#and it might be because 9 is so clearly Done and he’s got one season that I didn’t have a chance to get as attached

[healingexpressions]

Oof... I have to say that every single storyline in that episode was unsatisfying imo

Bobby waking up 30 mins into the episode and everyone just lightheartedly moving on?

Buck and Christopher didn't hug goodbye and Buck and Eddie also didn't hug?? This episode's Buckley-Diaz scenes were just kinda meh aside from Eddie telling Christopher goodbye (pls Christopher come back next season wahhh) and I liked seeing Eddie's parents be more supportive

Bucktommy scene was cute but there continues to be no chemistry between them so what's the point???

Madney taking in Mara in a truly flabbergasting series of events???? There's no way they'd be approved as a kinship home for Mara, and there is no possible way on this earth they would be licensed as foster caregivers that quickly. Also, if Ortiz's interference removed Mara from Henren, why would she not continue to interfere with Mara being placed with Madney? (As if such a person would even have influence in this situation in the first place.) I mean, I like that the outlook is positive now, so yay? This one might just be me because I work in foster care and I just know how things work, but it is so grating. Oh, also, there is no way Hen would be able to just march into the group home and see Mara. No. Way. A fabricated tale that doesn't exist. I know, I know, I know, it's tv. But they could have done a modicum of research :')

I thought we were supposed to get some kind of cliffhanger????? I mean, I guess?? I'm not feeling a lot of suspense lmao. Gerrard will be captain while Bobby figures out how to take the 118 back, there will be drama until suddenly it'll all be better again.

And lastly, Family Feud theory is bones </3 But if it turns out eventually that Eddie is queer, we will all know that Family Feud was always on our side lmao

Okay, I guess the one satisfying part was that Amir's character and intentions were finally made clear... he was so clearly innocent, just hurt. I appreciated his role in this season and the actor KILLED it.

Dang I'm just frustrated with this season's writing overall. Bi Buck is wonderful, but I can't say I enjoyed a lot else, but it seems like I'm in the minority idk! I understand it was only 10 eps though and I'm still glad we got the season. I'm a Buddie shipper btw, but if it doesn't go canon, I'll live. However... it seems almost like the writers themselves haven't even decided, and um... they need to decide and then they need to commit to what they decide. I've been saying that for a loooong time. Keeping it THIS open-ended and hinting around is a disservice to everyone at this point, I think. I just think they're scared to make a choice, honestly.

I'm relieved to hopefully not be thinking about 9-1-1 anymore for a few months, but I have to find a new lil hyperfixation for a while. Suggestions? Lmao and does anyone wanna talk about our feelings? 🥲

#911 spoilers #911 abc #911 #my posts #um what #buddie

[exopelagic]

dr who is a strange show

#so I finished 13’s run like two weeks ago? and I’m about to finish 9 #and it’s just kinda interesting how like simultaneously continuous and disjointed it is #10 was the doctor I’d seen most of before I started watching it myself so that was who I knew the doctor to Be #but now I’ve watched 13 and. she’s kinda It #and having watched 9 he definitely feels like an early incarnation which is interesting I think bc 13 is just so tired of everything. 9 isnt #like he isn’t NOT tired but he’s not hit 13 breaking point #also like. watching 9 has been fun bc it’s constantly like ohhhh so THATS where they were getting that from #stuff that like I’d seen in 13 that I didn’t remember from 10 but no she didn’t make it up that’s a callback #I don’t have particularly coherent thoughts if you were wondering just this like. swirling mess of how these people are the same person #it’s also just rlly strange to me that we’re not gonna get more 13 now like that’s It her run ended #and it might be because 9 is so clearly Done and he’s got one season that I didn’t have a chance to get as attached #and I didn’t ever sit down myself and watch 10 I just saw chunks so it doesn’t feel like he’s done yet #(but also I mean he did just come back. there is that. strange show) #yeah idk. I’m sure if I ever watch classic who it’ll be a similar case of seeing the echoes like. retroactively I guess #very appropriate to watch the time travel show incredibly out of order. debating whether to watch 10 or 12 next #unrelated but I wanna see the lupari again I can’t believe they gave us dog people and then took them away so quickly #karvanista my beloved I’m so sorry for what they did to you it was too big a thing to just leave hanging there in the narrative #but hey. time travel show. #I also rlly like what 9’s season has done with all the recurring plot threads like it Felt like it was building to something all the way #god yeah I just miss 13. it felt like they’d only just started getting into the stuff they could do with her and then it’s just Over #I feel like that might be the point of the doctor. unclear. will report back #luke.txt #doctor who #OH HEY THIS POST DELETED BUT ITS BACK NOW #just finished 9’s last episode and yeah it fucked

[notti-stellate]

James Potter Fluff ABC's

a/n: I started this thinking it was a good way to get back into writing but boy was I wrong, this took me like three hours so I was like ready to be done by the end. I really hope you guys like it though! 🌌

A- Attracted (What does he find attractive about you)

James is obsessed with absolutely everything about you but if he had to pick one thing it would be your laugh. There’s practically nothing he wouldn’t do just to hear you laugh, especially when it’s because of him (you’re just fueling his ego here babes)

B- Body (What is his favorite part of your body…not like that you nasties)

James absolutely loves your lips, the way they fit so perfectly against his or the way they curve upwards when he does something impossibly stupid just to see you smile. His favorite part of himself is probably his hair or his hands, it’s honestly just whatever your favorite is.

C- Cuddles (how much of a cuddler is he)

There is nothing he loves more than to have you in his arms, it doesn’t matter who is holding who to him as long as he has you pressed against him for eternity. Definitely a 9/10 on the cuddler scale.

D- Dates (how often do you go on dates)

It depends mostly on what time of year it is, for example near quidditch season he doesn’t have much time between classes and practice so as much as he wishes he could take you on dates every day he just doesn’t have the time. After quidditch season though he generally will have a date every week, even going as far as to assign a certain day as date night.

E- Ego (how big is his ego, does it get in the way of the relationship)

He 100% has an ego, but it’s definitely well deserved. He’s the captain of the quidditch team, comes from very wealthy parents, and is famous around the school. Even with his ego he’s a kind and humble person, always willing to help others (except for Snape, nothing could make him help Snape). His ego could get in the way at first but after he sees it’s hurt you he’d swear to never let it happen again.

F- Fights (how often do you fight, how does he handle it) 

Fights are rare between you two, James is so in love he’d take your side on most things just to make you happy. When they do happen though (maybe because he was stressed or one of you were just simply not thinking clearly) he tries to keep a level head, having seen things escalate quickly from someone being dramatic *cough* Sirius *cough*. God forbid he ever makes you cry, he might just rip out his own heart right then and there. Safe to say fights aren’t much of a problem in your relationship.

G- Gifts (Does he get you gifts, what kinds of gifts does he give you)

He sees getting gifts as an essential part of your relationship. It’s not always big extravagant gifts (although he does love to give you those too) he prefers the small things, like flowers when he picks you up for a date or your favorite candy when he sees it in the store. Please for the love of everything get the boy some flowers and tell him they reminded you of him, it may cause him to be reduced to a puddle though so be prepared.

H- Happy (what kinds of things make him happy)

I think the better question would be what doesn’t make him happy. One of the biggest things that make him happy though is you and his friends (of course). He adores all of you so if you can become friends with them too he’d probably never stop smiling. 

I- Injury (how would he act if their loved one got hurt, how would he be if he was hurt)

James is very protective of you so depending on how you got hurt someone may be getting to the hospital wing with you. He’d be very doting, almost never leaving your side unless you needed something. If he gets hurt he’ll act all tough around his friends but the second you’re alone he’s acting as if he’s on death's doorstep, you should expect to have to baby him for at least a few days even after the injury has healed.

J- Jealousy (how jealous is he)

He’s not that jealous, sure he has his moments but he’s typically pretty sure of your love for him. It’s one thing if someone is just talking to you but if they touch you, that’s when he has a problem. 

K- Kisses (how does he kiss you)

Your kisses are like heaven to him, if his paradise is your lips on his forever he’d be content to die right then and there. He leaves his own kisses everywhere, his favorites being on your lips but mostly your neck and shoulders. It’s become a part of his routine to kiss you before he leaves any room or space, and you better believe he expects you to do the same.

L- Love language (how does he show his love)

He has a mix of everything but he mostly loves quality time and physical touch. His favorite times with you have been when you’re just lounging around with him, not doing anything but being in each other’s presence and arms.

M- Mornings (what are mornings like)

He typically gets up rather early, whether it’s to go to practice or workout, he’s up and out the door bright and early. But on weekends he loves to lay in bed with you in the mornings, eventually getting up to make breakfast together.

N- Nights (how are nights with him)

Because James gets up so early on weekdays he doesn’t stay up super late, valuing his sleep but always waiting to go to bed until you’re coming with him. On the weekends though he usually drags you out with him and the gang, or you all spend time at someone’s place (You and James’ or Sirius and Remus’). Sometimes though he’s content to just spend the night with you, watching movies and getting take-out.

O- Open (when would he open himself up to you, how much does he open up)

Once he trusts you, James is glad to open up with you and values the time he gets to be vulnerable with you. That being said, he sometimes refrains from opening up because he doesn’t want to burden you. If you ever betray his trust it’s likely he will forgive you but he won’t open up anymore.

P- PDA (is he comfortable with PDA, how often will it happen)

He absolutely loves PDA, he’ll take any chance he gets to show off his girl to the world. If you don’t like PDA he’ll try his hardest to keep it to a minimum but there’s no promises.

Q- idk babes

R- Romance (how romantic is he)

Have you ever watched a hallmark movie, that’s how cheesy and romantic he is. He tries his best to be as romantic as possible, trying to replicate all the books Marlene and Lily have told him about. He’s not always the best at it though, but at least he tries.

S- Safe (how much does he value your safety, how is ti compared to his own)

Your safety is his first priority, it goes hand in hand with his protectiveness). He would gladly sacrifice his own safety for your own, no matter the circumstances or how many times you try to fight him on it.

T- Talking (how often does he talk about you)

Honey you’re all he talks about, it’s driving Sirius insane. You can’t blame him though, he just loves his girl/boy. He tells practically everyone about you, he even goes as far as keeping a picture of you on him at all times to show people.

U- Understanding (how understanding his he)

He’s learned to be very understanding from having Sirius as his best friend, so you can imagine he’s gotten pretty good at it. There’s somethings he doesn’t always understand but he’ll always give it his best, you’ve just got to help him sometimes.

V- idk again

W- Whole (does he feel whole without you)

The short answer, absolutely not. James’ two biggest love languages involve being in close proximity to each other, so much to Sirius’ dismay he has trouble staying away from you. The longest he’s gone away from you was five days and by the end he was sure he was gonna die if he couldn’t see you soon.

X- Xoxo (how affectionate is he)

I’m sure you can guess from what I said before but James is an extremely affectionate person. Even with his friends being affectionate is just how he shows he cares, giving them a hug when they win something or throwing his arm around Sirius’ shoulders.

Y- I was gonna do yearning but you can just reread the W section for that.

Z- Zzz (how does he sleep)

He’s typically a heavy sleeper, especially when he feels safe like when he’s around you. He can sometimes lose sleep over little things though like if you get in a fight or if you aren’t home yet. If you aren’t home when he gets to bed he’ll try to occupy himself with other things, knowing he can’t sleep if you aren’t with him.

#james potter x reader #james potter #james potter x you #james potter x y/n #marauders x reader #marauders #hp marauders #marauders imagine #the marauders #marauders era #james potter fluff

[go-to-two]

Some of it was how he wrote Antonio out but also killing Al. Losing both characters drastically changed the feel and balance of the show. I also think Eid was upset Jon came back to PD after Justice didn't work and so the choices he made in regard to how he wrote him out were personal.

As for the Burzek of it all, it is way more than Eid not putting them back together. If you watch season 4, it was clear Burzek was on their way to getting back together. And then Eid shows up and the very first episode he is in charge, he has Kim dating someone else. At the end of S5, Paddy went to him and asked for Burzek to be a thing again and what does Eid do - season 6 which was an attempt to kill Burzek for good while pushing Upstead. He could have used anyone else to date Hailey but no, he picks Adam. And it was after Paddy specifically asked him for Burzek. Eid said numerous times in interviews that Burzek was done and over. Upsteads didn't' mind S6 because the storyline was used to push their ship together but Burzek didn't get anything out of it except a very OOC Adam and Kim. He did everything possible to not make Adam the father of Kim's baby…including trying to bring Roman back. He did figure out how to get him back for the episode after Burzek lost their baby which was a dick move to the fans. He spent seasons 7-9 teasing Burzek and giving the fans hope only to wreck them at the end of an episode. He "broke" them up several times but never actually put them together first and constantly made sure the audience knew they weren't together. And then Paddy and Marina give what was probably the performance of their careers in 8x16 and it is used to get Upstead married while Burzek just got more trauma. The fact that Adam and Kim (and even Kevin) had nothing to do with the fallout from the Roy storyline is mind boggling. There were so many good storylines that could have come from all of it for all the characters and he didn't use a single one. It seemed clear that his goal was to get upstead married before he left. You could also tell Paddy and Marina were upset about their characters being ignored - it was disrespectful to them, the characters, and the fans.

Add in what he did to Al and Antonio, starting this awful centric format, removing the humor and family feel of the show (and making it really dark), and making Trudy almost nonexistent, there are a lot of reasons he is not liked by fans (and not just Burzeks). It would have been one thing if he was trying to build them back but he clearly used them for emotional storylines with no intention of ever making them a couple again. He constantly did 3 steps forward and 5 back with Burzek. So yeah...it feels like he had a vendetta against Burzek and Adam/Paddy specifically. And yes, Burzek had moments but that was because of Paddy and Marina, not Eid.

I also think some of the choices he made with Hailey's character are why she gets the hate she does...it all could have been prevented too if he had just taken a different approach to how he brought her in. But his ego got in the way. He came in acting like it was a brand new show and didn't care that there was an already established audience. He even told Paddy that the fans didn't matter (I don't think shows should cater to fans but saying they don't matter isn't right either).

Ok, I'm going to have to go point by point but if I'm being honest... a lot of this feels like it's about Kim and Adam not being together.

I've talked about the Antonio stuff. It wasn't good. I don't agree that is was vindictive and I know there was talk of trying to get him back for the beginning of season 7 and it didn't work, so it is what it is. I might be in the minority, but I understand the decision to kill Al from a storytelling perspective. I wish it had had a more lasting effect on Voight's character, but I do understand choices they made in that exit.

As for Burzek... I think we have very different definitions of what "on their way to getting back together" looked like in season 4. In seasons 1-3, they cheated together on Adam's (2nd or 3rd?) fiancée, got engaged before either were near ready, imploded, and then Adam spent a big chunk of season 4 away from Intelligence because he couldn't handle being in the unit at the same time as Kim. Sure, Paddy was filming a movie and Marina was going on maternity leave, but that's what they were working with at the time. They cared about each other, but Eid inherited a bit of a mess with them. Paddy could ask for anything he wanted, and no showrunner or writer is obligated to give it to him if it didn't make sense. Putting them back together without any development at that time would have made no sense.

You typed a lot about seasons 6-8 and again, it all feels like it boils down to Kim and Adam not being together. I personally think the term "OOC" is used too liberally. It's thrown around by all fandoms as a blanket deflection from a character's behavior we may not like, when it's really well within the scope of their character. They're flawed. I'm not saying you have to like the way Eid told the story but that goes back to my original point. There is little critique in there that doesn't come back to the idea that he didn't put the ship together.

There is a pattern that I've noticed in the Burzek fandom that fans believe Kim and Adam are "stronger than the showrunner" and somehow defeated Eid, and it's not how things work at all. No character has any story without the showrunner. The reason Kim was pregnant with Adam's baby is because Eid made that decision, even if other options were explored in the writing process. They found Makayla together because of Eid. They were still circling each other for years because he kept them in each other's orbits. He took them from where they were in season 5 to working towards co-parenting, all while giving them some of their best episodes along the way. If he wanted to end them for good, he could have. Easily. It's not fair or accurate to say that all the good moments were because of Paddy and Marina while the bad were Eid and the writers when that's simply not how writing a TV show works.

"And then Paddy and Marina give what was probably the performance of their careers in 8x16 and it is used to get Upstead married while Burzek just got more trauma." - that sentence doesn't sit right with me for a lot of reasons. First, Tracy also gave an incredible performance. I'm not going to minimize that just because her ship ended up getting married. In fact, they all did. Jason, too. Jesse and LaRoyce had a lesser presence, but they were so solid. To act like Burzek were the only ones to come out of that situation with trauma is erasing the whole other half of the storyline, which is what you are complaining they did to Kim. And I agree, Kim's role in the Roy situation should have been addressed sooner. Eid should have done it in 9A, Gwen should have done it in 9B instead of the Makayla kidnapping fallout. Kim and Adam's story was a mess in season 9, and that's at the hands of both showrunners.

I mentioned this in an ask the other day, but I don't think Eid was one who was interested in romance between canon couples at all- be it Burzek or Upstead. Was it vindictive towards Upstead when he put them together and immediately gave them nothing but angst? Probably not. Just like I don't think he was vindictive in giving Burzek angst, too. Again, there seems to be this notion that Kim and Adam were the only ones who went through shit. They all got it. It was his style, which is one of my biggest complaints against him, honestly.

Centrics aren't even my biggest gripe against him, because I saw up close how much productions had to scramble to put together Covid seasons. The centrics got bad in season 8, but I have a lot of grace for the hoops they had to jump through to get anything on screen during the pandemic. I'm more annoyed with why they're still happening now.

All that said, I don't think a viewer who has seen the whole show can objectively look at the quality of cases, involvement from each character, long-form story arcs that are actually cohesive, the development of the characters, and the dialogue and say we were worse off under Eid's leadership.

Okay, I've typed enough. I don't expect that you'll agree with everything here. It's totally fine if you don't agree with any of it, I'm just offering my perspective. I'm not saying someone has to love the way Eid ran the show but generally speaking (it's not every fan, I understand that) Burzek fans tend to villainize Eid while praising Gwen for "fixing the show". Meanwhile, she does everything they claim Eid did (centrics, dark tone, no continuity, baseless writing), only worse. That's why, to someone on the outside, it does seem like the core issue with Eid is that he didn't put the ship together.

#anon ask #yee doggies this got long #unless something really conversation-worthy comes of it #i'll probably let this topic lie after this #next tag to be safe #anti-burzek

[gardensgatekeeper]

'Tis the Damn Season - Part 1

Pairing: Danny Wagner x Reader

Word Count: 1,686

Warnings: Fluff, angst, swearing, drinking, implied sex // loss of virginity. Let me know if I missed anything!

Got inspired after listening to 'tis the damn season by Taylor Swift one too many times oops!

You and Danny were the textbook definition of high school sweethearts, even making it in the yearbook for most likely to get married. Never in a million years would you have been prepared for the world of hurt that followed the messiest breakup this town has ever seen. Something about going to college and needing to find some perspective, whatever the hell that meant. In the seven years that have since passed, you’ve done everything imaginable to block everything out of your memory. Hell, you quite literally left town a few months after because it was just too much. In a small town where everyone knows everything, you just couldn’t escape the hushed whispers every time you left the house. Not to mention the fact that nearly everything reminded you of him, from the traffic light in front of the bank he almost ran on the first date because he couldn’t stop staring at you…

It was exactly 5:30 p.m. on the dot when you heard a sturdy knock on the front door, making your heart leap out of your chest. “I’ve got it!” You practically leaped from the couch where you had been anxiously waiting for the past 45 minutes. You quickly opened the door where Danny stood on the other side, holding a small bouquet of wildflowers that had clearly been pulled from the side of the road somewhere. Nonetheless, they were perfect. “Hi.” You smiled. “Hi.” He grinned back. “Uh, these are for you.” He sheepishly said, handing you the flowers. “They’re beautiful, thank you.” You quickly ran to put them in a cup of water in the kitchen, making a mental note to properly arrange them in a vase later. When you waltzed back to the front door, you overheard your dad threatening Danny to have you back before your 9:30 p.m. curfew or else he’d be meeting his Smith & Wesson. “Dad!” your face turned beet red with embarrassment, practically shoving Danny out the door. “I promise he’s not serious.” You reassured Danny, who you were sure was probably scared shitless. He nervously chuckled before opening the passenger door of his 1987 Chevy Silverado for you. It felt like such a fairytale that a sophomore as cute and charming as Danny would want anything to do with the awkward little freshman you were. You still don’t know what he saw in you. On the drive to the movie theater, you noticed he kept glancing in your direction, a goofy grin peeking through. Your face flushed red once again, but not with embarrassment. In a moment you caught him glancing at you again, the green glow on his face suddenly flashed yellow then red in the blink of an eye. Looking ahead, you screamed out “Danny!” He whipped his attention back to the road, brakes squealing as he quickly applied pressure to stop the vehicle just before it crossed the white line at the intersection. “Shit, are you okay?” He asked. “Yeah, I'm fine.” I’m sorry, you just look so beautiful and I couldn't stop staring” …

To the time you gave yourself to him after your junior prom.

It seemed like just yesterday Danny showed up at your house with a sign asking you to be his date to prom, which you obviously said yes to. The night had been everything you dreamed of; you’d gotten all dressed up and took lots of pictures with your friends and dozens more with just you and danny. You’d danced the night away, from practically raving to the club-like songs to swaying to the more softer melodies. But when Danny pulled into the driveway of your house, you felt a pang in your heart as you weren’t ready for the night to end just yet. “Do you wanna come inside for a bit?” You asked. “Truthfully, I think I might need you to help me out of this dress.” You chuckled more to yourself. “Of course baby.” He smiled, quickly hopping out and opening the passenger door as he had done countless times before. Your parents just so happened to be out of town for the weekend, so you had the house to yourself. You took advantage of their absence and snagged a beer from the fridge, offering one to Danny who politely declined. “If you're worried about having to drive, why don’t you just stay?” His decision was clear when he smiled and grabbed the beer can you were still holding out. After changing into more comfortable clothes, the two of you cuddled up on the couch and put on a random movie. Of course, one thing led to another and soon you found yourself straddling his lap, sucking each other's faces off like the world was going to end. Your hips subconsciously shifted and a soft groan escaped his lips, which ignited a flame inside you. You and Danny had done a lot of things together, but hadn’t gone all the way yet. You were still a virgin and had been wanting to save yourself for ‘Mr. Right.’ You felt so lucky that Danny never pressured you to do anything you weren’t comfortable with, which must have been the reason you suddenly felt ready. Your movements halted as you pulled back, a look of confusion and concern spreading across Danny's face. “What's wrong baby?” “Nothing. I uh-" "You what?” “I want you Danny. All of you.” You whispered. “What? Are you sure? Y/N don’t think that just because I’ve got a raging bo-“ “Danny it’s not that I promise.” You giggled before continuing. “I’m ready. I trust you. I want you.” The smile that radiated from him warmed your heart so much. He grabbed your face with both hands and kissed you with such passion, you felt like you might truly float away.” “I love you Y/N.” With that, he grabbed your hand and led you upstairs to your room …

And here now you found yourself standing in that very bedroom where you’d be staying for the holidays. Of course, it looked a lot different than it did back then — the once vibrant blue walls were swapped for a much softer pale yellow and a new set of bedroom furniture replaced the well loved pieces you once had. Though physically things were different, the memories of your past life still remained, as if they were bound there forever. Your heart ached as you longed for the simpler times, before you had to deal with the shitty reality of the real world. Just like always, your parents were driving you absolutely insane. So when your mom mentioned needing something from the store, you jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house. It felt weird being back after being away for so long, really only having been back two or three times since you moved to the city. In the hopes of trying to avoid going back to the torture of listening to your parents argue over the controversy of ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside,’ you decided to take a little walk down memory lane, a stroll around town if you will. You managed to find a parking spot in the lot centered in between the Methodist church and your old high school. Your heart panged as you remembered the familiar feeling you had on your graduation day when it really sank in that you didn’t have Danny anymore. God why couldn’t you get him out of your mind? Shaking your head, you stepped out of your car into the brisk, unforgiving cold. Walking down the street, you admired all of the stores with festive window-front decorations. You found yourself even popping in a few of the shops and getting some last minute gifts for some of your friends back in the city. As you exited one store and made your way back out onto the street, the wind suddenly picked up and a strong gust ripped the scarf from around your neck. “Shit!” you gasped, going to chase after it. You sighed in relief as you saw someone up ahead grab it for you. “Thank you so much! I don’t know where that wind ca-“ Your words immediately stopped as the kind stranger turned around. Your heart skipped a beat as you recognized the slightly aged face. “Y/N?” Your mind raced with a million thoughts as you tried to collect yourself and respond, but instead you found yourself staring blankly back at him. “I thought this looked familiar. Is this the scarf I got for your birthday that one year? I can't believe you still have it.” He said more to himself, seemingly analyzing the worn fabric material before handing it back to you. “Thanks.” You quietly muttered. “So, you in town for the holidays?” “Uh yeah, staying at my parents’ house.” “Cool, well uh, I’m around for a few days if you wan-“ “Danny we don’t have to do the awkward small talk. Just forget it, I should be getting back anyway.” Your chest felt heavy as all the old emotions were coming back up, tears threatening to spill out. You quickly turned to walk back towards your car but before you could get very far Danny called out for you. “Y/N wait!” He caught up to you, gently resting his hand on your arm. “Listen, I'm sorry. I know we I didn’t leave things in a good place and that’s completely my fault.” Your eyes swelled as the tears were beginning to cloud your vision, but you refused to give him even a single one. Especially not after how many tears you had given him all those years ago. “I don’t think-“ You started but were abruptly interrupted. “Please Y/N. Can I pick you up later? We can ride around like we used to, just for old times sake.” There it was. That same smile that made you fall for him so many years ago. The same smile that appeared when he said he loved you for the first time. The smile that made you give into anything he asked. “Okay.”

Part two

#greta #greta van fic #gvf #daniel robert wagner #danny wagner #dannywagner #gvf imagine #gvf danny #gretavanfleet #danny gvf #danny wagner x reader #danny wagner x you #danny wagner x y/n #gardensgatekeeper

[columboscreens]

ive been rewatching columbo eps on prime video (idk where to get the other season after 7 :c) and i'm just done with A Case of Immunity, the one with the Suarian Kingdom and the whitest middle east guy i've ever seen ? And like. I'm not a fan of that episode, but. I feel like i'm missing a lot of political or historical context for that episode ? And I wanted to know if you knew more. Thank u, I'll get back to my little guy show now.

you're not missing much.

the latter portion of original columbo was marked by an increased desire to show him in radically different contexts--between a man on international waters, an arab diplomat, a IRA liason, a CIA agent, and a mexican matador, it suffices to say columbo got around a little more as time went on. and due to the growing US interest in the middle east throughout the 70s (most of europe's imperialist/colonialist tendrils had vacated, cold war alliances were being made, israel, oil, etc.) i suppose they thought people would want to see something topical. they also didn't want to piss anybody off, so the Very Real Country of Suari it was.

the role of hassan salah was originally intended for ben gazzara, but he was scrapped by the network for being too expensive (much to peter falk's consternation). mine too, really, because though hector elizondo did a fantastic job, i think gazzara would've played a better arab. he was sicillian, but i wouldn't be surprised if he had actual arab heritage, as sicilians very often do. his surname is arabic as hell--غزارة is arabic for "abundance", which ended up as a loanward in italian to mean "noisy".

ultimately though, the middle east is an ethnically and geographically diverse region containing a wide variety of looks and skin tones. for one, i and my entire family are lebanese. my skin is rather pale, my grandfather was tan but had pale blue eyes, my aunt is nearly blonde, etc. so elizondo's countenance may not scream "arab" nearly as much as gazzara's, but levant, maghreb, or gulf--he's not all that unbelievable either.

funnily enough, in middle ages arabia, those with blue eyes were associated with duplicitous and untrustworthy behavior....

i guess something that does kinda make me roll my eyes is the treatment of the language. to their credit, the characters do speak and write real arabic in the show, albeit...poorly. obviously it's a 70s tv movie, who cares about accurate glottal stops, but they spent like eight grand to rent a learjet for one of the scenes, and the arabic is real and (mostly) intelligible, so clearly somebody translated it. would it have killed them to hire a dialect coach?

we did get some extremely jewish-sounding arabic out of peter though. so. all is emphatically forgiven

the one thing that truly rubs me the wrong way about the episode is that it's noxiously sympathetic to the american political ethos of the time, which as we well know could do no wrong. watch columbo OWN this EVIL diplomat donned in traditional garb who wants to retain his country's DISGUSTING traditional ways while the new, hip young king who was probably forcefully instituted by american troops in a coup you'll never learn about is COOL and LOVES AMERICA and will lead his oil-filled country on camelback into a beautiful sunset of BEING COOL and LOVING AMERICA. there's NO WAY this could go south. STOP looking at iran NOW

(speaking of which, the state dept. rep who bursts columbo's bubble, kermit morgan, might or might not be a nod to kermit roosevelt jr. who played a central role in the CIA's ousting of iran's mosaddegh in 1953)

...least he's honest

anyway, in retrospect this episode isn't the series' finest moment, but it's a decent watch--and believe me, far and away not the worst treatment of arabs hollywood has thrown at us over the years. i know i'd certainly take a dozen of these over whatever the hell they were churning out post-9/11.

wallahi i could've forgiven the weird culturally inaccurate bowing if they just put columbo in a keffiyeh...

#columbo #a case of immunity #ask #text #longpost #I Am Your Prisoner.

[heyclickadee]

Thoughts on “Faster”

1. THAT’S MY BOY!! THAT’S MY BOY!! MY BEAUTIFUL NERDY BOY!!! 2. I love that Echo and Hunter were out delivering space door dash. I joked about that with my sister once; I didn’t think it would actually be canon. 

3. Even though I missed seeing Hunter and Echo (and Crosshair), I don’t think this episode would have worked with them in it. I’m not sure Hunter would have agreed to going with Cid in the first place, and even if he had, there’s no way he would have let Tech on that race track. They would absolutely shut down the shenanigans. I’d pay cash money to see his face when they all get back. 

4. I know a lot of people are calling this one filler, and while I don’t agree seeing as how there was plot development or at least set up for plot development as well as some lovely character development for Tech, I’m glad this one was a bit more lighthearted than the first three. You can only delve so far into the angst before the audience becomes numb to it. You need to let them (and the characters) breathe a little before going any farther with it. I’m genuinely glad they just got to have a good (albeit dangerous) time. 

5. Tech, seeing riot racing for the first time: It would appear that anything goes out there.

Tech internally: If I do not get out on that track within one standard hour I will perish.  6. I LOVE how, in contrast to the first season, which highlighted the batch as a team and what their roles on the team were, this season is focusing more on the batch as individuals. It’s less about what the team will do and more about what each member of the team might want. For Tech, that seems to mean opening his eyes to the possibility of life outside of war and combat, not just for himself but to the idea that there’s so much of the galaxy that existed before and outside of the war that he’s never thought about, as well as presenting him with the idea that he’s good for something besides fighting. And given the conflict between Hunter and Echo (who ultimately want the same thing but are looking to get there in different ways), I’d say that’s going to be really important later on down the line. 

7. Along those same lines, I’m adoring the throughline between Crosshair’s desperation to stay relevant using the only skills he thinks he has, Echo’s determination to fight back using the only skillset (being a soldier) he thinks he has, and Tech’s frustration with Cid wasting their skills on things like space door dash. They were designed to do one specific thing, and the republic they were designed to do it for no longer exists. They’re all floundering and struggling to find their own sense of purpose, the same way Hunter seemed to find his back in season one. 

8. TAY-0 was. Oh boy. 

9. Obnoxious. Eminently punchable. The irony of casting Sonic the Hedgehog as the blue racing robot was not lost on me, but besides the “Gotta go fast,” aspect of that, casting Ben Schwartz as an egotistical, aggressively dramatic theater kid always works. He always plays that part well. 

10. You could feel Tech was exactly 0.35 seconds from punching TAY-0 in his stupid metal face from pretty much the moment they met. That deadpan glare when TAY-0 told Tech to stop fixing him the wrong way? I felt that in my bones. The way Tech sighed and shook his head when TAY-0 said that Tech didn’t have strategy or skill? Dude was pissed and it’s almost like he’s had to mask his whole life. The, “Don’t try me right now, I’m done and I’m doing what I want,” look when Tech said he was going to be the one to race? Yes. Good. 

11. The way that Tech clearly didn’t know how to respond to the crowd chanting his name because he’s not used to that kind of recognition, so he gave that little awkward half salute is going to live rent free in my head for a while. As is the fact that Tech did listen to everyone giving him advice but ultimately trusted his own judgement. 

12. “Tech, you have to be in front to win!” “I know what I’m doing. It’s called strategy.” “No, it’s called losing!” I’m dying. I’m literally dead. 

13. So...Tech doesn’t trust Cid. Which, he shouldn’t, of course. Besides Millegi’s warning at the end, the way Cid was acting all the way through this episode makes me think she’s definitely got something shady in store for the boys. And the thing is, I don’t think it’s something she’s planning on doing--I think it’s something she’s already done. I suspect she actually sold them out to some extent way back, maybe back in season one, in a way that’s going to get them in big trouble this season, and that she’s maybe starting to regret it because a part of her actually likes them. 

14. Wrecker and Omega playing chess at the beginning of the episode! Omega putting things on the line to help Cid! Wrecker and Omega being so happy when Tech won! Tech with his hand on Omega’s shoulder and Wrecker doing that affectionate shoulder punch! I love them!

15. The poor guy who got shot at during the race at the beginning of the episode. I know this was a much lighter episode than the last few, but dang. That’s...kinda dark. 

16. I cracked up when the announcer lampshaded how odd clone names are in-universe, especially when they don’t have the “they’re a clone” context. 

#the bad batch #the bad batch season two #tbb spoilers #tbbspoilers #the bad batch spoilers #tech! #i love him! #semi-coherent thoughts? on my blog? it's more likely than you think #tbb tech #this season is perfect so far actually

[ichayalovesyou]

Carefully and Respectfully Attempting to Diffuse Concerns about Spock’s Orientation in SNW

I can’t pretend I haven’t been… heated, about this topic before. Partly because of my own Spock interpretations, partly because elements of this debate touch on sensitive elements of my queer identity. I also can’t pretend it hasn’t come back to bite me in the butt. So this is me trying to genuinely state my argument in a way relatively sympathetic to the opposite opinion. It also might be the last “long post/meta” piece I do on this topic for a little while. Full discussion under the cut.

Concern #1 : The current showrunners are being queerphobic.

My Argument: The current era of showrunners have shown that they don’t hate queer fans. They clearly obviously care about doing queer representation the right way. At the very least, they are not openly, adamantly against queer representation to the point where they let writers introduce many queer characters into the Trek universe.

They’ve Ret-queered two major characters already (7 of 9, Christine Chapel). The Kurtzman era of trek has had queer rep (of varying quality/gracefulness) since season one of Discovery. We’ve got Culber/Stamets, Seven/Raffi, Adira/Gray, Jessica/Beckett, Adira, Zero, and Captain Angel all use they/them pronouns. Gray Tal is a canonically transgender man! Melissa Navia has implied on Twitter that her character Erica Ortegas is some form of queer, at least in her interpretation. Which we might (and kinda have in Elysian Kingdom) end up seeing in canon. Especially since thus far in canon there have been moments that imply she may be attracted to Chapel or Una or both.

No one with a major production role in the new batch of Trek has (to my knowledge) deliberately spat in the face of Spirk or the idea Spock or Jim being queer as an interpretation. Something other Trek creators, like JJ Abrams or William Shatner absolutely have done. There’s no Rick Berman to deliberately wedge apart characters of the same sex that are being shipped. The one time the current showrunners seriously stumbled and everyone thought Discovery was about to do a “bury your gays” trope with Stamets and Culber. They “spoiled” the fact he was very much going to be back in season two to dissuade our fears.

No one has gotten laughed at, if anything every response I’ve seen has been respectful/acknowledging the history of K/S. Even if they don’t pursue directly it in the new batch of canon (which I don’t personally think they absolutely have to do) they’re not degrading the people who interpret Spock and Jim’s relationship as something not quite heterosexual.

Concern #2: Spock has always been gay/ace (any specific subdivision of queer), it’s basically canon! They’re taking that away from us!

My Argument: Spock being queer in any way, no matter what kind, has always been something up for interpretation. Something that the creators of Trek have been more receptive to than many, many other pop culture phenomena. Any interpretation of Spock’s implied orientation requires you to ignore at least some of the established canon.

I personally think a lot of fans (including myself in my own internalized bi/a-phobia and willingness to ignore canon elements) have hand waved certain canon things in TOS that Spock has said and done. Specifically regarding the women he has been interested in.

The real question is does a character “not being in their right mind” change their sexual/romantic orientation? Would Spock have been physically attracted to Leila at all if he was gay, even if the romantic feelings were imposed by the spores in This Side of Paradise? It’s hard to say. Did regressing back into ancient and unrepressed Vulcan emotions make Spock interested in women somehow? Or was his intense attraction to Zarabeth from All Our Yesterdays something else? What about the other times he’s flirted with women? Up to interpretation, all moments frequently ignored or explained away. “Spock’s got serious game with women, he can’t possibly be gay.”

What about the interpretation that he is straight? You would have to ignore a LOT of text to draw that conclusion too. For one, you’d have to ignore Amok Time’s deeper message. And every time Jim and Spock chose each other over whatever love interest of the week they had. Every longing, meaningful glance between those men, or the implications of hand holding in the Vulcan context. Ignore half of the meanings of the word t’hy’la. Or if you wanna drag SNW into it, ignore the way Captain Angel (who is non-binary) played Spock like a fiddle akin to the way Alora manipulated Chris in the previous episode, albeit more subtly. “Spock is in love with James Kirk, he couldn’t possibly be anything other than gay.”

The truth of the matter is Spock being queer-coded was a happy accident. A result of him being an outlet for fans who feel “other”. Reinforced by a queer screenwriter who used that otherness to be allegorical for queer people. Reinforced by Roddenberry and Nimoy being comfortable with the interpretation of the K/S relationship. Reinforced fans writing heaps and heaps of fanfiction, some of which got published as Star Trek novels! All of which embraces and handwaves the actual text of TOS almost in equal measure.

I have to keep asking, is it queerbaiting if it was never deliberate? Is it queerphobic if Spock’s not the type of queer you personally extrapolated from the text that was important to you, as well as the text you ignored/explained away?

Concern #3: They’re shoving female love interests in front of Spock to prevent him being interpreted as queer.

My Argument: SNW, in my opinion, is providing depth to pre-established canon romantic prospects into something that gives both women depth, and could potentially enhance Spock’s queer narrative. Redefining some of their more, questionable, one dimensional actions in TOS. As well as to recontextualize a very sexist/creepy aspect of Vulcan worldbuilding. Something I don’t think was intended as “we need to make Spock straight.” and more “what if these relationships weren’t fundamentally informed by 1960s sexism while also deepening the characterizations of everyone involved?”

What about the interpretation (and possibly the truth we’ve yet to know) is that while Spock obviously cares about Christine and feels compelled to make things work with T’Pring, he’s not in love with either of them?

Wouldn’t Spock coming to that realization lend itself further to the implication of Spock being on the ace spectrum and/or being more interested in men (or rather, one man) romantically? SNW has only had one season, we’ve got the building blocks of two relationships we factually know are going to fall apart in favor of Spock’s relationship with Kirk. If the showrunners have a plan for the set up, surely they have intentions for where the dominos will fall.

By Chapel and Spock having known each other before as friends, a friendship made complicated by one’s (or both’s) romantic feelings. It makes Chapel’s struggle regarding Spock in TOS go from “the kinda creepy advances of a woman he doesn’t really know and isn’t super interested in, but seems to care for despite some boundary issues”. Into an intriguing story about how close friendships can fall apart in unexpected, painful ways beyond our control, especially when romantic interest is involved.

Which can be read as something queer about Spock or read at face value. I also think it’s worth pointing out the two of them aren’t actually romantically involved (and might never be), because Spock is engaged and Chapel is visibly holding back. Still, even if they were it would be a queer relationship because Chapel is canonically bisexual, and no amount of m/f romance is going to magically un-bi her.

In the 60s, the concept of the ‘ownership’ of women and children was a lot more common, Vulcan culture played on that precedent in Amok Time. Yet, thanks to SNW, T’Pring obviously owns herself, she and Spock both do. By making an element of T’Pring and Spock’s relationship something they did as consenting adults, they give more opportunities for conflict and struggle. There’s still more cultural pressure for their marriage than actual emotions, and the bond they made in childhood being of more important still removes part of their agency in the matter. It complicates T’Pring’s role in Spock’s life in a way that doesn’t favor purely vilifying her as a “woman temptress” or victimizing her as somehow Spock or Stonn’s property.

I think we’re getting a lot more insight into Vulcan culture by getting to watch her clash against this betrothal as much as it deepens Spock’s clash with his birth cultures. They’re both trying to be “good Vulcans” both with something to prove. I think it’s really interesting to get to see Vulcans who technically do “fit in”, still struggle in the confines of cultural expectation. The relationship feels forced because it is forced. Nothing about Spock and T’Pring’s visibly failing engagement takes away from the message of Amok Time. That the pain and death and drama would be entirely avoidable if they didn’t feel compelled by their culture to be something they are not. T’Pring is not in love with Spock, she chose Stonn. Spock is not in love with T’Pring, he chooses Kirk.

Concern #4: They’re decanonizing Spirk, they’re taking K/S away from us by making Spock interested in women!

My Argument: Can you decanonize two characters having a relationship that hasn’t even happened yet in canon? If Spock and Jim meet before Kirk becomes Captain of the Enterprise that does it will change what’s currently canon, which I don’t have an issue with. At this point in SNW, 2359/2360, Kirk is serving on the Farragut and depending on the exact timing, might be engaged/married to Carol Marcus. Does James Kirk having been married or expressed interest in many, many women in the past negate his attraction to Spock? Or is Spirk being able to transcend all of both halves past relationships one of the ship’s many charms?

If they meet, chemistry is far from impossible. All the best of Spirk is already canon, we watched it play out on screen in TOS and even more so in its films. I count The Search for Spock as easily one of the most romantic movies I’ve ever seen! I totally get wanting more Kirk & Spock content I want it too! But even if they do choose to fully, officially ret-queer Spock and Jim’s relationship beyond names carved in a bar table. I don’t think Strange New Worlds not directly focusing on it makes that relationship or it’s queer interpretation not matter.

Ultimately there’s very little they could do that would “kill” Spirk. At least that wouldn’t be extremely out of character for either half of the ship or be unnecessarily hostile to the people who ship it. Which I don’t get the impression the current showrunners would do. It would disrupt the well established chemistry Spock & Kirk have in the prime universe if the showrunners went out of their way to put their dynamic into a specific category of relationship, and antithetical to the Gene Roddenberry coined term “t’hy’la”.

I think part of where Spirk thrives is in its ability to be whatever you want it to be, but I understand the need for queer representation, especially from such a historic sci-fi character like Spock. Still, I think things will be fine so long as they don’t make him explicitly straight. There’s plenty of identities within the queer umbrella he could have that are compatible with his m/f canon romance subplots.

TL:DR: I’m not worried, and don’t feel there’s reason to be. I think people need to take the shipping/fanon glasses off if they wanna enjoy the show as it is. If I'm wrong, well, that would suck, lol.

#star trek #Star Trek meta #meta #meta analysis #fandom meta #Spock #snw Spock #James kirk #Jim kirk #Captain Kirk #s’chn t’gai spock #t’pring #nurse chapel #christine chapel #ethan peck #Gia sidhu #Jess bush #star trek strange new worlds #strange new worlds #star trek snw #snw #long post #cw long post #fandom discourse #queer representation #k/s #the premise #spirk #spock/chapel #spock x chapel

[galactic-pirates]

Oh boy. Ok episode 9 where do I start?

Spoiler alert as always.

Ok let’s start with the positive.

Data’s line and delivery of “I hope we die quickly” was hilarious.

I loved how Seven was the first to fight back and get a phaser with an elbow to the head.

Raffi going “not a chance” and striding forward shooting because she wouldn’t leave Seven was totally badass, and warmed my shipper heart.

As for everything else…

Oh boy.

In my theorising I said maybe the changelings wanted Jack to do his mind control whoo whoo, and form a ‘collective’ as a way to bring totalitarian order/control the federation which the changelings want.

But actual Borg? Actual Borg passed down because of Picard? That was a crack theory that I thought we were all laughing about. For once I take no pleasure in having saw this coming a little bit. ESPECIALLY to be honest because there is no explanation just a “the changelings were working with the Borg all along” erm how? Why? What do they get out of it? How did they even find the Borg given that clearly…

This season has a huge problem with time and relative distance. I know space is vast and all but for them to be jetting around to all the various places those places must be within half a light year or less. I mean I looked this up when I was comparing hyperspace travel times for Stargate and warp 9 is like 2 light years a day.

Make it make sense.

So for Jack to get to the Borg in a shuttle which I am guessing was probably not warp 9? In a matter of a couple of hours it seemed, the Borg were basically hiding out for a decade in the heart of federation space? I know Jack said “transwarp portal?” but that sounded more like a question so I guess the Borg could have warped into that nebula. But I don’t know I thought they were supposed to require some proximity. I swear what was a thing re: transmitters on Voyager. I could be mistaken though I guess.

Also what the hell with the “Borg haven’t been seen in 10 years?” I guess the friend Jurati led Borg don’t count? I mean ok separate collective but it would have only been one extra sentence to explain that and then we wouldn’t be going “continuity? I don’t know you”.

At least I guess they explained how Jack could control the younger crew members due to the implanted Borg DNA. But that raises some major questions about the transporters. Pulaski was so right not to trust them because if they can materialise people with different DNA… I mean I know this wasn’t done with Federation approval but for that capacity to even exist within the technology… I watched SNW and that has Number One being arrested for being Illyrian (genetic modifications) and then the StarFleet transporters can alter genetic code. I mean ok yeah it’s a couple of hundred years later but I don’t know feels hinky. Wouldn’t people have got sick or died? I mean tampering with DNA seems super dangerous. I get that it’s all handwaved science because it’s science FICTION but it should still seem plausible.

I just don’t get it. It’s just so weird from start to finish. Like are all XB’s modded like Picard? Have none of them reproduced in the past 30 years? Why mod Picard like that anyway? The Borg don’t reproduce like that. I think I am trying to make sense of something that is just so strange.

Anyway I am momentarily amused that my pet theory that the Borg came from contamination from the killer robots in the season 1 finale, could have further weight as that’s when Picard’s brain exploded. Could it be contact through the open space portal to killer robots was trying to transmit/receive and basically getting an error message which fried his brain?

Aaaand back to episode 9. So Shaw’s probably not dead. I mean he might be but from some of the tweets I read I am doubtful. I would like him to be dead. “Redemption through death” is a time honoured trope. I don’t know if it was invented by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi, or just popularised, but it is a big thing. Shaw was a bastard who I wanted to throw out an airlock. In his final moment finally giving Seven the respect she deserved after his petty bullying abuse of power. That’s Redemption though death.

I am concerned though that if they given Seven and Raffi anything to do in the finale, it might be dragging Shaw to SickBay to revive him. Cortical stimulation etc. forget the fact that the Galaxy is on fire. Shaw probably wouldn’t even be grateful and instead lecture Seven on priorities again. In that case he would be right as risking their lives to bring Shaw back would be insane given the state of things. Especially as I don’t think it’s guaranteed that people can be brought back. Not killing Shaw when there is only a handful of seconds to think, is very different from deliberate choice over and over when he’s technically already dead.

Speaking of that scene though I get they wanted to isolate the TNG crew so they could be heroes, but Raffi stunned the last attacker. They couldn’t wait 2 seconds for Raffi and Seven to join them in the escape shuttle? Instead they left them behind to be killed. I mean that is basically what happened.

Make it make sense.

I dislike that the ‘face’ of the Borg control on the Titan is an alien, and the most obviously an alien. It feels like they didn’t make it one of the LaForges because obviously they will get saved and it’s to keep the impression of victims rather than the enemy. Also let the enemy be alien rather than human as that’s very othering. Humans are good guys right? /sarcasm. I mean it is so rare to see a non-human (unless it’s a Vulcan but that is quite rare too) sit in the Captain’s chair so of course it happens when they are the bad guy.

Fireworks in space. How does that work? I mean there is no oxygen. Technically this means all the glorious explosions of ships probably shouldn’t happen either? Clearly I am willing to overlook it in some cases but those fireworks did look weird. Dodgy CGI or…?

I am sure I am forgetting lots of points.

I think I have said a few times that this season has had a pacing problem. Never more so has that been true than now. As a writer I can tell you that on the story beats list this would be the doorway of no return which separates Act 2 from Act 3. That means there should be 25% of the story left approximately. So paced properly this episode should have been number 7, and possibly given everything they crammed in 6+7 expanded. That’s probably why we got such a glossed over “the changelings have been working with the Borg this whole time” with no explanation or curiousity as to why or how. I really can’t see how they can wrap this up with any degree of satisfaction within one single episode.

You know at the end of this ramble I am still stuck on how the crack “Borg baby” theory turned out to be true. I mean that was like the most “yeeeah it’s not going to be that” level of stupid and then they actually went there. Crack theory = canon and I still can’t believe it. I mean to be fair Trek did have the lizard baby episode on Voyager, so there is precedence for insanity, but that was a single episode, easily ignored and forgotten - not built up to over a 10 episode season establishing lore that anything that comes after will have to live with.

Is that what they call irredeemably jumping the shark?

As for the Enterprise-D I am picturing Geordi as the dad tinkering in his garage repairing his classic car on weekends now. Mostly though I am stunned that they went to the trouble/expense of replicating the bridge set and it will be used for all of one episode.

Oh! Hahahaha. So that’s where the lighting budget went? Finally something that makes sense.

#star trek: picard #picard spoilers #sam rambles (a lot)

[shrinkthisviolet]

Talk Shop Tuesday: do you have a part (/few episodes) of the Morgan AU you're most looking forward to writing or sharing?

OH BOY DO I

One of them I can’t tell you about because you’ll immediately guess why I’m excited 😅 but I’ll tell you some of the rest (in chronological order

the end of s1!! I have a few twists I can’t wait to share…and the fallout of Eowells’s betrayal is gonna hurt BIG time. Those of you who have read the s2 arc know that it still lingers, but…you’ll get to feel that betrayal full-force :D with an added wrinkle you might not expect (or maybe you will, but I hope you enjoy it regardless!)

Morgan & Jesse becoming friends during s2! I call this their “unofficial roommates” phase—when Jesse runs away from STAR Labs, she decides to run as far away as possible and to someone she sorta knows already, whom Harry would never expect because Morgan and Jesse, at that point in time, don’t like each other! They become friends while they’re living together 💞 it’s a nice way to explore the issues of “you are the best and worst of me, amplified in ways that make me jealous and insecure at the same time” and how they work through it. And it’s marginally safer than Jesse squatting with a stranger in a strange world…especially with Morgan’s powers

2x17, the time travel episode 🥰 the addition of Morgan is gonna make for some very fun tweaks (and s1 Barry being jealous of how Morgan gravitates to s2 Barry…especially because 2x17 is is during 1x11 and Morgan still hasn’t admitted she’s forgiven him yet)

Morgan & Tina’s relationship is so super important…and in s2, it reaches…not a breaking point, but a turning point. Morgan has idolized Tina for so much of her childhood, but Tina wasn’t a perfect (god)mother. She wasn’t ready for it, and at first, she struggled with the balance. Much like Eowells…but Tina made an active effort to change and be better for Morgan, while Eowells didn’t. It’s why Morgan sees Eowells’s flaws more easily, but overlooks Tina (and it’s why she’s a bit too hard on Tina in s2…but they grow past it) 💞

In that vein, I’m so excited to write Morgan’s complicated relationship with her future stepfather, Henry. She likes him, she thinks he’s great, he clearly loves Tina, and she’s not worried that he’ll hurt her, and he’s Barry’s dad…but the idea of him being her stepfather is still a lot for her, considering her baggage around fatherhood. It’ll take some time to work through, even with his endless patience, and I’m so excited to write it!

THE SAVITAR ARC/SEASON listen so much of s3 is a giant question mark, because I’m still trying to figure out how much I want to change from canon…but Savitar? I’ve pretty much decided on his characterization…particularly his relationships with Morgan, Barry, and Iris (especially Morgan). And I can’t wait to write that 🥰

Morgan & Iris! post-s3, and also during the bad future in s5. Both are instances of them grieving Barry, and there are similarities and differences in how both of those unfold…but even when they argue, even when they walk away…there’s so much love there still. Even when one of them doubts it, it doesn’t change that 💞

The Westallen wedding!! I haven’t decided wtf I’m doing about s4’s Crisis, but in any case, Westallen will get their full ceremony (with no proposal at their rehearsal dinner, no sudden double weddings, etc). If their wedding is crashed, it’ll be during the reception, after the ceremony is all said and done. And there’s a brother-sister dance after the main couple’s dance—Iris with Wally, Barry with Morgan 🥰 (they even swap partners in the middle!). Wally even dances with Linda at the wedding 👀

CRISIS OFC this is gonna be the grand finale (possibly with one other mini storyline after it but…nothing about the Mirrorverse or s7-9), and I’m so excited 💞 no details I can share just yet, except that it’ll be a mishmash of what we got in canon and what was presented in 2024’s newspaper. And Thawne will ofc be prominent, as he should’ve been in canon

talk shop tuesday!

#thank you so much for the ask! #this isn’t even all of them 😅 just the ones off the top of my head #morgan wells au #oc: morgan wells #morgan & jesse #brotp: central city could use a sentry #morgan & henry #brotp: i know my hero #brotp: anything for my best friend #talk shop tuesday

[nobodysdaydreams]

Three Things about The Mysterious Benedict Society's Parents that I Think Will Be Relevant for Season 2

(1) I think there's more to Constance turning down Benedict's adoption then her "I just don't like being formal" attitude.

Kate brought up Constance's parents and Constance deflected with a joke. It looks like they might be bringing her psychic powers, past, and potential parents into the plot, and then something occurred to me. Book Constance is 2 and at first is unsure if she's an orphan and doesn't have great memories of her early life because most people for the first few years of their life can’t form episodic memories no matter how smart they are. Show Constance appears to be around 8 or 9 and would remember if she was always an orphan or if something happened that caused her to lose her parents. She might even have clear memories of her parents. So what if Constance does like the idea of being adopted, but turned it down because she hopes that her parents are still out there and now that the emergency is over, maybe they'll be able to find her again. And if what Kate suggested is true and they're psychic like her they can send her a message so she's just waiting to feel something in her mind to let her know they found her. (2) I know Kate and Milligan have an adjustment period, but a big part of that is Milligan's memories.

We don't have confirmation that he was a secret agent undercover as a chemist. We have no idea what he was doing working for Curtain. Curtain doesn't call him a secret agent or traitor he calls him a chemist with a conscience. I had a theory that maybe Curtain's inventions weren't always bad (see previous posts, I can try to link below in comments or I’ll edit the post) and could be used for good purposes, but Curtain decided to get power hungry at some point and Milligan confronted him when he discovered Curtain's true intentions. Regardless, all Milligan and Kate know is that he used to work for the bad guys and while it seems very out of character for him to do anything bad, he clearly loves his daughter regardless, and Kate remembers how much he loved her during that time, they still don't know why he was working there. The details on how Kate's mom died when she was a baby are fuzzy too. I'm sure Kate would never think her father would do anything bad, but Milligan is still trying to remember who he is and make up for lost time. He has to wonder why he was working there in the first place and if he ever did bad things or was brainwashed into doing bad things. He might have always been a good father, but that doesn't mean he could have never done anything horrible (Heck, Curtain's a good father every third Thursday of the month, and he's a supervillain). Now to be clear, I don't think the writers would change his character to make him have been a semi-bad guy before the brain sweeping, but Milligan doesn't know that and has to wonder given that the only things he knows about his past are he loves his daughter but also used to work for the man who separated him from her and that’s all he knows about who is he is, and it’s hard to form emotional connections when you don’t even know who you are or what you’ve done. (3) Sticky never got his found family. Well he did, but at least not in the same why the other kids did.

Reynie has Ms. Perumal and her mother. Kate has Milligan. Constance has Benedict, number 2, and Rhonda. Who does sticky have? His aunt and uncle who couldn't even show up for the season finale. So I know Reynie feels cut off from Sticky because he's bonding with his boarding school buddies, but it's boarding school, he lives there and he rarely sees his aunt so it makes sense he'd be excited to be close with his classmates because he doesn't have the same external support outside the group that the other kids have with the adults in their lives. There’s a lot they could do with this but I get the feeling one of these boys could be getting a happiness cure soon and since it was Sticky who gave into the whisper last season, it looks like we might be getting a parallel arc where Reynie goes under this time.

Bonus:

And then there's Reynie, who has no parents and is lovingly adopted, and that’s that. Our basic orphan boy who we all love very much.

And SQ, and honestly, his biological parent's deaths are so obviously suspicious I don't really feel like writing a whole paragraph on it the mystery speaks for itself and it's probably gonna get dragged out at least one more season after this, maybe even two so it's honestly not worth commenting on right now.

#There's a lot in this post again #Sorry #had to get my thoughts out #Constance and Milligan deserve answers #And Sticky deserves a break #And SQ deserves just about everything at this point someone save that boy #milligan wetherall #kate wetherall #sticky washington #constance contraire #ledroptha curtain #sq curtain #sq pedalian #sq benedict #reynie muldoon #the mysterious benedict society #mysterious benedict society #tmbs #tmbs disney #mbs season 2 #mbs s2 #mbs #mbs disney #Ms perumal #mr benedict #nicholas benedict

[outrunningthedark]

The mideseason finale makes me think that knowing who writes/directs an episode does not really factor into whether the episode will be good or bad anymore, except for those who are notoriously bad at their job (*cough*NADIA*cough*). When you (gen.) prioritize making false incentives rather than thinking up a plot, you know your own work is bad. Now I'm not sure if Juan and Bradley being here around midseason premiere will be anything worth celebrating if they're given bad materials from their superiors because let's not mice the words, Andrew's work at 6x08 is terrible.

NGL I'm still mad over KR saying she'd write a musical episode so that she doesn't have to work. This and the clearly deceptive promo picture releases they have been doing is so infuriating. For the record, I'm still blaming Tim for leaving the show under KR's "care," but whether she has always been meant to be a scapegoat from the start or not, it doesn't diminish the fact that she's done an increasingly terrible job.

First, Nadia may not be my favorite writer, but I still think she showed promise in her early episodes.

Pinned had Michael pondering a future where he isn't around for his kids, especially Harry, who was only 10 when Michael's tumor was discovered. Eddie told Chim "Tomorrow isn't promised...so if you love [Maddie], tell her." Which Chimney did. Then Madney were able to work together to save the woman at the restaurant during their date. The ending set up the hostage situation at dispatch, which Nadia also wrote. I don't think many had complaints about that episode unless they don't care for dispatch-centric plots. 9-1-1, What's Your Grievance? had great work all around during the Buckley family "reunion". A mother people wanted to cuss out. A worried sister. A heartbroken son. And there was a bit of humor to be found re: Chim knowing the secret about Daniel and struggling to keep it to himself. Once it got to 4x11 and having to put TayKay front and center...idk, man. The quality went downhill. (Maybe because her strength is writing for Maddie?) The "Josh Begins" story wasn't awful, IMO, but was received poorly because Josh is a secondary character - as in, 'why are we spending time on this guy's background?' - that is *not* loved by everyone. If it was a story about Linda...probably a different reaction because fandom finds her more likeable. (Let's not forget that Kristen helped co-write that one! So she was on board with, if not suggested, Josh getting the spotlight!) The fact that it happened during an episode where BT was unavoidable...not helpful. People focused on that more than anything no matter whether they were applauding TayKay's "good looks" or cursing the show for bringing her back again. (Now that I've got that out of the way...) IA with you that knowing who the writer is/writers are doesn't hold as much weight as in previous seasons. We might be able to get an idea of what an episode will involve, but since Kristen's visions and the fandom's are miles apart, there's no guarantee that the final product will resonate. TBH, though I enjoyed the Eddie and Athena "detective work" the week before in Cursed, having an entire episode dedicated to one character that has no relation to anybody took me out of the story during the original airing. Taylor should have been given more to work with. (Sometimes running an expensive show is the opposite of a good thing. Gotta cut corners whenever possible.)

#anonymous #tina speaks #tv: 911 #tv: 9-1-1

[morganas-pendragons]

TWD 11.17 and 18 

These are going to be brutally honest thoughts. I haven't done one of these in a while, and I haven't seen any generally good thoughts about these two episodes so here we go!

DID ANYONE NOTICE THEY ADDED TO THE TITLE CARDS AND THE THEME?

I don't have the slightest clue what happened at the beginning of Episode 17 but I am 100% here for Sleezy Hornsby getting shot by Daryl

Also, speaking of Sleezy -- His actor is A List, he's done a phenomenal job!

For any of you who keep repeatedly saying that Negan doesn't deserve a redemption arc... very kindly? You're wrong. He's had it, it was executed well, and I'm glad he's gotten a decent arc from Season 9 and 10 (I need to rewatch S11 in entirety before I can say it for this season too)

MERCER *insert drooling emoji here*

I kid you not I went "MOM" as soon as carol appeared on screen

AUNT CAROL?????? *CRIES*

Judith is so big it makes me want to die

I love that little character detail about Carol where she's always thinking three steps ahead of the antagonist for that particular season. It really speaks to her life experience how she's always prepared.

YA'LL COME AFTER JUDITH AND RJ AND YOU WILL BE CATCHING THESE HANDS

JDM is so good at the comedic aspect of Negan

I remember years ago that I desperately wanted to see JDM and MMB on screen together because of the dynamic between Carol and Negan -- and how drastically different they are from one another. THIS ONE DOESN'T DISAPPOINT EITHER

Episode 17 definitely gives me the vibes of if Woodbury had gone wrong, how would it have happened?

there's alot of nice callbacks to previous seasons/characters in this episode, which is really nice. I hope the series finale has this same kind of nostalgia.

also. Melissa? blue. her color. I will now associate every shade of blue with Melissa McBride, no questions asked.

I really, really hope Sebastian gets the crap kicked out of him by everyone

I love the candle light vigil and what it means because it makes sense. All these people find out that the Governor's son is responsible for the deaths of multiple civilians from the community, and they're enraged. They're furious and want blood and I don't blame them.

here's the really ironic part of this episode: it once again showed us that not even a community of 50k is safe inside of these walls because the walkers can still get through

AH, TEAR GAS AT A PEACEFUL EVENT. WONDER WHY THAT'S FAMILIAR?

oh lord all the Caryl scenes are in episode 18 I guess I'm staying up to watch both

This got a solid 7/10 and would've been lower if Judith and Carol weren't in it LOL

Episode 18

WHAT LITTLE GIRL IS DOING THESE VOICE OVERS????

Also first impressions: I find it hilariously stupid that Daryl is questioning Carol playing both sides when she's clearly done this like a million other times????

DARYL GETS TO ACTUALLY DROP THE F BOMB??? WOW

go off my guy Hornsby absolutely deserved getting stabbed through the hand with your MASSIVE knife

I really have an issue with the regression of Carol and Daryl's relationship. That opinion might get its own post.

"You take happiness wherever you can get it, and don't ever be sorry for it." Carol honey I love you but please take your own advice

I love how the camera pans directly to Daryl and Judith as SOON as she walks away from Lydia after saying this

DARYL!! HOLDING!!! RICKS!! GUN!!!!

catch me crying at the ''here it's yours'' BYE I MISS RICK SO MUCH

I think it's interesting how some of the side characters are beginning to find themselves again at Commonwealth and that molds their decision as to whether or not they'll stay or return to the Safe Zone.

Also for you guys who are vehemently against CZ: This scene isn't romantic and has zero romantic implications. After all that happened in S9, I cannot see a world where they'd make an effort to go through this again.

You can really tell Cailey Fleming has grown up from where we saw her in S9 to now. She's been a PHENOMENAL little Judith.

And speaking of Judith -- she really is the embodiment of everything Rick and Michonne stood for, and if she doesn't appear in his spin off to reunite with her father I WILL RIOT

uncle daryl and his little niece makes me weep

uhm.... okay this wrestling scene is.. uh... extremely corny

OH OKAY STEPHANIE AND EUGENE I SEE YOU

I FREAKING KNEW THE WALKERS WERE GOING TO GET IN WHEN FAKE STEPHANIE AND HER FRIEND KILLED THAT CREW WHY IS THIS SHOW SO PREDICTABLE

okay but highkey mercer might be the most attractive man in the commonwealth

THE WAY I CHEERED WHEN EUGENE THREW THAT WALKER AT SEBASTIAN GO OFF MY DUDE GO OFF

okay but imo his death might be the most gruesome/tragic one we've had in.. quite a while

this one was alot better then 17 because it again proves that not even a civilization of fifty thousand people is safe inside of these fortified walls where they get to pretend like the world didn't end and try to live the way they did before. I enjoyed this one much more thoroughly, but not enough Carol. 8/10!

bonus: why does episode 19 look better then 18 and 17 combined

#twd spoilers #twd #darylneedscarol #caryl

[afaimscorner]

The Flash 9x08

You, know, it took only 8 Episodes, but it finally hit me why this season sucks so much. Because when Allegra told Chester that she loved him, my brother joked that Chester will now combust into nothingness and I sayed: “Well, at least that would be interesting. And good for Allegra’s character” and then I realized: “The Flash” was done with Season 8. Season 9 sucks because nothing that is happening in the show anymore is interesting or fun. The most interesting thing this season was the stuff concerning Nia Nal last week, but Nia is not even a “Flash”-Character. The only remotley interesing sub-plots that the shows has are the ones, that are definitly not fun, because they are about real problems that don’t even get resolved.

Take this week, this was the fifth or sixth iteration of the Iris-Sub-Plot, that started in 9x01 and has still not been resolved and frankly can’t be resolved, which is why it is starting to feel so repetitative. Iris’ problem is: “I am not in charge of my life, my life is ruling me instead.” But now that she is pregnant and about to become a mother there is no cure for that, she can only get used to that. Barry can tell her a hundred more times that he will be by her side and he will support her, but that won’t change how she helpless she feels. She might “not regret getting pregnant”, but she is clearly not ready for it and by getting pregnant three months or so before she thought she would, she has lost the last shred of conrtol she felt, she had over her life. And 8 episodes of this plotline in, she still hasn’t figured out why the fact that she has no control but is a victim of a pre-written fate is hitting her so hard, but the reason is very obvious: Because she just spend the last two seasons being trapped in the Mirror Verse and being time sick, one after another. She had no control of her life since Eric Wallace did take over as showrunner and put her throught the ringer non-stop: First she thought Barry was about to die, then Eva got her, then she was responsible for the birth of the Forces, and then she got time sick. And now neither her careere nor her personal life are her own anymore. And feeling her body change just makes her feel helpless all over again. She decided to get pregnant before she got time sick. She thought the time sickness might be a pregnancy, but it was something horrible instead. Now, she is finally cured, only to learn that she only has a couple of month to live the life she wants to live before she gets pregnant, only to get pregnant early. Everyone keeps telling her how her life has to pan out, when she is supposed to get a Pulitzer for what, that she has to sell her company in order to get these Pulitzer etc. Of course she can’t deal. And there is nothing that can change that, only time can heal her, time she won’t get, because there are only five episodes left in this season. A  miscarriage would destroy her, while being pregnant will continue to make her miserable. Why would anyone ever come up which such a storyline?

Same goes for the Jocile-stuff, there is no fix for the situtation the writers put Cecile in.: Either she keeps living apart from her child and the man she loves, or she goes to court and takes Jenna away from Joe, which of course would never happen in this show, even though he is keeping her from her daughter and at the same time her job and her calling by dictating her his terms for how she is supposed to live, which is a way that is not healthy and can’t work out and won’t be fixed by Allegra living with Cecile, because Cecile misses her family, something that won’t go away just because someone else is living in the house with her now. Amd again: Why would someone ever do such a storyline? Yes, Jesse left the show, but since it is the last season and we had various season with less Joe or less Joe/Cecile interaction before, why resolve this issue by doing a storyline, that can not be resovled until the show ends?

And those two are the only interesting sub-plots the show still has to offer. Allegra und Chester have ceased to exist outside their romance with each other, everything around Khione is just the most horrible and annoying stuff that ever happened on the show, and Barry himself is not even there anymore as a character since Episode 2 of this season. He is just going from week to week and solving weekly problems that are not really interesting. The Red Death stuff did not work at all and the most interesting stuff in that storyline went to the guest stars. The same with Nia, she got the meat, the character development, Iris just go a temporary fix, that did not hold for a week.

And fun? They could not even do the comedy episode right, because the plan of the villain did not make a lick of sense. So there went the fun in that one. And Khione is not a funny character, she is just akward in a not-charming way.

It is so clear now, that there never were any plans for Season 9 and they are just improvising from episode to episode. This week, thanks to the lack of Khione, wasn’t even bad, it was just totally uninteresting.

I know, most people think that Episode 9 will be the turning point of the season, but let’s be realistic: there are only five episodes left. If eight are not good, and five episoded are good, it would still be a bad season. But why should the upcoming five episodes be any better then the eight we already got?

Westallen still will not liplock, the interesting storylines will still go to the guest stars, continuitiy will still be ignored, Khione will still drag evey episode she is in down by just being there, Iris and Cecile will still suffer, Mark will be back and fuck up again, and Barry, Allegra and Chester will still act holier-than-thou and will still have nothing going on for themselves outside their romantic lives and the villain of the week. Neither Oliver Queen nor Cobalt Blue will magicially fix this season. Because there are no stories left to be told, that we would actually like to see.

#The Flash #The Flash Season 9 #Partners in Time

[crystalkitty1220]

I posted 3,531 times in 2022

That's 3,412 more posts than 2021!

646 posts created (18%)

2,885 posts reblogged (82%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@leaveyourbodyatthedoor

@rainbow-wreck

@raccoon-in-a-dumpster

@the-morbid-autumn

@andalitean

I tagged 1,130 of my posts in 2022

#ibvs - 69 posts (nice)

#we stan louis lopez in this household - 34 posts (we do!!)

#sims esibvs shitposts - 16 posts

#animorphs - 14 posts

#:o - 14 posts (:o)

#i think i'm gonna start an art tag - 13 posts

#drew jovel - 9 posts

#nevin jovel - 8 posts

#isaac beamer versus the supernatural - 8 posts

#justin carter - 6 posts (NOT EVEN LOUIS HAFDHSH)

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i know the easy answer is ''nobody knew about louis' wizard powers before season two and he might just not know the girls summoned demons''

(I don't even remember what that theory was about)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

(this was the long chris one i edited it out because its long)

44 notes - Posted November 14, 2022

#4

I think the Barbie movies are the reason I love fairy wings so much.

I mean, like,

Look at Mariposa!!! Whoever designed the wings clearly knew what they were doing here. They are so pretty and sparkly and I love them.

See the full post

75 notes - Posted April 22, 2022

#3

"How does the daycare attendant's clothes change color"

147 notes - Posted January 21, 2022

#2

Yo big shout out to this random dude in book 46

(Animorphs #46 The Journey by K.A. Applegate)

178 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Someone please tell me there's a Danny Phantom fic where Wes Weston dies at some point, but his obsession is proving that Fenton is Phantom, so he just comes back as a ghost like "I'M NOT DONE HERE". And Danny's just like "oh. well, looks like you got better :) you had me worried there bud"

520 notes - Posted May 14, 2022

(I still get notes on that one. Make it stop. /j)

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[themultiverseofmarvel]

Ranking Every Episode Of Marvel Studios' 'What If...?'

(updated weekly, be sure to check back next week!)

Only two episodes remain of Marvel Studios' What If...? Here is a little sneak peek of what is to come...

Here is every episode of What If...? ranked so far...

#7: What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark

While it was great to hear Michael B. Jordan and Andy Serkis reprise their roles of Killmonger and Ulysses Klau, this felt like a story we really didn’t need to see. It’s the only episode of the show so far where I was genuinely bored at times, and it ultimately seemed pointless and ended up feeling like a more convoluted way for Erik Killmonger to achieve the same as what he did in Black Panther. Just when What If…? needed to step things up a gear, this episode actually held it back.

6/10

#6: What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?

Although the episode had some fun action sequences, this episode really didn’t have much going for it. But perhaps that might have been by design? It was always going to be jarring seeing characters we know and love in animated form, but this episode was basically a retread of something we'd seen before and had some wildly inconsistent voice acting. It felt like it was just introducing us to the What If...? concept.

Not terrible, but it wasn't the best start.

6/10

#5: What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

The key to writing a good murder mystery is giving viewers just enough clues so that they can try and play along. Whilst this episode was fun (and pretty good to be fair) the payoff was slightly underwhelming because it came out of nowhere.

7/10

#4: What If... Zombies?!

Marvel Zombies is something that I, along with many others, have been hoping to see on the screen for many years. Whilst it's not entirely accurate to the comic book version, the 5th episode of What If...? was a fun and surprisingly heartwarming entry to the series. We got to see Hope van Dyne be the Avengers leader she should have been from the start, we got to see characters like Kurt actually get something to do, and we got to see a Futurama-esque version of Scott Lang, which was particularly silly.

This was one of the most gruesome entries of the MCU so far and left us with a twist that I hope we get to revisit in Season 2.

8/10

#3: What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?

How good was it to hear Chadwick Boseman's voice again? After the slightly underwhelming first episode, What If...?'s second instalment provided us with a fun adventure, giving us a version of T'Challa we hadn't seen before, whilst also giving us fresh takes of The Collector and Thanos. We're still waiting to see what will happen after that finale with Ego and Star-Lord. Fingers crossed we'll find out what happens before the end of Season 1!

8/10

#2: What If... Thor Were an Only Child?

By the far the silliest episode of What If...? so far, this episode had me giggling like a child. A lot of the humour throughout the show has been more eye-rolling rather than chuckle-worthy, but Chris Hemsworth was clearly having a blast whilst recording this episode, which in turn made it a hugely enjoyable entry to the series. I couldn't help but laugh at his high-pitched squeals every time he was punched by Captain Marvel.

Considering What If...? is an animated show, and assumedly intended for children, it has delivered some of the MCU's darkest tales to date, so it was nice to have an episode that explored what it is like to be a teenager (even if you are a literal god) and the consequences of throwing a house party when your parents are away for the weekend.

Good silly fun.

8/10

#1: What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

This was the first truly great episode of What If...? and the darkest thing Marvel Studios have ever done, with Benedict Cumberbatch delivering his best performance in the MCU to date. Watching this, it's hard not to wish that Marvel and Disney would take risks as bold as this in their feature films and it proved that they can deliver more mature and darker content alongside the sillier entries such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man.

Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. We only have to wait until February to find out.

9/10

What's been your favourite episode of What If...? so far? Let us know!

#marvel #what if #doctor strange #captain carter #marvel what if #antman #hank pym #yellowjacket #zombies #hope van dyne #scott lang #spiderman #peter parker #t'challa #black panther #star-lord #the collector #thanos #nick fury #killmonger #erik killmonger #michael b jordan