch the new seasons..I’ve had enough.

The anime is 8,5/10 for me (I can’t stand too much blood and dying) and the fandom is 10/10 especially for memes. This is once-in-lifetime experience.

3. Tokyo Ghoul

This is what I watch after I binge watching SNK and tbh it’s certaintly not a good option lol. But since everybody in tumblr throwing this at me so I guess I’ll give it a shot and here’s my opinion: Kaneki is dumb and I’m tired of watching people being eaten. Also, Hide is bae.

4. Sword Art Online

Since I watched anime in 2014 and I watched them from crunchyroll bruh. I watched anime legally! I was randomly scrolling that site and found “sword art online season 2″ and decided to give it a shot... to refresh my mind from people being eaten. My conclusion: Sinon is my new waifu! I love her! And so, I watched SAO s1 after that.

I don’t know about this anime bad reputation back then, but seriously personally (maybe bcs I watch the s2 first) the story isn’t that bad. I see why people detest it though, the ALO arc is total sh*t. This is my first time I found anime songs I really like and discovered Yuki Kajiura and abec. I read the entire LN. I love Eugeo. And finally I take part in tumblr anime community by making SAO gifsets.

Although I stopped following SAO in the end, since what happened to Eugeo.. hahah. So SAO: the anime pretty much 7,5/10 for me. The fandom is 8/10 ish.

5. Noragami

Another anime aside “Tokyo Ghoul” that I watched because of tumblr and guess what... I LOVE IT!! I watch it in early 2016, and I can say Noragami is my most rewatched anime. I can even say which episodes are my favorite. It’s awesome, and I really, really love the main trio thanks to the first ending (which is why I put Hiyori running in the header). They have comedy, drama, edginess, and WHOLESOME FLUFF at the same time I’m really living for that.

I stopped hyping about it because that’s the same year I entered university that’s hella hectic. I probably forgot about this for a while (I think cuz of another anime I'll mention later), but the characters are always remain in my heart... then suddenly I read the manga in last February and went wHAT THE F***. I guess there’s no escape now. Downside of this anime/manga: pantyshots so it’s 9/10 for me. The fandom itself is the one of most solid and supporting I ever discovered so 10/10.

6. Fate Series

Welcome to the most hyped fandom I’m ever into. One of the biggest regret of my life is I watched Fate/Zero first before Fate/Stay Night.

To anyone who want to start watch Fate Series: START WITH FATE/STAY NIGHT THEN FATE/ZERO!!!

The main story of F/SN is epic and kind of edgy but then I realized that ‘edginess’ is fading away because of a thing called fate/grand order with the meme supplies. Note that I don’t aware about existence of FGO before 2017.

I watched Fate/Zero in late 2016 after my first semester in uni ended andddd THE FEELS. THE FEELS. I still can’t recover to this very day. Fate/Zero is extremely edgy on par with SNK with no comedic aspect and unnecessary fanservices at all but I still like it especially the historical setting since I’m a historical nerd. Thank God Type Moon is kind of generous, even when F/GO kinda ruined the main plot’s message, it still has really good main story and we got anime and manga and some others!!

Downside about having this much of source material and fanbase is the ‘tumblr community’ became isn’t that strong, but only filled mostly by memes. Not that I’m complaining tho, but the fanmade stuff didn’t worth that much if you have so many official things, right. And the tagging is complicated. Also since FSN emerged from H VN expect some horny fans so I rate this entire fandom 8/10. Fate/Zero alone is 10/10, Fate/Stay Night UBW is 8,5/10. F/GO is.. well.

That’s all. Actually I watched a lot of anime after watch SAO (so people saying “sao is my first anime!!1!” stuff is pretty much right?) but they don’t really leave impressions. I watched KnY but I’m not that impressed like I did with those titles so yeah, last anime that makes my heart racing is Fate.

#anime #random

[serpentinred]

blackmantagirl mentioned you in a post “@serpentinred LOL! Same here. Most of the time, I follow new people...”

@ serpentinred LOL! Same here. Most…

@blackmantagirl Well, then, that’s good. At least we can gang up on anyone who dares to call us anything but young and beautiful. ;)

No, it wasn’t Jump! *goes to search on the Internet for the comic book name* It MIGHT have been Nakayoshi. I don’t quite remember it, to be honest, although I’m certain that it was translated version of it (I think they imported it from Hong Kong at that time, since I got it in Chinatown, Manhattan). I'm checking it up, and it still might be Nakayoshi, since I think I saw Cardcaptor Sakura being published in the same book. I didn’t read it but remember my second older sister liking one of the other mangas being published in there, and I THINK it was Cardcaptor. I think there was also a manga of a female Robin Hood-ish in there as well. Anyhow ... too many years ago. LOL!

I haven’t rewatched Super/Stars as much as Classics/R/S, so I’m not really certain about Chibs’ birthday. 

Also, after Luna-P went over to the dark side and turned into that drill-umbrella. Like, sure, some people might argue that it’s because of the black crystal, but I really don’t think so. Chibs was exposed to that crystal, not Luna-P. Luna-P just changed itself to be with Chibs. Knowing kids, when they are bullied to the extent that the franchise wanted us to believe Chibs was, they’re going to retaliate pretty harshly without thinking of the consequences unless it was in retrospect. Heck, I know of a child who drew blood (by scratching) who only knew remorse after they were confronted by someone they liked, not when they’d first done it. Well, actually, it was only that case - the kid scratched more than one person already, so ...

Kids (well, humans in general, to be honest) can be very cruel in the right (or is it wrong?) situations.

Anyhow, Chibs in the 90′s anime gave me no indication that she would hold back in dishing out pain towards the people that bullied her that much, tbh.

ROTFLMAO! Exactly! I recall thinking “How the hell didn’t they know she was the Queen’s child when she has the freaking moon symbol on her forehead whenever she had the temper tantrum?” But I tend to ignore plot holes when the rest of the story is entertaining, so I was willing to let it slide. Didn’t stop me from disliking Chibs though. XDDD

Now you’re making me imagine the Senshi running all over CT trying to pacify the worried citizens - “No, we’re not under attack ... No, it’s just the Princess getting hungry ... NO, SHE HADN’T BEEN POSSESSED BY A YOUMA."

In retrospect, no wonder nobody knew that the Black Moon clan was going to attack CT in the 30th century. Any signs were brushed under “another Princess anomaly” until it was too late. XDDD

Well, ignoring SenShi (or in general, Shitennou) fan theories of the Shitennou being brought back to life to have extra guards for Mamoru, they had at least 4 Sailor Senshi protecting the Queen and the King. So ... um ... shouldn’t at least one of them be, like, protecting the Princess, too? I mean, she is the next in line to the throne. Sure, CT is supposed to be a utopia, but, erm ... did you forget that you happened to banish people to Nemesis? And besides, if it WERE a complete utopia, there shouldn’t be any needs of guards for the Queen and King. So, why weren’t the Senshi helping Chibiusa control her powers anyway?

Maybe they were going for “Chibs had the power because she absorbed the Silver Crystal”, yeah, no, not buying it because how did the Black Moon clan knew that it was Chibs shining the beacon?

Yeah, Manga!Chibs had more basis for being insecure, and it made sense for her to question if she were the Queen’s kid because if Sailor Moon was so powerful, and Neo-queen Serenity could wield the Silver Crystal, what was she, Chibs, doing? Why didn’t she have any powers?

Agreed with what you said about the difference between two different Black Lady. 

Well, I think 90′s Usagi also gets distracted rather easily. She’ll set herself for a goal to do better and then the next second she’s like “Oh, video games! Manga!” whereas Manga!Usagi doesn’t bother setting a goal for schoolwork. At least, I don’t remember her doing this in the manga. 

Like I’ve said, binge watching Crystal these couple of days, I can say with confidence that you can see that Usagi pretty much matured from Season 1 to Season 3. 

Anyhow, I agree that there’s a way to keep immaturity and maturity at a balance, which wasn’t accomplished in Classics, unfortunately.

Agreed about the running around bit in Season 3. Well, to be honest, it’s a bit jarring to go from the elegant and graceful artwork of S1 and S2 and then to S3. Not that S3 isn’t pretty, but imho, it lacks the elegance of S1 and S2. So when the running around bit came around, I guess I was already a bit ... numb? Anyhow ...

Yeah, I know a lot of people didn’t like it because it felt too convenient with everyone pairing off. I didn’t mind it much because it gave me plenty of things to play with. LOL! I’m that strange kid in the back of the room that has to make pairs with everything (not humans of course, but with things, yeah ...).

No, I get what you mean about some of the personality. I think Jadeite’s boyish laid-back attitude came from PGSM where they had a scene in which Jadeite was jumping around in the back. But I never really got that feel from Jadeite. To me, he was serious, rash at some points. He was probably a bit more relaxed when he was with his Shitennou brothers and Endymion (and with Rei, if we’re going with SenShi fanfics). Sure, he might troll people every once in a while because being with the rest of the Shitennou has to rub off on him after a while. So basically, I see him more as an even more serious, more rash, and more sarcastic version of Ami. 

Oh, Nephrite is definitely the Casanova type with a love for being over-dramatic in everything he does. Seriously, you’re from the Dark Kingdom and the leader of youma, what are you doing riding around town in a freaking red sports car and having a mansion in the middle of some spooky forest? Are you seriously trying to tell me that you can’t look at stars elsewhere? LOL! 

Zoisite is a whole other can of worms, imho. I don’t get when people make him introverted. To me, he’s the refined version of Nephrite? Like ... he’s dramatic but more in the peacock way while Nephrite is more the Lion King way, I guess. LOL!

No, I get what you mean. Though I admit that I’m a fangirl of the traditional pairings, I do see why mixing things up will be fun. :)

I still think that it’s because they were trying to stuff everything into 13 Acts. I agree with what you said about the reveal. Like perhaps let the Senshi somewhat feel something after they’d defeated the Shitennou? Like even if they’d wanted something stupid dramatic like having Metallia blast the Shitennou, they could’ve done something along the lines of:

[Mercury freezes Zoisite, harming him significantly. However, before she could proceed to permanently dust him, a voice resounded in her ears, that sounded suspiciously like Zoisite, but with a lot less malice and with more friendliness, and even endearment, if the production team wanted it to go that way.

That pause proved to enough time for Zoisite to break free of his confines and escape back to the Dark Kingdom.]

Something similar for the rest of the girls and then the girls discuss this with Venus, who then reveal that yes, they had relationships before, but she didn’t want to tell them in case it got in the way. So the girls know that the Shitennou were good people before getting brainwashed. Then the Metallia scene and they mourn that good people were killed, rather than for relationships that could never be.

Well, it broke my running record of shipping pairings that are never canon, so there’s that. My friend joked to me that it must be some kind of phenomenon that I actually liked a pairing that became canon. LOL!

(Oh, the musicals are great. I still need to go through all of them, but nearly every one I’d watched was immensely entertaining.)

ROTFLMAO! Oh no. Now you’re going to create a monster. As if this reply isn’t already long enough without me complaining about the break-up arc. ;)

Anyhow, let’s see ...

For one thing, Mamoru was stupid in there.

There is absolutely no other way around it or to say it kindly. Like yeah, a voice that you don’t know (or is vaguely familiar with) tells you that if you don’t break up with Usagi, she’s going to die.

Let’s look at the statistics here, shall we? Starting from the Silver Millennium, it was YOU, Mamoru Chiba, who’d died first. Okay, fine, 90′s anime, you died together, but still only evens the score to Mamoru: 1, Usagi: 1. Then we go to the Dark Kingdom era where you got yourself fatally injured which then got you brainwashed. Mamoru: 2, Usagi: 1. During Alan and Ann’s period, you forget about Usagi, while she had a full set of powers, and you had to become schizophrenic to save her. Remind me if I’m wrong, but you could’ve easily died near the Doom Tree if Ann wasn’t fond of you. So, I’ll be nice Mamoru: 2 1/2, Usagi: 1.

Hell, with those statistics, I don’t know, maybe YOU’RE the one who should be worried about dying, instead of worrying about Usagi dying? It’s pretty much established that though she’s klutzy at times, she’s not the damsel in distress here. More often than not, it’s YOU, Mamoru Chiba, who’s the damsel in distress.

Let’s move on the the scenes - not the artwork, of course. Some of the angsty parts were well-drawn. Seriously, I love a regency romance as much Ami-chan, and I’m guilty of shipping crack pairing that are very controversial and in which there’s nothing redeemable about one of the parties in said pairing.

However with Sailor Moon, you want me to believe that she’s the strongest warrior alive and then you made her become Twilight!Bella. Sure, Bella came after her, but still. What’s up with Usagi nearly wanting her life to end because Mamoru dumped her?

Seriously, I don’t need my female heroines to super heroes. I belong to the HP fandom, and while I do believe Hermione is strong, I click on the X button out of the fic whenever someone makes her stronger than Voldemort, shit rainbows, and barges into Death Eater meetings in order to ruin their plans. However, with Usagi in the break-up arc ...

Seriously, I know that she’s heartbroken, so of course, she’s under depression. My problem is that she doesn’t walk OUT of it before she knows she has a chance with Mamoru again. Without even knowing why he was breaking up with her in the first place.

I know that there are women out there who becomes completely AWOL when they go through heartbreak, but imho, this is not a good message to send out to young girls. It’s the same old trope of “If you hang on long enough, you’ll have him back again” and “If he broke up with you, there must be something wrong, not because he’s out of love with you. Just wait for him to come around and he’ll love you again because it’s TRUUUU WUV!!!” 

While it’s not explicitly said like that, the subliminal messages being sent out with that arc makes me frown.

As a disclaimer, I have to say that I adore the Usagi/Mamoru relationship in manga (and of course, now, in Crystal as well), but in Classics, I really, really wanted Usagi to just dump him. Seriously. I wanted her to go out with someone else because he was such a douche to her. Sure, we knew he did it for a reason, but Usagi doesn’t know this. Without the context, I really wanted to be Makoto so I can beat the crap out of Mamoru. 

Tanya already made wonderful posts as to why the Senshi were horrible friends in other posts, so I won’t repeat it here. I’ll just say I completely agree with her points. 

During that break-up arc, it made me wonder why the Senshi were friends with Usagi anyway. Actually, it would probably be more accurate to say: Why was Usagi friends with them anyway? I would’ve stayed away from them if they kept telling me “It’s because of ______, that’s why Mamoru doesn’t want you anymore.” Hell, if I were one of the Senshi, I would’ve either told her to get over it, gave her a makeover, go party, and hook up with some new guys or grab a bunch of ice cream, find some movies, and cry over those tubs of ice cream with her, whichever way she wanted. It’s shitty of them to put her down when she’s going through break-up. 

Hell, it would’ve made more sense for BERYL to be doing that to Usagi, but not the girls. Or maybe they’d gotten possessed by Beryl after that final showdown between Metallia!Beryl and Usagi. After all, we only knew that Beryl got enveloped by the pink light. Maybe some residue of Beryl got incorporated into the girls. :P

And I mentioned it before, but I’ll mention it again, I really, really hated when Usagi was all Twilight: New Moon!Bella-ish in the break-up arc. I mean, sure, I know they’d wanted it as a way for Usagi and Mamoru to make up, but ugh. UGGGGGGH. I’m pretty certain the break-up arc was also responsible for me rearranging my list of fave Senshi, but anyhow ...

Okay, don’t know if I’d missed anything, but if I did, I’ll probably come back and mention it, but ... yeah ... those are some of the reasons why I hated the break up arc.

Oh, I’ve been interested in villains ever since who-knows-when, although the interest itself didn’t make itself clear until I was a bit older. But yeah, I don’t really like the cardboard cutouts of villains and antagonists either. Also, I prefer them to be intelligent. Give me villains with the minds of Albert Einstein and the elegance of royalty. XDD Of course, I wouldn’t say no if they were also pretty boys, but that’s just the additional plus points at the bottom at the resume that might or might not be reviewed.

It’s really no wonder why Zoisite is my favorite Shitennou, really, regardless of whether he’s paired with Kunzite, Mercury, or whatever. He’s just so evilly delightful. (Yeah, I also see him as being a major troll with a vengeful attitude even if he returns to Mamoru’s side.)

PGSM did well with the character development, much better than most, if not all, of the different versions. This reminds me that I should go back and rewatch PGSM one of these days.

ROTFLMAO! I don’t know why, but I giggled when I read this part: “Anime wise, I didn’t get why they just didn’t take their ships and go to a different star system that has habitable planets using time travel. Or going to a distant future. Like..guys.. for real.” 

Yes, I totally agree with your assessment of the Black Moon clan, but yeah, I liked the Dead Moon Circus more than the Black Moon clan. I recall Nehellenia having different backgrounds in the anime and the manga, but nonetheless, both of them were interesting and intriguing.

LOL! Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of redemption either. I mean, if you do it every once in a while, it’s fine. But except for the Big Bads, you get nearly every mini-boss having some sob story about why they’d turned bad and that just gets annoying. 

ROTFLMAO! Same here. Well, it’s not just the Sailor Moon fandom having that problem, unfortunately. So I find myself disconnecting from a lot of general fandom and just hanging around with people with similar tastes. Though I suppose that might get me attacked as well. LOL!

#blackmantagirl

[laufire]

Shadowhunters for the in depth fandom questions meme

Send me a show/fandom and ill answer: Top 5 favourite characters:Isabelle, Raphael, Maia, Magnus and Alec.Other characters you like: Camille, Meliorn, Maryse, Jonathan, Madzie, Valentine, the Seelie Queen, Jace… and more, but those are at the top.Least favourite characters: I don’t get the hype with Clary and I never cared for Jocelyn.Otps: Isabelle/Raphael (WHAT A SHOCKER), Camille/Magnus, Isabelle/Meliorn/Raphael, Maryse/Valentine, Jace/Maia, Alec/Jace.Notps: Alec/Magnus (also a shocker), Clary/Izzy, Clary/Jace.Favourite friendships: Meliorn & Raphael (that I ship them too is irrelevant, that happens to me with the best friendships lol), Alec & Madzie, Catarina & Magnus (we got so little, but I still loved it), and the possibility of Alec & Maia.Favourite family: the Lightwoods are literally the only family ACROSS FANDOMS that has a tag in my blog so.Favourite episodes: 207-11, 213, 214, 216, 218.Favourite season/book/movie: season two. I still can’t rewatch one single episode from s1 lol. And even if there are more eps of 2b than 2a up there, overall I prefer 2a, simply because of Izzy’s addiction arc (216 is there for Alec and 218 for Maia and Magnus and the visuals, but Izzy’s plot after 214 is… yeah).Favourite quotes: the “at the brink of war” line (you smooth talker Raphael), Maia’s “this is what love got me” scene, the “I spit in one of them” combo.Best musical moment: I’m still surprised at how much I liked Simon’s song in 213. Really NOT how I expected him to sound after that “Forever Young” cover in s1.Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: I don’t think I’ve had many emotional reactions that could top when Raphael came out as ace in 210 tbh.When it really disappointed you: when it dropped Rizzy after 214 or when Magnus forgave Alec so easily in 220.Saddest moment: Izzy & Raphael 214 rejection scene.Most well done character death: I did appreciate how Jace’s temporary murder was staged (without a Hero Fight and all).Favourite guest star: Madzie’s actress needs to come back. Same with the Seelie Queen kid actress.Favourite cast member: I’ve loved Alan Van Sprang since his Reign days, so.Character you wish was still alive: ……. Valentine. Not really, because I’m curious about how the show will look like now that he’s gone, but I wanted Valentine/Lightwoods interaction.One thing you hope really happens: I just want more Rizzy. I know I’m repeating myself but well. I do want it. Most shocking twist: well, I did not expect the shift in the show’s structure the new writing team caused (with Alec and Jace, with Izzy’s plot), but I do welcome it.When did you start watching/reading?: I was kinda strong-armed into binge-watching S1 right before S2 started and I’ve been at day since.Best animal/creature: I never got out of my vampire phase. I love the seelies too.Favourite location: Raphael’s place, or the Hunter’s Moon (totally a place I’d hang out in).Trope you wish they would stop using: I’d be fine if the show suddenly forgot Clary and Jace’s extra angelic powers tbh.One thing this show/book/film does better than others: well, the emotional hold this show has over me is off the charts tbh. I can’t stop ranting about it and making edits for it, and not only it’s made me write again (AND wanting others to see my writing) but it’s also given me energy to write for other fandoms and even original stories I had abandoned so. Kudos, writers.Funniest moments: Jace tends to provide some fun for me (with his banter with Maia or Magnus, with his scenes with Simon).Couple you would like to see: to not repeat myself too much- I’d like Aldertree to come back and hook up with Alec, lol. Being realistic, I’m looking forward to Luke/Maryse.Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: I can never think of anything for this one. But the casting I’m looking forward to the most right now is Jordan’s. Favourite outfit: Isabelle’s 208 black dress.Favourite item: Isabelle’s whip. Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: nope (yet).What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: I wouldn’t mind hanging out with Maia or Alec, as long as I could stay away from the supernatural war bullshit.Most boring plotline: the Clary/Jace/Simon love triangle, especially in 214. That was the SEELIE COURT, I was supposed to be FASCINATED by it, and YET.Most laughably bad moment: I still cringe remembering the scene where Clary and Jace where questioning Hodge and Clary was all “oh noooo, we shouldn’t, I don’t wanna hurt him!!”… with an incredible fake voice and while doing NOTHING about it. Or Clary’s punch to Camille. Or the 214 Cl*zzy scene. Basically every Clary moment that makes me have Elena Gilbert flashbacks (except at least I never considered Elena to be dull). Best flashback/flashforward if any: both the 203 & 218 flashbacks were really well done, but I’d choose 203 in terms of their emotional impact on me.Most layered character: I’d say Jace and Alec are more or less tied right now, but s3 could change that.Most one-dimensional character: Raj.Scariest moment: well, I was scared for Magnus in 212.Grossest moment: can’t think of any right now.Best looking male: Raphael.Best looking female: Isabelle.Who you’re crushing on (if any): Maia. Favourite cast moment: this cast has a lot of great moments, but the interview where Daddario and Wainwright discuss vampire/werewolf sex is UP THERE LOL.Favourite transportation: Raphael’s car (I don’t care if we haven’t seen it properly, I like it).Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): the first Rizzy blood-sharing scene is otherworldly. Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: I’m pretty lenient with this stuff (and that’s when I even notice it).Best promo: just based on my reaction, no promo has had the effect the 219 Rizzy sneak peek did lol.At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: 208. I was liking s2 more than s1, but before that I was just watching it with someone else and that’s it. 208 gave me an OTP I shipped in a super OTT way, cementing my love for both characters on it and kinda… coloring the rest of the show? Like, falling so hard for Rizzy made me care MORE about the stuff of the show I merely liked up till that point.

#equusgirl #shadowhunters #my thoughts #talking to the void #replies #and jic #anti malec #anti clizzy #anti clace #anti clary fray #sh thoughts