#I also had it in my mind that I didn’t like s2 because the war cast a grim shadow over it all but I actually liked the rewatch

[agerefandom]

A Good Omens S2 Review

Hello everyone! I lied and watched the new season of Good Omens and because I have thoughts on it, I thought I'd write a little review. This is from the perspective of someone who was a book fan for over a decade before the show came out, so it is quite critical of the show, so please keep that in mind! I expect that it's much more enjoyable for folks who didn't spend so long invested in a different version of the characters.

Short/Spoiler-Free: Season two was a fun time with excellent new characters, but the finale sets them up for a disastrous third season, and making Crowley and Aziraphale the main characters really does dilute the original message of the novel.

The rest of the review contains spoilers and is over 1,300 words because I was an English major in Uni. Carry on for those curious!

Let’s start off with the things that I liked about the show!

1.The actors for Crowley and Aziraphale are continuing to kill it with their performances: the physicality they bring to their characters is a delight, their timing in the comedy sections is impeccable, and I enjoy watching them do their thing.

2. Gabriel as a comedy relief character was amazing for me. I usually don’t enjoy comedy (and didn’t enjoy a single joke in the flashback scenes, but that’s entirely my fault probably for not liking humorous TV) but Gabriel really did tickle me.

3. Loved the terrifying Jane Austen ball where Aziraphale just messed around with everyone’s brains! Very chilling show of angelic power, potentially wasn’t played as horrific as it could have been, but still very nice! I like when Aziraphale is scary.

4. Muriel is my child and I love them with my entire heart. They were a delight of a character. Really brought new life to the show, and a new person to learn the message of the book (humanity as divinity). (Although the second season didn't really... carry that lesson for Muriel or for anyone else, so never mind that.)

5. The new human characters were also enjoyable and very sweet. Their dynamic was believable and real and that was good to see.

6. The writers really did just decide to make every side character gay and half of them use they/them pronouns. I have mixed opinions on it, but ultimately I did think it was a lovely little detail, especially with the angels/demons who are more separate from human genders.

Okay, now let’s get into the rest of things.

I think my overall conclusion from this season is that Crowley and Aziraphale were not, at all, made to be main characters. Even in the first season, I felt that they overemphasized them. In the book, the focus is split between them and the larger plot, with lots of little side vignettes to make sure the reader is kept grounded on Earth, with the humans, who are the emotional centre of the book. Aziraphale and Crowley play as foils to human nature in Adam and they are not the main characters, though they are, of course, the main marketing force.

Making them the main characters, especially in Season Two, meant dropping a lot of their character progress and giving them a lot more angst than they had in the novel. Both of them feel very young, where in the book they definitely seem more like they’ve been around for several millennia. I also feel that they aren’t totally allowed to be as fucked up as they were in the book? (Maybe that’s just a personal vendetta: I am furious that Season One took out the scene where Aziraphale kills his magician’s dove out of carelessness.)

Okay, two small things and then I’ll get to the finale.

First of all, interesting to get confirmation that Crowley was in the war on Heaven and actually took up arms? Feels contradictory to his ‘demon who sauntered vaguely downward’ description and also odd to his character that he would have fought directly against Heaven but I imagine that’s building to some other twist involving Crowley’s Fall in Season Three, so I’ll let it go for now. (I still think it makes show!Crowley very different from book!Crowley though)

Gabriel and Beelzebub were a very nice thing, although underdeveloped. It made me sad to see that they, as newly appointed side characters, can have a simple relationship, while Aziraphale and Crowley are now main characters and therefore need a more tumultuous and dynamic relationship that they didn’t have in the book, where they were actually relatively solid.

Now let’s go for finale time.

Ultimately, I absolutely hated two key things about the finale.

First of all, the kiss. I’m not sure if it was a direct response to the harassment about S1 being queerbaiting or if it was always the plan to have an explicitly physical relationship between the two, but I’m so mad about it either way. It just accepts the narrative that a physical relationship is the only stable one (ie. if Aziraphale had kissed Crowley back, it would have fixed everything and they could have been together). I also don’t really want my Good Omens show to be a religiously charged commentary on queer love, which it immediately became, especially with Aziraphale’s immediate response being “I forgive you,” which highlighted everything I didn’t want Good Omens to become.

Framing the kiss immediately as a sin is such a bad move, I don’t know what the writers were thinking??? Emphasizing that Aziraphale is an angel and however much he can want Crowley by his side, he can’t kiss him because he’s an angel and kissing is… something that needs to be forgiven?

However the line was supposed to be read, it really seemed like a religious condemnation and it hurt more than I care to admit. Aziraphale in the books is so comfortable with his perceived queerness, and his recoiling from it here with Crowley at the point where it becomes explicit… I didn’t care for it.

And secondly, the promotion.

That was so stupid on so many levels. My partner said that it wasn’t in character, since Aziraphale is not an ambitious angel and seems like someone who would turn tail and run from a promotion. I can’t say I remember his relationship with ambition in the books, but I respect and trust my partner’s opinion on that.

More importantly to me, it entirely muddies the message of the story and it reflects very darkly on what season three will involve.

Good Omens was never about ‘fixing’ Heaven or Hell. It was about honouring humanity as the truly divine mix of both, about not allowing them to end the Earth, and about finding a small place for yourself to live: a bookshop, a garden, a cottage, a town.

Aziraphale choosing to go and reform Heaven totally turns that on its head: now there is no ending for the show without either abandoning or fixing Heaven, and how is that going to work?? You can’t turn angels into an anarchy because it’s very clear they have no real natural inclination to ‘goodness’ but neither can you truly save Heaven, because what are you going to do? Declare that there’s no more cancer for young children? No more evil in the world? God has designed the world with evil in it, and there’s no rewriting that. Suddenly Good Omens has to grapple with what was once ineffable and almost unimportant to the lives of the characters: the true purpose of Heaven and Hell.

I have absolutely no faith in almost any TV show to tackle that question (The Good Place gets a minor pass), and no interest in watching the story be told through Aziraphale and Crowley, who have always been more grounded characters in a world of too much divine bureaucracy.

On the note of divine bureaucracy, I felt like it was lacking from the flashback scenes. While I enjoyed them overall and really appreciated some of my favourite book moments finally being adapted on-screen, they didn’t really address the paperwork they were covering for each other: seemed more like the two of them running around having almost random adventures, whereas in the novel they were often doing each other’s temptations and salvations in a much more ‘oh, check that off the list and write a progress report to the supervisor’ kind of way.

Again, this is because Aziraphale and Crowley have been made into Main Characters and their place as subordinates is now unimportant. They are making Big Decisions and causing changes in the world, and I truly don’t believe that’s what Aziraphale and Crowley were made to be. They were just an angel and a demon who tried to solve the apocalypse and didn’t end up doing anything because the anti-christ was a little too human for the whole plan to work in the first place.

And I miss them.

#good omens critical #hark i say nothing #not agere #on one hand i don't want to use main tags #but on the other hand i want blacklists to catch it?? #so i shall babble in the tags #in the hopes that the main tags will be far enough down #that it won't show up in the actual tag #good omens 2

[hayleythesugarbowl]

Hey, would you consider writing headcanons for Thomas Barrow if he had a teen sister reader? Similar to the being friends with one. Maybe about their home lives before Thomas was employed at Downton, their relationship, when Thomas went to war, and if (when old enough) sister reader joins her brother at works at Downton.

Also, loved the Thomas Barrow series! It was so sweet and very well written 😁

Would really appreciate it! Don’t worry if not! Xx

thomas barrow & teen!sister!reader headcanons

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • thomas barrow masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

a/n: thank you so much for this request!! thomas is actually my roman empire and I love writing for him. I’m currently in s2 in my rewatch and I’m in love with him all over again. anyways I’m so glad you liked my thomas series that makes me so happy and i hope you enjoy this too <3 also I don’t usually add cuts for my headcanons but these ended up being rather long so read them after the cut !! 🍒💋

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

being thomas’s teen sister would include…

ok so…

thomas definitely read to you when you were to little to read on your own

he once scared you so much that you were sure you were going to get eaten by the monster in the wardrobe 

and he had to sleep with you in your room for a week after that

as you got older he became so freaking protective of you 

he would take the blame for your mistakes

and secretly pass you all his desserts

he would tell you everything that he wouldn’t tell anyone else

like how he wasn’t interested in any of the girls in your village

when he went off to work at downtown you cried for days 

and he looked away as he left so you couldn’t tell that so did he

he would write to you every week 

so much so that—

“fancy that, thomas has a sweetheart”

“well there’d be a first, no he’s writing to that sister he’s so fond of”

“oh leave off, o’brien, i can write to whoever i like”

he would try to hide his troubles from you in his letters but you could always tell that something was the matter

when you got the news that he had to go to war, you couldn’t eat or sleep for weeks not knowing what was happening to him 

and amongst his prayers to live every night he prayed you were safe at home 

when he was taken off the front lines and sent to be a medic at the hospital you were so relieved that you convinced your parents to let you go visit him

you gave him the biggest hug of his life and he didn’t let you go

when you became old enough and expressed your interest thomas got you a job at downton as a maid

he probably got some other maid fired in order to do it but we just won’t talk about that 

anyways once you got there he made it his job to teach you everything you’d need to know 

and make sure you were taken care of

all of the other servants loved you from the moment they met you

mostly because thomas is a different person when you’re around 

“i’m sure thomas’ll find some way to scheme his way out of it and make me look like the fool”

“not anymore, he’s gone soft now hasn’t he? what with that sister of his around. rubs off on him, i reckon”

you become close friends with Anna 

and, when she begins working there, Baxter, who you’ve known since you were a kid

you two definitely complain about and tease Thomas much to his dismay

he’s totally walked in on you telling a story about him from childhood and had to endure teasing for weeks 

“…and his britches just ripped right down the center.”

he always, after much pestering on your part, confides in you about everything 

(jimmy, his job, richard, guy) 

and values your ‘young, bright opinions’

you made him mittens once and he wears them whenever he can 

even though they ‘itch like the devil’

one time one of the footmen showed interest in you and thomas went full older brother mode on him 

and you assured him you you didn’t need his protection 

until he jilted you and you let thomas give him a piece of his mind and hold you while you cried 

you read the papers together and you love hearing his commentary on everything going on in the world

if something’s bothering you he’ll get it out of you one way or another 

“go on, (y/n), you can tell your brother thomas”

and he actually gives really good advice

he recognizes how he doesn’t know how he’d go on without you sometimes

and how even when no one was there for him you were 

thomas just cares for you so much 

and (even though he’d never admit it) loves you more than anyone or anything else in this world 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ hope you enjoyed this!! have a lovely day babes <3🩰🪐

#thomas barrow x reader #thomas barrow x teen!sister!reader #thomas barrow #downton abbey #downton abbey x reader #x reader #reader insert #fanfiction #fanfic #headcanon

[aphroditelovesu]

I watched the house of the dragon trailer and I was so excited and I also saw the poster and I couldn’t contain my excitement so I hope you don’t mind me sharing my excitement and asking your opinion. I saw the poster first thing like I don’t know when exactly but I was kind of disappointed but also the same time excited and happy because I have read the books. Well, I am reading them currently I’m not done with yet I haven’t finished, but I read the dance of the dragons. And the poster it like disregards Aegon and put Alicent when they’re supposed to put Aegon because the war is not about Alicent in the books this relationship never existed. There was no one single rumor that suggests that they were friends and there is a big age difference I think Rhaenyra was eight or nine and Alicent was like 16 years old that’s a big age difference so I don’t know how they would’ve been friends. So why center the whole show about them it’s not about that relationship it’s between brother and a sister and if you are a nerd of history, you would know that this whole situation comes from a historical event called the war of the roses. if I remember correctly. So I didn’t like that part of disregarding, Aegon. but I feel like they’re changing too much, but one thing that I have noticed and was happy about is that Rhaenyra is wearing like Dragon riding clothes which you got me really excited because in the books she really does not use her dragon at all except for flying to kingslanding but never in war, like there was never a war battle or a dragon battle recorded, so I actually think that this was a good thing I actually want her to fight not to be a bystander because this is her war. So I can’t wait to see if she’s going to have a dragon battle or use her dragon in a battle that would be cool, and another evidence to my theory of her, using her dragon in a dragon battle is in the poster. Her clothes are burnt, so the only thing that makes sense is that they’re burned from dragon flame. And I watched the trailer my poor two Queens Helena and Rhaenyra broke my heart sing them in the state I want to hug them both. But the rest of the trailer was so exciting. And I loved the scene where she was wearing the crown that reminds me so much of book Rhaenyra so yeah, what are your ideas about it?

I understand your anger, anon.

They changed a lot of things from the books to the series, I think that's why it should really be an adaptation. I agree that the main focus should be on Rhaenyra and Aegon, considering that they are vying for the Throne, but the biggest power behind Aegon is Alicent and Otto (and maybe Criston) and definitely Aemond, I think that must be why they gave her more prominence than Aegon.

It's a fact that Rhaenyra and Alicent were never friends, or close. Both have always had a rivalry and some striking features of the books were well-manicured in order to make them more toned down, I think. Rhaenyra and Alicent are much more cruel in the books, but perhaps now in S2 this will be shown. Especially after Lucerys' death.

One thing I liked was that, the fact that Rhaenyra was more active in the war, because in the books she is not. Her scene with Syrax took me by surprise and I can't wait to see it all!

I mean, look at that woman's look of fury and grief. Blood will definitely be spilled and I can't wait to see the conflicts begin!

My Black Queen...

~ Lady L

#ask #house of the dragon #hotd

[blueikeproductions]

So some EarthSpark stuff has trickled out lately that eludes to one thing I’m concerned about: more Terrans & sexuality.

So first off, a leak states Hashtag will come out as gay.

I have no idea why this is a big revelation when her first major gag coming online was fabricating a ship fic scenario of her and Skywarp being “really close friends” to fool Mandroid into thinking she was a Decepticon. It was pretty obvious she was gay for Skywarp.

So this leads into another problem… if they’re leaning into a scenario where the Terrans want to start dating… who are they supposed to be with?

It can’t be with each other romantically, and it can’t be with the older Autobots and Decepticons. If they do the later do you guys REALLY want this to be on Fox News again? Cyclonus & Tailgate just barely skirts an age difference, but still has imagery of Tailgate as a child and Cyclonus as a parent despite their romantic relationship, which is super creepy and I hope beyond hope that wasn’t intentional, and then you have Arcee & Aileron which is also a huge no from me because of how left field it was coupled with the age gap.

The Terrans, like the Armada Mini-Cons and Prime Predacons, flip flop between being a species and being a sub faction. Thus far there are only five, and they’re all Maltos. More Terrans can’t possibly mean more Maltos, that can only go so far, I don’t care if there’s an adoption metaphor here, nobody in their right mind in this economy wants 12+ kids like the various Cheaper By The Dozen films and related plots. The Terrans have to start standing as their own in some capacity which leads to the other leaks.

We’ve known for awhile there’s a new character called Aftermath, and now new toy leaks show another new character called Spitfire. So it seems the idea going by names alone is in the aftermath of Mandroid’s actions a new generation of Terrans come online, but who they are still isn’t clear. But this feeds into the dating idea. If these are separate non-Malto Terrans, and they want to give Hashtag a girlfriend, this is the way to do it. We’ll just assume Spitfire is the one for now because I don’t think Aftermath would fit. Until we know more, my assumption is Aftermath is the corrupt leader of a new generation of Terran and Spitfire is one of their subordinates. They’re ideally the tonal opposites of the Maltobots, a barely functioning as a group Decepticon analogue with Hashtag and her future girlfriend being the Silverbolt & BlackArachnia analog ala Beast Wars.

But even with Catt gone, and her best (and seemingly only) idea for S2 had she remained was bringing back Trans Arcee, when even IDW removed themselves of that train wreck in their reboot, and Hasbro via Skybound let Arcee be with Ratchet, we can only hope instead there’s a Heartstopper style running thread in Hashtag getting the girl, because that would be cute, but only if it’s handled well. I consider Heartstopper the gold standard of earnest and organic chemistry and relationship relatability that most other stuff struggles with. Make Hashtag & her girlfriend a blend of Charlie & Nick spliced with Silverbolt & BlackArachnia and you will go far, I guarantee.

(Also so it’s not misconstrued, a Trans Terran, Autobot or Decepticon can work, but we all know IDW Arcee was the result of an ambitious but heavily, HEAVILY flawed idea that became way too overcorrected until the very end. Anode is better because she didn’t have the baggage, but she was also annoying and preachy so not exactly what I consider great rep. Where’s the Elle Argent for Transformers EarthSpark? She’s fun because she gets to be a character! I like it better when characters get to be characters, and not have their LGBT trait be their only trait. It’s why I think Nightshade didn’t resonate because the staff didn’t focus nearly enough on their hobbies and interests and instead focused a lil’ too much on their NB status which became an unfortunate deterrent. Where’s the episode where Nightshade goes to a comic convention in Beast Mode with Sam, and guests just think they’re an elaborate cosplayer? That could be fun! As for a Trans robot, I don’t know who that would be in terms of preexisting characters but I had a little joke if they were a car about how they explain themselves briefly as having used to be a stick shift until they got an overhaul, and finally got into first gear.)

#blueike productions #blueike #transformers earthspark #maccadam

[nosolaceofastraightanswer]

hello everyone!! i'm the person who ran the TUA color polls for each of the seven siblings over the last few weeks. sorry it took so long but i'm here with results! i'm going to have charts first because they are flashy, easy to look at an understand, and also won't make the post too long above the keep reading :DD without further ado, the results of the poll: "Which color do you associate with [Hargreeves]?" !!

[keep in mind that the labels are above the charts, and viktor's may be hard to read because the chart maker i used only had a white background- same if you're on dark mode i apologize]

analysis and words under here if you're interested lol :D it’s basically me just rambling for WAY TOO LONG about analysis lmao

okay so going into this, my hypothesis was that everyone’s colors were more or less determined by their s2 outfits. the fashion was iconic and stood out a lot, so it was very likely to stick in people’s brains.

my personal choices in order of siblings are: blue, orange, yellow, pink, green, red, and blue again. i chose green for five because of like.. chalkboards? i feel like he gives the green vibes y’a know? for the rest it was mostly determined by outfits and vibes etc.

but i’m sure nobody wants to hear me talk about my own opinions for too long [afterall, i didn’t even vote in the polls to keep them unbiased as possible] so here’s my analysis of YOUR choices

blue green and yellow were all the top choices for luther, which makes sense to me. blue ended up winning. they’re all generally cooler colors. when i think of luther i think of less stand-out colors, something solid and steady. blue is the most popular favorite color. it has a lot of range, just like luther. he wears it a lot throughout the seasons. blue is associated (not to bring color theory onto the color theory website or anything) with a feeling of sadness, and also responsibility. i really see him as a very tragic character tbh, à la s1 characterization.

diego was surprising to me, because even though my prediction of orange was correct there was a large amount of black in play. red was third after that. i don’t see it as that surprising considering his outfit from s1 lmao. let’s be honest they’re all emo anyways. red and orange are both associated with fire. diego probably would do arson if he thought he was doing the right thing. red is very agressive of a color, but orange is seen as a little less in your face. it can represent change too. but all in all, i think that it was chosen most often because of his orange and black polka dot shirt from s2. slay ig

allison was surprising to me at first, because i didn’t expect so much purple. i think that the pink might be because she’s a girl though. the red is what confused me the most. i would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts because i’m honestly not sure. @creepy-not-crawly (❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️) was talking with me about the polls, and said this about allison having yellow win:

purple is associated with royalty and we all know she’s a queen. ofc, yellow won. we ALL remember that dress from s2. she’s also fairly optimistic for the first two seasons, and s3 largely revolves around her trying to force herself to be happy. yellow is associated with happy, and she was happy when she was with ray and trying to get it back s3. i have a post about the whole tone fuck up from s2/s3 here X so read that if you want!!

alright klaus. green came out (haha get it) in first and i think this one was essentially due to the association of ghosts and supernatural things in general with green. it’s SPOOOOOKY you know? it’s represents change and growth. the guy is trying. also the military is associated with green uniforms (at least in the US), so it can be easily linked back to the vietnam war incident from s1 and his connection to dave.

five had the most votes and it ended up with the closest results to one color taking half the pie. blue won, and red and black followed. i think for the red, it might be because of the metaphorical and literal blood on his hands. as far as i can tell, his powers- some of the most distinctly colored in the show- were a major factor: (credit to @dead-peppermint and @the-time-travelers-admirer in that order)

and his iconic uniform is mentioned as well. (thank god the old man got a change of clothes in s3, manifesting for s4) blue represents responsibility and we all know he has so much on his shoulders (insert joke about how hunched over he was s3 because aiden gallagher has been aging over these past 5 crazy years but he’s supposed to be playing a 13 y o boy). blue is also associated with calm- the man needs some calm in his life, à la that one part of s3. and last of all, sadness. i think most of us remember “HE’S LOVED THEM FOR LONGER THAN THEY’VE BEEN ALIVE” (link post cus i can’t find it) and he spent so long mourning his family, and is probably still mourning them.

og ben is probably the most underrated character imo, so i was excited for this one. i predicted red because of that one scene (UGHHH SO TRAGIC) when he was a kid and covered in blood like “can i go home now” (🥺). my dear mutual @/deadpeppermint from before left these thoughts:

blue and purple tied for first, with red and black in second. honestly the leather jacket? hoodie? thing? and generally emo vibe really lent itself to that lmao. i think purple and blue are also really good colors for him, because he is a king and also responsible as heck (or at least, he tries in comparison). i’m still crying over how he left in s2 ISTG BRING HIM BACKKKK (srsly tho line i want to make a post about his absence affected s3 ughfhfhfhfhfhh) but that brings us back to blue meaning sadness, and oh my lord does this boy represent grief!!! he’s soooooo <3

and finally omg we are at viktor! this graph is fucking hilarious to look at because it just looks empty. the white violin had an association with color, and you could NEVER GUESS which one (sarcasm). i actually forgot about this next was blue, and i think it’s cute that blue was on top three, even top two for 5 6 7. and the. @/deadpeppermint once again with thoughts:

SO TRUE!!

sorry for all of the errors i'm losing my mind.

anyways if anyone (unlikely lmao) has actually read this, or even scrolled down- hi! also goddamn! i hope someone enjoys this post because i have literally postponed so many projects for this weird little side thing. MMMMM DATA. i would make some kind of conclusion, but i'm damn tired and i think that my whole hypothesis kind of worked out! TYSM TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED!! and the people who left thing in the tags or talked to me about it? A MILLION LOVE FOREVER

i plan on doing more analysis in the future, but this is kind of dipping my toe in with a more fandom centered analysis. also! shameless self promotion! this whole thing started because i made a little animatic? thing? and started wondering about the colors because i ended up assigning them. CHECK IT OUT HERE X SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON MR BEAST TIKTOK FORTNITE. anyway. i literally have two other things that have been done for a while which i'll be posting in due time. if anyone is wondering why i haven't been posting art (idk, maybe?) it's because i was holding off on this crazy monster of a post! i'm really excited to make animatics because the music bro it's got me ITS GOT ME THIS DAMN SHOW. i am a self taught beginner artist tho, so i mean be ready for that. (that makes me sound so pretentious STOPP) anyways here! 🎩👑👒🧢 swaggy hats and a 🦉🦋🐞🐠🪿🦜🐁🦔 lil guy to go with it! 🥰🫵 see ya besties ily. i am so ill.

#tua #writingastraightanswer #tuacolorpoll #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #five hargreeves #ben hargreeves #viktor hargreeves #the umbrella academy #guys help me please #holy shit this took me so long #idec anymore i have to get this out

[raayllum]

I feel like the owl house fandom takes things way too srsly esp with ships and preferences on characters. idk I love hunter and amity's backstory and I love luz but I'm more interested in hunter and amity's backstory that doesn't make me racist their storylines are more interesting

So this probably won't be what you expected or asked for but I'm grabbing the opportunity anyway to address some of the ways I think TOH falters from a Storytelling perspective and why I think those issues (as well as how young a lot of the fans are, although when I was 11-13 in fandom I was much more chill and "live and let live" so just shows what a decade can do in terms of fan community) unintentionally perpetuate some of what you mention.

Also don't think you're racist for preferring Amity and Hunter (Hunter, Gus, and Luz are my faves) but I do think TOH has some issues with how it handles its characters of colour, so I am going to touch on that. While I'm white. this is reflected on / verbatim from conversations I've had with Black and Asian friends / fans of the show and how racial stuff can tend to play out in fandom (circa 2013 onwards from personal experience of how people have treated fave characters, like Finn from Star Wars, in the past).

That said, I do still like the show. I love the strong found family, everything surrounding Eda and her allegories for mental health are super solid and important, I'm thrilled by the queer rep (I’m queer & watched Korrasami happen live), and I don't think a show has to be perfect or to check off my personal preference to be good. But I do think the show is... an interesting mixed bag for a few key reasons I haven't seen anyone talk about, so here they are.

Under a read more bc this gets long, like, real long, even though there’s only four things on this freaking list, LMAO. For whoever reads it, have fun!

1. The Owl House writes like first impressions don't matter.

This is one of the biggest things in the show that breaks elements of setup + payoff. After all, if your setup is misleading or unaddressed by payoff later, characters and plot lines may come across as stilted. This also ties into other areas (such as screentime) that I'll touch on later.

By far the character who has broken setup the most, though, is Amity. For example, Amity is introduced as someone who has bullied Willow for years, even when no one else is around (i.e. it's not a pure performance), and even though they used to be friends when they were young. Their friendship fall out / Amity distancing herself from Willow is explained by Amity being forced to by her parents, and understandably struggling with how to deal with and explain it as a child.

I haven't seen the last few episodes of S2 (aka I got up to "Hollow Mind") and I was disappointed in S2A when it seemed like this plot element would never be addressed again. So I was very pleased to learn that there is an episode in S2B that talks about their friendship. Except... it doesn't address the bullying. Because yes, Amity tried to protect Willow by distancing herself... but Amity also didn’t need to Bully Willow, like, at all. Not within the confines of the story and not within the landscape of the character; her parents didn’t tell her to be cruel to Willow. She chose to do that. Repeatedly. And that facet of their bond... has never been adequately addressed. It could be, in the future (but I personally doubt it). 

It’s particularly strange, because Luz was 1) canonically bullied in the human realm and 2) perpetually struggled at making friends. It makes sense that she’d be extra against bullies and protective over the friends she does have, and wanting to see real change before bonding with a practical stranger (even if Amity did show a slightly nicer side at the end of “Covention,” it wasn’t an even ratio whatsoever, either of her niceness or Luz’s meanness). But we’ll circle back to this. 

We see this issue of initially bad behaviour being overruled, sometimes retconned, or ignored to the point of being rewritten a few more times in the series. 

The one that ties into Amity’s character are her siblings. In their debut episode, they have plans to share private pages of their little sister’s diary. This is mentioned in another episode as something they’re trying to make up for, but they weren’t there when shit hit the fan at the library, anyway. So we never see 1) why they were going to be so cruel to Amity in the first place (and I have siblings myself, so no, it’s not a sibling thing, or just a sibling thing), 2) what exactly made them change their mind, and 3) this type of behaviour never reappears or is addressed in the show, either. While Luz gets called a bully for it, the twins get off basically scot free. Yes, they’re obviously affected by their mother, too, but there’s never even a whiff or a hint about why they felt the need to humiliate Amity on a public scale besides thinking she was uptight. 

We see this one more time with Darius, which was the most baffling and completely jarred me the first time I watched it. Darius was being cruel and dismissive to Hunter, but warms up when he realizes the kid does have a spine and will stand up for what he believes this. This is not the heart warming moment or message the show seems to think it is. All I heard and saw was an adult going “Oh, this kid is too indoctrinated and abused to be worthwhile until he proves otherwise, I’ll treat him like trash and ignore that I’m exacerbating his symptoms of abuse until then.” And no matter what comes latter, this is a downright weird set up, emotionally. 

I’m not saying that none of these characters can be set up this way, but the introduction and how different they are in all other preceding episodes — or even when information is given to re-contextualize certain things — feels like whiplash. So the setup is a little weird, making pay off either non existent or unnecessary. This stumbling block makes the emotional continuity feel disjointed too, in some aspects. The way this affects emotional continuity can best be seen in Gus, Willow, and Luz’s friendship — but again, more that later.

As for set up and pay off, it can lead to missed opportunities, namely: why the hell was Amity Lilith’s protege in Convention? Again, not saying the show is bad or this is a bad writing choice, but it’s a weird one. I remember watching that episode, seeing Amity be introduced as Lilith’s pseudo apprentice, and being excited. It meant Lilith-Eda, Luz-Amity, and possibly the two menor-mentee relationships could all be developed simultaneously! It’d be interesting to see the parallels and differences.

At the very least, it would give a personal stake to Amity and Luz’s possible developing bond, with Lilith at the very least going to disapprove, and give Amity and Luz a chance to compete against each other and to see that progression.

Then it was never addressed again. And it wasn’t set up as a “one day thing” either. It seems that Lilith possibly tutored Amity for months, maybe even years, for Amity to be considered her “strongest protege” (exact line). So we miss out on that possible, episodic but still connected plot line (especially because after Convention, we never see Amity caring a whole lot about actual school, even though that as her whole thing in her intro and second episode). Then, even when Amity and Lilith are back on the same side (imagine how interesting exploring that fracturing could’ve been!) they... never interact, never mention, and never act like they know each other.

They’re two characters with the same theme and similar arcs split down the middle, have an interesting setup, and it goes.... Nowhere.

Because first impressions don’t matter in the show, which is particularly weird, as typically 1) what you set up in the very beginning of the show is what you want the audience to be invested in, and 2) the audience is going to / has to pay more attention in the beginning of a show because they’re actively trying to learn the rules of the world and character dynamics / personalities. 

And it’s not the only time TOH does this, so let’s talk about

2. Screentime, Race, and Chosen Diaspora

Specifically that Gus and Willow barely get any, and how this ties into race. So I’ve touched on this before in an article I wrote on Vocal where I share meta-adjacent stuff that doesn’t fit my tumblr vibe, so if for some reason this is your thing, they may be other stuff you enjoy on there, whatever. I’m not gonna repeat myself too much here, but basically: 

The majority of the Owl House cast is white, particularly when it comes to who matters in the plot. Eda, Lilith, and their family are all white. Hooty and King exist in what we’re going to call an aracial space, as they don’t have race and aren’t coded as any particular thing, either; just tried and true demons. Hunter is white; Belos is white. Gus and Willow are regulated to background characters and most of the time when Willow is being developed as a character (“Understanding Willow,” “Any Sport in a Storm”) it’s typically also used to further a white character’s growth of... learning to treat her better? Gus fares a bit better, but gets less screentime. 

So not only is Luz the only primary character of colour, she’s largely cut off in forming meaningful relationships with other characters of colour, and having those bonds highlighted and given strong screen time (as thus far in S2, every time Gus and Willow have gotten significant screentime, it’s been largely removed from Luz, with her often doing something else with Amity). Remember when “Star Wars: Rogue One” came out, and there were discussions being had of “a lone woman only having meaningful relationships with men and no other women”? 

[ Side note: as for the first point, I’m not going to say things I love, like TDP, don’t fall into the “woman surrounded by men” trope for its two main female leads, as Rayla is friends with the boys and was raised by her dads, and Claudia’s primary relationships are also with other men. However, I believe this is mitigated with plot lines like Ellis and Lujanne in S1, as well as Janai-Amaya-Khessa in S2 and particularly in S3, and I think this will only continue to grow moving forward into S4 and beyond ] 

At the same time as Rogue One, there were conversations regarding the films status of “people of colour purely as the supporting cast but never as the primary lead”? TOH meets in as a weird hybrid in the middle, with a person of colour as the main lead, but largely surrounded by white people — and this is the case for most characters in the show.

Raine’s main relationship is with Eda. Darius is in the rebellion with them, but his only meaningful relationship on screen in any way is really with Hunter and the past golden guards. Gus and Willow are mostly side characters. We basically never see their families/parents (and know far more about the Blights / Edric and Emira in every way. Gus and Willow ultimately don’t get the time with Luz for me to call their relationship meaningful. This is especially strange, given that often times kids who are bullied (like all three of them are) cling harder to the friends they do have, and that while S1 was better about making Gus and Willow be extremely important to Luz as her First Friends Ever, S2 has dropped the ball even more so. 

Luz is like an island, ironically on the Isles and cut off from her cultural community and from other characters of colour even when they do exist in her new community.  So that’s talk about that in full. 

Now, there is Luz, who is the primary protagonist (honestly, you could argue Eda is her co-protagonist) and she’s lovely and I love her. However, more than once, Luz’s plot line for an episode is a B plot or less plot relevant compared to other characters (particularly Eda). I touched on this in my Vocal article, but Luz is living in diaspora in the Boiling Isles. Yes, the demon realm suits her much better than Earth largely did, but I would still love to see elements of her culture in ways other than her / her family’s name and her occasionally speaking Spanish. What about holidays, what about missing her mother’s cooking and the cultural connotations it holds? 

The show does engage with aspects of the Isekkai genre that are sometimes overlooked, namely Luz being torn between two worlds (and given that she’s mixed, it’s not like the allegory isn’t already there), but it only goes halfway. It only shows Luz wanting to be in the Boiling Isles with none of the possibilities about cultural shock, assimilation, and other aspects that can play into immigrating countries — or realms. I’m not saying the the show not engaging with Luz’s diaspora is a bad thing, but it does feel like a missed opportunity (as most of this is) particularly since they do try to engage with her on a cultural level with her speaking Spanish and writing her as purposefully Afro-Latina and from the Dominican Republic. 

But honestly, basically everything I’ve talked about already — occasionally misleading set up w/ a lack of follow through, screentime (both considering and not considering its racial elements) — are all compounded into my biggest issue with the show, however, which are its 

3. Disengaged stakes

So while I love Luz, I mostly love her for her personality and sweet hearted nature. I don’t actually love her that much for how she drives the plot forward — even though she does, and even though she’s the protagonist. And this is largely because Luz — and many of the characters — exist in a limbo of what I’m going to call Disengaged Stakes. Basically, they have stakes, but due to a lack of set up, or pay off in regards to emotional continuity (never mind a lack of consistency, i.e. sometimes Eda needs to hide, sometimes she can be flashy in public with zero consequences, sometimes getting caught by guards matters when the story decides it needs a conflict, and sometimes it doesn’t etc) it’s hard to actually be invested in those stakes. At least for me. 

For most of S2, this meant I wasn’t really invested in Luz’s efforts to get a portal to see her mom (although this improved when we actually got a singular episode with Camila). It’s clear Luz isn’t going to live full time, if at all, in going back to the human realm. I also wasn’t worried for Camila, as she hasn’t been fearing for Luz this whole time, instead believing things are perfectly fine if not better than they were before. 

Let me give you an example, and this was actually pointed out in a youtube review of the S2 finale that helped me put my finger on why it... felt weird as a finale (again, even though I haven’t fully watched it yet, but I have watched the bulk of it). 

The four kids are stranded in the human realm, but what does that actually mean, for most of them? For Luz, this carries a lot of weight. She’s spent all season trying to find a way home to see her mother, but is now there under awful circumstances with no way back to the place she actually wants to be. It will also offer Camilla the perfect opportunity to see why the Boiling Isles and her family there is so important to Luz.

But what does this mean for the other three kids? Shockingly little. Like I’ve touched on before, we know nothing about Gus and Willow’s families. Yes, I’m sad they’re separated from them, but I’m sad because generally, kids being separated from their parents is sad. I’m not invested in their specific relationship (same issue I had with Rogue One and Jyn’s relationship with her father, as well). All Luz actually wants, in her core, is to stay in the Boiling Isles. Amity’s relationship with her father is on the mend and her siblings are there for her, but Luz is still clearly the most important person in the world to her, and they’re not separated. Hunter has absolutely nothing back for him in the Boiling Isles, largely, and he’s actually as safe as he can be from Belos’ machinations in the human realm. 

So you have four kids tossed into the human realm, and it only really matters for one of them. 

This is amplified in their relationships. Willow and Gus rarely have anything beyond interpersonal stakes; Amity had her mother, but now her father has turned over a new leaf, there are no interpersonal stakes any longer for her family (and she radically stood up to her mother very early on in S2 as well). She and Luz have had no problems in their relationship besides very brief miscommunication and Amity’s mother. Amity has hardly any stakes outside of Luz. The characters who are dealing with very high stakes, such as Raine, are largely shuttered away outside of the story — or Hunter. 

Dear lord, Hunter. Which, now that we’ve gotten here, let’s talk about what I think could have aided in remedying a lot of these issues

4. Merging

Now I know TOH had to jump through a lot of executive hoops (including the existence and plot relevance of Hexside particularly in S1) so I don’t know what sort of orders came down, or mandates they have to follow but:

TOH has too many characters, and plenty of them could have been condensed as pairs into half as many characters.

I know this, because I went through a similar process of originally having a central group of thirteen characters, and cleaved that shit down to seven. So what are my proposed mergings?

The twins become one character. They more or less are now, fulfil the same purposes and character points as one another (flesh out Amity’s family, tease her and be a listening ear, show their mother’s control, operate as illusionists, etc). Whether it’s brother or sister doesn’t really matter.

Gus and Willow become one character. I would say keep more of Willow’s backstory (w/ Amity), dads, and plant magic alight, as the merged-twin character could substitute as the group illusionist whenever need be. It means that instead of only having splintered individual episodes with Luz or for their development, the small collection would be bolstered and improved marginally. It still wouldn’t fix where screentime or set up fails them, but it would be a significant start. I adore Gus, he’s one of my favourites in the whole show — but he’s less plot relevant than Willow, who is already largely not plot relevant (at least, not outside Hunter’s arc in S2) and we gotta be economical somewhere.

Economical storytelling is when a character, scene, or plot beat is doing at least three things at once, largely — and right now Gus is doing the least, as much as I love my boy, with Willow right next to him. Thus, there we go.

Now for the big, perhaps flat out unpopular one:

Hunter and Amity should’ve been one character. Like the twins, and even Amity and Lilith, they’re largely one theme split down the middle. The show draws intentional parallels between their world views, callousness, and need to be the best due to their abusive families, their strong relationships / connections to Luz, who works to friendship and who are changed by her kindness. There are also less thematic but still overt parallels, like their artificial wands, opposing palismans (bird vs cat), travelling into mindscapes where they uncover secrets. Hell, they both even have a reformed father figure who works with the Abominable coven with a shittier parent who believes in their own superiority at any cost. 

Say Golden Guard Amity is enrolled in Hexside — she has to be trained somewhere — and throughout the season we hear her refer to her uncle, who raised her. He just wants the best for her, and for her to be a worthy member of the Emperor’s coven! It’s only at the end of S1 we learn that Amity’s uncle is Belos, and that her growing bond with Luz may be tested in the future. Then, in S2, she has to make a choice between her familial loyalty, ideological defection, and Luz and her friends (who will have more time to be friends, because there are less characters running around). You can even keep the condensed twin as a surrogate sibling mentor — perhaps one of Belos’ more successful grimwalkers, or flat out not a clone at all.

This merger gives Luz and Amity real stakes in their relationship, a higher sense of drama amid the sweet fluffiness, gives more characters more screentime... And amplifies everything that already exists in Amity’s arc. Yes, seeing a quieter form of child abuse from Odalia is worthwhile, particularly for abused children — but as of S2 she’s basically gone full bad guy and has already done so before in early S2, as her abomaton nearly kills Luz in “Escaping Expulsion” so... moot point? Sorta? Is what I’m saying. 

It would also, for the love of god, give Amity a solidified reason to dye her hair after she finds out she’s a grimwalker. She wants to reassert her own identity, she wants to be different than her successors while also honouring their good nature, etc etc. Imagine “Hollow Mind” but with Amity in Hunter’s place, and all the weight that would hold for each of them, and for Hunter’s character, now condensed into Amity’s. Also stronger parallels of Belos’ clones becoming less like his brother (because Amity is a girl) over time and with parallels of the implied plot line, of Belos killing his brother because Caleb fell in love with a witch, and it’s happening again, this time just with Luz and Amity, directly.

Basically the only things that would have to change would be a little of S1′s pacing, some of S2′s Blight parent related episodes (so largely two until the finale, which again, Darius or the condensed twin could easily substitute)oOr, to come full circle, you could have Lilith also play a factor, the way she did in Amity’s arc in the beginning. This would provide a greater sense that characters actually had lives and connections and little ship passing in the night moments before Luz showed up, and they would all feel more like!! REAL PEOPLE!!

The only thing that would possibly, likely have to go is Willow’s history with Amity.But given that the show has never really addressed the bullying, perhaps that backstory element would be better left dropped, in general. Amity can be a jerky bully without specifically bullying Luz’s friend for like, 4-6 years beforehand, y’know.

Anyway I will never not believe in the validity of what I call TOH Merger and how it would strengthen basically almost every single aspect of the show, take it or leave it. 

Conclusion / Nitpicks

Other notes before we wrap up.

I got bored with just how many episodes relied on the “Character A doesn’t want to fess up to something bc they’re insecure, scared, or trying to look Cool, but inevitably lie and make things ten times worse, and then learn it’s important to be honest” in S1 (hi King, Luz, Willow, and Gus eps respectively). 

Amity’s laser character focus on Luz stifles her relationships with both Willow and Gus (as it is more or less non existent outside of a few lines or group scenes); all of Amity’s character growth is largely because of her relationship with Luz, but the same cannot be said for Luz, leaving their relationship lopsided. This is particularly true for me (and is a total personal Aro-spec induced nitpick) and is all the more glaringly obvious considering they barely had one episode where the two were on friendly / friend-ish terms before crush feelings on Amity’s side came in. This makes me feel less invested in their relationship as a whole, as while it’s exceedingly cute, it feels like it’s based on nothing but Crush™ Feelings and that will also be less compelling to me than a strong Foundational Friendship that develops into a crush. I don’t mind that development happening fast, but this was a little too fast in my book. 

Final disclaimer: Still like the show, still think it’s good, these are just some of the reasons I don’t think it’s Great. The lack of a Merger will haunt me. Thank you goodnight

#toh #toh critical #toh salt #willow park #amity critical #MAYBE?? #gus porter #just covering my bases #toh criticism #no show is perfect if u disagree or don't wanna see criticism #both of which are totally fair! #just move along #non tdp #analysis series #mine #analysis #will be reblogging to main as well for good measure #i spent too long on this but it's DONE #this isn't even salt or criticism just #mostly me being Baffled by some of the character writing choices #from a structural standpoint

[chronicsyd]

Sapphics: I want an enemies to lovers arc

Sapphics when the characters act like enemies: no not like that!

Like seriously, the hells wrong with some of y’all? Catradora were literally at war with one another and with the current power dynamics in the show Catra couldn’t just drop whatever she was doing and play for the other team. Especially once s3 happens and Shadow Weaver ends up in Brightmoon. How do I know this? Cause we already got our answer once she popped back up in s5. The only plus side would be Catra seeing through the bs that was Glimmers behavior in s4 (speaking of which, “Glimmradora was healthier” people need to get off your high horse cause she treated Adora JUST as poorly in s4 basically saying “hey you’re only here cause you’re sometimes useful to us” ok I can’t start talking about this cause I’ll get sidetracked by getting angry. Moving on)

And it’s outright boggling to me that sapphics will cry out “we want enemies to lovers” until they ACT like Actual Enemies. Cause the truth is you don’t want enemies, you never did. And the reblogs on my last post only prove my point on the matter cause while Amity and the others of the Boiling Isles grew up under strickt rule by Belos and their parents it wasn’t War. That’s what we gotta keep in mind here. Catra and Adora grew up as child soldiers in an army however Adoras mind want fully loyal so when she saw what the Horde was doing and needed to ditch her ideologies she abandoned them. However, Catra saw that as a “Im leaving because of you” kinda deal no matter how the latter claimed the opposite.

Another thing i find Absolutely Hysterical is that y’all will bash Catra then immediately turn around and praise Zuko’s character even though they had practically the same character arc “Zuko didn’t do things as bad” eh did we Forget he helped Azula take over the Earth kingdom at the end of s2 and Aang would have died if it weren’t for Katara’s magic water (plus Several other things?all I’m saying is that Y’all don’t remember pre-redemption Zuko as well as ya think ya do) but I’m getting sidetracked here. Im probably gonna talk more about this comparison later hell I might go rewatch ATLA and take notes on this.

If you don’t like “enemies to lovers” Whatever. Don’t ship it. I honestly don’t care it’s Your shipping preferences. But for gods sake don’t get pissy when enemies act like enemies cause it’s exhausting for those of us who do enjoy it watching your little screaming matches while trying to find content. 🤦‍♀️

(Im probably gonna also bring up Caitvi at some point cause even they don’t truly fall into enemies to lovers but that’s for another time)

(And one more thing: a lot of people claim Glimmers “I love you” came out of nowhere but it was in very much the same vein as Catra’s “Im sorry for everything” as in “I may never see you again, so make this last meeting count”. Yk? Ok NOW I’m done)

#Shera #shera and the princesses of power #catradora #enemies to lovers #rivals to lovers #get your anti catradora selves outta here #I don’t want you here #my work isn’t For you #yes I’m still going on about this #Zuko vs catra #you don’t remember Zuko #at least pre redemption Zuko

[bl-sensei]

Analisis of Crowley and Aziraphale’s traumas

PS : ! I’d like to warn that I’m absolutely not a psychiatrist and that my analysis is entirely based on research on the internet and personal experience/knowledge ! / Also I used both she/her and he/him for Crowley

I think Crowley has two kinds of Complex traumas: Betrayal trauma & traumatic Aloneness. Betrayal trauma can develop when your trust is violated by people/someone you depend on to respect your needs and help safeguard your well-being. It’s something that develops most often in child/parent relationships but I think it’s pretty clear here that the person that betrayed her was God. We know they had a close relationship as she was highly ranked and if she was in the highest orders like most of us think then she would have been directly (or practically) in contact with God. Also, something I noticed is that Crowley never mentioned the Great War between Heaven & Hell as a protest or something, always as something that happened and he was there, even having fun. He wasn’t looking for revenge, he was just hanging around and having fun, and asking questions. That would mean Crowley trusted God so much that he thought She would’ve never hurt him, he thought he could ask Her questions, he thought he could trust Her. And She betrayed him. 

I also think she developed trauma from her loneliness because in S2ep2 we can see that she seemed to suffer from it (and from personal experience too). I think that’s also part of why she encouraged Aziraphale to be on his own side, because she didn’t want to be alone anymore. 

From that, I think he developed really unhealthy trauma responses; the most obvious one being his codependency on Aziraphale. Some of the symptoms I found include: 

Ignoring own needs, preferences, thoughts, and feelings to please the other (Crowley never tells Az what she knows about Heaven to not hurt his feelings/fight with him)

Holding back on opinions and desires to please another person, and in an attempt to avoid any conflict. (S2 ep3)

Feeling sorry for the other person, even when they hurt you (When Az would choose Heaven over her in S1, because he knows that it’s hard for Az)

Doing anything for the other person, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable, simply to make the other happy (S2 ep1)

Self-sacrifice (They’d both die for each other)

Difficulty recognizing, expressing, and/or managing emotions (S2 ep6)

Tendency to apologize or take on blame in order to keep the peace (S2 ep1)

The habit of making decisions for others or trying to “manage” loved ones (He tries but always concedes to Aziraphale)

Guilt or anxiety when doing something for yourself (S1 ep4 & S2 ep1)

Thoughts of suicide (we don’t know for sure but Az mentioned it in S1ep3)

Chasing people who don’t want them for affection (Aziraphale always pushes her away but she still stays, even after 6,000 years)

There are other symptoms I would add but am not sure of : 

Perceived lack of personal identity (He doesn’t really have anything he's attached to apart from his Bentley which is recent; his gender is fluid – I’m not saying it’s necessarily because of trauma, but it could come from/be emphasized by a lack of self-identity)

Low self-esteem (I think that emphasized – with the lack of communication – the misunderstanding in S2ep6 as she thought that Aziraphale couldn’t like her because she’s a demon)

Sensitivity (his way of dealing with trauma is to avoid it. And the only time he did actually try to face conflict it ended badly. I think this left really heavy damage in Crowley’s mind. I honestly don’t know how S3 can go well.)

I found this citation: – “Recourse to another person can confuse an ordinary love relationship with a relationship of need. In fact, meeting a partner with characteristics suited to a person's inability to be alone can sometimes crystallise into an "addictive relationship", avoiding any solitude experienced or felt.” – 

And I really think that’s what happened to Crowley. I’m sure she truly loves Aziraphale, but I also think her feelings for him tend to be more of “need” than “love”. I think she started to truly fall in love with him after Job’s event when she saw he was like her: grey. And I think that it influenced her behaviour toward Aziraphale and that would explain why she’s so overprotective of him, because she went through the same things as him and knows how it’s like; so she wants to protect Az from it and give him what she sadly never had: someone. I can’t imagine how they must have been lonely on their respective sides; they needed each other.

I think Aziraphale also has a kind of Complex trauma: Religious trauma (RTS). (The symptoms are comparable to betrayal trauma so here I’ll just analyse the ones applicable to Aziraphale specifically). RTS occurs in response to two-fold trauma: first the prolonged abuse of indoctrination by a controlling religious community, and second the act of leaving the controlling religious community. As we know Aziraphale was indoctrinated in thinking that Heaven was “the good guys” and Hell “the bad guys”, and despite the acts of Heaven not being the “goodest” he still stuck to that idea even until the end of S2. But the second part of this trauma, the leaving part, wasn’t really shown as it occurred during the 4 years separating S1 and S2, but I think it affected him as “religious communities often serve as the foundation for individuals' lives, providing social support, a coherent worldview, a sense of meaning and purpose, and social and emotional satisfaction. Leaving behind all those resources goes beyond a significant loss; it calls on the individual to completely reconstruct their reality.” When Gabriel found him, when he investigated or when he helped Maggie & Nina he seemed so happy. I know he’s a sweetheart but I don’t think quitting Heaven didn’t affect him (even though it clearly helped with his anxiety), if he helped all those people it’s also because that gave him a purpose. His purpose was to be an angel & obey God, who is he now that he doesn’t do that anymore ?

This left some noticeable scars on Aziraphale’s behaviour: 

Difficulty perceiving and responding to others' emotional states (S2ep6)

Poor affect regulation, difficulty identifying and expressing emotions and internal states, and difficulties communicating needs, wants, and wishes (Saying “I forgive you” is his way of expressing things he can’t process/proceed to say out loud)

Problems with judgment, 'cause-effect' thinking, critical thinking (S2ep3)

Difficulty with decision-making (S1ep6 & S2ep2, I think it’s important because he was a Principality and they're supposed to help make important decisions even during crises)

Emotional & social immaturity resulting from the control of information and discouragement of critical thinking within the religious environment. (The “Good guys” & the “Bad guys”)

The symptoms are less noticeable than Crowley because, unlike her, he never really expresses his thoughts or feelings because of RTS

Aziraphale’s way of dealing with trauma is different from Crowley’s ; while Crowley rejected everybody and closed in on himself, Aziraphale just denied everything. Betrayal trauma theory acknowledges that victims unconsciously keep themselves from becoming aware of betrayal because it could be traumatic. That’s why he spends most of S1 defending Heaven because he’s been “raised” to think they were “the good guys”, admitting that they aren’t would mean that he’d spend all his “life” (that being millions of years) being wrong and actually not doing the right thing, which is so important for him to do; but also that his whole existence is a lie as he wasn’t created to actually do “good”. It’s pretty much the same as in The Truman Show, except that Truman would tell himself that the cameras are surveillance cameras and that the people around him just want to protect him the best they can. And at the end of S2 he has actually not changed, he’s still delusional thinking there’s still good in Heaven. He thinks there’s good in everyone, because, I guess, there must be, his whole existence can’t just be a lie. Plus it’s only been 4 years, it’s nothing for him, he hasn’t been able to swallow the information yet.

The problem is that Aziraphale is delusional and Crowley comforts him in this idea, and neither of them notices that. In S1 Crowley always prevented him from having to choose between Heaven and her, and in the end the problem resolved itself; but when it reoccurred in S2 Crowley kept protecting Aziraphale, that’s why he chose Heaven in the end: he always chose Heaven and Crowley was always there so he thought she would be there again, but this time she wasn't.

We know it’s Crowley the “problem” because the only time Aziraphale chose something else over Heaven it was Earth, which he knew couldn’t follow him; unlike Crowley.

I found this other citation: –  “A healthy, supportive relationship involves listening, striving to understand, and keeping in mind the concerns of another person. Codependency is when that caring behavior crosses the line into trying to direct or control them.” – And I think it really represents their relationship because that’s exactly what happens between them: they never listen to each other, they never try to understand each other, all they care about is taking care of the other in their own way regardless of if that’s what the other wants or not. They’re ironically selfish in their selflessness.

I think Crowley finally leaving Aziraphale in ep6 was actually a great thing (in a way) as it was him stepping out of his codependency. Now it’s Aziraphale’s turn to deal with his traumas.

#crowly x aziraphale #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens 2 spoilers #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #character analysis #crowley

[homemade-ghosts]

Do you think the triangle storyline this season is a detriment to EJ and Gina's growth as individuals? I honestly don't this so but I keep seeing this argument and I'd like to know your opinion on it.

I think being in any relationship is a detriment to EJ's growth. Not only has he canonically never spent Valentines Day (except the last one) without a girlfriend, more importantly, he’s learned absolutely nothing from any of the relationships he’s been in. pws always want to claim that he’s had so much character development, but that’s just simply not true. It only appeared that way because EJ wasn’t in a relationship during s2, which allowed much of the audience to forget about the kind of guy he becomes when he’s dating someone. Out of sight, out of mind...but that doesn’t mean EJ ever actually changed.

Nini sang “All I Want” two full seasons ago and the verse she wrote about EJ still applies to him (”found a guy told me I was star, he held the door, held my hand in the dark. He’s perfect on paper, but he’s lying to my face, does he think that I’m the kind of girl who needs to be saved?”) He’d still rather lie to his girlfriend and act like he did it for her benefit (in s1, that was poisoning Emily so Nini could get the lead in the camp musical. Nini was, rightfully, upset because not only was that a truly awful thing to do to someone, but it also made her feel like EJ didn’t believe in her enough to think she could get the lead on her own, playing into her insecurities. & in s3, it was hiding that letter from Gina, even after she went out of her way to tell him about her big news first, playing into her insecurities). 

I believe EJ, ultimately, has the best of intentions at heart, but that’s not the point. The point is that he keeps doing all the wrong things and this time he’s not even making an effort to fix it or apologize for it. At least s1 EJ wrote Nini a whole song about sorry he was and FaceTime’d Emily Pratt to apologized for giving her food poisoning. s3 EJ knew Gina wanted to spend the day with him, to win Color War together and what did he do? Instead of being there for her, he completely disregards what she wants and goes off to get directorial tips from Miss Jenn, missing her big basketball moment. He knew what she wanted and he didn’t listen because he thought he knew better.

He’s also just as uncommunicative and jealous as ever. Despite the fact that Ricky & Gina both asked him to come ghost searching in the woods with them, he preceded to call Gina out in front of everyone for going off with her “secret late night hiking buddy Ricky” the night before (hypocrite). This is pretty similar to that time in s1 where he went through Nini’s phone and, because he didn’t trust that there wasn’t something going on between her and Ricky, deletes Ricky’s voicemail to her.

& then, even though he’s consistently jealous of Ricky for being there for Gina in a way he can’t/won’t, EJ keeps going to Ricky to ask what’s up with Gina (”why is Gina mad at me?” “Gina hasn’t laughed at one of my jokes since, like, Wednesday.”) instead of just talking to Gina herself. 

So, EJ is fundamentally incapable of being in a good relationship and always has been, for the reasons listed above, but my hope is that this triangle storyline will actually help propel his character development...once he & Gina break up. He needs to recognize his own faults, take responsibility for them and commit to improving himself and I’d like to think that Gina breaking up with him will be the kick in the ass EJ needs to realize that.

Now, onto Gina. Do I think the triangle inhibits her growth in any way? Absolutely not. Gina’s relationship with EJ is teaching her not to see someone through rose-colored glasses. It’s teaching her that she deserves someone who’s going to go out of his way to be there for her, who can celebrate her success wholeheartedly and selflessly. Someone who doesn’t hide things from her. It’s teaching her that she can’t put all of herself into a relationship and accept the bare minimum in return. She deserves better, more. She shouldn’t settle for less, shouldn’t have to compromise herself in order to feel loved and seen in a relationship. Much like how Nini, among other things, taught Ricky what an unhealthy relationship looks like, EJ is teaching Gina the same thing. Sometimes you have to know what you don’t want before you can say what you do.

This triangle allows Gina to realize that she only ever loved the idea of EJ, that he was never going to be what she needed or wanted, and that’s okay. It allows the audience to see how much Ricky has changed/grown and lets Gina see just how much Ricky loves her. & it will, hopefully, give EJ an opening to realize that he needs to own up to his own mistakes and work to change them. 

So, ideally, this triangle ends with everyone better off because of it.

#also i don't understand how anyone could suggest this triangle inhibits gina's growth #when she is (eventually) going to end up with ricky partly as a result of it & their relationship is the epitome of growth #hsmtmts #hsmtmts s3 #asks #anon

[rebelwriter99]

Force help us all.

And here goes nothing. This one will need a TLDR.

Well Crosshair appeared. And I did cry. A lot. So that stayed true the whole season. Yaaaay. *Sobs quietly* My poor assistance dog has been so confused about why I keep crying today, he’s been very worried bless him and keeps climbing on me and licking my face. I love him very much and felt he deserved a sentence for his kindly helping paw.

I will be treating the finale as a single episode because anyone who didn’t go immediately from episode 15 into 16 you are lying.

So. Deep Breaths. Tech.

I will be assuming he is gone. I have read a lot of convincing arguments that he is not-but I will leave those to others. I will be writing as though he has died in the permanent sense.

I knew someone was going to die. It’s season 2 and Filoni is writing it. Hunter played Kanan and got captured and then they all escaped in S1. Big goal in mind in S2 (defeat Inquisitors vs Reunite Batch), someone is going to end up in dire straits to save the others. I thought it might be Cross, more likely Cody. And then it was Tech. I did not see any of that plot line coming. Saw Garrera and a plot inconvenient explosion were the smallest surprise. I was expecting them to make it to Mount Tantiss. Apparently not yet.

But the way Tech died is important to me. It sounds silly when I write it, but I’m autistic (and so is Tech I will die on that particular hill) and most autistic characters in stories of this genre (fantasy or sci-fi) get infantilised. They then tend to get killed in front of the proper heroes by the villain to show that the villain is evil. They’ll look rather sweet and innocent and meek and say something haunting and that’ll be that. If they do something brave it’s always played off that they don’t fully understand how dangerous what they’re doing is, or how heroic they really are. Not Tech. Tech fully understands what he’s risking. He knew the second he climbed out of that cable car he might not make it back. He nearly fell at least twice before he chose to fall. Not one moment in the whole show do we ever doubt that Tech is an adult, who is fully capable of understanding risk (and often advises caution) even if he computes it a bit differently, and mature enough to know completely what that sacrifice means. He, as an autistic character, demonstrated what it was to him to adjust to not having someone around, to having to cope with change. His knows this will hurt his family-but he has to do everything he can to save them. He, as an autistic character, got something akin to a romantic subplot-which you never really see. The way Tech is-it’s never painted as being ‘in the way’ of anything. He’s different-and that just is. Everyone completely accepts that about him. And until I looked back I didn’t realise quite how rare and refreshing it was to see that-because it’s written so well. And wether we get any more of Tech or not-I will always be grateful for what we did get to see of him. His character will always be special to me for what he represents-that people like me can exist in Star Wars, and in the galaxy far far away-we are simply ourselves and nobody really bats an eye.

And most importantly-it was his choice. You could write that scene nearly identically and have it just be an accident-but it was his choice. Clones don’t get many of those in life. And Tech, over the course of two seasons, has increasingly been learning to make his own. He’s stopped quite noticeably looking to Hunter for a nod before he does things. For a Clone, death is an occupational hazard. They view sacrifice through the lens of the war dominated life they lead and to them laying down your life to save your squad-I think that’s what many of them would choose if they had to. And the rest of the batch would definitely have died without Tech’s choice. Perhaps even, indirectly, Crosshair, who may have been tortured until he lost his life before the Empire found Omega. Tech’s last words I also thought were a lovely parallel to ‘good soldiers follow orders’. Tech chose defiance to save his family-he’s undeniably one of the best soldiers of the republic and yet ‘since when do we follow orders?’. Again-the emphasis on choice. It makes it feel like the end of the ‘Order 66 Era’ to me. We’ve gone from Clones forced en mass to kill those they loved and protected, to one Clone freely deciding to die to save the family they love and would do anything to protect. From the first moments the Republic became the Empire, right the way through to Stormtroopers almost completely replacing clones, and the first sign of major projects of the Empire starting to take shape. What happens next feels less like it’s going to be dictated by the galaxy-though the Empire will certainly be more oppressive than ever, what happens next is up to them now.

And Speaking of the Empire-the villain I now hate more than I ever hated Umbridge and Mrs Coulter as a child combined (which is saying something). Dr Hemlock.

He needs to die. In a way that Thrawn really didn’t-uncharted space was fine, he just needed a comeuppance. However, this particular foul being needs to cease to exist.

He is also the perfect villain. An incredibly creepy, secretive genetics researcher who doesn’t see his ‘test subjects’ as fully human is the villain in a story about Clones who are thinly veiled disability representation, currently exploring their own individual humanity, and were introduced to show the power of difference? Hell yes someone thought that through. And then said-hmmm yes Dr deadly poison. Then everyone will definitely know he’s an evil scientist! (It’s not like it wasn’t obvious as soon as he’d talked for longer than 5mins!). I await being immensely satisfied when everything he’s ever worked for burns to a crisp. Along with him.

For forces sake when he threw Tech’s goggles at Hunter’s feet. I was screaming. Hunter’s face. And when he puts down his blaster to pick them up. Hunter has chosen his squad. He’s not a soldier anymore, not really, he’s going to do whatever he has to do to get his family safe and keep them that way. I expect he’s going to go from being a bit more ‘go with the flow’ this season, to rather more ‘completely feral’ next season. And he will have Wrecker with him-who looks like he’s got some complex emotional development of his own to do. Gods it’s heartbreaking watching anyone grieve but poor Wrecker-I think he’ll blame himself. While oddly Hunter will be doing the same thing. Echo is going to have to be sensible I think-nobody else is going to be.

I am so excited for season 3. Really hoping we don’t have to wait a similar what felt like an age as last time. I love these characters. I’m yet to watch anything Filoni has written that didn’t have an immensely satisfying (if bittersweet) ending that made all the heartbreak worth it so I hope that’s where we’re going. Until then.

Vode An. Always. 🌟

TLDR: Force that hurt. Tech will always be an immensely important part of why I love Star Wars and The Bad Batch so much for so many reasons. Next season is going to be crazy. And if the Star Wars of equivalent of a creepy ableist medical researcher working for an authoritarian government imprisoning everyone doesn’t die horribly and have all his work destroyed I may riot.

#star wars #the bad batch #clone force 99 #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #well that was a long ramble but I think the grief is processed now at least #if anyone wants me to write any more please do just ask #otherwise I’ll assume that’s far too long as it is!

[nevernotnotnotting]

im rewatching doctor who with my partner (they’ve never seen it, ive watched up to s9 but haven’t finished it and haven’t watched dw in years- I was obsessed as a teen tho)

we just finished s2 and ive come to the realisation that i hate it. i do not like it. its not enjoyable to me. love and monsters?? are you kidding me?? the fuckin 50s tv one?? the cat hospital?? like there are episodes that i think are objectively good that i just don’t enjoy (impossible planet/satan pit is fascinating, and there’s a lot of interest with the parallel world stuff) but overall i just really really /really/ dislike rose and ten together. don’t like it.

theyre insufferable, they’re not nearly human enough (like dw as a whole does treat a lot of serious stuff without gravity, but this season is atrocious for it - it’s like the second he regenerated ten went ah it’s all fine now!! im over the time war it’s fine (: never mind that his entire planet and species died a year or two ago for him), and everything that they have holding them together seems to be what happened when the doctor was a completely different person (ie before he regenerated). he’s important to her not bc of who he is now but bc of what they went through and who he was before he regenerated, and she’s important to him because she’s his only family since the time war.

they remind me of a couple who’s been married for like 5 years, but they got married while like they were in school or one of them was in the military or something and now that their circumstances have changed the only thing holding them together is the fact that they’re already together. like they love each other- but why? what do they actually love about each other? their history, that’s 95% of it. ive had this opinion for years about them as a ship, but frankly I’m realising this about them as any kind of relationship, platonic or not. i dont like them together and i dont think they’re good together or for each other.

also like- rose is 19 when they meet. she dropped out of school and works in a shop and dates someone she knew growing up. she experiences a lot more and grows up a lot during her time with the doctor, but she’s still at most 21 by the end of s2- she’s still a kid. like developmentally, she’s not full grown yet. she and nine work together bc their relationship is based on understanding that huge power imbalance, which is partly bc of how much older (and less traditionally attractive) nine looks, partly because she’s newer to the tardis, and partly because of how different nine’s attitude is to so much.

idk im glad to be up to s3 for sure. i don’t understand martha hate, i adore her, and i think most of her season is really good. i wish they’d spent less time having her moon (lol) over the doctor, i think it does both of them a real disservice, but she’s a great character and person and i love her arc and the series arc as a whole (i ship ten/john simm master Heavily so this should not be surprising but i do think that it genuinely holds up).

i just, i don’t understand why so many fans love rose/roseten/s2 when to me the whole thing feels like the writers had a really strong vision for s1, finished it, and went ah. didn’t think we’d get this far, have uhhh a werewolf i guess??? and then so many fans have such a negative opinion of martha & s3, when imo that’s when they wrestled the story back into something that’s really very narratively strong. like there’s dodgy bits and bad episodes (i am Not looking forward to lazarus or the pig people lol) but they’re bits and episodes, and even the parts that are dodgy can still be really enjoyable (i love the shakespeare code!! it’s so fun!! someone please either let martha smack bill for being racist, have someone else do it on her behalf, or just don’t put the racism in, but other than that it’s a really enjoyable episode). the daleks episodes are genuinely so good, and the family of blood, and blink???? and everything with the master??? sick as fuck. i love it. im so excited to enjoy the show again lol.

#nnn tagging conventions have changed since I was here last #if I tag the show will people get mad at me for tagging hate? it’s not hate I genuinely love the show #doctor who crit #martha Jones #imgivingyoutheposts #media criticism

[echoing-oursong]

Hiiii. Just wanted you to know you are not alone in your rants about the ST fandom. Yes, I have preferences regarding what little actual canon romance exists in ST, but it is a nostalgia show about folks in Indiana who slowly find out they’re in a fucking war with an evil wizard clockmaker from another dimension, and they get through all the horrors and trauma because of the strength of found-family.

We’re getting closer to ST end times, and it’s like maybe people believe if they just vote in enough meaningless polls and smush their headcanon dolls’ faces together in the perfect way, they’ll magically see it onscreen in s5. The show creators aren’t going to turn 1980s Hawkins into clumps of 2022 crackships/polys just because Steddie won tumblr this year. But some people truly believe fanon and harassing everyone on social media will have an effect on the writing decisions. Maybe because back in s2 the Duffers actually did give in to Justice for Barb?

Anyway, sorry this got long. You’re not alone.

Hi! Im glad I’m not alone in my thoughts on this fandom cuz like ngl I feel like I’ve either been too negative or just alone in my opinions. So thanks for making me not feel alone about it 😊

And you worded what st is perfectly and I love it. Cuz that’s essentially what st is! And you absolutely worded it perfectly.

Yeah maybe the thing is is that st is coming to a close and thus people are scrambling to get their voices heard so that it can happen on screen. Despite the fact that some theories or reveals that some people want would have already been set up clearly in the last few seasons. Yeah you’re absolutely right like they aren’t going to change what happened because steddie won this year and they won’t change it simply because of fan service. Which ironically is something that the fandom itself complains about and about how they’re giving too much fan service but then they want things that have no build up in canon to actually happen. Like it makes no sense to me. And also something that I think a lot of people forget: these writers are bold writers!! What I mean by that is that sometimes they know some plot lines that they want to do that maybe the fandom wouldn’t care about or complain about , and yet they do it anyway. Look at season 4 stancy (I know a lot of people myself included didn’t like the way it was written) The writers wanted to explore going back to that dynamic despite feeling/possibly knowing what people would say about it. They wanted season 3 to be different despite what audiences were going to say and they still did it. This is enough to say that while they def do play into fan service a lot: the writers are also pretty bold in what they want to explore and some people on the internet expressing that they want a specific ship or dynamic to happen : is not gonna change their minds and fix some parts of the story.

Ohh I love that theory about the Barb thing and why people believe that they would give in because of what happened in the past. I think this is a very instance in a fandom where they also forget why this plot line did make sense on the first place though. Which is why it was so easy for the duffers to give into this demand from fans. First off, they’ve established in season 1 that Nancy and Barb were best friends. A big chunk of Nancy’s arc in season 1 is also finding Barb and being distraught over her disappearance. Secondly, nancy would feel the guilt and survivor’s guilt because Barb died at the party that Nancy had a fun time at. Nancy also briefly felt that something was wrong but then went back to having a fun time. Thirdly, the gov tried to just write it off as Barb went missing so Nancy has to deal with the fact that she can’t tell barb’s parents that Barb is dead. Fourthly, along with this she’s being forced by the gov to keep quiet. Fifth, Nancy is already established as getting stuff done and going after things such as the demogorgon in season 1 so it wouldn’t make sense for her character to just stay quiet about the whole thing. These are things that make sense in the narrative so it’s my theory that this is why the duffer bros caved in with the whole ‘justice for Barb’ because it wouldn’t make sense for Nancy to be magically okay with the death of someone that is her best friend. It wouldn’t make sense so they caved in with this demand from fandom.

However, rn the fandom is demanding stuff that won’t make sense in canon because there isn’t enough build up there at all. There wasn’t any build up to a lot of fans that scream about ships that should be canon. And also there’s a lot of stuff that just means nothing for the narrative as a whole unlike the whole Barb thing. With the Barb thing you have Nancy feeling some sort of closure about her best friend’s death, you have barb’s parents finally knowing that their daughter is dead, you have the gov facing some consequences for their actions considering that once the tape leaked the lab shut down for good, along with that you have the town knowing that something has been going on with that lab and that it isn’t safe, and you have the town who also understands what happened to Barb. That’s a lot of loose ends that they’ve tied up that was even left open in the first season. So there’s all of that going on that is very important for the narrative aspect meanwhile a lot of people’s demands for things to happen in season 5 add like nothing to the actual plot at all. Anyway sorry about that long rant: you had just brought up the perfect idea to talk about and I wanted to explore more about it.

Also thanks for ranting and letting me know that I’m not alone. Also sorry if this ended up being way more ranty on my part than you had wanted

#answered asks #thanks sooo much for this!! #also lol I def got ranty but god anon you brought up some amazing points and I got carried away lol

[mimdecisive]

the beautiful aspect of glimmer’s fucked up mentality with her family is she projects her own feelings of inadequacy onto them and assumes they’re waiting for her to mess up, because Glimmer views her family as unreachable standards before she sees them as people. Her entire family is the image of perfection, reflected in their character designs. Not one hair out of place.

And Glimmer is a mess in more ways than one, and she doesn’t feel like she’ll ever be even close to as good as the rest of her family. Glimmer perceives herself as a disappointment, and she projects that feeling onto every one else.

It’s why she never actually talks to Angella, because she feels like Angella thinks she’s too weak/not good enough to fight rather than Angella’s sense of responsibility when it comes to keeping Glimmer safe. Angella says herself that Glimmer didn’t know about her guilt for what happened to Micah because Glimmer doesn’t talk to her.

Micah is a unreachable idol for most of her childhood. He’s immortalized in murals and statues, and regarded as a hero and super powerful sorcerer. He’s perfect and nothing she’s told changes that, and she doesn’t think she’ll live up to him.

And Castaspella is a different story. Her Aunt is royalty and wasn’t born or married into it, she earned it and she’s well-respected. She has not a hair out of place, and she’s better than Angella at keeping her emotions in check. Glimmer seems, on some level, aware that she can hurt Castaspella’s feelings on a way she doesn’t with Angella— but it’s mostly after she’s already hurt them.

The way Glimmer talks about her achievements with Castaspella is actually, notably, to put an emphasis on Angella believing in her and She-Ra. Throwing around the two things that usually get support. But Castaspella, unlike most people, isn’t all like “yeah a bunch of kids can win a war that’s been going on 30+ years because my SIL thinks so”.

That’s not enough for her to regain the hope she lost when she was fighting the war herself. Instead, it makes Castaspella feel like she doesn’t have a right not to believe if Angella does, because Castaspella also struggles with severe feelings of inadequacy. (And, notably, deals with it pretty similarly to Glimmer!)

And part of Glimmer’s “silent” arc throughout the series is gradually coming to understand that her relatives aren’t the perfect people she painted them as in her mind. They’re people too, and they struggle just as much as she does.

After S1, she realizes Angella is not infallible and Angella starts trusting her more and Glimmer realizes her mom thinks she’s capable, she just loves her a lot. This is later kind of broken in S2-S3, since Glimmer starts leaving Angella in the dark about her decisions. (Crimson Waste.)

And as for her relationship with Castaspella, it doesn’t seem to have fully clicked for Glimmer until S5 (or maybe S4) that her Aunt is also a person and not infallible, as the way her and Castaspella interact changes. Glimmer acts more on equal-ground with her, and is ready to comfort her when she seems upset.

She even shoots SW a dirty look for insulting Castaspella, because she recognizes her Aunt might not show that it gets to her, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t.

and the writing is kinda good there. I think they could’ve better expressed this arc of Glimmer’s, because it was… basically the brunt of her psychological issues. The idea that people are inherently better than her is something she struggles with throughout the show, and the primary reason why she’s so concerned with being replaced as a friend.

And she had to learn from SW in S4 because SW was the first (and only) person to tell her that she had an opportunity to be better than her family members, and to learn from where they failed and whatnot. Glimmer needed and wanted to hear that, and SW knew it. Even if Castaspella had offered to reach Glimmer, Glimmer wouldn’t have accepted and she wouldn’t be able to explain why.

She kind of ends up just… snapping out of this mindset in S5.

basically: Angella, Micah, Castaspella and Glimmer need to go to family therapy. (Invite Adora and DT later on, because they need the regular kind of therapy first.)

#spop #she ra #castaspella #glimmer #analysis #of sorts #castaspellma au #lightly implied #adora #micah #angella #momgella #also lightly implied

[waitingforeddyneddy]

Hello love your account! I have a couple questions if you don’t mind.

The way simone used to talk about bridgerton and her co stars is different than how she talks about them now I agree and I feel like you have to be delusional to not see that…I remember you said you received a DM on twitter about some of the stuff she probably experienced and it wasn’t great so things happened for sure do you have some theories? Also I read so many different opinions about her relationship with cc and I wonder where you stand on that I personally think they were never friends even during s2 (I could be completely wrong) but maybe you think differently. Do you think simone will be in s4 and who do you think will be the couple?

Hi, I can only reply to some of the things you asked because I’m not really in the mood to start another war or get anon hate.

I did receive a couple of dms from people who were in the fandom before s2 even came out. I don’t know if these things are true 100%, all I can tell you is that in all these months I have developed my opinions on them, based on some sort of evidence and things that have happened. I specifically said these are MY opinions, i’m not passing anything as universal truth lmao.

From what I know and from what I’ve seen Simone was graceful and professional during that little promotion Shondaland made her do. She talked so warmly about Kanthony and her fellow cast mates. She continued to be supportive of the show and the new leads months after, whenever somebody asked her about it. She is the only one who gave us Kanthony crumbs after all. She truly is the only captain of the ship 🤗 apart from that, she doesn’t seem to be close with any of the other cast members and honestly there’s nothing wrong with that. Good for her.

I remember there was an interview in which she said she had to dim her light for others and she didn’t wish to do that anymore. I’m not really sure if she was talking about her experience on Bridgeton but considering a lot of weird stuff happened, it could be.

I can’t really talk about CC freely here because I would get harassed. I don’t think they are/were friends. All I know is that she threw a temper tantrum cause somebody was fed up over that lack of Kanthony promotion and decided to edit the official poster by making Edwina disappear. She got offended and blocked people. Mind you the person who edited the poster didn’t even tag her. Then she deleted her twitter account and people got mad at kanthony shippers. There’s also the fact that she really could have used a media trainer cause since she was in every interview people started to notice that her answers were really out of touch. She said something about wishing Edwina had gone all Jack the Ripper on Kate or that she didn’t want to be a plot device. Good for her honestly. Such a shame that the writers decided to take on her request at the expense of Kate and Simone though. There is also another rumor about what happened with CC and the rest of the cast but since people get triggered and I don’t know if it’s true 100% I won’t post it here, I’m sorry.

I don’t think Simone will be in s4. I don’t think they care about Kate at all so her story will be wrapped up in s3 with two or three family scenes. I hope I’m right cause as much I will be sad to let Kate go I also want Simone to get away from those people quickly and do other stuff. She is the only cast member who answered “I don’t know”when asked about s4 so…

I’m sorry if this answer is all over the place, English is not my first language and it’s kind of a prickly subject in this fandom. Also there are things i’m not comfortable enough to share publicly. If you want we can chat through dm someday ☺️

Also the couple will be Benophie or Eloise and that plant guy. I bet on Benophie tho.

#bridgerton #simone ashley

[much-brighter-ink]

I completely forgot about the Patrick storyline in season 2 and... for a reason

#I did not miss a randomly thrust in thing about identity theft *sigh* poor edith #fuck now I’M saying poor edith am i suddenly a character on the show #I also had it in my mind that I didn’t like s2 because the war cast a grim shadow over it all but I actually liked the rewatch #but now richard asshole carlisle is in the picture and mary is hurting so she’s bitchy and we’re starting our first burst of death and gahhh #and then we’re almost at Spanish flu robert is cheating on cora and mary and edith are trying to stop sybil from eloping #oh also bates LISTEN TO ANNA YOU DO REALIZE VERA WANTED TO SCREW YOU OVER RIGHT #huh I’ve almost reached the point where I started live-blogging on tumblr meaning I’ll have barely blogged seasons 1 and 2 at all #downton abbey #things in my brain

[viscountessevie]

I'm so sad about the possibility of Philoise' story being switched to Theloise.

Phillip sacrificed the chance for true love to help Marina and make up for his beother. Both are obviously content but not happy. And even though I'm don't like the idea of Marina dying, at least one of them would've at least gotten the chance to become happy with someone else.

Sure they can suddenly turn them into lovers but I feel like it still feels so wrong and maybe it wouldn't have been nessecary to introduce them in my opinion.

There were so many Philoise hints and now it could be for nothing.

[Shoutout to the Kanthypants GC and especially Lav @sweetestviscount, Dani @hella-sirius, Franzi @anthonykatebridgerton and Trivia @hptriviachamp for an amazing and fruitful discussion about the Phillip/Marina storyline and the Colin of it all in S1!]

Not going to lie anon I feel SUPER conflicted about the tone of your ask and what tone to respond in because while initially I was like Oh they seem nice and aren't calling Marina a hoe who deserves to die for once like most of the Philoises and Pelicans. But rereading this over the last few weeks, I'm going to take it as misplaced sympathy for Phillip that resulted in tearing down Marina. It also kinda reads passive aggressive ngl - feel free to correct me if I am wrong in the notes or a future ask if you'd like. But that's how I have taken it and will be responding as such.

Also I am going to be slightly harsh because you came to the wrong place for Philip/Philoise sympathy, ya non-binary pal here is Marina lover and will defend her til my dying days. 

First off, let me squash your worries and sadness, you’re fine. I’ve talked about it here but to reiterate: All the book canon couples will be fine on the show. No matter how many shitty love triangles they throw at us, the endgame couple wins. So the Philoise hints will come to a head at some point just chill out please. Just because they have an endgame doesn’t mean they are supposed to have a chastity belt on - not everyone needs to be a Daphne or Show!Colin lmao. Let them have some fun! 

As for the rest of your ask, let me turn this around: She would have found herself a fine husband or Colin would have changed his mind after the anger dissipated. See: Their scenes in S2 (minus the end where Marina magically turns into Penalty’s mouthpiece thank you idiot writers 🙄 ) & this scene in S1: 

[Btw yall rewatching this scene BROKE ME! HE SHOULD HAVE MARRIED HER!! They are so much better suited on the show than Penalty and him. Marina saw him as a real person and was realistic about her expectations, unlike someone who is obsessed and is willing to ruin everyone around her to get to him,,, anyways that’s for ANOTHER day and post]

Anyways I digress, she would have been fine tbh so Phillip didn’t HAVE to do anything neither did he ‘sacrifice’ anything lmao. They got married which back then were mainly transactional so they could have had an arrangement to take lovers. He didn’t go to war for her unlike her first love George so please calm down. He chose to it. Yes, he felt duty bound but no one put a gun to his head. Let’s grant the man some agency. 

On the other hand, let me ask you, didn’t Marina sacrifice too?? She had her love!! He died in the war and she barely got to mourn him before she was pregnant with the twins and Penalty was like Let’s make this grief worse and expose her &lt;3 Like what the actual fuck is wrong with you Pen. So between the two, Marina actually lost the first love of her life, Philip still has time. 

Next, if I hear the word ‘content’ one more time, I am going throw something at the writer who wrote that shit S2 storyline for Marina. The biggest crime against Marina other than the one Penalty committed is not making her disgustingly happy in love with Phillip. Yeah, they are a little mismatched but both very practical people, caring parents and I’m sure Marina found his plant rambles cute - she was just very nervous with her ex and husband in the same room in S2. 

Why doesn’t the glitter and glamour of the Bridgerton world rub off on Marina?? Our main WoC in S1 who had substantial screen time and was a pretty big character. She deserves happiness too. (credits to Trivia for saying this in our GC discussions earlier!)

If you don’t like the idea of her dying then why should she be the one to die?? Why should Phillip be the one in your “at least one of them would've at least gotten the chance to become happy with someone else.” to be happy? What makes Marina less of a person deserving love and being happy with someone else? Think on that. Why does Philip man-pain Crane automatically get it in your eyes and the fandom? Book canon aside, genuinely. Why?? 

On that note, screw someone else! As I mentioned before Marina/Phillip should have just been a thing! You’re entitled to how you feel about it and your opinion but I have to strongly disagree. Marriage of convenience to lovers is TOP-TIER BABEY. We had a year time jump; they could have easily become a love match - that would have been iconic. Fuck this one or the other mentality; BOTH!! They both deserve happiness at least Show!Phillip gjdgfjsk

Despite all this and my salt in this ask, I do appreciate you feeling safe enough to send this to my blog but yeah think on why you place more importance on Show!Phillip over Marina. I’m not going to say it but you and most of the larger fandom know exactly why. 

#Bridgerton #Marina Thompson #Phillip Crane #Not tagging the ship cos I do not want to deal with the stans #The GC Stamp of Approval #Asks