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rupertgayes · 23 days

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How would you pitch watching Due South to someone who doesn't know it?

THE PREMISE: mountie from the northern reaches of canada goes to chicago to avenge dead dad (also a mountie), gets into buddy-cop shenanigans with a detective. said detective leaves the show in season 3 and gets replaced by another detective, shenanigans continue to ensue. there's also a dog. he's very cute.

THE PITCH: honestly, after being in the spn fandom and having most of popular culture awash with prestige shows (that are not spn, but like spn are typically dark and gritty and like killing characters off too) and having most of the popular media landscape try to cover their collective asses by having an aloof, 'you-can't-make-fun-of-this-because-we're-not-taking-it-seriously-ourselves' air, it was truly refreshing to sit down with a close friend of mine and check out this show.

i'm being completely serious when i say there's a certain je ne sais quoi about this show. is it because it's from the 90s? perhaps. is it because it's canadian? maybe. i wasn't even alive when this show first started airing and i'm not a media analyst. it basically takes the premise of the dudeley do-right cartoon and asks 'okay, but what if that was like, a real guy?' and fucking runs with it to the wildest heights. it's a comedy, but it's also so bizarre in some ways that it makes it a truly unique treat to watch. i love psych and brooklyn 99 for having a comedic procedural aspect, and neither of them are comparable in whatever it is that due south is doing.

there's honestly a lot of heart and soul in the entire show, and it has the ability to shift from just being comedic to having drama, mystery, and moments that pull at your heartstrings. it's a show that you can enjoy on the surface as a fun episodic show with fun characters and fun moments, but it also lends itself quite well to extrapolating on the characters, their motivations, etc. (and by etc i'm also including any shipping you might want to do).

i won't say it's a paragon of DEI, but again, i think it has a level of earnestness which makes any slip-ups it does have something i can kinda view with indulgence, versus shows that are making the same (or worse) mistakes 20+ years after this show already ended. these characters are treated with a level of dignity and respect, and i think overall the characterization is pretty consistent - there are some shifts happening between seasons 1-2 and 3-4, but i feel like it has more to do with budgets, a change in creative team, etc., versus writers not 'getting' certain characters.

there's also a lot of memorable episodes, scenes, bits. i think the latter seasons are more campy (my favorite) and some eps from s1 and 2 make for legitimately some great television. even the more mid episodes have something worthwhile, too. some of my fave moments in no order:

fraser (the mountie) saving and talking to? a rat in a strip club

also him going to a leather club

twice

and meeting a mountie in a latex version of his red serge uniform

using a tarp as a parachute

mafia egg conspiracy

aliens??

due south but make it silence of the lambs a little bit

performance arsonist

lake pirates? ghost ship?

also why are most of the major bad guys here doing some form of environmental crime? get your captain planet on ig, i'm into it

also fellow cops can also be bad guys. acab ig??

sick muscle cars eric kripke himself would've enjoyed. sometimes they get set on fire tho

due south but make it to wong foo thanks for everything

fraser running away from women so he doesn't have to kiss or interact with them

way too much time in closets, in general.

fellas is it gay to ask your new partner of one week maybe to pretend he's a woman so he can decide if he finds you attractive

there are red ships and green ships but no ships like partnerships :)

and to reiterate about the dog: there's a dog who's half wolf and all deaf and fraser can talk to him 'because he (the dog) reads lips'

his dead dad shows up too sometimes

anyway, it was really nice to watch this show for the first time, there are still moment i scream-laugh at because they're just so ridiculous and i'd never catch any other moments like that in any other show. i definitely see why there's still active fans for it thirty years later. there's also some wild shipping fodder here, which is at least partially why there are still fics getting written for these guys today. destiel if the cw weren't cowards etc etc. when i watched the finale, i cried tears of joy because while i'd miss the characters, they got an ending that actually seemed to fit, instead of it being a rush job, which is not unique to spn but, you know.

also you can watch it for free on youtube rn.

#asks #i did go from the pilot to s3 personally but my friend wanted me to see the second ray asap lol #the whole show is good tho! great even :)#due south #ds30below

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twig-tea · 4 months

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✨2023: A Summary✨

tagged by @dribs-and-drabbles and @lurkingshan 💕

I couldn't be bothered to toggle on/off privacy settings so I did this manually instead!

January to June 2023:

[I was a lurker through to July so we start there]

July

Popular: Translation note in Laws of Attraction ep 3

Favourite: My Ride rewatch (& self-reflection)

August

Popular: Be My Favourite ep 11 clown checkpoint

Favourite: : Be My Favourite ep 11 meta roundup [shocked this was less popular but it was linked in the other one so maybe people reblogged only the one]; Tonhon Chonlatee [this was a response rather than an original post; it felt good to get this this out of my head]

September

Popular: Only Friends episode 6 scene by scene [when the brainrot was real]

Favourite: Love Class 2: A Love Letter, In Defense of Dan and Yok [had to give it to two this month; the second is a response]

October

Popular: Only Friends finale reaction

Favourite: IFYLITA and found family

November

Popular: Liminality in Last Twilight

Favourite: [ditto; I had a hiatus this month so this was one of the few things I posted but I'm so glad I was able to get this out before real life took over]

December

Popular: Cigarette in the Cake from Last Twilight [by a landslide lol and thank you everyone for being as obsessed with this as I am]

Favourite: Beyond the Star rant [I wrote this entirely for me lol]; Why Phaya took the couch in The Sign [response]

[And I've added these two additional categories so that i can use this as my new pinned post lol]

2023 end of year round-up posts:

2023 Watch List

Top "5" (lol) characters I would help bury a body

Top 5 Couple fights

Top 5 Yearning scenes

Five other posts that I want to highlight because I can:

Why R U Korea mistranslation

Alternatives to Measure Your Life By

Grand Guignol review

Love in Translation review

Shadow the series squicks and scares

Ask game re: my BL start and fave shows [previous pinned post]

#2023 round-ups #fandom meta #bl meta meta #multi bl #pinned post #typed so that i can stop thinking it #tag game #thank you for tagging me

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theawkwardanglophile · 2 months

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What are your top 5 episodes??

I should have seen this coming! 😂 Thanks for the ask, Sarah, and I’m sorry I didn’t get this out sooner. My brain was mush the past couple of days and I wanted to give this my full attention when I made my decisions. And, man, I DELIBERATED on this! My criteria were episodes that were Chenford-heavy, so some eps that have like one big amazing Chenford scene (4x18 for example) were left out. And I'm sure this might change at some point, but I feel pretty good about where everything landed for now. So here we go….

5x12 Death Notice This ep just has EVERYTHING: the end of their era of riding together, being flirty at work, ridiculous married vibes (the lint picking??), LUCY LESSON (how did it take them 5 years to come up with the greatest term to counter Tim Tests? Bring back Lucy Lessons in S6!), the lengths they both will go to for each other, Tim's talk with Grey, and of course, NAKED TIME. And that doesn't even cover all of it. I just love it to pieces.

5x10 The List The absolute high this episode gave me, after a full month of bliss already with them being canon. The most delicious rom-commy cold open that I could have hoped for, trying on their entire closets and then being so painfully, adorably awkward on their date. Then Tim and Lucy being ANYTHING but subtle at work, which is just so hilarious considering they can be so stealthy when needed on the job, but trying to hide their relationship? Umm, y'all weren't fooling anyone. Maybe Nolan. And the precious first/second date at the end. The GRANDKIDS, the SMILES, the KISS. Perfection!

4x09 Breakdown An Eric Winter master performance. I just wanted to hug Tim throughout the ep. Luckily, Lucy was there for that job, and what a hug it was! Tim lets go completely and sinks into her, all his walls down. He felt so safe with her. I love how her opinion of him means everything, and she was quick to offer reassurance (I truly believe her words in 4x08 were just a slip of the tongue). But I also love how Lucy is just doing life with Tim, the things that matter. Where was Ashley, hmmm? It's Lucy that's there helping with such a significant job of remodeling Tim's childhood house, and doing some wonderful future sister-in-law bonding with Genny. Also, Tim and Lucy power-walking through the station in plain clothes? A VIBE.

4x12 The Knock The most insane double date ever? My gosh, this ep has so much fun stuff in it, so many little details, that even though Lucy started dating Chris, and Ashley decided to turn a blind eye and continue dating Tim, after watching this I had never been more convinced that Chenford was endgame. Every part of the double date is gold, and Tim and Lucy's scenes on the job beautifully showcase how seamlessly they work together (and their total lack of personal space). LOVE IT.

2x13 Follow-Up Day This ep was an early fave, and still holds a special place. TIM GAVE UP A PROMOTION FOR LUCY. Way before Court Liaison there was THIS. Lucy is his biggest cheerleader this whole ep (and, you know, always), and Grey's knowing looks during the test score scene is *chef's kiss*. And the scene outside the bakery is everything. Their faces say so much! They were being such flirts in S2, to the point that I originally wondered if they might actually start something later that season. THAT'S how powerful that scene was.

Honorable mentions:

2x11 Day of Death I know, I know, and part of me feels like it should be in the top five. I mean, it is without a doubt one of the best episodes, if not the best, they ever made. It's so powerful, and was the turning point in my shipping, because I'd only been mildly intrigued by Chenford in a few S2 eps, but DOD cemented me as a full-fledged shipper (little did I know it would become my best shipping experience of all time). But it can be a hard one to watch, and I just love those others a tiny bit more.

5x08 The Collar There are so many moments to love in this ep. It truly changed everything with Tim and Lucy, and the more I've seen their talk outside at the end, the more it grows on me. It really is so them. Even though they become CANON in this one, I think because there is so much clueless Chris, and the tough scene with the first bomb victim, it just didn't quite make it to the top 5.

3x09 Amber Anyone who was around when this aired knows we all lost our minds pretty good with this ep. It grew on me more and more over time, and I love it so much. The whole confession scene still might be the longest uncut Chenford scene...ever? Just them talking in the shop. It's insanely wonderful! And this ep gave us Parking Garage Face and the beginning of a brand new chapter with Tim and Lucy.

5x01 Double Down Editing to add this one, because I started questioning everything, and it did NOT feel right to leave this one out. What a fantastic collection of moments. The airplane kiss is top tier, HANDS, the gorgeous shots of them in the car in Vegas, it doesn't feel like pretend, etc. And even though I'm so glad they didn't cheat, I'll never be over the fact SHE OPENED THE DOOR FOR HIM AND HE WENT IN.

#chenford #the rookie #tim x lucy #this was tough!#but fun #feel free to send more #my asks #asked and answered

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makeste · 1 year

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BnHA Episode 122, a.k.a. NOBUHIKO YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN

THEY CAN'T KEEP LETTING HIM GET AWAY WITH IT!

oh my god.

so first off, let's just get the one big major criticism out of the way: this episode was definitely not up to the same high quality standards as the first third of this season. and hey, I get it! you're doing 24 episodes in all, you're on a time crunch, and you've only got so many animators to go around. and the quality of some of these earlier season 6 eps (118 and 119 especially) was seriously some of the best this series has ever had. by contrast, chapters 284 and 285, while still easily ranking among my favorite chapters of all time, definitely do not go as hard with the visuals as some of the other War arc chapters (that very last 285 page being the one standout exception).

anyway so yeah, it was still a slight disappointment, but I'm fine with it. it does mean Deku vs Kacchan 2 will still retain its crown as my all time fave, but the real meat of this episode was never going to be about the flashy visuals -- it's all about that sweet, sweet character development.

two more very minor criticisms before I get to the OMG nonstop gushing part of this post! one, they did cut out this scene from ch 282 where Tomura originally had TWO quirk-be-gone bullets in his possession and Kacchan actually destroyed the second one.

YOU THOUGHT WE WOULDN'T REMEMBER, BONES. BUT WE DID. so for everyone who is giving Kacchan his well-earned love, praise, and admiration today, don't forget to also give him props for saving Aizawa's other leg, or whichever other appendage this doubtless would have hit. my boy out here lowkey saving his sensei from being ReDestro'd.

and then one final nitpicky little quibble, which is that the anime subtitlers declined to use the "Catch-A-Kacchan" translation, despite it being the single cleverest translation of all time, and by far Caleb Cook's biggest and most important contribution to the BnHA canon. alas, twas not meant to be. BUT ANYWAY NOW ON TO THE GUSHING.

okay so first off, we all know that Aizawa is an absolute badass and the most metal motherfucker in this entire series, and that Shouto has by this point all but perfected the art of swooping in to save the day at pivotal moments, and that the U.A. kids all need ALL OF THE THERAPY GODDAMMIT, and that Deku is a COMPLETE LUNATIC who thinks that HAVING FUNCTIONAL ARMS IS OVERRATED ANYWAYS. yes and yes and yes and yes. and if you wish, you can read all about my thoughts on these things and more, here and here and here and here.

but you already know what I actually came here to talk about today.

first of all, YOU GUYS. the music. THIS FUCKING MUSIC, THOUGH. they used the exact same OST track that was used for the "why was I the one who ended All Might?" speech all the way back in DvK2. THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE "TIME FOR NOBUHIKO TO FLEX HIS VOICE ACTING CHOPS" MUSIC. A TRADITION HAS BEEN BORN.

anyway so if anyone needs me I'll just be sitting here playing this scene on repeat until the end of time. no big deal though. I can quit at any time. not like I'm obsessed with it or anything. I definitely love this scene and this character a perfectly normal amount.

All Might talking about how Katsuki understood from the get-go about how OFA was a secret that could put other people at great risk really hits hard in hindsight. especially when you realize that Katsuki really did know right from the start, and he willingly accepted that risk with no hesitation, and he absolutely did suffer consequences for it (it was his knowledge of OFA that led to him following Deku and subsequently getting involved in this battle). and I don't doubt that he has absolutely zero regrets.

okay but can we seriously just talk for a sec about the way Kacchan's anxiety is practically boiling over when he starts to ask All Might about the Fourth's cause of death?? I feel like this is one thing that kind of got overlooked at the time in the manga because we were so completely distracted by EVERY SINGLE OTHER DAMN THING IN THAT CHAPTER lol. but hearing it again here, you feel how worried he actually is about Deku, and idk why but it all of a sudden just hit me so damn hard.

"I'm worried about him. you are, too." because that truly is what this whole conversation is really about. or at least that's the driving force behind it. behind this whole episode, in fact. it's simple, when you get right down to it: Kacchan is afraid that Deku is going to die. it's literally been the biggest fear on his mind ever since Deku unlocked SIXQUIRKS. right from the start, his mind was immediately going to the worst case scenarios. he immediately deduced that OFA might have a deeper connection to AFO than any of them realized (shoutout to Kacchan for being the original "Deku is a horcrux" truther lol. ONE DAY HORIKOSHI WILL FINALLY REVEAL THE TRUTH AND PROVE US RIGHT). he instantly zeroed in on the sobering fact that all of the previous OFA users died young. and as he reveals here, he took particular notice of the fact that All Might seems to be hiding something about OFA IV's death, and he is goddamn PRESSED about it.

and I absolutely LOVE the way that Nobu voiced this part of the conversation. when he starts to question All Might, his breathing starts to pick up a little, and his voice starts to get louder, and the words start to spill out faster and faster almost like he's in a rush to get it all out, and his voice starts to crack just a little, and he goes from not looking at All Might to hesitantly, almost fearfully glancing at him from the side, and then finally turning to face him head on with his eyes all wary and his teeth gritted like he's bracing himself for the very worst (because he is).

and then he finally just asks him, "was it because you realized something?" and then he takes in this achingly hesitant little breath before finishing with, "...about One for All?" and just. the whole scene is just SO well done. like, he's seriously so fucking scared about this, though. but at the same time he just needs to know, and just. oh my god. and Nobuhiko manages to emote all of this so clearly, and that is such a difficult line to walk when you're dealing with a character like Katsuki who's always so hesitant to show his vulnerability. he has to portray these two separate layers of Bakugou at the same time -- the part of him that is trying his hardest to be nonchalant and matter-of-fact in order to hide his fears and emotions; while at the same time also portraying said emotions which are clearly seeping through anyway, regardless of his efforts.

anyway so yeah. I could talk about this for eighty years and never get sick of it honestly but let's move on.

let me tell you guys, I've been bracing myself for this scene for two full years, and it still kicked my ass. THIS SCENE HAD NO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. literally RIGHT IN the feels. direct hit.

"he's always been that way." no, but guys. the regret when he says that. the way he states it with such simplicity and clarity. almost profound. this is just a truth of the world. this is just how Deku is. this is something that took him so long to understand, but now that he does, he can't fathom how he was never able to see it before. and then that ever-so-slight bitterness that creeps into his voice as he goes on to describe how he fucked it all up. ;_;

and then last but not least!!

"ijimeta." one word, in Japanese. it all comes down to that. and his voice gets so quiet. this whole last part of his speech is so quiet and so soft. but when he says this very last part, his voice wavers perfectly on that last word, and it just. sounds so resigned, somehow, but also just... almost faltering, for just a moment. you can hear the regret as clear as day, but you also hear the fear once again as he finally reveals this fact -- literally his biggest shame; the worst thing that he's ever done -- to All Might. his hero. just, damn.

anyway. so needless to say, despite my expectations being SKY HIGH, this scene absolutely met all of them and blew me away. as expected from the best fucking voice actor in Japan, according to me, a single lone person, whose subjective opinion is absolutely definitely not biased in any possible way.

back to the action! and Nobu getting to do his very best Deku impression lol.

can you believe this kid. one single nerdy analysis speech was all it took for him to start emitting such powerful Main Character Energy that even Endeavor got taken in and was just automatically following orders lol.

awesome choice of music here while Deku and Tomura continued to battle and Bakugou laid out his plan. you know it's good when they still manage to make you feel the tension even though this is basically just a generic action scene, and you additionally already know exactly what's going to happen.

I have no idea why, but that part with Deku's "Kacchan... my 'Deku' means 'you can do it!'" speech juxtaposed against the image of him going all out against Tomura with such fierce determination hit me like 100x harder than it did in the manga. I was NOT expecting that to be as powerful as it was. damn near gave me chills.

literally the only time I've ever been on board with the whole "FUCK YEAH, I'LL JUST BREAK ALL MY BONES AT YOU!!" deal lol. it literally makes no goddamn sense but this scene is just so raw.

THEN WE YEET THE ENDEAVOR!!!!

SO ON-BRAND. NO DEKU-INSPIRED PLAN IS EVER TRULY COMPLETE WITHOUT A GOOD YEETING.

and then the next few moments are some of the most legitimately unsettling of the entire series, as we have Tomura screaming at the top of his lungs while being burnt to cinders (and I mean, I love Tomura dearly, but I get it; he literally just Thanos'd tens of thousands of innocent people), followed by AFO's creepy fucking ghost hand reaching out all "LEND ME YOUR BODY~~~" which is a scene that absolutely NO ONE ASKED FOR but okay.

but then right afterwards though! when AFO finally did take over, and you hear that "TV shutting down" sound effect all of a sudden? and then the next few scenes with all the BKDK flashbacks are also weirdly TV-themed? I could not for the life of me figure this out at first, but now I'm actually thinking it could be a reference to the chapter 306 color page?

OR MAYBE NOT? I actually have no idea. anyway though it may have been random af but it worked for me, what can I say.

AND THEN THE MOMENT OF TRUTH AT LONG LAST.

THIS ACTUALLY IS SO PRETTY THOUGH?? LIKE I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT COLOR COMBINATION AT ALL?

AND IT HAPPENS SO QUICKLY!!!!??? YOU BARELY EVEN HAVE TIME TO BLINK?!?!!

oh. my. god.

THE WAY THE MUSIC SUDDENLY GOT QUIET. THE WAY HIS NARRATING VOICE CAME ON AND, PRAISE EVERYTHING, IT REALLY WAS DEEPER. THAT REALLY WAS THE ADULT HIM. SAME AS DEKU. MY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS ARE SO FUCKING MUCH RIGHT NOW.

AND THEN THE FLASHBACKS!! THE SCENES OF THEM IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!! AND GROUND ZERO!! AND THEN CUTTING TO THE TWO OF THEM AS LITTLE BABIES, AND THE TV SCREEN ALL OF A SUDDEN SWITCHING TO COLOR??? AND THE HANDS??? THE REACHING?!?!

AND THEN?!?!?!

"HEY MAKESTE, IF WE GO AHEAD AND ACTUALLY MAKE THE VOLUME 29 COVER CANON, WILL YOU FINALLY FORGIVE US FOR ALL OF THE HALF-BAKED PAINFULLY OOC FILLER EPISODES AND OVAS?" WELL, STUDIO BONES, YOU DRIVE A HARD BARGAIN, BUT HOW CAN I POSSIBLY REFUSE.

AND THEN THEY FULL ON MURDERED ME!!!!!

that's right bitches. DREAD IT. RUN FROM IT. THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ARRIVES ALL THE SAME.

holy shit. and then THE END CREDITS oh my freaking heart. words can't even describe.

Studio Bones out here not resting until they've succeeded in making EVERY SINGLE PERSON feel the MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF SADNESS THAT A HUMAN BEING CAN SUSTAIN. their callousness truly knows no bounds.

anyway so there we have it! part one of the spectacular season 6 Bakugou Katsuki Redemption Saga. I laughed, I cried, I cried, I cried, I cried a little bit more, and then I cried a little bit more after that. final verdict: yeah, it was pretty good.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha season 6 #bnha episode 122 #bakugou katsuki #bakugou meta #makeste watches bnha #okamoto nobuhiko appreciation post #and I feel character development in this chili's tonight

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dangermousie · 2 years

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Do you like your men to have private armies but prefer access to antibiotics? Come right on in...

Watching the delicious trashiness of Maid’s Revenge has inspired me to make a listing of my favorite (and not so favorite) warlord and warlord adjacent cdramas. If like me, you like your male leads with polished boots and a side of murder, come right in. From most to least fave.

Siege in Fog

My most favorite on this list, this is visually gorgeous and emotionally visceral. Plus, it’s not just ONE warlord, it’s a whole family of them! It follows a deeply dysfunctional marriage between a beautiful woman and a warlord’s second son, where they fight and angst and love and fight some more, all the while bullets are flying and bodies are piling up. If you like incredible visuals, insane chemistry, dysfunction by the bucket and not one, not two, but THREE hot warlords, come right in. It’s based on a Fei Wo Si Cun novel so I assume you know you need a lot of tissues.

To sum up:

Too Late to Say I Love You

Another FWSC adaptation! This is an older drama, done long before cdrama’s recent unwelcome slide into wholesomeness, which means epic makeouts but also a warlord that revels in murder (at one point he takes out all his potential rivals, including his loved sister’s entire fam.) The OTP is dysfunctional - they hate, then they love, then they break up but he can’t let go - and the chemistry is beyond insane, with Wallace Chung and Li Xiao Ran melting my computer. Also, for once, a happy ending!

Winter Begonia

Probably the only genuine masterpiece on the list (tho I love FWSC dysfunction best for purely personal reasons), this is a MM story (though being cdrama it’s not explicit, though quite clear) and Huang Xiaoming as a trader with a private army and Yin Zheng as an opera singer with whom he forms a bond are both!!! I highly recommend it.

City of Streamer

Should be called ��City of Steamer” because those make-outs and chemistry are epic! Timmy Xu is a son of a shady businessmen (with a small army of gun happy goons) who falls hopelessly in love with an older governess (Jing Tian) who is out for revenge on his family. She starts out using him and ends up using him in a different sense, if you know what I mean! The plot derails a bit by the end but it’s still a great watch.

PS...

Maid’s Revenge

I am watching it right now. At only 10 minutes per ep, it skips plot and gives us the melo and chemistry we (and I mean I) crave and a guy whose muscles should be in a museum.

The Lady and the Liar

Hawick Lau is the ML and we all know this means “hot bastard.” He’s a crime lord with a goon squad falling for a lost heiress who loses her memory so he lies she’s his fiancee and deliciousness ensues. MMMMM

Arsenal Military Academy

Xu Kai is warlord jr but this is here mainly because of his awesome brother the businessman with murder squad. The drama is so-so (patriotism overtakes the amazing chemistry between Bai Lu and Xu Kai) but might be worth a peek.

Cruel Romance

(Can you say no to this face?)

Joey Chen has never worked in anything for me and this is no exception, but Huang Xiao Ming is dashing as hell as a sexy gangster.

Love In The Flames of War

The heroine is terrible (I kept rooting for her to get accidentally shrapnelled) but Shawn Dou is sexy as hell as a warlord. (In the novel he was apparently a rapey headcase; they made him lovely in the drama without making his wife saner which is...a choice.) I’d say worth it on FF for hotness and whippings.

The Mystic Nine

I tried. I tried to watch this drama three times. I could not. But William Chan as a warlord in a three-piece suit and cape is mega mega fine!

I suffer so you won’t have to:

Fall In Love

The worst drama on this list, insulting to intelligence of anyone above pre-school level, 90% of the cast, including the leading lady, incapable of acting, a plot that makes a picture book seem complex and fashion disasters galore. However, Chen Xing Xu, playing the smirky warlord, carries this mess harder than Atlas and deserves to be in another, better drama altogether. Oh, what wouldn’t I give for him as a proper FWSC warlord!

Honorable Mention: Forward Forever - haven’t watched that one but keep meaning to.

#cdrama #fall in love #siege in fog #winter begonia #love in flames of war #forward forever #the mystic nine #cruel romance #the lady and the liar #city of streamer #maid's revenge #too late to say i love you #arsenal military academy

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distant-screaming · 2 months

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ALRIGHT we're getting into the story now!! yippee yay let's go! ep 2 done, I am enjoying it way more than I thought I would, I hope charliebabe keep being down bad for each other, way.......gets well soon and sonicnorth are my darlingest of blorbos and if anything happens to them I am blowing up my entire blog <3

Current Fave Character Leaderboard:

Alan (my bestest of friend my favoritest of guys he is literally me if I wasn't a nerd)

Babe (this ep he has won a spot on here by virtue of being sad, pathetic, angry, embarrassing and hot all at once. also being in love with charlie)

Charlie (whatever he's planning I support him. I'm a hashtag gay wrongs believer and supporter and he can do whatever he wants forever I love him <3)

Honorary spot goes to: Jeff! I like him but I haven't seen enough of him to figure out if I love him yet

Amount Of Characters I Wish To Punch Counter: 3

Winner (just. gestures. everything)

Way (sighs. maybe a punch will fix him)

Kim (he's just super punchable and he irks me for some reason)

I managed to finish ep 2 before the final ep goes on air which I'm glad about :) good luck to everyone tomorrow hopefully the ending is good AND your blorbos are happy!!!

(ep 1 summary)

#next ep will most likely be tomorrow if I don't get caught up in stuff - if not tomorrow then there will be a double ep on sat #anyway gonna go block pit babe to dodge spoilers >:)#pit babe ep 2 #dee watches pit babe #pit babe the series #pit babe

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piepeloe · 7 months

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Ahsoka S1E8

That was in line with the rest of the season, I guess. So I'm going to sort of combine my review of this ep and the entire series

Things I liked:

Huyang (absolute MVP of the entire series, a new fave)

Ezra

The conversation between Huyang and Ezra, building lightsabers

Ezra coming home and Chopper recognizing him

The Mortis statues and how dramatic Baylan looked on top of them

The visuals and fights in general were pretty cool

Negative stuff behind the cut

Things I didn't like:

The episode title! 'The Jedi, The Witch and the Warlord'. Really, Dave?

Lack of Baylan (and even Shin)

Morgan getting a shiny new sword. She's a witch, could we not have come up with anything else?

Thrawn simply isn't that scary (yet?)

And the big one: Ahsoka herself. I've grown to like most of the characters, but I realized I simply don't like this version of Ahsoka. Maybe they tried a bit too hard to make her cool?

Things I hate:

They way they handled Ahsoka 'reconciling' her feelings about Anakin. It seems like she's mostly concerned about turning evil herself, and Baylan hinted at a specific incident, but we're never told more. After her vision she's also immediately a diehard Anakin stan right away? Like, what? I get that she'd be cool acknowledging he was a good master to her and that she can cherish those memories, but he was still Vader for 20-odd years. You'd think someone would mention it.

Sabine suddenly being Force-sensitive/there being no such thing because *everyone* is Force-sensitive and you just have to 'unlock your potential'. I genuinely thought/hoped that at the end of this series everyone was going to come to the sensible realization that that's nonsense and Sabine's fine being a Mandalorian. But alas.

The rule against attachments is out of the window, I guess? I mean yeah, we unleashed a warlord on the galaxy, but our friend is (hopefully!) safe, so you did good? FFS Ahsoka, you really are your master's apprentice.

The entire show felt as if Filoni was clearing out his drafts or maybe his bucket list or something? Just one cool SW thing after another. Which sounds great, except none of it was properly explored or resolved. Some of it still could be, but I'm not even sure if they're interested in doing that? It made the show very unsatisfying at times.

#ahsoka #ahsoka series #spoilers #ahsoka spoilers #star wars

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clementineskesh · 7 months

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okay palisade 27 thoughts

Lots happening this episode!!

MOTIONNNNN!!! Huge fan of motion coming back. The motion scream appearing since the beginning, the motion engines....even back in partizan, it always felt like she was meant to come back, and i LOVE how this is being done. the images were so good.

I like Dust! I like Occam Olio. I like the Us doppelgangers and "they are not dead. they do not leave the tunnels."

Seeing Jesset again also makes me sooooo happy thats my BOY i am jesset fan numero UNO and unfortunately he did get his ass kicked completely but he was cute while he did it and badass.

Elle showing up was beyond exciting! i love to see her!!!

"no one's PRO-Motion" Art has NOT been speaking to my mutuals

Longer thoughts: The big narrative swings (not talking lucia (which i love also) bc that was last ep) were SO cool i love how immediately invested art got in the motion clock, im obsessed with the choices, jesset being put in mortal peril was honestly very fun for me (tragedy enjoyer who loves to mourn their faves)

it really is brutal how authority sweeps every faction turn. on the one hand, I think there is a really good sense of weight and scale here; the authoritarian rulers of a whole planet are not weak and easily toppled, it would be worse if they were always getting beat.

On the other hand, I don't love the way they're going about it. Art backing away from Occam having a character moment SPECIFICALLY because he didn't want to roll and lose a pillar (especially in comparison to keith rolling when he didn't need to duing the stellar combustor arc) was so disappointing. it just felt like a worse story and less fun play. I did not like that at all.

Even though the sense of "the authority is huge and complex and every victory will be a struggle" is good to me and i prefer it, it kind of sucks to feel like the blue channel only faction that DOES anything (even baseline/violet cove mission was mostly a success even though they took the baseline L) Like gucci saying "what do you think we do all day?" girl i think they had your number!! you people are seeming pretty unhelpful!!! i would like it if not just Our Heroes but the entire organization were pulling their weight.

The final thing that occurred to me during the first conflict with jade kill and then got solidified later with art is i think its a huge problem that Hexagon doesnt have more named characters. Blank Shore and Occam Olio and SIlverbrick, the attendants of Gentian, all the higher ups of the Bilats, they have all gotten screen time and exploration and interest from the players. By contrast, most of the named Hexagon members pre-exist the faction games, and they are a lot less fleshed out. The twilight mirage character jack mentioned didnt even get a name. they dont care about them, and we have no one To care about.

So i think in the end i like all the narrative turns this took in terms of big swings and choices, but the energy is leaving me feeling kind of disappointed and uninvested in the individual dice rolls and events and attempts. like i enjoy what they do with the outcomes, but getting to the outcomes this week felt pretty :/ I just wish they would care about the cause too!!! i like what they do with authority but i like the cause and i feel like we dont know them at ALL!

our one former exception was baldwin home who was an outside perspective who deepened the connection a lot, and now he's dead, so like, they've all just become pieces on a board instead of people.

#leaving mostly happy but happiness isnt as conducive to writing out thoughts. happiness just makes me go wheeeeeeeeeeee #i did like the episode i had fun i gasped i yelled. but overall theres some stuff i am tired of thats making it #less fun i guess

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raid3r-r4bbit · 6 months

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@fuzzydreamin thanks for the lol. ive been a little busy with life so sorry for the late response.

Favorite Color:

Green. Like Blindingly Neon almost yellow bile/acid toxic hazmat pukey green. Also black. I'm also a fan of earthy tones, warm greys and browns, rusty orangey reds, and i also unironically love that "some smoker lived here for 5+ years but i swear the walls are white" sepia color.

Last song:

Either Childish Flamingo or 1x1. I've been hopping in between really screamy and just goofy shit atm because i cant focus with anything else. 🤷 But (I also jsut got a new BMTH hoodie) BMTH's post human album has been feeding me. It's a really good (visual? no.) example of that like just angry and over it nihilist feeling and I just *MUNCH CRUNCH AAAA* like i feel like it could be just the tiniest bit angrier and louder but i think that's my headphones.

as for childish flamingo, its like that miseryxcpr thing imo. It's goofy and funny and it slaps. and it's so catchy. it's like right on the edge of aha funny and fuck you street and i love it. i hope any of that makes sense im sorry lol.

Last movie:

the Demon Slayer movie. I skipped all the way to the end to see the fight between Akaza and Rengoku because they're two of my favs ( in order from that show: Uzui (my mom calls yuzu (my cat) Uzui and its adorable) Akaza and Rengoku. I Found out the english dub is out (im way behind) and just needed to hear their english voice acting. all of it is amazing and Akaza's lil gigles during the fight make me incredibly happy. Guys who laugh/giggle mid combat? Ugh >\\x//<

Currently Watching:

Demon Slayer, Chainsaw man, Tokyo ghoul (im rewatching a bunch of animes) Steven universe. (i love all of these and full recommend them. I literally just yesterday(or the day before idk time is a blur) got a new funko pop, it's the half-kakuja kaneki and i love it.)

Other stuff i've watched this year:

Spy x Family, the Junji ito Collection, Yamishibai (if you like picture style art and horror this is great, its somewhat junji ito like, but shorter stories and ngl the zanbai ep scared me a bit) psychpass (some reccomended this to me cause im (obviously) a fan of darker more gruesome shows, and it is very dystopian, love the art work, but i just dont get it.) Given (if you havent watched this show please watch it its amazing) Yuri on ice, Banana Fish (also another fave)

(I work from home, and pretty much exist at my computer, and need to keep on music or tv to keep the bad thoughts out, so i have a lot of time and opportunity to watch stuff ok)

Shows I dropped this week:

Psycho pass. again, i just couldnt get into it. I know a lot of people seem to really like and it full seems like a show that would be up my alley. that first ep was kind of a lot though. I'm not ashamed to admit i love shows that are unafraid to show nudity and violence but the two together (ifykyk) make me uncomfortable. If this case had been a little further in the show i think it would have been fine, but it's litterally the first like ten minutes of the show. I also tried watching this a few week ago while at wasteland but we were pretty much just out the door.

Devil May Cry. I still love the games and the characters, and i remember loving the anime as a kid but its just... so different from the games lmao.

Currently Reading:

random internet stuff, fics and shit. I feel bad because i used to go to the library all the time but at the same time, i dont really have the room to store a whole bunch of books and despite being super dyslexic, i read insanely fast, so renting/buying books isnt worth it to me. (i've read entire full length series in the span of a day or two, while doing other stuff. I need longer, more conveniently packaged novels and that typically comes in the form of fanfiction. )

tagging: @snowmutant @ivanpahdrylakeracer @glaochormfitheach(idk if ur cool tagging you in this kinda stuff, if not just lmk i though it'd be fun :D) @the-soup-witch(im dragging you into tumblr culture whether you like it or not, welcome to tagging games)

#tagging game #tag game #I STILL DONT KNOW HOW TO TAG THIS STUFF #AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA #how's that?

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kadi219 · 11 months

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The #TedBecca fandom went nuclear after that ending, and I get it. I’m not going to comment on how people should feel or not, because I’ve been there.

Sweet Lords of Kobol, have I ever been there.

I have seen some shitty finales. It’s why I hate them now. I loathe final seasons, and I’ve gotten to a point where I just don’t watch a lot of television while it’s airing. I have honestly gotten to a point where if my faves made it out alive, it’s a win. Fix-it fic is a very happy place.

#TedLasso and #StarTrekPicard were the exceptions to that rule, and probably the only thing besides football that I’ve watched live in a long time.

I have shipped some ships that went straight to shit. I have shipped some ships that ended tragically (Voyager, House and Major Crimes left their mark on me, okay? And it’s deep, scarred, and I’ll never trust an EP again).

That said, with #TedLasso, I did not feel the same old trauma that I’m used to. I liked that ending. I laughed, I cried, and I thought it was great.

1. Jamie and Roy — We’ve been told since almost episode 1, Season 1, that there is no such thing as perfection and people are a work in progress. They got drunk, and like idiots, their drunken mouths and egos overloaded their good sense. The point was not their regression though. Roy acknowledges at the end of that scene that they are both “fucking idiots”, and Jamie acknowledges that. Then they go eat. I think they’re okay, as far as the friendship we saw grow. And we see Roy working on himself, both as a Diamond Dog, and in therapy. These are not perfect guys, and we were never going to see a perfect resolution to their issues, but I love how far they’ve grown…. Roy in therapy with Dr. Sharon? LOVE IT! BUT – As I said, the point of that scene is not their regression. Keeley chooses NEITHER of them. She chooses herself. I think she and Roy could end up in a place where they could get back together, but he’s got some work to do on his own, and then there’s the point of Keeley’s storyline this season (IMO), she has some work to do with being happy about who she is, in her personal life and her professional. She needs to feel secure in that, and she’s almost there. To me, the series ended with the potential of their reconciliation. There’s hope! Which has been one of the main themes of the show.

2. Beard and Jane — that chick is hella weird, and I don’t get it, but Beard does. I think the wedding part of the montage might have been a dream, because I agree – in no universe is Ted missing that. Either way, I just didn’t care about them. It doesn’t bother me.

3. Rebecca and Boat Guy — I don’t think he’s the lightning. But I think she deserves the opportunity to be with someone else post Rupert, before anything serious develops anywhere else. She hasn’t had many post-Rupert relationships. She deserves to have those, given how long she was with that asshat.

4. Ted and Michelle – Ok, this is probably going to be the controversial, unpopular opinion. Ted was always going to go back to Kansas. The entire show has been leading toward that. The question is whether he ends up staying in Kansas, or not. Ted feels, very strongly, like he needs to be with Henry. This is what he feels will make him happy, and will make Henry happy. Rebecca gave him solutions to that, and they’re great ones. He's not there yet. Here’s why: Now that Ted knows Michelle was with Dr. Asshole, but we’re given the idea she isn’t anymore (I’m going with that), Ted deserves to know how much of their marriage breaking up was truly about THEM growing apart, and how much of it was Dr. Asshole being an unethical shit. And, IMO, Michelle deserves to know that too. How much of her thinking Ted was must “too much” and pushing him away was Dr. Asshole influencing her? How much of that was this absolute Frakweasel being so unethical that, I can’t even find the words. Michelle was vulnerable, and the question is, did he use that vulnerability and her trust in him to break them up? It’s a question that needs to be answered for Ted and Michelle, before either of them can move on, and it needs to be answered for Henry too. What I think, honestly, that they would find is that they really did grow apart. I think that it would make them better co-parents. They are still family, there is no reason they cannot be amicable in their split & their joint custody of Henry. I also feel, very strongly, that neither of them is going to be comfortable with the other moving on, or with themselves moving on, until they know the answers to those very big questions. I also think, ultimately, in my damaged, scarred, very traumatized shipper heart, that this will lead Ted back to Rebecca, and to a place where the two of them, Ted and Michelle, could have that conversation about her and Henry making the move to England.

So really, for TedBecca to happen, Ted had to go home.

I also think, for Ted to truly be happy, he had to go back. Not that being in Kansas is what will make him truly happy – but what will make him feel strong in himself, as a person, and a father, and a friend. There are so many unresolved issues for him in Kansas, that, I agree – in that final scene he doesn’t look totally happy with his choice. He didn’t WANT to leave the people he loves in England behind. He’s going to miss them. He felt like he needed to. But to me he looked content in where his choice could take him. There was hope there.

There was hope there for all our characters to get the futures they deserve. That’s the kind of finale I can live with. That’s why I loved it.

#ted lasso #ted lasso finale #ted lasso spoilers

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haro-hawayu · 8 months

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One Piece Live Action

I started One Piece LA thinking that I'll just take 2-3 days to watch it.

I binged the entire series in one day... XD

More semi-organized but mostly unorganized thoughts below~

Prior to watching, I had like medium/medium-high expectations for the LA because the trailers looked quite promising and was reading in various places that Oda praised it too. I still had that little part of me thinking that if it flops, then it's okay because surely it can't be worse than uhh... FMA live action (never saw Netflix Death Note which I heard was really bad so never checked it out)??

First episode exceeded my expectations!! I think by episode 4 I was still convinced I wouldn't finish the entire season and still have some to watch the next day, but before I knew it, I was on the second to last episode already LOL. Epic fail on my end for underestimating both the series and my ability to binge.

Cast: I think the cast is amazing!! Going into the series, I wasn't 100% sure about characters like Nami or Sanji, but wow, they were so great. I loved how the actors took in like the "essence" of the characters and kinda made it into their own instead of going for carbon-copy same-exact-thing as their anime counterparts. I think that would have led to more exaggerated/awkward acting which might have been not so good. Like imagine if Sanji was the same exact version as LA, I think I would've been kinda uncomfortable to watch cuz if the actor failed to pull it off, he might've turned Sanji into kinda sleezy/creepy skirt-chaser (works in anime cuz it's funny but in LA, maybe not so much). I found the amount of "comedic" interactions just perfect for the series. The chemistry between the cast was really great too, especially Luffy-Zoro-Nami, the very first members of Straw Hat crew. There were some minor-ish characters that grew on me really quick too even though initially I was kinda meh about them (i.e. Koby and Helmeppo). Oh, another example of a character that was kinda changed/adapted for the series instead of being mainly comedy relief would be Buggy. I really love how Buggy's portrayed in the LA, I would prob say he's my fave villain in S1 lol.

Story: Story-wise, I found the pacing to be just right, esp for S1 with the initial crew and each of their backstories. The amount of plot they covered felt just right imo, esp with first ep of Luffy wanting to set out while he's on his little raft, meeting Koby and sharing about how he wants to his own wanted poster etc, and then we wrap it up with the final episode of the season where Koby sees Luffy off with his Wanted Poster, and Luffy setting out with his crew on his own boat.

Music: I love the music! I loved that one motif that keeps replaying throughout the episodes. I thought it was the same theme, but I listened to the OST after and noticed a bunch of different tracks with that motif playing. It's quite catchy. I loved the moments where they included "We Are"--I legit teared up hearing it when they were setting off with Merry and the music was playing. I never thought I'd get this emotional over a live action adaptation, but here we are.

CG: The CG was also better than expected. Not over the top. I think I was most concerned about Luffy's abilities, but they were done well. I think things to worry about in the future is how they handle other Devil Fruit users' abilities.

Anyways, I would give it like a... 9-9.5/10. There were some scenes that kinda made me go ???? but those were minor things I guess. One was whenever Garp & Koby played Go and the way they held the Go stones made me kinda cringe. Another moment was the scene of young Zoro and his sensei at Kuina's funeral and they bowed to each other. Young Zoro's bow was appropriate, but the sensei's bow in return was kinda ??? when you bow, you usually don't tilt your head up look up at the other person cuz it's kinda rude, so seeing the sensei do that, it's like giving off the wrong vibe. Just itty bitty things that threw me off.

S1 finished strong, but time will tell how S2 will go. Especially for characters like Brook or Chopper... I imagine them to be CG'd in so that might affect character interactions, and if they're not CG'd in, well I hope it won't be too distracting...

#one piece #one piece live action #live action

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crescentmoon-flower · 10 months

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Rewatching winx season 4 for nostalgia and realizing how wierd some things are

Ep. 7

Musa posing like the drama queen she is

How did Stella drag roxy upwards like that

"I'm a great shot" im sure you are

Stella darling you managed to contradict yourself

Musa your great, and I wish you kept these spells

Nevermind then musa is useless

Stella contradicting herself again

Oh poor doggy, also I would react the same to someone hurting my baby

Oh wow roxy is strong

Awww, tiny kitten

Flora and anagan flirting, its actually kinda cute

What the hell even is gantlos's power

Aw, sweet old rich woman

And gantlos found them

Yeah that car crash is about right

Also for a second I thought the woman was going to help roxy

Sassy gantlos

Oh wow that was a close one

Wow artu is smart, I wonder is that's a side effect of being around roxy

Spirit speech

Oh poor artu

Oh that's a close one part 2

First magic!

What exactly did roxy do though?

Sudden upbeat Music

Well that's a tone shift

Weren't they all just on the floor in the last frame?

Specialist deus ex machina

Nabu speaks really wierd sometimes

Oh my god Rivington chopped duman's hair XD

Did they just corner ogron and leave the others?

Awww, supportive timmy

Wow aisha is in a great mood.

I... don't thing implicitly is the word your looking for

Naaaawwwww

Liesssssss, you'll end up with more

HAHA, flora and aisha's reactions are great

Wait...... Didn't timmy already have a job?? Did he quit to be around roxy more? Or is he doing both?

How did he go from helia to Tobias? The others are similar but helia?

BOO-BOO XD

Oh okay nevermind

Oh my god, the one who doesn't work there is the only one he got right

As a only child and a girl, I feel you roxy

Ooooooohhhhh, musa

Bloom my god

Hey its that girl who everyone thought is the last fairy

Swimsuits?ok

Animation mistake roxy's sleeves

Spend the whole day talking to the neighbours canary?

Ok at least faragonda is kept in the loop

The fairy pets are adorable but useless

A yes, mcguffin wings bearly used

Guide book? What guide book?

What's with the sudden change of heart about keeping things secret

Why doesn't morgana just tell roxy who she is?

Ep 8

Pointless fluff

Oh kiko

More pointless fairy pet things

Didn't tecna explain the website several times now.

Finally common sense for stupid romance problems

Convenient timing

Did roxy sleep the entire day?

Ok the whole pictures arrange themselves in the same way

Cowboy outfits, actually one of my faves

Kind of worry roxy had a bother reaction to magic wardrobe change

Oh the Stella silent treatment

Ok from experience no large camper or bus like that has 4wheel drive

Suddenly I remember that the driver in world of winx was also aisha

I'd love to go there on horseback

Dramatic duman

Sadly irrelevant to the conversation flora

Don't like this man

Oh no this is going to be a disaster

Snort* flying bear

Seriously what are gantlos's powers?

Wait they can miniaturise what not in enchantix?

Smoke them out, smart

Gantlos is my reaction to

Did the circle burn him or just hurt?

Well that's awsome

Oh my god that man is dedicated to not noticing shit

That smile is creepy

Isn't this man a lumberjack? How is he going to survive now?

Why does bloom get to keep the circle?

And their back

Pets aren't typically allowed at bars

Pointless pet fluff

Nabu forshadowing

Aww tecna is emoting so much, I'm proud!

Damn this all, more mitzie

...well she had a good singing voice

He has work, stella

He's going to break that guitar

More nabu foreshadowing

Creepy surfer man

For a really important episode it feels like 70 percent is pointless

#winx club #winx helia #winx aisha #winx anagan #winx bloom #winx brandon #winx duman #winx flora #winx gantlos #winx musa #winx stella #winx roxy #winx timmy #winx tecna #winx nabu #winx sky #winx believix #winx season 4 #winx morgana

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raayllum · 10 months

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just want to say thank you so much for appreciating season 4 so much tdp <3 i dont really understand why it is so disliked; not without his problems, but still sweet, sad and thoughtful

Yeah it's like... 4x01-4x02 is the only time the show is presumably going to have any time for anything remotely resembling filler, which the previous three seasons also had some brief shares of (1x05, 2x04, honestly 3x01 for how much its two plotlines are drawn out the whole ep, and Rayllum's plot line in 3x02). So just like those filler eps, early S4 spends time getting us re-acquainted with the bulk of the main cast (everyone but Rayla really) and the ways they and the world are either different now, or have stayed the same, i.e.

Corvus and Callum have more than two lines of dialogue with each other, Soren is fully integrated as a crown guard, Ezran is being king in a very Ezran-y way (both good and bad), Callum is the same but also fronting and much more serious, and Claudia's stability is hanging on by a thread. Then 4x02 kicks off the plot for Claudia's side of things, and technically also for Callum (and Rayla) with Rayla's arrival, but 4x03 has to accordingly deal with some of that fallout. Claudia's actions directly kick off the plot, and then it's travel and stopping Aaravos time from 4x04 onwards (which again, is structured very similarly to 1x01-1x03 and 2x01-2x03 being the Castle / Moon Nexus arcs respectively). 4x04 gets the audience caught up with the fanatics (S4 is the first season to actually explain what type of elf Aaravos is - a Startouch elf - that he's ancient, etc etc), and Claudia and co. are also given what they need (Sir Sparklepuff) to be set into motion.

As you can see, I don't think the plot of the season bothered people (something if not multiple things are established every episode) but I do think people found some of the character interactions lacking. Which - I'd rather have people be awkward and unfair and not entirely honest with others than themselves and acting like people than anything else. Claudia can be awkward with over sharing (per usual) and Callum can be shut down (it's an interesting character turn and not an entirely unexpected one).

Like I genuinely feel bad for people who were disappointed or didn't like S4! It sucks when a show you love has a bad season you didn't enjoy, and it's not as though that's never happened to me. I just think I've typically either 1) borne it better, 2) got over it and looked at what the show was trying to do to, or 3) saw it coming ahead of time and left, lmao.

Like S4 of Infinity Train is really good but not nearly (to me) on the same level of S3, yet I know people how prefer it, and yeah - it does come down to preferences. JWCC S4 feels like it lost sight of what the show was (a simple fun premise executed very well) by adding in too many elements; I didn't make it past ep3, and the previous season had wrapped up 90% of what I was emotionally invested in anyway and works pretty well as a total finale. TDP wasn't this, as there were still a lot of loose ends following S3, and I think S4 carried them on just fine as well as setting up so many interesting things ahead (much the same way S1 did, and kind of to be expected when Arc 1 was so wrapped up). Getting to see the characters (somewhat) enjoy peace while not knowing the events were in motion to see it all come crashing down was a great sense of dramatic irony, iMO.

Anyway, I loved S4 plenty when I watched it for the first time, and I love it even more now! It's my 3rd fave season, which considering how much I adore and have nostalgia for S1, is saying something. If this is the show's 'lowpoint' I can't think of how even more incredible it's going to be

#thanks for asking #anonymous #dragons rambles #i've always been someone who's had the Unpopular stance in fandom (in general) of Liking canon #so it is an occasionally annoying but very Familiar position to be in #luckily i think more people have come around on S4 #but the people who haven't... it's been months man like figure it out #arc 2 #s4

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kinetic-elaboration · 2 months

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February 7: The Expanse 1x04

Why would you introduce my beautiful wife Captain Yao just to kill her one episode later??? I will riot in the streets.

Seriously, I really was like immediately attached to her, in a way I haven’t been to any other character in this show yet, and I was all ready for her to be a fave and now she’s gone. Truly a disappointment. Also it makes me kind of annoyed that Cop 2 is still alive because while I had no particular issues with him, having him be surprise alive in the same ep as another, worse, more definitive death… so sad for me specifically.

Second thought: my favorite parts of this show are the world building sections and my least favorite are the action sequences. All the tense life-or-death-situation scenes are really boring to me still. I mean admittedly action is not my genre in general but something about the action scenes in this show just seem particularly… flat, for some reason? I just feel no intensity and no urgency about them at all and I honestly kind of zoned out through them. In this ep, I’m talking specifically about the crew stopping up the wholes in the prison cell, and the run to the escape ship during gunfire.

But the world building is exquisite. I’m really into all the information we’re getting on Mars and how they see Earth—and themselves. Every new bit of information is simultaneously exciting and surprising and unpredictable, and also fits in perfectly with all of the other information, providing an overall picture of the society that feels coherent and real. And this even though we’ve seen very few Martian characters and not yet seen their home world at all.

I was also really excited about all the tech in the dead guy that the detectives were examining (as a side note, probably shouldn’t get attached to her, and I still don’t entirely get what she does, but Octavia is growing on me a lot). It sort of reminded me of Dollhouse in its future episodes except the tech was spread throughout the body instead of being mind-focused. Like, body mods, even data storage as part of the body mods, isn’t a NEW idea but it’s an idea I LIKE and I appreciated how they were developing it here. Also the term ‘gear head.’

I did not really get what was happening with the shootout in the corridor of the Donninger, which ended with that guy getting his arm blown off and then it just healed itself. Part of this is that as soon as the shoot out started I zoned out entirely because as I said, I just cannot care. So I probably missed important information. I think…he was one of the people who boarded the ship? One of the mystery antagonists? His space suit was different than the red-faced Martian ones. But they also called him a mole? Maybe? And something about a weapon that wouldn’t be able to fire. I probably should have rewatched the scene but I wanted to keep going. I also don’t know what it meant that his arm healed itself right away but based on the expression on Holden’s face, I think that’s supposed to be a mystery.

As far as I can tell, the mystery antagonists are OPA-aligned (based on the scene where the guy kicked all the Mormons off the ship he was building, and also the stuff with the guy being tortured in the first couple episodes) but there’s something Extra about them. The arm-healing thing, for one. Maybe it’s Mormon tech? LMAO.

Oh, just remembered. Another thing I like about the world building on this show is how normal Earth looks. Like clearly this is far in the future and there’s a lot of new tech and so on and so forth, and Earth from a distance looks quite different as well, with the degree to which it’s been built up at least in major cities—but it’s not all sleek futuristic houses or minimalism or just sweeping amounts of shiny new advanced entertainment etc. The houses are just houses, the clothes are just clothes, the people still read books and talk about dinosaurs. It makes everything feel more real and believable, and sort of helps ground the (sometimes very far out) worlds of this possible future with the actual world.

I was surprised by the insta-jump to found family among Holden and the crew. His insistence he needed to get back to ‘his people’ was a little meh for me, which I KNOW is completely unfair. The show has objectively earned the right to have him be protective of them, after their recent adventures and given that they’re the last survivors of their ship. But most of what we’ve seen from them has just been infighting… it’s hard for me to feel yet like they actually like each other and would be so deeply loyal. Meh. I don’t know. At least the most annoying of them has bitten the dust. I am not sad about it.

Also WHY are there so many Mormons? Are they like really important or is this just an extensive riff off a sort of joke (even in the future and even in space, white men in suits will try to evangelize you)?

#the year 2024 #2024: fandom thoughts #2024: the expanse

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ginger-snap-talkin-nonsense · 2 months

Note

American Dad eps for review. This isn’t all my faves, but I didn’t wanna give you too much 😅

Delorean Storyan

Merlot Down Dirty Shame

Cops and Roger

The One Who Got Away

Fart-break Hotel

Joint Custody

Stanny Tendergrass

Independent Movie

Alright, I’m finally sitting down with this list!

I think you’ve got some fantastic picks for favorites here, Fart-Break Hotel and Stanny Tendergrass are personal favorites of mine as well.

-Delorean Story-An is an episode I tend to get mixed up with Toy Whore-y because it’s got such a similar set up but it’s a great pick if you’re looking for a Stan and Steve character piece of which there are relatively fewer than other characters. I specifically love the twist at the end that Steve had been laboring under the idea that at least they shared a love of Back to The Future to make him and Stan bonded only for Stan to reveal that he’s never even seen the movie and has his own reasons for wanting the Delorean so badly. It’s a good joke but it’s also a great way of reminding the audience that these two both want similar things, they just have so much of a personality gap that it’s hard for them to see it in each other, which is the running theme.

Also Roger and Francine dogging on Hayley for being boring and Hayley pranking them with one of two Chris Angel appearances in the show will never not be funny.

-Merlot Down Dirty Shame is a great Roger centric episode. I think it’s interesting the depth of character Seth brings to this cast despite the shallow demeanor of the series itself. Roger is self centered, horny, and impulsive but his genuine love for the family and his fear of losing their love is a topic that they keep consistent and this is one of the strongest contenders for an episode of that ilk. The lengths Roger will go to just to keep Stan from getting angry at him over such a small thing are hilarious and deeply in character. Plus this episode has some killer dialogue.

“I’m just gonna give you some time to cool off”

“IM GONNA RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF”

“Okay so you need more time.”

-Cops and Roger is the funniest Roger alone episode Roger going off the rails as his persona of a guy who failed to become a cop and now takes it out on his family entirely because of Steven and his friends stupid prank is gets progressively more absurd to the point that you just find yourself invested in this family that you’ll never see again and have never seen before. Kelly Clarkson’s “What Doesn’t Kill You” playing as he now widowed wife walks out of the restaurant with her kids is one of those great testaments to how well the team uses licensed music.

-The One That Got Away is one of those easy great American Dad episodes. A deep dive into Rogers personas being so much more than costumes to him, and how becoming all of these people can lead to some crazy consequences. I would say while something like “Roger Needs Dick” explores the emotional side of the personas all being facets of Roger, this one handles the mental presence of it phenomenally. I feel like I’m watching a thriller. There’s some obvious Fight Club inspiration going on and doing a Fight Club story but flipping the premise of Tyler Durden on his head was a stroke of genius on the staffs part. This is one that’s kinda hard to discuss because…like…it’s just a phenomenal episode You’d be hard pressed to find a fan that doesn’t agree.

-Fart-Break Hotel explores Francine as a character and I’ll be honest I’m very soft on Francine centric episodes. I think she’s an absolute riot any time she appears being a perfect balance of being a out of pocket as Roger while also feeling the most normal. She’s the duality of womanhood and an episode exploring how that balance has been thrown off by her lot in life is bound to be great.

-Joint Custody is one of the few early episodes I actually really enjoy. There’s some genuinely funny stoner jokes (the entire gas station scene is in my top 10 funniest scenes for this show) and it’s one of the first episodes that seems to get Jeff really nailed down in a lot of important ways. Considering Jeff is my favorite character, that’s pretty important to me.

Also, another episode with some killer fucking one liner deliveries

“He hasn’t spoken to his dad in years and his mom ran away before he was born.”

“How…how could she do that?”

-Stanny Tendergrass sees Stan get his ass kicked by Hulk Hogan this episode is perfect

-Independent Movie is a rare really good Snot episode! I think Snot episodes tend to lack because they so often have to focus on Steve and him getting into it over something which is obviously the case here. But here there’s so much going on between Snot very genuinely dealing with his father’s death to the manic pixie dream girl to the rare form earnest ending. Fun fact, this one is Curtis Armstrong personal favorite of the series and you can really tell why. It feels like Snot gets treated like more than Steve’s friend in this episode and Steve’s selfishness doesn’t feel overblown by the plot like it often does in similar episodes.

All in all some great picks, I can tell you’re a fan of the character deep dive episodes which I have the upmost respect for!

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