#and all the other characters get pretty mid arcs as well | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

formulaorange · 7 months

Text

2023 Fall Anime

This is honestly a loaded season full of new shows based on relatively new manga. Lots to look forward to

Spy x Family - Season 2 One of the most fun SJ series that have come out in a while. Season 1 was killer, high hopes for season 2.

Goblin Slayer 2 I didn't realize they were even making a second season. This was such a killer series. I'm really hoping they don't fall into the many mid-tier fantasy tropes out there in anime right now. I thought the appeal of the show was really Goblin Slayer himself and less about the lackeys along the way. So we'll see how it goes.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End This is definitely one of my highly anticipated series. It's about an elf who was part of the Hero's party and her life after he dies. (Since elves live longer) Definitely a darker take on fantasy but has some really solid fantasy and adventure vibes.

Rising of the Shield Hero - Season 3 Season 2 was pretty disappointing and slow. While this looks like it'll be more fast paced, it does look like a tournament arc of sorts. I know some aren't a fan of that kind of arc, but honestly I think it's exactly what this series needs to pick things up again. We'll see.

The Faraway Paladin - Season 2 This was legitimately one of my favourite fantasy series. I thought it was really well written and didn't rush things like other series. I'm looking forward to this season.

Sequels/Continuations: Eminence in Shadow - Season 2 killer series with an anti-hero main character. Definitely worth checking out. After-School Hanako-Kun Hanako-kun spin off Dr. Stone Season 3 - Part 2 One of the best novel concept series with nothing else in it's genre to compare to. Definitely didn't drop the ball on the recent seasons and still worth watching. Dead Mount Death Play - Part 2 One that I didn't particularly enjoy, but has a decent sized manga following. Tokyo Revengers - Tenjiku Arc The continuation of the series. Might be just me but it feels like the series fell off after the first season. The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent - Season 2 A more mature take on fantasy isekai that just started to get into romance at the end of last season. A solid combo of shoujo genres. The Ancient Magus' Bride - Season 2 Part 2 One that I haven't had a change to check out yet but have only heard good things about. Hypnosismic - Season 2 a weirdly addictive musical/rap series. Unique characters and honestly solid rap battles. One I'll be enjoying. -- Related - Paradox Live - Music battle with what looks to be the same style of animation and solid character design. Definitely worth looking at if you're a fan of Hypmic. The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse A sequel of SDS. Looks like it could be a fun watch for the fans of the series. New:

Shangri La Frontier A new manga fantasy series. This may be a horrible way to describe but it is what it is - a new age SAO- full dive fantasy game. A gamer who only plays shit games, gets into a new massively popular MMORPG and is op. One that I'm excited for because it ticks all the fantasy game boxes I like.

Undead Unluck A relatively new manga series that gained a lot of traction in the last year or two. A gory action comedy that's super chaotic and a lot of fun.

Shy Brand new hero manga series about a shy girl and her anxieties and struggles going into the hero world who grows and gains confidence as she becomes a better hero.

Ron Kamonohashi's Forbidden Deductions This is a manga series that I have kept forgetting the name of so never got a chance to read but all the covers for the manga look phenomenal. Likely the anime doesn't do him justice but it is what it is. Essentially sherlock in anime form. A PI with issues and the wholesome police detective work together to solve crime. Other New Series: Green - Fantasy Pink - Romance Red - Action Purple - Drama The Kingdoms of Ruins A world where witches were hunted down by humans as science surpassed magic. A kid who was raised by a witch swears revenge on mankind. This honestly looks solid. The animations are very cool looking and the mc seems to be an anti-hero. Will be looking at this one. Under Ninja A well known manga series about modern ninjas. Definitely a unique series for this season. The Apothecary Diaries A historical medical mystery show. I've heard the name before and I've also only heard good things. Will be worth a watch. A Girl & Her Guard Dog The granddaughter of a crime syndicate goes to highschool out of town and the current young boss lies his way into the same school. Would be cute romance if it weren't for the fact she's 15 and he's 26.. Butareba - The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig What the title says. A girl finds him and the story goes from there. I'm Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness The usual light novel title. Honestly, doesn't seem as yikes as I initially thought, might just be harmless breaking the rules kinda thing. Could be fun, also a Capybara that strikes fear into people's hearts. My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer Looks like a wholesome series where an adventurer finds a baby, raises it and she becomes so strong she's busy working all the time. Just a cute father daughter relationship in a fantasy setting about her wanting to come take time to see him but being caught up in OP fantasy battles. Ragna Crimson Dragons vs Humanity - a human and a dragon team up to destroy all the dragons. Action fantasy series. Berserk of Gluttony I honestly added this because I thought it was hilarious. Looks like a combo of knock offs - the Gluttony skill from Tensura (reincarnated as a slime) and the mc being called Fate with the main girl who looks exactly like Sabre. I'll be skipping but its' here so you know.

306 notes · View notes

eclectiaa · 1 year

Text

Note: Another piece that was posted on my old account. I've made a mid-year resolution to be more active and try to write one post a week. Wish me luck~!

OTOME HOLLYWOOD — Fem!Reader x Venti, Xiao, Childe, Zhongli, Kaeya, Diluc, Kazuha, Scaramouche, and Ayato

You’re a new manager at a talent agency. Inspired down this path after your next-door neighbor became a famous actor. You haven’t been able to interact with this big brother figure much due to his company’s restrictions. That’s partly why you’re motivated to help as many actors stay true to themselves as you can.

Who are the talents?

Venti is a haraguro actor and one of the firm’s top talents. He seems happy-go-lucky and universally liked. In reality, he’s got a ton of emotional issues that he pushes down through alcohol. You see this state early on when tasked with delivering something to his apartment that he left behind at work.

He totally drops the facade in front of you after that. In fact, he treats you pretty harshly.

His character arc involves a scandal about his alcoholism. He fights the rumors at first but eventually hits rock bottom. It’s only with your support that he has the courage to come clean at a press conference. He even gives rehab a shot. Essentially, you’re his rock.

In the epilogue, he becomes more honest with people. Thankfully, most of his fans rally behind him. He seems more relaxed. His attitude towards you even ends up becoming more tongue-in-cheek, though he’ll deny to the end that he’s totally head over heels for you. He’ll scare off anyone else that gets close though, so you’re stuck with him.

Xiao is a rising star who was scouted at an indie music festival. He’d just been helping out a friend by singing backup vocals in an alternative band. His true passion is music and he performs as an anonymous—always masked—underground rapper. Unfortunately, his manager thinks it’s “bad for his image” so he really keeps it on the down-low.

You see a lot of your childhood friend in him and try to help his musical talent be recognized.

His character arc involves him joining the music scene in earnest. His shitty manager eventually gets fired and the company decides to expand its specialties from acting to acting and music. It turns out his fans really love his ‘cool’ side too.

In the epilogue, he ‘slips up’ and mentions that he has someone he “really cares about” during a live interview. He doesn’t say it in so many words, but everyone can tell from his expression and tone that he means a significant other. Of course, he’s too oblivious to his own feelings. You realize that he means you because he mentions an activity that only you two do together. Of course, you think he means it platonically.

Until Kaeya mentions that “it must be love”. You and Xiao promptly stop functioning.

Childe is an actor with a playboy image. In a sense, this makes him Kazuha’s rival, so you’re quite weary with him from the beginning. He isn’t much of a playboy at all, but a misunderstanding—catching him in a compromising position with an actress—has you believing the rumors are true. In reality, the shitty manager currently assigned to him pushes this persona because he believes it makes Childe more marketable.

His character arc follows his frustration at people not taking him seriously as an actor. They only see him as a pretty face and he’s regularly assigned those roles. While it keeps him quite popular, he doesn’t feel fulfilled. You help him stand up to his manager. Rather, you stand up for him—giving him the warm fuzzies—and when his manager begins deriding you, Childe savagely tells them off.

This leads to a face-off between him and the company president, veteran actor Zhongli. They wager that Childe will audition for a role of his choosing. If he gets selected and does well, then he can rewrite his image. If he fails then he’ll stop complaining and let management have their way. He takes on a grittier role with some fight scenes. He started boxing in his youth and keeps up with it regularly. The new gig allows him to showcase his natural abilities.

Of course, he knocks it out of the park, even securing a best actor nomination. Though he doesn’t win this time, he’s more than honored his side of the bargain and is allowed more autonomy in choosing his roles. You’re assigned his new manager after his previous one is fired for trying to sabotage Childe’s efforts. In the epilogue, he realizes the need for a nuclear approach in confessing to you. You brush off his flirtations, still believing he’s like this with everyone. Naturally, in Childe fashion, it's either go big or go home. He delivers a sincere and up-front confession on live television. Zhongli and Kaeya are left with no small share of headaches, but of course, they approve. You’re a good match.

Who is in management?

Zhongli is the director of the company you work at. He started the company to help young actors in this harsh industry and, because he has a lot of clout, his business took off quite quickly. He never intended to stop acting, but work just kept piling up and it’s been quite a while since his last job. Leaving everything in the hands of the next generation worries him, as he fears they might not be ready and feels that it’s his responsibility. But he’s gotten so used to it that he thinks things are fine the way they are.

You meet him on your first day at the office when you go to the kitchen and find him at the table, sipping tea. You hum in appreciation at the rich aroma before you realise who exactly is sitting there and, when he lifts his head and your eyes lock, you freeze.

Of course you know who he is. You’ve watched every single one of his movies, and he’s the main reason you chose this company to work at. He’s very stoic and elegant, and his penetrating stare makes you quite nervous. He just seems so hard to approach, as though he’s worlds away from you. So you just mumble a polite greeting and scurry away to the cupboards.

You fumble around the kitchen while you prepare your coffee, feeling his strong presence behind you, and you’re so distracted that you burn your hand. Hissing quietly, you go to the freezer to get an ice pack but, before you get there, someone grabs your hand gently. Zhongli looks straight into your eyes and tells you “Don’t” before dragging you to the sink to run water over your wound. He explains all the reasons why it’s better to simply apply cool water, but you can’t focus on his words because you’re too busy looking at him. He’s more beautiful in person than you ever thought possible and he’s just so close, and gentle, and he doesn’t seem to care that the cuffs of his suit are getting wet too.

After that, he starts waiting for you in the kitchen with a pot of tea for both of you and, before you realize it, that morning routine becomes the highlight of your day.

His character arc involves you helping him re-realize his passion for acting. You push him to do something for himself for a change and step back from his role at the company to reignite his career. His route unlocks after you play through all the other company members (and Kazuha’s) routes. On the replay, you have the option of being chosen as his manager and start going on movie sets and events with him. That’s when you see him interacting with Ningguang, a gorgeous actress with whom he co-stars in a movie. Intimidated by Ningguang, who you think is a much better fit for him, you start feeling inadequate by his side. Of course, there’s nothing actually between them, but you don’t realize this until the very end.

In the epilogue, Zhongli wins an award for best actor and, during his speech, he thanks you especially, looking at you softly while you melt at the table. When everyone is leaving, the paparazzi swarm both of you, asking questions as to what your relationship is. Zhongli ignores all of them and leads you to his limo, taking your hand and locking eyes with you—just like that first day—as he opens the door and inclines his head, saying “After you, my lady.”

You flush and climb in quickly with Zhongli close behind, the paparazzi going crazy with their camera flashes as you both leave.

Kaeya used to be Zhongli’s manager but is now the lead manager for the company and your direct boss. He’s an extrovert, and easy to get along with, but he also doesn’t seem to show his true self to many people, which gives him a mysterious air. Diluc is his stepbrother; they have a love-hate relationship where both of them care deeply for the other but would never admit it out loud. Kaeya loves to get on Diluc’s nerves and tease him, trying to make him break out of character. He does the same thing to you, flirting and teasing you all the time, but you don’t take him seriously because he’s that way to everyone.

He’s the first one to welcome you to the company on your first day, showing you around to help you get acquainted. As you walk, you can’t help but notice how most of the female staff looks at him. But honestly, who can blame them? Kaeya is charming and, though he’s a bit of a joker, he’s quite considerate. He goes out of his way to check on you in your first weeks, giving you advice and even helping you deal with a nasty paparazzi that wouldn’t leave you alone. The way his arm wraps around your shoulders as he steers you away gives you a sense of comfort and safety, and you find yourself wondering what it would be like to be held in his arms. You dismiss the idea as quickly as it comes though, how could he ever be interested in you? Besides, he’s your boss; falling for him would be the perfect recipe for disaster.

His arc involves him having to improve in order to become the new de-facto director when Zhongli goes back into acting, as well as helping him mend his relationship with Diluc. Kaeya picks up the slack left in Zhongli’s absence, but this increases his workload and you become his second in command, which comes as a huge surprise. You question his decision, but he says he trusts you, making your heart flutter.

Working side by side, you start noticing how sometimes he looks at you when he thinks you’re not watching, and his casual touches become more frequent: brushing your hair out of your face when you come running after being late, sitting close to you as you both inspect a new contract, staying long hours in the office with you. You don’t get your hopes up though, he’s probably just joking, but you fear that he might discover how fast your heart beats whenever he comes close.

Kaeya, for his part, thinks that you have feelings for Kazuha—because he sees the way your face lights up whenever you talk about him—and doesn’t act on his feelings.

During all this time, you also get the chance to see Kaeya and Diluc together, and you find it hard to believe that two brothers can get along so badly. You see how much it affects Kaeya—though he tries to hide it—and from then on, you try to help by leaving them alone whenever you can and pushing Kaeya to be true to himself.

In the epilogue, Diluc gets tired of you two being so dumb and calls Kaeya self-sacrificing to a fault “when it really matters”. When Kaeya eventually finds out that you don’t have romantic feelings for Kazuha, he laughs and calls himself an idiot before confessing on the spot, catching you completely off-guard.

Diluc is a board member as well as the owner of a renowned winery. He starts working at the company after Kaeya calls him saying that he needs his help—a lie that Kaeya says in hopes to recover their relationship—and convinces him that it will be great publicity for his brand.

He looks like he’s always in a bad mood but, in reality, he just has a hard time dealing with his feelings. He used to be a bright boy, something that changed drastically with his father’s untimely death and being left as the sole heir of the Ragnvindr family. Because of this, the press is obsessed with publishing stories about him, and they are very disappointed every time he manages to successfully evade them. They don’t give up though and, because of the latest merger he has going on, he’s having a hard time with the way he’s being hounded.

You meet him by accident one day when you’re going to work and bump into him a few blocks from there. He steadies you with firm hands on your arms, and you’re taken aback because you recall seeing him at the company—and also by how pretty he is. That’s when you hear a commotion behind you and see a few paparazzi’s approaching you quickly. Thinking he’s a new talent, and seeing his distressed face, you take his hand without thinking and rush towards the building.

“Are you ok?” is the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you’re both safe inside. You’re panting because of the effort, but he doesn’t have a single hair out of place. He asks why you did that and you just shrug, saying that it looked like he needed help. This takes him by surprise, he’s not used to people doing things without expecting something out of him, but your concern seems sincere. Realising that the press will probably camp outside the company from now on, waiting for him, he comes up with a plan and asks if you would become his liaison with the company while he lays low. When you tell him he should talk about that with his manager, he frowns and tells you who he really is, prompting your face to turn beet red.

His character arc involves helping him open up and reconnect with his emotions. After accepting his offer to work for him, you start meeting at various establishments that he owns and, between papers and coffee and yummy food, you get to know him and figure out the tiny changes in his moods. One of these establishments is a beautiful cafe at an estate, with tables set in a beautiful garden. He knows you like it, and you find it funny that you start meeting there more and more often. You just hope he didn’t realize how much you like to look at his hair when the sun shines from behind him.

You can tell he feels more comfortable around you. The constant frown on his face eases up whenever he sees you and you can’t help but wonder why it is that a small smile always grazes his lips whenever you smile. He even goes so far as to tell you a bit about his past, albeit in a way that tried to show he was over it. You can tell that he isn’t, though.

Later on, he finds out that Kaeya lied to him about needing his help and they have a falling out. You know why Kaeya did that, and you try to explain it to Diluc. Unfortunately, that only makes everything worse, since Diluc thinks you’re taking Kaeya’s side, and therefore like him. It brings back memories from girls that dated him but ended up falling for his stepbrother because he acts nicer and seems easier to approach. Though Kaeya never dated girls that did Diluc dirty like that, and Diluc himself doesn’t care much for those types of people, he just doesn’t want that to be true for you. It hurts far more.

So he starts to avoid you.

Eventually, he and Kaeya make up and he finds out that there’s nothing between you two, but now he has no idea how to face you after treating you so coldly.

In the epilogue, Kaeya tricks Diluc into meeting at that special coffee shop. That’s when he bumps into you as you were delivering some papers at the estate. You’re both very awkward about it, and you curse Kaeya for telling you he would not be there. Not wanting to see Diluc being upset at you again, you nod in acknowledgement, push the folders into his hands, and dash out of the establishment.

Following after you, Diluc catches up in the garden and grabs you by the wrist to stop you. He has no idea what he wants to say, he just knows he doesn't want you to leave. So he starts by apologizing and telling you everything he values about you. Mostly professional things at first, but then he mentions how much he likes it when your twirl your hair between your fingers, or when you bite your lip when you’re focusing hard on something. He didn’t plan to say any of this, but he can’t stop himself and ends up accidentally confessing.

Who are the rivals?

Kazuha is your childhood friend—and a big brother figure, though only you think that way—who has a pristine image as an actor and works with a rival company. He was scouted at a shopping mall because of his good looks and mysterious presence, and he decided to give it a try so as to impress you. He’s very calm and nice on the outside but can be very harsh if something bad happens around you. He’s also a really good dancer—a skill that helped him land some big roles—, something that you know very well because he used to dance with you all the time when you were younger. That was a while ago, though.

His arc follows his journey as he decides to finally act on his feelings for you, and he realizes how much he actually enjoys acting. During your years of friendship, he never said anything since you kept insisting on calling him big brother; though he held on to the hope that you would realize how good you could be for each other. You used to do everything together, after all.

Since he started working with this company though, the amount of time you spend together has reduced to practically zero. Even though he lives next door, you barely ever see his face anymore. He explained that his company’s restrictions are very strict, and they want to avoid any type of scandal that could ruin his image. Though he doesn’t say it, he’s also trying to protect you from the possible backlash from angry fans. And, just maybe, he thought you would finally realize your feelings for him if he put some distance between you two. Or, if everything else failed, he could find the time to forget about his own feelings.

But, after seeing you surrounded by other guys and interacting with other actors, he gets incredibly jealous. He especially dislikes Childe and the way he looks at you. He decides that maybe it’s time to push you a bit, since he’s not ready to let go yet, and starts getting bolder.

He starts meeting with you in secret, hiding from his pestering manager. You’re really happy about this at first, you got your friend back! And as you start to reconnect, you feel whole again. But, after a while, it starts to hurt how much he needs to hide you, or his cold demeanor whenever you’re in public. You have a huge fight when you confront him about this, claiming that you miss the old times with your big brother. Kazuha snaps at your words and, when you’re about to leave the room, he hugs you from behind. He can’t take it anymore; as he leans his head on your shoulder, he confesses that you were never a little sister to him.

In the epilogue, Kazuha takes you to the office and confronts his management about the rules, saying that he’ll be dating you from now on, no matter what they say.

Scaramouche is another actor from the rival company. He’s very competitive and has a mean guy image (not completely faked), but he’s still super popular since fans see him as the cool bad boy. Grumpy, and a bit prone to violence, he has no problem flipping the paparazzi off, which has resulted in more than a few front-page issues. Though, to no one’s surprise, this only helped increase his popularity.

You meet him on set when you accompany Xiao on a movie they are both acting in. He thinks you’re there to serve him and asks you to get him drinks and food, no matter how many times you tell him you’re not his manager. He doesn’t care because “you’re getting stuff for that guy anyway—nods at Xiao who glares at him—, so you might as well get it for me”. You end up getting him a hot chocolate but, before giving it to him, you hold it at a distance and tell him that, next time he wants something, he can either ask his own manager or have the decency to at least ask nicely.

He just blinks, taking the drink in his hands with a dumbfounded expression, before watching you go. You’re the first one to stand up to him like that. People are usually too scared of him or falling over their own feet to please him. He got so used to it that he’s a bit spoiled now, and he’s impressed that you don’t take any of his shit.

His arc follows his journey to overcome his bad temper and anger issues. Working so closely with you, you help him realize his bad ways and, after a while, he starts trying because he wants you to see his good side as well. You think he only wants to be friends since he doesn’t seem to have many. On his part, he will never outright admit he wants to be close to you, since he’s mad at himself for enjoying this friendship with someone from a rival company. Even worse, his grumpy mood relaxes when he’s around you, something he tries to hide at all costs. But you can see through his aggressive front after you get to know him a bit more, and you start finding his attempts to hide this quite endearing.

He starts bringing you glasses of water when he notices you’re tired—pretending someone gave it to him and he doesn’t want it—or makes sure no one disturbs you when you’re nodding off while sitting on a chair. Usually by threatening every person that comes even a smidge close to you. He even defends you when you make a silly mistake and someone calls you incompetent, which has you melting inside.

In the epilogue, on the last day of the shooting, he realizes he might not see you again, and he never even gave you his number. Scared of that possibility, he finds you in an empty corridor, grabs your hand and drags you into his trailer. Mostly because he prefers to have some privacy, but also he doesn’t want that emo looking guy to interrupt. He confesses his feelings for you there and, of course, you say yes.

Ayato is the new director of the rival company. He’s the type that always has a calm, warm smile on his face, and is renowned for his elegance and good manners. Surprisingly, he also has a silly side to him, and he loves playing pranks on his actors and friends. He can be very aggressive if his loved ones are treated poorly, and is the kind to deliver threats with a smile and win arguments using his smart brain rather than violence.

You meet him by accident one day when you are returning home and see Kazuha at his front door with a tall man, an expensive car parked next to them. You rush over to talk with your childhood friend who you haven’t seen in a while, but you’re surprised when this man gets in the way and asks you to please keep your distance. You tell him that’s your friend and you just want to talk to him, asking who does he think he is. Kazuha then clears his throat and introduces him as Kamisato Ayato, director of the company he works at. He explains that Ayato played a prank on him that didn’t end well and, though he wasn’t badly hurt or anything, Ayato offered to take him home personally.

When you find out he’s the director, you scold him for being so hard on Kazuha and setting all these ridiculous restrictions. Ayato tells you with a smile that if you’re Kazuha’s friend, then you should know how important his reputation is, and do what’s best for him. That’s a very thinly veiled warning if you ever heard one. Before you can stop yourself, you ignore Kazuha’s silent plea to stop and plow on, “So the best for your actors is to cut off all their ties?”

Ayato is taken aback by your way of seeing things, but you don’t give him a chance to say anything else as you glare both at him and Kazuha and storm inside your house.

His character arc involves helping him change the way his company works, allowing his actors to remain true to themselves. After that first meeting, he’s intrigued by you and your words and, a few days later, sends you a bouquet of flowers to the office with a note that says “I’m sorry I upset you the other day. I promise I want nothing but the best for the people under my care.”

You don’t believe him at first, but he keeps sending you flowers almost every day, with a different note each time, until he finally asks you out.

You refuse of course, but decide to pay him a visit at the office to ask him to stop sending you these ridiculous bouquets at your workplace. In there, you happen to see him with his little sister, overhearing her complaining about Ayato being such an overprotective brother. You decide to give him a chance to explain himself and that’s when you realise that he really is just trying to protect his company and loved ones from bad press, he’s just too overbearing to realise his methods are too much.

In the epilogue, Ayato goes to find you at your office, making a big show of bowing in reverence to you and kissing your knuckles. In front of all your co-workers. He vows then and there that he will not stop until he’s successfully stolen you to his side, seeing how much he needs your help. Kaeya, leaning on the door to his office, says that there’s no way anyone will allow that. Ayato just smiles, making your heart race at the promise hidden there.

#genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin fluff #genshin imagines #venti x reader #ayato kamisato x reader #xiao x reader #childe x reader #zhongli x reader #kaeya x reader #diluc x reader #scaramouche x reader #kaedehara kazuha x reader #kamisato ayato x reader #kazuha x reader #mine

405 notes · View notes

thegaybluejay · 27 days

Text

Okay hi I’m back with another ramble-y ATLA character analysis since this is low key my brand on here lmao-

Today I want to talk about Zuko from the lens of someone who also had to deconstruct. This will be long, but please bear with me!

I was raised in a very white conservative evangelical Christian bubble where literally EVERYONE I knew for the majority of my childhood and teenage years thought mostly the same way. There was a lot of othering and shaming of anyone who thought too differently. Even if it was sometimes said more passively than cruelly, there was always that underlying tone. “The others/the people outside of our group/the worldly ones are lost and need our help because we’re better than them!”

While I strived to not be cruel, my beliefs were still harmful. I lost a few friends when I got to my mid-late teenage years because I didn’t yet know how to challenge what I’d been taught.

I see so much of myself in Zuko.

Zuko was surrounded by propaganda his entire life. He was steeped in it - steeped in the blood of those that the system he supported/represented had hurt and killed.

Anger is a huge part of all of this. While my anger was never quite as outward as Zuko’s (I hid it fairly well and was always known as the “pretty good kid”), I can still so heavily relate to his anger. His anger at always falling just short of being good enough or perfect enough. His later anger at himself for not understanding how fucked up the system was sooner. His anger at the people that failed and hurt him. His anger at realizing how he failed and hurt other people. All of it.

I also understand his backslides in Book 2 and early Book 3. When you begin tackling the first layers of harmful shit you’ve been taught, it can quickly become so tempting to just call it quits and go back. You almost start to romanticize the simplicity of life before you began this journey. The rules and goals were so straightforward back then, and deconstructing is messy as hell. Even if you were deeply hurting in your old life, at least you weren’t so damn confused. You used to know your next steps, but now everything is in disarray and you don’t have a direction to rebuild in yet. Going back almost feels like it would be a survival tactic, a way to have a sense of control again. Zuko definitely 100% needed to atone for what he did in Ba Sing Se because it hurt others, and while I’d like to think I would’ve made a different choice in his shoes, I also get it on some level. The confusion stage sucks, and it’s not always linear either.

But then.

One day, something just clicks. You eventually deconstruct enough that you truly come to full terms with how fucked up it all is. And you realize that you don’t belong there anymore, and the version of you that DID belong was just a facade. The blinders fully come off, they’re never going back on, and a spark lights in you that prompts you to make a big change. The deeper you go, the more urgent this deconstruction becomes in your mind because holy fuck I have to do something about this. I want this shit out of my brain for good and I want to help make things better. I want to learn who I am and finally live that out.

THAT is one of the most pivotal points in the journey, and I loved seeing it within Zuko’s arc when he comes to this realization after the war meeting in Book 3 and leaves to join the Gaang. I also loved that they didn’t trust him the first time he came to them - both he as an individual and the system that he had once supported/represented had hurt these people, and it took some real apologies and some time to build up trust. It also wasn’t done with half assed centrism either - it was “I acknowledge that this system is completely broken and wrong and I will do everything in my power to help gut it from the top-down and restore it with love”.

This leads to another pivotal point in the journey - instead of being motivated by fear like you were when you were deep in the indoctrination or by the raw anger you first felt as you initially left, you start to be motivated by love. And it’s the most freeing thing.

It was so cool to see Zuko learn that, while his anger was a helpful tool (ie: the confrontation with his father and his overall anger at the corruption he saw in his nation), he couldn’t be fueled by it any longer. He had to find another motivation to keep going, and he was then taught by the Sun Warriors and the dragons how to be motivated by light and life and love and also how to use those alongside an anger that was finally righteous.

And with this, he was ready to fight. To fight for a cause he knew to be good. To fight arm in arm with his newly acquired family. To fight to fix what his nation had done to the world and to itself. To fight for love and peace instead of division and hate and destruction.

And wow is it a beautiful journey.

TL;DR - Zuko’s story is so powerful to those who are deconstructing and I love him so much! I also just enjoy doing character analysis hehe.

(I really love talking about ATLA, so if y’all want me to analyze other characters or even plotlines through a specific lens, feel free to submit an Ask and I will happily do so!!!)

(Also, quick ending note - this is just my personal experience with deconstruction! Other people’s retelling of their own deconstructions may be different from mine, and that’s totally okay!!)

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #prince zuko #character arcs #i really love zuko guys #deconstruction #deconstructing christianity #exvangelical

24 notes · View notes

lunar-years · 7 months

Note

Roy’s been so obsessed with Jamie the whole time, actually. Keeley ‘s a little bit weird about him too.

- While flirting with Keeley in the press room, trying to get her to give him a second chance “Because I like you more than I hate him”

- Keeley being turned on by Jamie offering an inkling of vulnerability after showing up at her door

- “Every time I wanna kiss my girlfriend, I can’t stop thinking about Jamie fucking Tartt”

- In the middle of making out with Keeley, literally on top of her after he’s just walked in on her masturbating, “What did you tell the prince prick of all pricks about going back to Richmond?”

- Jamie thinking Roy and Keeley started dating just to make him jealous which. Well. Keeley technically had sex with Jamie to get back at Roy in Season 1

I’m probably missing some moments but They Are Just So Weird About Each Other. And in retrospect, the love triangle angle could’ve been done soooo much better. I hate that Jamie’s apology for the video leak is diminished when he tells Roy about it in the bar, but I do understand it shows their character regression and serves a greater purpose for Roy’s arc. And maybe it’s an unpopular opinion, but it would’ve been more interesting if Keeley and Jamie had sex after he apologized in S3 (although the hug was really sweet).

idk why but the way you worded it "Keeley's a little bit weird about him too" actually made me laugh out loud lmao. Thank you for that anon. I think Keeley ALSO being unhinged about Jamie is something that is underrated!

I think my favorite is the scene where Keeley masturbates to Roy's retirement presser because the whole thing is SO 'Jamie is the third person in the room right now even though he is not actually here in the room.' Like. Let's compile the Evidence in that scene alone:

Keeley's vulnerability kink is activated so hard by Jamie having traced her to her coffee shop to seek her advice specifically that she immediately goes home to have a wank about it. Except she can't wank to Jamie can she? That would be bad because she's In a Committed Relationship. So she pulls out her old reliable Roy vulnerability video to wank to that instead. (Already it's pretty crazy.)

But then Roy comes home and Keeley tells him how hot she finds him when he's vulnerable, suggests again he take a chance on the pundit job and then uses JAMIE AS THE COMPARISON. literally fully well knowing how Roy can Get about Jamie Tartt, she's on about 'Jamie is brave.' 'At least Jamie is trying to get better.' 'YOU'RE JUST LIKE JAMIE.' i mean, GIRL?? insane. this is all after being walked in on mid-wank mind you.

In midst of all that, let's queue up another super sexy roykeeley kiss. at this point the conversation has MOVED ON. only for roy to BRING JAMIE UP AGAIN. 'what did you tell the prince prick of all pricks?' WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO KNOW ROY. whyyy are you still thinking about him. unbidden. as you are right in the midst of foreplay with your girlfriend.

Insanity on all sides of the triangle ❤️

But all of your examples are spot on and I fully think the weirdness about one another started even before any of that and got FAR WEIRDER from s3 and beyond. For instance, Keeley in the season one bar scene openly getting turned on by Roy with Jamie right there... one could argue that she was already leaning towards trading in Jamie for a nicer model but frankly. I think girl was angling for a threesome even then. And good for her!

Keeley and Jamie sleeping together after he came to apologize would've been a MESS. I would love to read a fic of that!

Part of what is so fun to me about the three of them canonically ending the series single is that the possibilities and configurations for smooshing them all together remain endless. maybe they all three figured it out at the same time and got together in a very romantic and cute and non-angsty way. BUT. if you want to be messy. roykeeley or jamiekeeley or royjamie can get together first, and whichever one is left out can just absolutely without a doubt be Going Through It. Meanwhile things aren't going fully well for the couple, and it's far from bad but they still can't get it RIGHT because it still feels like something (hint: someone) is missing. The someone who is currently off to the side thinking they aren't good enough aren't lovable aren't ever going to be okay again but at least their favorite two people are happy :( without them :( :( glorious

#royjamiekeeley #asks #ted lasso

53 notes · View notes

fraudulent-cheese · 8 days

Note

Think you would change any of the finalists of any of the seasons? Think you mentioned a Pahkitew redo or something, would that be a part of it?

OH BOY THAT IS. A QUESTION IN A HALF

I'll start off by giving my opinion on all the finalists of each season!

TDI: Honestly, i wouldn't change it. Both Gwen and Owen are pretty relevant characters, they're fun as the finalists and it makes sense they'd make it that far tbh. I wouldn't swap them out for anyone else this season outside of maybe Leshawna if her elimination wasn't so cheap? That or change it to be like "oh yeah we should make them stay in this nice resort instead of that shitty summer camp" as motivation for nominating someone during Haute-Campture. Idk. Id be more in favor of finalist Leshawna if Fresh TV, you know, gave her more relevance outside of being Gwen's bestie towards the end? And just gave her character depth? Or an arc on her own? But she's the only other candidate in my eyes

TDA: I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: THE FINALISTS SHOULD'VE BEEN LINDSAY AND HAROLD. why was Duncan a finalist. Literally why. What does he do that's interesting enough to justify keeping him for the ENTIRE SEASON. If you wanted to do the Courtney list plotthread, just introduce it earlier on in the season and kick Duncan then! Or better yet, make one of the early rejoins be Courtney instead and have Duncan get eliminated pre-merge and Izzy come back post-merge! Im less against finalist Beth, but her character's plotlines aren't compelling to me at all this season :/

Lindsay on the other hand has a full character arc this season of coming into her own and trying her hand at leadership, has a rivalry with Courtney, and she still keeps her character throughout! And honestly i just think Harold's an entertaining character and him making it further than Duncan for at least one season would've been great!

TDWT: As the season is written? I wouldn't change the finalists at all. Heather and Alejandro are the most important characters of the season outside of the Love Triangle and Cody + Sierra and if you want my opinion, none of them should've been finalists. Now, if you do rewrite the season, i'd say Courtney (or even Eva if you make her rejoin mid season) deserved at least to reach the final three. Don't have much to say here.

ROTI: JO. OMG JO. JO SHOULD'VE BEEN A FINALIST. Again, i've made a post about this earlier (which i CANNOT FIND. WHY) But Jo should've been a finalist! They didn't need to give Lightning a vilain arc in the last two episodes just because! Im not super against Cameron being a finalist, but i don't like Lightning being one. Granted you could argue for different characters making for good finalists if you're going to rewrite the entire season (Anne Maria maybe? Or Zoey)

TDAS: Oh boy, TDAS. Sweet, sweet TDAS. Listen. Listen. In an alternate universe where Total Drama is a good show, Mike and Zoey could be good finalists. Unfortunately for them there is a large, looming Courtney-shaped shadow over that idea, made even worse by how both Zoey and Mike were used throughout the season.

Yeah if you couldn't tell by now, Courtney 101% SHOULD have been a finalist! TDAS should've been her season! It's the only season where she makes it past Duncan! She's a strong competitor, a compeling character, she's been put through shit the entire series, hell she could have interesting interactions with all the cast members! But no, Sundae Muddy Sunday happened instead.

As for possible finalists? Lindsay. And Jo. Yeah look if they're not gonna be finalists in earlier seasons you may as well make them finalists here. You could still make an argument for Zoey if the season were rewritten, but otherwise yeah this is probably the worst season for canon finalists :(

TDPI: Honestly with the direction they took, im... fine, with Sky and Shawn being the finalists. They're relevant characters, they have the more important arcs and outside of Scarlett and Jasmine, some of the most competent characters, enough to get here.

I'll take this as an opportunity to say i haven't landed yet on finalists for my PI rewrite? I know for a fact i want Sammy to be one, but im unsure about the other. All i know is that i don't think it'll be Shawn or Sky.

TD2023 S1: Nothing wrong with Bowie and Priya as finalists i'll be real! Priya might be a bit predictable, but it opened up alot of avenues for different things to be explored within her character (that the show never took rip), and she honestly deserved to get far for this cast's first season. As for Bowie, he's pretty relevant all throughout the season and seeing a more antagonistic character make it to final two is really nice to see! No complaints!

TD2023 S2: ALL OF THE COMPLAINTS! ALL OF THEM! The final 3 kind of sucks this season because every option has at least one gapping flaw in it due to the writing over the season: Wayne is barely a character for half the season and only gets interesting moments before the finale, Caleb has the most dragged out and annoying romance subplot in all of TD (not just because it was boring and artificial but because it dragged down and arguably ruined one of the most interestin characters of it's cast) and Julia's just magically gotten amazing at everything, INCLUDING playing the game because these teenagers just keep! beliving her! and telling her things! for some reason! Urghhh

If i had to rewrite the season entirely i'd have an MK vs Raj final 2. You'd get the antag/vilain rep for a finalist position, and hopefully a more interesting character than Wayne (fuck you Raj's more interesting of the two by default.) Maybe Scary Girl could be a 3rd curveball option. Nichelle or Axel if they were given actual arcs. And characters. Whatever.

Sorry for ending this post on such a sour note! i just really don't like reboot season 2 everytime i think about anything outside of the Finale or Mkulia!

16 notes · View notes

glitchadeli · 4 months

Text

Soooo I'm gonna try uploading more of my AU to tumblr since I can make much longer text posts than I can on insta!! (though if you wanna see ALL the art over the last year of this AU's growth, I'd suggest going there!! But this piece kinda will help explain it a bit!! Prepare for A LOT of rambling ~

Sooooooo; I've been into TAWoG since 2013 right around when Season 2 was getting new episodes, from the moment I started watching I absolutely fell in love with this show, fixing on it for about 2/3 years (2013-2015) and while I slowly fell out of the fixation, the show never truly left me, ya know? It saved me as a child, helping me get through the roughest year of my life which was 2014.

As I got older, I had so many moments where I'd go back to it (I remember it being like every other year; 2018, 2020, ect.) but then the end of 2022 I was spiraling really bad and just not doing well, and TAWoG came back into my life again but this time it STUCK. (Saving me, yet again).

This time around I made next gens; Caspian and Pearl. Made on November 10th, 2022. (I remember it being 6 AM too lol) This piece for this post was drawn one year later; November 10th, 2023. ^^

Cas being a Penball child and Pearl being the adopted daughter of Darwin. When I first got back into the show I knew I wanted next gens but I hadn't delved into the show, wasn't really caught up but as a kid "the Shell" episode made me pretty excited so I was like "what's an easy gumball ship? oh yeah, Penball!" so that's how Cas happened. Pearl happened because I knew I wanted a "pet come sentient" companion for Cas and I LOVE axolotls so I knew it was perfect.

(Mind you, I stopped watching mid season 3 and only watched again when I heard about Darwin's origins episodes!! (He was my fav as a kid and I remember hoping for an origin episode for him so when that was announced I was so excited). As you'll see, I wasn't really planning much, I was just like "I love this show, I want next gens!" I had no idea a whole AU was gonna come out of it LMAO. I didn't think too hard about what I was doing. So; I had seen some of season 3 but I didn't know about the whole Rob arc or really anything about him. (I had seen "the pony" episode when it came out because it's season 2 but I was a kid and didn't pay attention to the one time he had his first 'role' ya know?)

ANYWAY, I was looking into this "Rob" character, saw people making "void Gumball" designs / GumRob next gens and I have no idea why but I was like "I want one" and that's what led to Zip's creation. He was made just 3 days later on November 13th, 2022 and if it weren't for him; this whole AU wouldn't have even started getting developed. See, I love Cas and Pearl but they were meant to be more "casual oc's" - I really didn't think I was going to keep using them or get as attached as I have. (honestly not understand my neurodivergence at the time either didn't help. if I had known that a hyperfixation could happen like this, I probably would've changed stuff but that's a tangent for another day.) Zip's story, as well as my AU started out COMPLETELY different than what it is now. It was dark/edgy, I knew nothing about Rob so I opted to make him the overarching villain and it just.. it was so bad. (Remember, I was at a low point so.. kinda makes sense the story was so.. yeah.) But as I started looking more and more into Rob I realized how wrong I was, like I could NOT have been more wrong, AND on top of that, looking more into the GumRob ship / watching their dynamic in the episodes... I kid you not; that ship grabbed me by the throat and has held me in a chokehold ever since. GumRob is genuinley my OTP and I cannot explain how much that ship means to me but, I'll ramble about them in another post. Overall; my AU started out differently than what it is now, but I'm happy that I changed it. It went from this dark, kinda edgy story to a lighter, fluffier (more romance-based) arc that plays HELLA into the cartoon-factor of the show. My AU is filled with dumb jokes like that, 4th wall breaks and just the silliness of the show - which I love. That's what I wanted and I've worked hard to get it there. (Yes my AU still devles into serious topics but I try to handle them carefully and still make it somewhat light since I play into the cartoon aspect, ya know?) Sorry for so much rambling, I just.. really love this show, my AU, my characters and I've worked SO hard on this AU (with help of my friends too) and I'm excited to talk more and more about it, without the fucking TEXT LIMIT ON INSTAGRAM. Lol. Hope everyone enjoys my dumb AU as much as I do ;v;'' ~ Glitch

#tawog #the amazing world of gumball #tawog oc #tawog next gen #the amazing world of gumball oc #penball next gen #darwin next gen #tawog next generation #ocs #my ocs #oc art #yes that human in the drawing is me lol #i love my ocs so much #you don't understand #aaaaaaaaaaa #My Tawog AU

33 notes · View notes

tk-bubblyboba · 1 year

Text

“Shared Nightmares”

A Tmnt crossover AU 2012 x rise

Or as I like to call it-

“Leonardo goes full poltergeist on a 16 year old”

This is an idea that I’ve brewing in my mental stirring pot for months now. There is not and most likely won’t be a fic for this au, just short comics and drawings.(as I cant write for anything)

Timeline goes as follows :

2012 - post s5 ep9

Rise - post movie

Warning: Major character death, descriptions of pretty tame gore

•~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•

After the events of the Usagi crossover arc, the turtles are sent back to their timeline where unbeknownst to them, the Kraang have returned after their disappearance.

They plan another invasion, this time with the goal to destroy earth entirely, their army growing in size by the second. The 2012 turtles find out of their plans to late and the city is overrun once more, taking New York and soon the world by storm. Despite their efforts, the turtles are killed, leaving their world doomed for destruction.

In the wake of violence the wooden totems carried by the now long gone Usagi, fall through a pink triangle portal.. with an orange hue?

Now in the rise universe, rise has just defeated the Kraang and the city is slowly recovering as are the turtles.

Leon, who had been strictly ordered to stay in bed and rest, decides that being a couch potato is not fun and sneaks out. Soon he finds an area of the city not yet cleared of rubble and fixed up, possibly a warehouse, it’s there he finds a small wooden totem of a turtle.

Leon takes it home with him, deeming it “Little Blue”, and puts it on his shelf.

That’s when it starts.

It happens slowly, but rise Leo begins to see things out of the corner of his eye. Shadows that shouldn’t really be there. Noises, the lair begins to grow eerily cold at night, the residents having to pull out all of the fuzzy and warm blankets despite it being mid summer. He’d almost constantly feel like he was being watched even though when he’d look around no one would be there.

And from there comes the dreams. Well it wouldn’t really be called dreams and more so nightmares. Each one would be more vivid and more terrifying than the last. Such specific scenarios of giant swarms of rats, weird mutant cars, ambushes of warped foot soldiers with multiple arms, a mutant shark, being abandoned in space, his brothers dying one by one.. but only sometimes they aren’t his brothers. They glitch and warp between them and other turtles he swears he shouldn’t know, but seem so familiar.

Soon enough, the dreams begin to slip into reality. He starts seeing very briefly people or rather things momentarily glitch in the place of his family. It’s once where Raph finds him in the middle of the night and his older brothers form glitches to the unfriendly bloodied face of a snarling, spiky, mutant turtle that he realizes he might just be going insane.

And it’s then, when rise Leo would start to see him.

He’d see something out of the corner of his eye and look over to see the blurry out of focus figure of something. When he felt like he was being watched and turned to face who might be staring at him, that’d he’d find bloodshot eyes, looking right back at him from the darkness. And once, when he looks in the mirror, someone else is looking back..another mutant turtle. It’s gone once Leon scrambles back up from the floor.

Overtime, the hallucinations get worse and worse, more in focus and clear till one day, it happens when Leon is snooping through the med bay, trying to find something to help him pass out. He would turn away from a shelf to come face to face with a ghostly 2012 Leo, body burnt and bleeding profusely from many different wounds. Leon would scream as the lights flicker, backing as far away from his counterpart as the room allows. A small radio on the side of the room blared static suddenly, muffled noises coming from its speakers as the channels change faster and faster. It grows unbearably cold and Leon’s frantic breaths come out in visible puffs as he holds his hands to his ears. He would break and finally scream over the noise,

“What do you want?! Just leave me alone!”

And just like that, 2012 Leo would disappear and the lights would flicker back to normal with a buzz. The radio giving one last blurt of static before the song “Message in a bottle” by the Police plays through the speakers lowly. Something clatters to the ground and Leon looks down at his feet, there laying calmly and tilted to look up at him, was Little Blue.

Rise Leo tries to do the reasonable thing and throw Little Blue away, but the little wooden turtle would simply appear right back on his bed when the slider walked back in. The dreams and hallucinations simply got even worse, much more vivid and 2012 Leo had started to appear for longer, only ever staring. Rise Leon would slowly start to try and make sense of it all, nervously joking to 2012 Leo with small quips that never get a response.

Like a simple-

Rise Leo: “Oh haha ghosty’s back”

2012 Leo: intense staring

Rise Leo: “Ok then-“

2012 Leo would soon begin to mess with the TV, using it to try and communicate. Rise Leo nearly popped into his shell the first time it happened when 2012 Leo decided to turn on the grudge at 3am.

12 Leo would try and leave messages but they would be garbled and hard to understand. His primary source of “talking” being different staticky clips of people talking in different shows, movies, and radio stations.

Rise Leo would begrudgingly listen, as he found doing this atleast helps reduce the nightmares and two, he doesn’t exactly want to piss off a ghost. He would eventually start to decode the messages, until it becomes clear.

12 Leonardo, needs rise’s help(specifically Leon’s) to find the rest of his brothers and save them. Save them all.

12 Leo has it in his head that if rise Leo was able to stop their version of the Kraang in less than a month, surely he can stop their Kraang as well. After all, he is a Leo, and with mystic powers no less.

Rise Leo would then have to explain to the rest of his family, “hey I’m being haunted by an alternate version of me who is dead and needs our help to find the rest of his dead brothers who are all trapped within these wooden turtle totems that we don’t know the location of, ok? Ok!”

And as such, rise is(forcefully) sent off on a fetch quest to find the rest of the 2012 turtles.

<~>

After each totem is found, a turtle is added to the “bully a minor” squad, and rise Leo knows hardly any sleep. 12 Mikey has the most fun terrorizing rise Leo and is the second scariest ghost(12 Leo holds that title forever in rise Leon’s eyes)

Rise Don I think would eventually build a device that allows the rest of the gang to atleast see the blurry outline of 2012. They wouldn’t be able to understand them tho, they’d just sound like garbled screechy static.

#tmnt #tmnt 2012 #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2k12 #rise of the tmnt #2012 tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt crossover #rise tmnt #shared nightmares tmnt #tmnt shared nightmares

387 notes · View notes

mapizb99 · 9 months

Text

SPOILERS!

Thoughts on the awakening movie

Ok so I have thoughts, not very organized thoughts but thoughts nonetheless

1) why was Marinette’s voice actress when she was singing SO DIFFERENT from her speaking one??? It took me out of the movie every single time.

2) there were too many songs and the fact that none of them were Ce mur qui nous separe is heartbreaking. At the third Marinette song I was rolling my eyes. Plus they all felt pretty same-y and I didn’t think any of the, were particularly good.

3) the scenes felt SO disjointed! Like they had some cool storyboards but weren’t quite sure how to join them together.

4) the whole story felt kinda like that to me, like they couldn’t quite explore all the elements they wanted to include and relies a lot on the fact that we already know (and love) the characters, like if it was my first approach to the universe I’d feel like the movie was rushed and shallow.

5) on a more positive note the animation was incredibly beautiful, a few characters felt a little too baby faced but the lighting and textures really made this very pretty to look at.

6) what was Gabriel’s villain song? It’s like they had an interesting idea but they just couldn’t deliver (which unfortunately rings true for most of the movie)

7) related to Marinette and her many many songs was her character arc, it felt kinda all over the place, like her whole “gotta face my fears” lesson was learned like three different times and not once in a fulfilling way.

8) Alya was kinda mean at the beginning? Did anyone else feel that way?

9) Tikki’s rap was SO CRINGE and the bit in Hawkmoth’s song where he gets a hat and poses un a rap-y way was so weird as well. Like come to think of it they were probably referencing “friends in the other side” but it only makes this song seem way worse by comparison.

10) the movie had serious issues with its rhythm and pacing, with the whole story but also in every scene.

11) kinda related to that but their mouths sometimes would not move with the dialogue? At first I assumed it was because it was made for French first but I could very clearly read their lips in English just not in sync with the sound.

12) the kwamis (genies in this movie apparently, ugh) were characterized in such a weird way, it was like trying to be Tikki but not quite getting there. I did enjoy when she got all wide eyed and musterious, it kinda goes with her being super old and powerful.

13) Plagg??? Being mostly just a fart joke??? 0/10

14) that and Chat feeling so unimportant.

15) Chat also fell in love way to fast, and like it didn’t feel genuine? Like they barely knew each other and Marinette wasn’t like particularly impressive yet for him to be fawning over her.

16) after the little montage tho? I loved their dynamic and relationship, and I really liked their little fight on the roof

17) the movie was sprinkled with little scenes and moments that were enjoyable and well crafted, but even if they were emotional moments they just didn’t feel earned and were kinda buried under a bunch of mid scenes.

18) I did like that Hawkmoth was dealt with in the spam of one movie, 11/10 much more realistic for his abilities than 5 seasons.

19) most of the jokes didn’t land because the timing of them was so weird, like long pauses or they were delivered too fast.

In general there were some bits that I enjoyed and the animation was obviously gorgeous (even if the pacing brought it back a bit) but maybe I had too much hype but I was disappointed. Still I’m certainly inspired to try some fan art and will save stills from the movie cause they were so beautiful.

I probably didn’t make a lot of sense but I needed to get everything out there!

P.S. HOW COULD THEY CUT JUST BEFORE THE KISS?!! UGHHH!!!

#ml movie spoilers #ml awakening spoilers #ml awakening #ml spoilers #miraculous lb #miraculous ladybug #miraculous spoilers #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #awakening movie

38 notes · View notes

still-with-koo · 6 months

Note

Ok Lo 🥹 with teary eyes I am here to discuss Vincenzo.

But I wanna read your thots first!

VINCENZO!!! yes let’s discuss!!! but first and foremost THANK YOU for recommending it. seriously i had given up mid-way thru the first ep a few months ago but no one can deny you have the best taste 😘😘

I LOVED IT!!! it’s actually now in my top 5 of all time. i binged the hell out of it, it was that good. (i even stayed up nights watching 😭)

(the rest under the cut with spoilers)

i think the standout for me was song joongki, mostly bc of how adorable he is 🥺 i wanted to squish his cheeks (and other things 🥴) and him and hanseo???! the softness! the lil face slaps! him finding hanseo cute! 🥺 and kwak dongyeon was perfection. i cant remember the last time i saw a redemption arc that massive 😳 oh, actually the only one i can think of to compare it to is steve from stranger things. he went from being kinda annoying to one of my absolute favourite characters. the fact that he tried to fit in with the trio was so adorable, i couldn’t stop saying ‘cute, aww cute’ pretty much everytime he came on screen after he switched to vincenzo’s side. remember when they quizzed him 🥺 he studied. he actually studied. pls he just wanted a head pat and someone to tell him he was doing a good job :((( he was actually such a sweetie pie, imagine if he didnt have the devil incarnate as a brother, he would have turned out so well. vincenzo was the brother he deserved 💔 and i just, i can’t get over how things ended for him (wait no they didn’t end, he’s definitely coming back in season 2!!) tbh i was actually pretty mad at vincenzo for not stepping in and doing something, anything, to stop what happened. to save him. 💔 he’s such a skilled fighter, i feel like he could have jumped in and maybe avoided… i can’t even say it 😭

ok, but on a happier note, vincenzo’s relationship with chayoung was also super adorable, that slow burn was everything! EVERYTHING!! their 10 second hug? her smacking him? 🤣

(he’s so attractive 😭😭)

and chayoung was such a badass character, i wish i could be that brave and assertive. and man oh man, she is so strong! the way things ended with her dad, that scene was heartbreaking :(((

ok switching back to happy, can we talk about the male on male affection in this show?? i never get to see it and it’s just so disappointing bc yes! pls hug each other! kiss each other! tell each other you admire the other! it’s healthy! it’s freeing! i’m such a sucker for tiny displays of affection, and his interactions with everyone had me clutching my blanket on the verge of tears. ugh every single person in this kdrama was adorable. the intelligence agent especially, his awestruck admiration for vincenzo had me both soft and cackling 🤣

(pls he’s so funny 🤣 also, perfect timing??)

but all the geumga plaza ppl were surprisingly cute with really interesting back stories. it’s funny, i was thinking to myself how weird it was that all of them had some special talent and then they said the same thing seconds later 🤣

the estranged mother side story was also heartbreaking. i wish they had more time together and that he could have called her mom, but i understand him and why he couldn’t say anything. at least they both knew it before she died, and i’m so grateful chayoung was there to bring them together 🥺💕 the scene where she hugged him, i bawled. and when she was talking about him as he was bawling. and then again when he read her letter 😭

ok last but not least, taecyeon!! i can’t believe i didn’t recognize him??! but he did such an amazing job. and the plot twist was perfection, i was in shock and that hardly ever happens for me (my stupid brain always anticipates plotlines 😭😭) i went from finding him adorable to being in love to hating him resolutely to feeling really sorry for him all in the span of a few eps. although i can never forgive him for how he treated hanseo 😔

but he is an incredible actor! and the writers are also amazing. choi myunghee also did a fantastic job! i hated her but i guess i was supposed to 🤣 oh! that scene when vincenzo came to their hq and shot his mother’s killer gave me goosebumps, it was so well done 👏

i rambled on here oops… but there was sooo much to talk about! there’s a lot more but i should stop here haha. who were your favourite characters?! favourite moments?!

#i could seriously go on and on 😂#this show had everything!#it was just perfect without being overdone #i usually dislike law shows bc the inaccuracies annoy me but they did a pretty good job - even if the retrial was too much of a reach)#ok i’ll stop now 😩#but tell me everything! i want to hear it all!#kie <3 #my favourite doom #vincenzo

21 notes · View notes

macpackl · 6 months

Note

Hello! Your Skyrim characters are so cool, their designs are awesome! Do you have any character lore on them you’d be willing to share? 💃

THANK YOUU!!!! THATS SO SWEET OF YOU!! yes of course, ill share whats most concrete and isnt subject to change willy nilly 💗

all these characters are saves, and lore-wise are in the same universe 👍 explanation is under the cut, this got a little long teehee... heres the relationship arc wheel in case you just wanna know that

minlin (he/him)

he's a dunmer, he's the dragonborn and insanely lucky for not knowing whats going on 90% of the time and acting on a whim. he's a little scatterbrained, but he means well. he's somewhere in his 40's in human terms, idk what thatd be in like mer years :#)

jegg (he/him) he started as a joke character n' became the most detailed...

jegg is a breton, n' the listener for the dark brotherhood. that's not the only voices he hears though, im still working out the details based on his lineage's consequences n' tes lore [his ancestor is my oblivion character, eggs ((can you see the theme here))!] but since the beginning of her ((eggs)) matriarch, most family members have been subjected to fulfilling urges of bloodshed, and he's just one of the few that listened. he's very good at restoration magic ironically (something eggs was also good at), and that's the sole reason he's not dead from a near fatal attack against minlin (the aftermath is that one drawing of his scars in the future). their whole beef is based off of the fact that you can get ambushed from the db as the dragonborn if you never start the quest, and jegg's a sore sore loser lmao-- he's in his mid 30's or so btw. his facial birthmark is purely coincidental, and he's a freak for collecting and gluing teeth to his face. makes for a good puppet 👍

voette (she/her)

voette's a mixture of bosmer n' breton, but she'll never use the magical abilities associated with either cause she's all about the brawns. minlin came to her to learn about combat when he was starting out in the open world past windhelm. she's very skilled, and very confident in her abilities, despite ridicule from others based on her height. while she's always been a fighter, she's currently a new recruit of the companions 👍she can be pretty headstrong and stubborn, and has a strong moral compass. she'd be in her mid to late 20's in mer years, idk id have to do math.....

💗💗💗

#again THANK YOU FOR ASKING!!!!!!!!!#im usually shy when it comes to sharing oc lore #i think the violent grip skyrim has on me is rattling me loose #just this once #oc: minlin #oc: jegg #oc: voette #skyrim #the elder scrolls #tesblr #meart #artists on tumblr #art #asks #izzietheopossum

25 notes · View notes

pzyii · 6 months

Text

Refrence sheet (aka an excuse to talk about details and scars)

all the details are under cut (tw for small self harm mention)

First just short. Yes she’s a lesbian, Idc that if btvs was made today they would’ve written her as bi, that’s not how it is, she’s written as a lesbian, she’s just comphet.

Secondly, I hc her as enby because well I want to, she likes using the trans flag too cause she thinks it’s pretty. (Tara’s a trans woman btw. And Dawn is transfeminine, a hc I can talk about a lot too if prompted. They are a family of trans lesbians)

And she goes by she/they/it with no special preferences cause I say so, tho I only used she in these rants for simplicity.

And yeah she's autistic but we all already knew that.

gonna go by detail by detail for these closeups

Chest scar: so personally I headcanon that Willow (without thinking) took Tara’s pain as she died. Partly because of how she describes being shot to Warren so- personally. And just cause historically she haven’t been the best at controlling her powers. So that combined with everything that happened during her Dark Willow arc combined and I guess manifested a scar. It partly represents just how shattered and broken her heart became when Tara died.

Stomach scar: pretty self explanatory, she got it from the Gnarl in Same Time, Same Place. Because I think when you heal something using nature-healthy magic it leaves a scar cause it’s really just a sped up version of the natural process. This is especially true for when Willow heals herself cause of guilt that is always in her head trying to convince her to not heal. Also just like- she had strips of her skin eaten, that’s bound to leave a scar. And just the whole episode is so great and everything about it is so important so I think she needs a reminder of it.

Thin scars: a few are scratches she’s gotten over the years but most are sh scars. There’s not much to elaborate with that for now, I just think it’s something she did/does.

Big forearm scars: these are from when she resurrected Buffy. She has 2 alike ones on her other forearm. Another headcanon I have is that when wounds are caused by like really dark magicks, like the ones Willow used, scars don’t tend to heal normally, so they took a lot longer to heal than normal wounds their size, and also left clearer scars. Also yknow more scars that work as reminders for her guilt.

Rings: she’s gotten them from a bunch of different people, I don’t have the specifics for that, but the one with green is one is Buffys (in Who Are You? Willow is wearing one of Buffys rings that she and Tara uses for the spell)

Braclets: there’s nothing special about the beige one but the blue one is one of those braided friendship braclets. Dawn made it for her.

Burn scar: it is what I just said. She got it in Gingerbread (she screams like “Buffy I’m on fire!” During it). Not only is Gingerbread one of my favrouite MOTW episodes but it’s really important in understanding Willows character because of her relationship with her mom. So I thought if I had the opportunity to give her a physical scar to remind her of the time her mom tried to kill her i just had to take it. In my personal headcanon of the show she walked with crutches in Helpless (since that only takes place one week after Gingerbread). (Also funfact, in my mlp au i haven’t posted here(if anyones interested send an ask) the burn caused chronic pain and she uses a pony-wheelchair)

Hair: her hair used to be fully the same mid ginger colour but after Dark Willow it was permanently darkened at her roots.

Eyes: her eyes used to be green but turned pink because of the Buffy resurrection spell. And this is very much partly cause I’m an artist who just wants to have fun with my design. But it’s also the complementary hue to the one I use for Buffys eyes. Plus to me when you resurrect someone your soul and essence is kinda torn apart cause you need to kinda go to the afterlife to get them back in a way. So yeah her physical body was put through trials but so was just her psyche and well soul i guess, and because of that her soul is weirdly connected to Buffys, which also was torn apart and put back together. So complimentary!!! (Buffy didn’t notice the the change in colour until their conversation on the curb in Gone, she thinks they’re pretty)

Scars under eyes: these are also partly cause of stylistic choice (to be fair all are). But my design of Dark Willow has veins under her eyes, like tears. So they left scars, scars that also in theory looks like tears.

#i dont have much to say in the comments for once #prett long post to be fair #anyways anything youre wondering about just send me an ask!!!#willow rosenberg #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer #willow Rosenberg fanart #btvs fanart #also yeah i took the hair from the comics cause its more fun than s7 #cause its more fun to draw than s7 #plus semi hippie outfit all day every day #buffy art #buffy fandom #headcanons #buffy the vampire slayer fanart #pzyii arts #refrence sheet

24 notes · View notes

cross-my-heartt · 1 year

Text

Three Act Structure of TBB

(Part Two: Season Two aka Act Two)

Part One here

Here we are finally discussing season two. This one was more difficult to write for a few reasons, namely that:

Act two generally has the least defined internal structure of all three acts

Season two doesn’t have the same clear cut internal three act structure as season one

The midpoint, the most commonly found element of act two, is harder to pinpoint here

All of this isn’t to say that season two is a bad season. Like I said, a vague internal structure is characteristic of the second act and season two acts more as a transitional season than one that could potentially stand on its own (like, say, season one).

How does season two hold up as a second act though? In my opinion, pretty well.

Act 2: The Middle (Complications)

To quote my reference material:

"Moving into ‘Act 2’, the protagonist is working toward their goal. As such, they are learning new things, testing what they learn, making mistakes, and probably meeting new people. […]

The bulk of the middle of your story will be a series of obstacles, challenges, tests, trials, etc., known collectively as The Road of Trials. This is where your protagonist comes face-to-face with antagonism. In many stories, the protagonist will use newfound knowledge and skills to get past these obstacles, or they’ll experience setbacks. If nothing else, these challenges can show that the protagonist is learning from their mistakes and growing (or not)."

This is all stuff that is present in season two. We have many examples of Omega learning new things (from the batch, from Phee, from Riyo, etc.) as well as the batch still learning to adapt to life with her and any new circumstances they’re faced with.

On a more thematic level the batch is applying what Omega helped teach them: the value of helping others, the values of family/community, of doing the right thing.

As for challenges and obstacles, each mini arc has its own while also sometimes putting the group face to face with the main antagonist: the Empire (Spoils of War, Tribe, Clone Conspiracy, Metamorphosis). And we can’t deny that we get our fair share of character growth (Hunter’s shifting priorities, Tech’s development as Omega’s brother, Omega applying her new skills, Echo resolving to stay with Rex, etc.)

(Don’t worry, I am purposefully omitting Crosshair for the time being.)

These mini stories don’t only serve to build character but also contribute to the development of important subplots. For example, the episodes where we learn more about Phee and Pabu set up the question of ‘should the batch settle down?’

Mistakes are made (losing the Marauder), new relationships formed (meeting Phee) and overall there's a good variety of mini arcs.

So tldr, season two is doing a great job in this regard. What about the midpoint then? Well, for starters, what is the midpoint.

The midpoint is found in most three act structure models. It could be a mid-act climax or a twist but most importantly:

"[...] your protagonist has a moment of clarity or revelation about something. They might learn something new that allows them to see their journey differently. Perhaps they’ve learned something that makes them view The Other World differently."

Knowing this, we have two candidates (or at least I’d argue we do).

One is the more obvious one, ie the two episodes smack dab in the middle of the season that deal with a big revelation, as well as a smaller twist that affects our protagonists. I’m of course talking about The Clone Conspiracy and Truth and Consequences.

My only issue here is that the events of these episodes are more closely related to the show’s subplots rather than its main plot.

Is the fate of the clones important? Yes. However this arc establishes something that's been foreshadowed from the very beginning: that the clones are being phased out. The fact that Palpatine achieves this sooner rather than later ups the stakes while also giving Echo the final push in making the decision to stay with Rex (the revelation that changes his course as a character).

And I’d argue that this… doesn’t really affect the main plot as much. Clone prisoners are still being transferred to Tantiss. Rex’s operation is still functioning. And Echo’s departure, while significant, sets up the theme of ‘settle down’ vs ‘continue the fight’ and the batch having to deal with his absence, both of which are subplots.

The thing that sets the act’s climax in motion – the batch’s attempt to save Crosshair – could still happen even if Echo had stayed with them. (yes, Echo was pivotal to getting the data but it’s really not that hard to rewrite those events without him).

So what’s the other possible candidate for a midpoint?

Well, here is where my biased self comes out and suggests that (you guessed it) it’s actually a Crosshair episode. The Crosshair episode of the season.

Although it’s positioned further on down the line, The Outpost accomplishes several things at once: there's a revelation, a twist, a character changing their viewpoint and the whole thing plays a huge role in the events to follow.

It's an episode where Crosshair not only manages to regain his status as protagonist, but also does it while having his very own mini hero’s journey, with classic elements like meeting a mentor (Mayday) who later dies tragically to push the protagonist’s story forward.

These events serve as the catalyst for the coming climax: Crosshair’s imprisonment and subsequent actions lead to a rescue attempt and that’s where everything starts to go wrong.

In a way you could say that Crosshair hijacked the midpoint of the whole act… and I love that for him.

After this we get a few more mini arcs such as Pabu and Tipping Point until we eventually reach the act two climax. The rock bottom, the crisis, the big change that leaves our heroes devastated and hopeless.

This could either be The Summit and Plan 99 or just the final episode, depending on what you define as the beginning of the crisis.

And here we are. A dire hopeless situation (Tech seemingly dead, Omega captured, Crosshair still imprisoned) that awaits its resolution in the form of act three.

That's where the protagonists rally before the final act three climax, followed by a deescalation of the action as the remainder of the story’s subplots are tied up (more of my thoughts on that here). Unless it's an open ending of course... but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Either way, the odds of a happy ending are in no way low. I promise.

(Thank you for reading this far if you did! I hope you enjoyed and dropping my little tag list here: @lightwise @kixs-husband @ladykagewaki @intellectualfairy @arcadianmoonshadowjedi @tigerthespahget)

#tbb #the bad batch #tbb season 2 #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb tech #tbb echo #tbb hunter #tbb phee #tbb meta #clone force 99 #my meta

62 notes · View notes

mitochondriaandbunnies · 2 years

Text

You Should Watch Miami Vice:

A treatise on the most poorly-remembered show of the 80′s

If you’re like most people, when you hear Miami Vice outside the context of a bar, you picture the following: shoulder pads, speed boats, bikinis, and pink and teal pastel. You probably think about the worst excesses of the 1980′s, of a kind of cultural sinkhole where there was nothing cooler than Ray-Bans and masculine posturing.

However, much like Captain Kirk is (mis)remembered as a sleazy womanizer, and the first Rambo movie is (mis)remembered as a paean to how AWESOME KNIVES ARE, Miami Vice has been frozen in pop-culture memory as something it really isn’t. A funhouse mirror reflection of what it was actually all about. Because the thing is: Miami Vice is good. Like, really good.

At its core, it’s a show that is:

Well-written, with a coherent emotional and thematic arc across its seasons, despite being made before the era of arc-based TV

Incredibly beautiful, with cinematography, directing, and musical/sound editing choices that literally changed the way television was produced

Deeply, sometimes painfully human, with main characters who are often wrong and/or make bad decisions with real consequences, and who often ‘lose’

And on top of that, it’s not really copaganda (no, really), and it’s pretty damn queer (yes, really.) It’s also an old-school episodic show, which means the characters have a ton of space to breathe and grow and be multi-faceted, and the production has room to experiment, both with technical stuff and the writing. There are episodes that are so deadly serious your mouth feels dry as the credits roll; there are weird, silly, fun episodes where utterly bonkers things happen; there are episodes that feel like David Lynch was moonlighting as director. It’s neo-noir, it’s magical realism, it’s a workplace comedy, it’s a treatise on how there’s no reforming unjust systems, it’s a love story about two men who refuse to grapple with the idea that they’re the most important thing in each other’s lives.

You should watch it. But let me keep trying to convince you, anyway.

Vice was the brainchild of Michael Mann and Anthony Yerkovitch, and in 1984, it looked and sounded like nothing else on TV. There’s an auteur touch to the majority of episodes-- not just a unified look, but a willingness to try things that worked in the movies on the small screen. When you watch a lot of shows from the early to mid 80′s, they look the same as shows from the 70′s-- en episode of Spenser for Hire could’ve been shot on the same day as an episode of Starsky and Hutch. People talk about the legacy of shows that led to our modern era of “prestige TV--” there’d have been no Sopranos without The Wire, etc-- but in a lot of ways, with its artistic, film-like framing, melancholic New Wave aesthetics, and abnormally high production values, Miami Vice is the grandpappy of all of them.

The recurring cast is very small: for most of the show, it’s these seven characters. (No, I don’t know why this cast photo is posed like they’re at a wedding for someone they don’t seem to like very much. Literally all of the promo photos for this show look like terrible wedding or prom shoots.)

From the top left, we have Larry Zito (Hawaiian shirt) and Stan Switek (pink stripes); they’re initially the comic relief. They love Elvis and bicker like an old married couple, and as partners they get a lot of the surveillance jobs. They do not escape the show unscathed.

The two ladies are Gina Calabrese (blue belted dress) and Trudy Joplin (palm tree dress); I adore them and they are wonderful, and each of them gets a couple of solid episodes, but they aren’t always given the most spectacular scripts. Gina is both the sweetest, most naive member of the group and the one most likely to shoot first and ask questions later; Trudy is an expert researcher and cannot be arsed to do emotional labor for her dumb male colleagues.

The man in the black suit with the moustache is the squad’s lieutenant, Martin Castillo. Castillo doesn’t show up until episode six, and when he does the show’s whole tone kind of suddenly clicks into place. Castillo is weird. He speaks very little and blinks less; he makes eye contact with no one unless he is making so much eye contact it makes you want to bury yourself in the dirt. Also he’s maybe secretly a samurai?

Then we have the two assholes in front, our main characters: Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Sonny (white guy in spring green and lavendar, the kind of man who wears a sleeveless shirt under a blazer) is a career Miami cop with a history of unprocessed trauma, a conga line of dead friends and partners, a wife who is trying her best to divorce him, and a six year old son he has no idea how to parent but loves very deeply. Rico (Black guy in grey and white, the kind of man who wears a three piece suit in 98 degree weather with 100% humidity) is a New York transplant with a dead brother, an utterly bizarre sense of humor, the world’s worst taste in women, and a terminal need to fix every broken person he’s ever come across while also probably sleeping with them. Their relationship is the emotional core of the series. Neither of them is equipped to handle this.

Sonny is probably the worst-remembered part of the whole badly-remembered series. Pop culture positions him as a wise-cracking cowboy cop who drives too fast and lives even faster, when in reality mostly Sonny is just very depressed, very lonely, and almost certainly a self-hating closeted bisexual.

He is a sad, bitchy pretty boy who legitimately thinks the only thing he’s good for is waving a gun around, and he only drives his government-owned drug dealer Ferrari so fast because he’s trying to drive away from his feelings.

Vice is a five season show, and unfortunately, you’ll often see fans arguing about the seasons and whether or not you can or should skip any of them. Here’s the thing: it’s an episodic show from the 80′s. No matter how much Mann or any of the other showrunners tried to make it consistent across its runtime, that’s not really how TV works. 113 episodes does not a movie make. Because of this, each season does feel a bit different from prior seasons, and which season you prefer is going to depend a lot on your personal tastes. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t recommend skipping any of them-- when you do watch the show from the pilot to the finale, it really does feel like one coherent storyline.

Season 1: Many people’s favorite season. A good mixture of tragedy, comedy, mystery, etc. The first six episodes are still kind of “working things out” tonally, but the whole season is worth watching. My personal favorite S1 episode (Evan, the second to last of the season) isn’t available on all sources, but is an absolute must watch, especially in terms of providing context for understanding Sonny as a closeted queer man.

Season 2: My favorite season. The show has its footing and knows what it wants from its characters and its audience. I would argue that almost every episode of this season is a good one, and it’s thematically very consistent. (Also, I think, possibly the most “fun” season despite a lot of darkness?)

Season 3: Also a lot of people’s favorite season, although PERSONALLY I think of S3 as “the police brutality is good, actually” season. Dick Wolf (yes, that Dick Wolf) was the showrunner for this one, and he wanted it to be “grittier.” I think S3 is necessary for understanding Sonny and especially for understanding the relationship between Sonny and Rico, but it’s definitely the copaganda season.

Season 4: The season a lot of people feel you should skip, because it’s “too weird” or where the show jumped the shark. There are some... real strange episodes in this season, including one about aliens and another about cow semen. For real. I’ll be honest: I kind of love S4. It backpedals the grittiness and focuses more on the characters’ inner lives again, S4 also ends with a fantastic two part cliffhanger that is picked up at the beginning of S5.

Season 5: A truncated half-season with a couple of “lost” episodes that actually fit in before the finale. Season Five is sad. The fallout from the end of S4 is heavy, grim stuff, and S5 doesn’t shy away from showing how that has fucked everyone to hell and back. The finale of the show is thematically excellent and emotionally satisfying; while the show was cancelled, they wrapped it up successfully.

“Okay, fine,” you say, sipping the cafecito I handed you while I explained all of this, “so it’s not just about a cool guy in an Armani suit driving an Italian car really fast. But you mentioned it was gay? It still doesn’t sound very gay.”

Well. Let’s see.

There’s what should be a cringey “very special episode” about gay cops in 1984 that is instead one of the most heartfelt and upsetting episodes in the series. Never once does this episode no-homo the main characters, and in fact, men being able to touch each other is positioned as healing and necessary.

Sonny and Rico are the only people who think the other is funny. Their hands and eyes are on each other all the time. Rico used to watch Sonny’s college games on TV and remembers his number. They both repeatedly throw missions for each others’ sakes. They spend all of their time together. There’s an on-screen “I love you” (there’s a ‘man’ at the end but it rings like someone hedging his bets) and a few episodes later the character who received the I love you marries a random woman he literally met less than a week ago in what can only be described as the saddest and most desperate attempt to Not Be Gay Anymore ever caught on film. They cradle each others’ heads more than once. A song about “loving the boy with the pretty green eyes” plays in the background of a conversation they have about following each other to the end of the earth in the finale.

All.

these.

prom.

photo.

shoots.

and whatever the fuck this is.

You finish your third cafecito, shaking slightly from the caffeine, trying to prevent me from handing you a fourth. “Fine,” you admit. “But I still need more convincing. I can’t just watch something that’s good and thematically whole and about two sad men in love. It needs to also have... have some kind of, I don’t know, je ne sais quoi about it. A little extra spice.” Your hand rattles the demitasse against the saucer as you speak.

I pull off my food service uniform to reveal that underneath, I’m dressed as a carnival barker.

WELL. LET ME TELL YOU, FRIEND, WE’VE GOT:

An absolutely golden 80′s soundtrack that is atmospheric, consistently used at pitch-perfect moments, and which has been preserved in its entirety without any licensing issues

A guest cast list that includes a ton of super fucking cool genre actors, musicians, poets, and other assorted famous people playing weird, fun roles (James Hong! Earth Kitt! Pam Grier! Frank Zappa! James Brown! ...G. Gordon Liddy!?) AND many of the future stars of the 90′s before they were famous (Bruce Willis! Julia Roberts! Liam Neeson! Helena Bonham Carter!)

Sonny has an actual pet alligator named Elvis. He lives on his boat and sometimes Sonny has to take him to the vet

Jai Alai

Rico is a vegetarian, which feels like a difficult thing to be in Miami in the 80′s

Izzy. Just. Izzy. The most perfect, most ridiculous, rat-bastard con man and wannabe poet, Izzy.

Episodes directed by both Starsky and Hutch

Sonny’s pathological need to put things in his mouth

Whatever is happening here:

I watch your face carefully for signs of acquiescence, but all the frothing at the mouth I’ve been doing has made it a bit hard to see through the foam. I assume you are convinced and hand you a seventh cafecito. You have not drank the fifth or the sixth. I will drink them when you leave, that’s fine.

MY JOB HERE IS DONE, I announce.

You ask me to elaborate on the whole “not copaganda” thing, trying to grab me by the candy-striped suspenders.

I can’t totally elaborate on that without spoiling a bunch of the show, but suffice to say: ultimately, Vice is about how you can’t change corrupt systems from the inside, that the police serve the rich and powerful, the function of vice cops is basically to create the illusion of order while letting the government quietly destabilize the countries the drugs are originally coming from, and that anyone who tries to be a “good cop” ends up eaten by the system, corrupt, or dead.

There’s some backpedaling on this in the middle of the series with the whole Dick Wolf thing (that man loves his fucking cops), and not every episode is totally consistent with its messaging, but season five definitely doubles down on “this is actually a bad system that really can’t be fixed.”

The show isn’t perfect (I mean. it’s still a cop show from the 80′s)-- it’s a product of its time, for better or for worse. But Miami Vice is really damn good. It’ll make your heart hurt in the best way possible. You will want, desperately, for Sonny to figure out that he’s worth something more than his career as a police officer. You’ll come out of it with a lot of feelings about Phil Collins. I think anyone who likes a good story about people has the potential to really fall in love with Vice-- I’ll admit I literally started watching it as a joke, and realized pretty quickly that everything I thought I knew about the show was wrong.

Satisfied with my answers, you try to leave.

I hit you with a plate of cocaine.

#miami vice #tv recommendations #fandom #80's #retro tv

197 notes · View notes