#everything else is filler for a boring overarching plot

[bigprettygothgf]

the funnything about the will queerbating thing is that they literally are its not a case of fandombrained people acting weird they literally could not possibly be more obviously implying this kid is gay without directly saying it

#i would venture as far as to say its the only gripping narrative in this season but maybe like. 1 minute is devoted to it per episode #everything else is filler for a boring overarching plot

[paellegere]

final thoughts: supernatural season 10

wow holy shit that sure was a season. i'm not actually sure how i feel about it???? aside from the obvious brainrot it's given me and also the mental illness. idk i'll put down my thoughts and maybe by then i'll figure out how i feel.

for starters, this might rival seasons 6 and 7 for the "fewest amount of episodes i enjoyed" award. specifically, i liked 1-4, 8, 12, and 18-22. the finale... i'm unsure about currently. i'll have to think about that and come back to it in a few paragraphs. so 11 of 23 episodes is... whew. this season was rough for me for sure.

overall the balancing of the A plots with the B plots felt rather juvenile, even though the overarching plotling felt so much more present than it has since like, basically kripke era. it felt like for the most part, episodes started with a topical conversation between sam and dean, then they went off and worked a case that was hand-crafted to parallel the seasonal arc, and finally at the end they sat in the impala and discussed the lessons they learned today. feels more like kids programming than the TV-MA rating suggests, lol.

but see that's the thing, right? like i said, the seasonal plot felt so present compared to past seasons. everything was tied in together, nothing felt really out of place, it all circled back to the big picture of the season. for a post-kripke season, that's pretty damn awesome and a much needed relief. i've gotten used to half-baked filler episodes that hardly relate to the story at all and feel hamfisted in because they don't know what else to do, so it does feel nice that the plot was actually relevant, always an undercurrent to every episode and informing the characters' actions.

i just... well, i probably feel this way because of the poor pacing of the story. i mean don't get me wrong, i didn't necessarily love the A plots of those episodes either (for the most part), but like i mentioned in a previous post, i just don't think it's handled well. it's a GREAT concept but the execution is lacking in so many places between season 9 and 10. the dearth of serious developments throughout most of the season dampened the urgency of the plot, the lack of consistency in the mark's effects made it hard to predict where the show was leading, and the empty promises bored me. they're all absolutely terrible ingredients for a tense plot, so even though the plot was relevant in all these episodes, it felt stagnant and barren. there's really only so many times sam can fret about "dean getting worse" without dean actually, tangibly getting worse before i have to roll my eyes.

at the same time, a lot of those episodes i didn't like had some AMAZING dialogues and scenes in them. i know i've been raving about the parallels and mirroring between season 8 and seasons 9-10, but these seasons really are phenomenal at painting a Big Picture. they know what they want and how they want to do it; they just seem to really struggle with the details. dean confessing in a church to mirror sam confessing in sacrifice? sam lying to dean about burning the book of the damned to save him to mirror dean lying to sam about gadreel possessing him? sam getting charlie killed because of those lies to mirror how dean got kevin killed because of his lies? sam comparing himself to claire in order to highlight how he's abandoned his desire for independence? these are all really impressive story beats that on a higher level serve to contain these three seasons in some kind of sick brotherfucking ouroboros that's like, a narrative metaphor for how wrapped up in each other they are. they spin in circles around each other like binary stars, repeating each other's mistakes, throwing everyone else in their lives away, clinging to each other with a toxic ferocity and devotion that should kill them, that does kill them so many times, that ruins their lives and leaves them broken and bloody and alone except for each other. and still the story spins and spins and spins and never stops, because they never stop because they're insane. it's deranged. they're deranged.

i don't understand how there can be such a clear, amazing vision that's fucked up so spectacularly on an episodic level. i guess because i'm so used to seeing the opposite: the details are great, but the big picture is messy and unsatisfying. supernatural continues to defy logic, and it's utterly fascinating to me.

anyway i said i'd come back to the finale so here i am. i know cain foreshadowed the whole "dean will kill sam" thing in the executioner's song, but i really... don't think there was much substance to that to warrant the sudden development. sam continued to be, throughout both season 9 and season 10, pretty much the only person dean didn't nearly kill—and quite the opposite, since sam was the only one capable of placating dean when he had the first blade in his hand. sam functioned more as a grounding presence for dean, so the textual dialogue between the characters and the visual reality of it all just did not match up. and so when dean brought sam to him to kill him, it didn't really make any sense at all.

also frankly, the conversation between death and them wasn't all that convincing either: death claims with such self-assurance that sam would go to the ends of the earth to save dean at any cost, but sam and dean have both individually proven that they're capable of, well, not doing that. dean went to lisa after swan song, sam found amelia after survival of the fittest. and if sam is meant to be a mirror of dean in this season, then it stands to reason that, if sam made a promise to dean to move on (like dean promised sam in swan song), then sam would have made good on the promise. yes, sam is psychotic about his brother, but there's not only precedent for sam "moving on" (loose definition), but it would have been narratively cohesive to finish off the role reversal, if dean really had been sent into fucking outer space (lol). again: the textual dialogue does not match with the visual reality here.

so why did sam have to die? because, of course, they needed the cain and abel parallels. but they just... set it up so poorly, and they fumbled the mirroring, and in the end it felt weird and cheap. sure, bringing sam there to explain the circumstances and threatening him on pain of death if he interfered was totally warranted (sam is psychotic about his brother), but when he gave up? why would he need to follow through? there's a poor foundation for it, so the development felt very contrived and poorly executed. which is unfortunate, because i was looking forward to the fratricide. what's even more unfortunate is that this would have been such an easy fix. just make dean more aggressive toward sam. like deadass just have them fight more, have dean get uncharacteristically angry with him (though the thing at charlie's cremation was a nice touch), have dean actually visibly contemplate fratricide, yknow. something that isn't "oh my baby brother is the only person who keeps me sane" followed immediately by "i'm going to kill him." if you're going to have a prophecy, you need to commit to it!!! i'm just saying!!!

and now that i've written all that out, i think thaaaat's why sam's emotional speech at the end felt so cheap. there was no real reason for him to be in that position in the first place, and there was no support for the weight it was being given. honestly a shame, because i think the speech itself was very good and emotional; it just did not hit without the buildup to it.

and then not to beat a dead horse, but everything i said before was proven TRUE in the very next moment: dean killed death to save sam, because sam is his rock and his reason for living and he could never hurt sam, past present or future. like i said! dean really was a negative threat to sam this entire season!! sam was the only person who could even influence him positively!!! cas tried to do what sam so consistently did and dean beat him to a fucking pulp!!!! the tension was NOT there because dean is weak to sam; there was never any other option, or even a hint of it.

i suppose all that answers my question... i don't think i liked the finale, no. which is honestly surprising, because i think supernatural generally goes very hardcore with its finales. this might be the first one i've disliked? maybe? or no, i don't think i liked the season 7 finale either to be honest. but season 7 is season 7 so like. it is what it is.

i don't know. this season was bizarre, and there were a lot of moments that made me so, so much worse than i thought possible—like i thought the season 9 finale made me bad, but then they just kept going and good lord. i will not get over this role reversal plot any time soon. the concept was amazing, and i appreciate the level of commitment the writers had to this development. the mediocre execution really dragged things out longer than i feel they should have though, and as you can see i have plenty of criticism. it has so much charm though, and it finishes off the three-season wombo combo in what was meant to be a satisfying way—like i see what they were trying to do i just think they failed at it. so it's definitely no season 6, that's for sure. the vision was its redeeming feature, and GOD what a vision it was. i adore what they were trying to do with seasons 8-10 so i really can't dislike it yknow. because holy shit!!!

anyway i guess that's all. which means it's time for my detox, and after that i'll officially be in Late Season Supernatural, finally. i can't wait to see where that'll take me (i'm looking respectfully at red meat). i'm also watching season 1 with a friend, which is a delight because jesus christ this show has such an incredible foundation. if i get a chance between that and reading fanfic, i think i'll watch sharp objects finally, since it's short and sweet (not actually sweet, from what i can tell). so that'll be fun :)

#liveblogging: supernatural #this post is so fucking long i'm embarrassed for myself #.txt #spn reviews

[usergreenpixel]

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 1: La Seine no Hoshi (1975)

1. Introduction

Well, dear reader, here it is. My first ever official review. And, as promised, this is one of the pieces of Frev media that you have likely never heard of before.

So, without further ado, sit down, relax, grab drinks and snacks and allow me to tell you about an anime called “La Seine no Hoshi” (The Star of the Seine).

“La Seine no Hoshi” is a children’s anime series made by Studio Sunrise. It consists of 39 episodes and was originally broadcast in Japan from April 4th to December 26th of 1975.

Unlike its more famous contemporary, a manga called “Rose of Versailles” that had begun being released in 1972 and is considered a classic to this day, “La Seine no Hoshi” has stayed relatively obscure both in the world of anime and among other Frev pop culture.

Personally, the only reason why I found out about its existence was the fact that I actively seek out everything Frev-related and I just happened to stumble upon the title on an anime forum several years ago.

So far, the anime has been dubbed into Italian, French, German and Korean but there is no English or even Spanish dub so, unfortunately, people who do not speak fluent Japanese or any other aforementioned language are out of luck ( if anyone decides to make a fandub of the series, call me). That being said, the series is readily available in dubs and the original version on YouTube, which is where I ended up watching it. The French dub calls the anime “La Tulipe Noire” (The Black Tulip), which could be an homage to the movie with the same name that takes place in the same time period.

Unfortunately, while I do speak Japanese well enough to maintain a basic conversation and interact with people in casual daily situations, I’m far from fluent in the language so the version I watched was the French dub, seeing as I am majoring in French.

So, with all of this info in mind, let’s find out what the story is about and proceed to the actual review.

2. The Summary

(Note: Names of the characters in the French dub and the original version differ so I will use names from the former since that’s what I watched)

The story of “La Seine no Hoshi” revolves around a 15-year old girl called Mathilde Pasquier - a daughter of two Parisian florists who helps her parents run their flower shop and has a generally happy life.

But things begin to change when Comte de Vaudreuil, an elderly Parisian noble to whom Mathilde delivers flowers in the second episode, takes her under his wing and starts teaching her fencing for an unknown reason and generally seems to know more about her than he lets on.

Little does Mathilde know, those fencing lessons will end up coming in handy sooner than she expected. When her parents are killed by corrupt nobles, the girl teams up with Comte de Vaudreuil’s son, François, to fight against corruption as heroes of the people, all while the revolution keeps drawing near day by day and tensions in the city are at an all time high.

This is the gist of the story, dear readers, so with that out of the way, here’s the actual review:

3. The Story

Honestly, I kind of like the plot. It has a certain charm to it, like an old swashbuckling novel, of which I’ve read a lot as a kid.

The narrative of a “hero of the common folk” has been a staple in literature for centuries so some might consider the premise to be unoriginal, but I personally like this narrative more than “champion of the rich” (Looking at you, Scarlet Pimpernel) because, historically, it really was a difficult time for commoners and when times are hard people tend to need such heroes the most.

People need hope, so it’s no surprise that Mathilde and François (who already moonlights as a folk hero, The Black Tulip) become living legends thanks to their escapades.

Interestingly enough, the series also subverts a common trope of a hero seeking revenge for the death of his family. Mathilde is deeply affected by the death of her parents but she doesn’t actively seek revenge. Instead, this tragedy makes the fight and the upcoming revolution a personal matter to her and motivates her to fight corruption because she is not the only person who ended up on its receiving end.

The pacing is generally pretty good but I do wish there were less filler episodes and more of the overarching story that’s dedicated to the secret that Comte de Vaudreuil and Mathilde’s parents seem to be hiding from her and maybe it would be better if the secret in question was revealed to the audience a bit later than episode 7 or so.

However, revealing the twist early on is still an interesting narrative choice because then the main question is not what the secret itself is but rather when and how Mathilde will find out and how she will react, not to mention how it will affect the story.

That being said, even the filler episodes do drive home the point that a hero like Mathilde is needed, that nobles are generally corrupt and that something needs to change. Plus, those episodes were still enjoyable and entertaining enough for me to keep watching, which is good because usually I don’t like filler episodes much and it’s pretty easy to make them too boring.

Unfortunately, the show is affected by the common trope of the characters not growing up but I don’t usually mind that much. It also has the cliché of heroes being unrecognizable in costumes and masks, but that’s a bit of a staple in the superhero stories even today so it’s not that bothersome.

4. The Characters

It was admittedly pretty rare for a children’s show to have characters who were fleshed out enough to seem realistic and flawed, but I think this series gives its characters more development than most shows for kids did at the time.

I especially like Mathilde as a character. Sure, at first glance she seems like a typical Nice Pretty Ordinary Girl ™️ but that was a part of the appeal for me.

I am a strong believer in that a character does not need to be a blank slate or a troubled jerk to be interesting and Mathilde is neither of the above. She is essentially an ordinary girl with her own life, family, friends, personality and dreams and, unfortunately, all of that is taken away from her when her parents are killed.

Her initial reluctance to participate in the revolution is also pretty realistic as she is still trying to live her own life in peace and she made a promise to her parents to stay safe so there’s that too.

I really like the fact that the show did not give her magic powers and that she was not immediately good at fencing. François does remark that her fencing is not bad for a beginner but in those same episodes she is clearly shown making mistakes and it takes her time to upgrade from essentially François’s assistant in the heroic shenanigans to a teammate he can rely on and sees as an equal. Heck, later there’s a moment when Mathilde saves François, which is a nice tidbit of her development.

Mathilde also doesn’t have any romantic subplots, which is really rare for a female lead.

She has a childhood friend, Florent, but the two are not close romantically and they even begin to drift apart somewhat once Florent becomes invested in the revolution. François de Vaudreuil does not qualify for a love interest either - his father does take Mathilde in and adopts her after her parents are killed so François is more of an older brother than anything else.

Now, I’m not saying that romance is necessarily a bad thing but I do think that not having them is refreshing than shoehorning a romance into a story that’s not even about it. Plus most kids don’t care that much for romance to begin with so I’d say that the show only benefits from the creative decision of not setting Mathilde up with anyone.

Another interesting narrative choice I’d like to point out is the nearly complete absence of historical characters, like the revolutionaries. They do not make an appearance at all, save for Saint-Just’s cameo in one of the last episodes and, fortunately, he doesn’t get demonized. Instead, the revolutionary ideas are represented by Florent, who even joins the Jacobin Club during the story and is the one who tries to get Mathilde to become a revolutionary. Other real people, like young Napoleon and Mozart, do appear but they are also cameo characters, which does not count.

Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI are exceptions to the rule.

(Spoiler alert!)

Marie-Antoinette is portrayed as kind of spoiled and out of touch. Her spending habits get touched on too but she is not a malicious person at heart. She is simply flawed. She becomes especially important to the story later on when Mathilde finds out the secret that has been hidden from her for her entire life.

As it turns out, Marie- Antoinette, the same queen Mathilde hated so much, is the girl’s older half-sister and Mathilde is an illegitimate daughter of the Austrian king and an opera singer, given to a childless couple of florists to be raised in secret so that her identity can be protected.

The way Marie-Antoinette and Mathilde are related and their further interactions end up providing an interesting inner conflict for Mathilde as now she needs to reconcile this relationship with her sister and her hatred for the corruption filling Versailles.

The characters are not actively glorified or demonized for the most part and each side has a fair share of sympathetic characters but the anime doesn’t shy away from showing the dark sides of the revolution either, unlike some other shows that tackle history (*cough* Liberty’s Kids comes to mind *cough*).

All in all, pretty interesting characters and the way they develop is quite realistic too, even if they could’ve been more fleshed out in my opinion.

5. The Voice Acting

Pretty solid. No real complaints here. I’d say that the dub actors did a good job.

6. The Setting

I really like the pastel and simple color scheme of Paris and its contrast with the brighter palette of Versailles. It really drives home the contrast between these two worlds.

The character designs are pretty realistic, simple and pleasant to watch. No eyesores like neon colors and overly cutesy anime girls with giant tiddies here and that’s a big plus in my book.

7. The Conclusion

Like I said, the show is not available in English and those who are able to watch it might find it a bit cliché but, while it’s definitely not perfect. I actually quite like it for its interesting concept, fairly realistic characters and a complex view of the French Revolution. I can definitely recommend this show, if only to see what it’s all about.

Some people might find this show too childish and idealistic, but I’m not one of them.

I’m almost 21 but I still enjoy cartoons and I’m fairly idealistic because cynicism and nihilism do not equal maturity and, if not for the “silly” idealism, Frev itself wouldn’t happen so I think shows like that are necessary too, even if it’s just for escapism.

If you’re interested and want to check it out, more power to you.

Anyway, thank you for attending the first ever official meeting of the Jacobin Fiction Convention. Second meeting is coming soon so stay tuned for updates.

Have a good day, Citizens! I love you!

- Citizen Green Pixel

#review #french revolution #anime #history #television #frev media #Jacobin Fiction Convention #marie antoinette #French Revolution anime #la seine ni hoshi #la tulipe noire dessin animé #la tulipe noire

[zero2heroyesindeed]

Why I still love Star vs the Forces of Evil

Ever since Cleaved aired almost a year ago I have seen and heard nothing but people turning on the show. What was once held as one of the greatest cartoons of the modern era suddenly become the worst thing to ever exist all because the finale fell flat for most people. Now, I have rather controversial feelings on the finale (I personally think it’s a fantastic episode on its own with many great moments but it’s a terrible finale). But i’m not here to talk about the finale, i’m here to talk positively about this (overall) phenomenal show by reminding everyone why we fell in love with it to begin with a little trip down memory lane. So let’s get started.

Star is one of the most well written and developed protagonists of modern cartoons.

When we were first introduced to Star she was nothing but an irresponsible princess who fought monsters because from an early age she was taught all monsters are innately evil. This continues for most of season 1 and the audience is right there with Star. All we see are the monsters trying to steal her wand so of course we assume they are just evil because that’s what media has taught us. Then this happened.

This episode was the turning point not just for Star’s character but for the show as a whole as it began telling progressively more complex and challenging stories about prejudice passed down from generations and being born with privilege others don’t get. This episode turned everything the show was from that point on its head and threw everything Star thought she knew into question.

And from this point Star would only continue to grow from a reckless child who avoids responsibility to a powerful ruler and diplomat who fights for equality and always tries to find the best in others.

The series never talked down to its audience and it’s emotional moments could hit just as hard as Steven Universe

Like do some of y’all who began hating this show even remember some of these?

Honestly I started crying just going back to all these clips to grab these. No Disney show had tackled such complex emotions before Star came along. Yes the shipping wars got in the way and were distracting but that doesn’t take away from the fact this show was so special and even revolutionary. Who didn’t get chills when he saw Meteora’s master file? Or when Eclipsa made the ultimate sacrifice to save the people who hated her? Or when Star confronted Toffee inside the magic? Am I reminding you people how incredible this show was yet?

It had countless thrilling action scenes and it’s tent pole episodes are some of the best.

Star vs was a brutal show compared to what was on tv at the time. You felt every single time a character got hit and they could take some serious damage during the more intense battles. With each new villain the stakes continued getting raised. There are so many amazing action scenes in this show

And whenever it needed to go big, they went all out. Storm the castle, Star Crushed, Battle for Mewni (which is still one of my favourite season premieres of anything ever), Divide and Conquer, Coronation. Every single one of these are just phenomenal episodes that could easily be considered among the best animation in the 2010’s had to offer.

It had pretty great pacing in retrospect

So many see Star as more slice of life comedy than an epic over arching story but when you look back once the show began to get more plot focused it stayed on that trajectory. There were still the one off joke episodes but if a big revelation or twist occurred, it would not be forgotten about. Especially in season 3. Like season 3 of Star vs is just one of the best seasons of anything ever. After. Battle for Mewni, we get a breather episode of Star not wanting to let go of Marco then BAM Glossaryck’s alive, BAM Eclipsa is free and maybe she’s not as bad as everyone thinks. Things slow down for character’s to have arc focused episodes (mainly Marco adjusting to life on Mewni) but the show never felt imbalanced. Once it had it’s story it knew exactly when things needed to progress. Even in season 4 a lot of the more contained episodes play a part in the overarching narrative of Eclipsa becoming queen and trying to gain support from the people of Mewni. Any “filler” episodes are more outliers and there is rarely an instance where you go three episodes without any major plot points (at least in the second half of the show).

In conclusion, did Star vs the Forces of Evil have quite a few bad or boring episodes? Yes. Did it have a bad ending? Undoubtedly. But that shouldn’t change the fact this was and still is such a fun, well developed, action packed, emotional rollercoaster of a series that deserves far more credit than it’s been getting recently. Because that’s what Star was at its best. It was so different than anything else airing at the time and took risks with its world and characters that no other show would dare go near. The characters are wonderful, the animation can be downright beautiful, it’s story is absolutely insane but somehow works and will leave you either on the edge of your seat, in tears or both. And it’s worth taking a second look at to see why the show became one of the defining cartoons of the last decade.

And if you truly hate the finale just do what I do. Pretend the show ended with Cornonation. At least until we get that epilogue movie for Disney+ to create a better end point.

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #star butterfly #marco diaz #tom lucitor #toffee #svtfoe eclipsa #globgor #meteora #moon butterfly #buff frog #disney television animation #disney channel #disney xd #Youtube

[takaraphoenix]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 5

1. Favorite character of this season?

Anya, I love her arc this season. She's just kind of been... there, in season 4, running along. No one really acknowledged the demon thing, there was no real bonding between Anya and everyone, she was just there. This season, finding her place in the world? Working at the Magic Box, then her in The Body – I mean seriously, her confronting mortality like that, I love it. I love her growth.

2. Outstanding minor character (positive or negative)?

Dawn. Sure, technically you could argue she's a “main character”, however... she's barely even a character, she's a plot-device so that really qualifies her as a minor character for me.

I always disliked Dawn, even when I was a teen myself. With some things, perspective shifts when you grow older, but Dawn just... always sucked. As a teen, I found her to be a cringey parody of the teen girl experience and now as an adult I still think that this is the peak of what a middle-aged man thinks the teen girl experience is. She's a cheap, one-dimensional caricature of a teenager.

She is a whiny brat, she constantly acts like “no one sees the real me”, she becomes a kleptomaniac to try and gain attention, she acts like no one loves her even though everyone constantly fawn over her every chance they got, she is a spoiled little brat that is completely unappreciative of all the things she gets. It's like they crammed every single shallow teen stereotype into this one character, making her a very one-dimensional character. Which is a bafflement considering Willow, Xander and Buffy started out as teenagers but they were always fully fleshed out characters with actual personalities. Heck, Cordelia was the most stereotypical character in the teenage years but even she got more depth and individuality.

Though I'd like to point out that while, as a character, Dawn is incredibly obnoxious, I do like her as what she is – a plot device. The way she creates new dynamics among the Scoobies, how other characters play off her and grow on her existence, the villain-plot she triggers.

3. Favorite character dynamic?

Too many, honestly. I adore the way Tara-Buffy grow in this season. Generally the friction between Spike and the Scoobies. Spike and Dawn in particular. The Buffy-Dawn dynamic too – Dawn being such a blank slate of Teen AngstTM allows for the other characters to shine in comparison. They get a new dynamic here, through the New Kiddo that puts them in perspective. Caring, gentle. The sisters-angle is a new one for Buffy and I do love her as a big sister, even if I wished her retconned sister had like... an actual personality.

4. Favorite canon romantic ship?

Spike/Buffy. Sue me, I'm Spuffy trash. Always been. The way he cares for her, the things he's willing to do. The little things. The self-sacrificial side, how he drops everything to help her whenever she needs him. And, I know, I give other ships flag for things equal or less in comparison to some of the shit that's happened/happening between Spike/Buffy, but see that's where taste comes into play. Liking and disliking things is just... all about that taste and tastes differ. For me, Spike/Buffy hits all the right spots. I love them so much.

5. Least favorite canon romantic ship?

Riley/Buffy. Once again. Seriously, this is just such a bad relationship. From the get-go she constantly put herself down to lift him up. Holding back her powers – which, of course, because otherwise she'd snap him in half during sparring – but pretending that's the max. She is always going out of her way to make him feel special and useful.

And he goes and gets fed on by a vampire and has the audacity to blame it on Buffy, because Buffy doesn't make him feel wanted enough. Even though she continuously tries making him feel important. It's ridiculous. Complaining that she didn't think about calling him when her mom went to the hospital, like she didn't have something else in her mind there? Setting her an ultimatum that she has to give him a reason to stay. After he essentially cheats on her, by sneaking around with vampires and letting them feed on him for the rush.

Now to go and leave with his little military buddies once more. After everything the military has done to him...? Their relationship was so bad for Buffy.

6. Favorite episode?

The Body. This is the singularly best episode... ever. In all television I've ever seen. This episode is overwhelmingly good. Sarah Michelle Gellar's acting is overwhelming in this episode. The choice to exclude music entirely, not even sad ones. How silence is allowed to longer, how unnerving the background noises become due to this silence.

The writing too, of course. Anya's words about death and mortality are so intense, they'll always stick with me. And not just her. Xander, Willow, Dawn, how they all handle this in a different way.

The choice alone that Joyce dies from something so fundamentally human, something no one could have prevented, something Buffy couldn't have fought. And – yes, that reaches ahead some – but the fact that the next episode also serves to have this unfold. It's not just “death and move on”. It's being dealt with, it's being digested, it's being taken seriously.

Too many writers feel the need to fun things up when it's getting serious, because they are afraid to lose their audience if there isn't a joke every five minutes. There is not a single joke in that entire episode. This show is funny as hell, but they know when not to joke. There is nothing to be made light here, this is serious, they are truly suffering. They know how important that is.

I've seen this episode surely a dozen times now. I cry so much every single time. Not just once. There are so many well-written, well-acted and well-executed moments in this episode. It's brilliant TV-making. It encapsulates what's so brilliant about this show overall; the human element, suffering, pain, dealing with pain, the balance between seriousness and humor and knowing when not to use humor.

7. Least favorite episode?

Episode two Real Me. It's the Dawn introduction episode and I've made clear what I dislike about Dawn; this episode introduces it all in the most teen angst cliche possible – writing a diary entry about how no one sees you for who you are and like no one could ever actually understand you.

8. Favorite Monster Of The Week?

...Dracula. I still... I consider that episode a fever-dream. It's one of the ones I opt to forget about whenever enough time has passed since my last rewatch because it just... doesn't fit into this show at all, it feels like a whacky filler arc in an anime, or a one-shot comic spin-off. But it's fun.

9. Least favorite Monster Of The Week?

This season doesn't actually have much of those. There's 4 or 5, depending on how you'd count, out of those 22, because this season is very streamlined about the Big Bad, more so than previous seasons were, and it is also very focused on the human issue – on Joyce's sickness and then her death. Out of those few, I guess the “let's split Xander in half” demon from episode 3 was my least favorite. It was... boring and due to this season's streamlining the fact that this was the most fillery filler episode felt a bit out of place, really.

10. Rate the overarching villain!

SO FREAKING GOOD.

Glory is a truly glorious villain. She's a god. But she is so – so frantic, so manic. She is fun to watch as a villain. The sheer size of the threat too. Which, it figures. There's always an escalation of threat.

(We will get back to that in the season 6 review though.)

Glory may just be my favorite Big Bad on this show, which only adds to how much I love this season. It's one of my favorites. Granted, I have a lot of favorite seasons.

Bonus: Other thoughts?

I love this season so very, very much. The human element, the growth, the villain-plot, the relationship developments. It's an incredible season. I'll get back to this when I finish my rewatch and actually do my ranking of seasons, but I am rating each episode – 1 to 5 – and getting the point-average, to have a more factual look at how much I loved a season. This one is through the roof, it scored an entire 1,5 more in average than season 4 did. There's only one episode in this that I gave a 1 to, but there are so many 4s.

That ending, to truly kill off your main character like that. So many gut-punches – but deserved gut-punches, not the ones that come out of nowhere and only serve shock-value.

I greatly enjoy and love seasons 1 to 3, but this season – this season reminds me why Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the best damn TV show ever created.

#Buffy the Vampire Slayer #Season 5 #Phoe's Random Show Rants #Buffy Review #Phoe Watching Buffy

[killthebxy]

i have so many mixed feelings about the season finale.

so.

many.

mixed.

feelings.

and i don’t really know where to start... so i think i’ll start at the end. and i’ll start by making a separation in my analysis.

1. if we look at s08 ep6 on its own

          i’ve been writing Jon Snow since January 24th, 2017. s07 happened during April-May 2017, if i remember well? which means, some of you who’ve been with me from the start of my blog have watched me watching s07; have watched my reactions and my opinions and my rants. ever since then, i have been very open and very vocal about how much i loathed the idea of Jon as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, and Jon eventually sitting this throne as king --- those of you who’ve followed me for less time also likely know this very well, because gods know i never shut up about it. so, considering the finale that Jon had... someone might tell me: you must be very happy! and, well... i am very happy. i was not made to see Jon sitting the throne. i was not made to see everyone call him Agony and hail him and glorify him. i got to see him wearing his black cloak again and returned to where he belongs --- away from thrones and kings and queens, away from the ungrateful northern lords, making peace with the free folk. hell, i even got to see him hugging Ghost, imagine. who would have thought, Jon Snow loves his soulmate more than his own life. sarcasm aside... yesterday, i told a couple of you that i had two final, very little requests of ep6: i wanted to see Jon crying (because i had read the leaks, and thus i knew what to expect) and i wanted to see those beautiful curls freed from the bun. and i got this. i got to see, FINALLY, after weeks, Jon Snow and not Agony Targaryen. loyal to the end, struggling with the cruel decision he had to make, quoting master Aemon, accepting his fate, doing his duty no matter the cost --- as he once did with Ygritte. if we look at this episode only, i got everything i ever hoped for, and for this i am grateful. and yet...

2. we cannot look at s08 ep6 on its own

          and this is where it all begins and ends. because ep6 does not exist on its own. does not exist in a void. nothing of what happened came out of spontaneous generation. Dany wasn’t suddenly the mad queen. Tyrion wasn’t suddenly clever again. Grey Worm wasn’t suddenly thirsty for blood and revenge. Jon Snow wasn’t suddenly Jon Snow and not Agony Targaryen. and this is why everything in this season is irredeemable to me, no matter how much i loved Jon’s finale if we look at it objectively and pragmatically.

          do you know why i love George’s writing so much? it’s not for the prose --- very honestly, 90% of the persons i roleplay with write better than him. it’s not completely for the storyline, either, though it is amazing --- very honestly, some of the book chapters are boring and long and fillers and with descriptions and details that no one cares about. i love George’s writing, however, for his absolutely brilliant talent to manage such a vast universe. he’s got so many major characters, thrice as many minor characters, even more characters that only appear at the end of the books, listed as part of the great houses and such. the experience of reading A Song of Ice and Fire, and least for me, was that --- you get to a point you lose track of what’s going on, exactly because there is SO MUCH going on. so many characters, so many stories, so many destinies. and i remember myself often asking: how the hell will some of this make sense in the end, this is huge and so complex. and then... then you get to A Dance with Dragons... and, fuck, it does make sense. ALL of it starts tying together. all the details, all the little plot twists, all the symbolism, all the foreshadowing --- it all comes around and ties together, it all makes sense. all these many, many parts come together in a whole --- and this is why i praise George so much. this is why i admire his writing so much. because, even if i am upset with some choices, it all makes sense. it all is fluid, coherent, so pleasing to read and to follow and so goddamn captivating.

          and then you look at s07 and especially s08... and you find nothing of this. where George does kill a lot of characters, he keeps the bulk of them and considers all of them --- and D&D simply kill them all off for not having any better use for them. where George writes intricate, complex, layered characters and 99% of them are purely made of grey areas and grey morals and so very few are completely good or completely evil --- and D&D turned them completely flat, shallow, predictable, cliché, borderline boring if not downright so. where George named this the world of ice and fire and makes it so that the big, overarching theme is flawed, very different humans trying to gather together to survive the common, legendary foe --- D&D were done with the Long Night in like 40 minutes, and the only thing dark about it was the terrible lighting that makes iconing ep3 a nightmare. and i could go on, but i think i’ve made my point. D&D haven’t the 10th of George’s talent --- and, hey, i can accept this. -i- don’t have the 10th of George’s talent for sure, and very few people in this world have the 10th of George’s talent when it comes to tying together such a huge, deep, complex plot. and i can live with this. i could live with predictable, cliché writing in s07, and still be able to enjoy it at least half the time. i wasn’t happy, but i was content.

          but s08? well. s08, the way i see it, was simply two things: 1) D&D trying to be George and trying to go for plot twists and trying to make a bittersweet ending of some sort... and then 2) D&D realizing they are as far from George as the Earth is from Pluto, and going fuck it we’ll resolve everything based on shock value. and i wish i was joking or exaggerating or being sarcastic --- but they have stated this themselves and are proud of it, apparently. you only have to google it and you’ll easily find it. these two gentlemen looked at, say, Daenerys, and asked themselves: we want her to be the mad queen in the end, what can we do to lead to this outcome? and they did it. it’s as simple and as linear as this. and literally everything and everyone, logic and common sense included, gets thrown under the rubble for the sake of making this happen. and this is why i have zero respect and zero credits for them, at the end of all things, even if i did love Jon’s finale when i look at it isolated from everything else.

because.

          yes, Jon Snow, the honorable man with a good, kind, merciful heart who does whatever needs to be done for the sake of his people, no matter the toll it takes on himself. check, this is the Jon i know and love. Jon Snow, not a glorified savior who succeeds where everyone else fails, not Azor Ahai reborn, but a tool, an instrument used to bring salvation --- Lightbringer itself. check, this is the Jon i know and love. Jon Snow, who was never destined for a happy ending, carrying the guilt and suffering the consequences of his decisions. check, this is the Jon i know and love. but what happened before this? what about everything that led him to this? 

          book!Jon and show!Jon were always different, this isn’t a new thing. even during seasons 1-5, where the show followed the book canon for the most part (at least in Jon’s case), they were already different. show!Jon has a lot more personal agency, in that he chooses to do a lot of the things he does --- while book!Jon tends to get sucked into the whole ordeal, and he tries to navigate it as well as he can. for an example: show!Jon offered himself to go with Qhorin Halfhand, book!Jon was chosen by Qhorin and caught by surprise and even lord commander Mormont was like ????. another example: show!Jon sends Grenn to hold the gate against Mag the Mighty and brings on himself the responsibility of commanding the Wall during the attack, book!Jon gets command imposed on him by Donal Noye and then again in the morning by master Aemon. again, i could go on and on, but i have made my point. regarding all this, while i do prefer book!Jon, i never hated show!Jon. some parts, even, like the battle at Hardhome, i honestly loved and i wish i could get that POV in the books.

          now, s06... post-revival. this is where the books-show rift happens for good, as they ran out of source material. very sincerely, i did not watch s06 as a whole --- i only watched Jon’s scenes. so if you ask me what was going on otherwise, i don’t know and i don’t really regret this choice. s06 Jon is a sort of limbo for me, because i cannot say if his portrayal was good or bad. clearly, this is when he starts making stupid decisions and being far more reckless, but... as mentioned, this is post-revival. this is a man who was stabbed in the heart by his own sworn brothers, who got wrenched back out of the grave, who immediately got told: hey you gotta keep fighting and you gotta start by going and reclaiming Winterfell and saving your little brother. given this context, can i judge him for not being himself? i can’t and i never did, which is why i accepted s06 (again, re: Jon Snow only) for what it was. and i was content with it, even if the revelation of his parentage for show!canon did not impress me.

          s07. this coincided with the birth and infancy of my blog, and honestly i was so excited to get to share this experience with everyone --- and this much was absolutely amazing. i was writing my Master’s thesis back then and i had a lot more free time, so i was able to stay up late and watch it live... and, boy, was that a ride. i had so much fun back then, and all of it thanks to my beautiful followers and friends who were there to live through this with me. but as far as the season itself went... yeah, that was the beginning of the end. because, unlike s06, Jon didn’t have excuses anymore to be stupid and reckless. and yet he still was. he still just grabbed a bunch of sturdy men and ventured into the fucking Frostfangs in the middle of winter without even bringing 1 (one) horse, just to name the most blatant of stupid examples. and the whole glorified superhero savior vibe? my good beans, i wrote a meta with 4000+ words to justify why that frozen lake scene was total bullshit and why Jon did die his second death there --- exactly out of spite for how much i hated it. how much i hated that D&D were turning the boy i love into a commercial protagonist who does the impossible and suffers no consequences and gets to have everyone else’s portrayal tossed under the wreck for the sake of glorifying him further. Rickon was already a plot device, Benjen Stark was a plot device, and i had the sinking feeling it would not stop there. s07 had bad and lazy writing, was terribly rushed and with very little character development, was pointing towards a very obvious and very cliché ending: Jon & Dany, the power couple, sitting the throne, having a baby, living happily ever after.

          and today... today i ask myself: how can you fuck up a plot so much, to the point where i wish i was made to see this cliché, predictable ending instead? i spent a year and a half whining about how much i did not want to see Jon sitting the throne... only to now look at the finale and be like --- sweet summer child, what did you know of fear. because, hey, yes, Jon was reborn from his ashes and Agony was cast aside and he got exactly the endgame i prayed for --- but at what cost? to get here, i had to see ALL the northern lords and half his family spitting on him for his decision to bend the knee. to get here, i had to see him literally say: it’s true, my name is Aegon Targayen. to get here, i had to see him avoiding Dany and not having the balls to talk to her about it until the very last moment. i had to see him plan the defenses of Winterfell like a complete stupid idiot who has no clue what he is doing. i had to see him forgetting Ghost is his soulmate. i was even deprived of the thing i love more in Kit’s acting, which is fighting on the ground --- for the sake of an epic dragon battle, yes, but that by rights he should not have survived. i was denied a one-on-one battle with the Night King, no matter who’d win and no matter who’d get to destroy the NK in the end. i got an epic moment of him roaring back at an undead dragon, yes, but what came in the next episodes got me to the point of headcanoning that he died during that moment. i had to see him not even mourn Edd’s death and going for Lyanna Mormont gods know why, who openly questioned and defied him. i had to see him being the by-the-book definition of a douchebag who sits drinking with friends and completely ignoring his girl who’d just lost one of her closest loved ones and was so clearly dissociating throughout that entire feast. i had to see him being described as so stupid that he obviously bent the knee for love and Dany was going to play him like a fiddle. i had to see him practically being made to choose between his family and the girl he loves. I HAD TO SEE HIM ABANDONING GHOST. i had to see him, again, pull away from Dany when she needed him most --- and, yes, in show!canon it is incest and all that, but you don’t have to fuck or kiss the girl you love to be there for her. i was denied, again, 1 (one) decent fighting scene on the ground because all he did at KL was to cut down a few soldiers with a few basic slashes.

          and, very frankly, what bothers and disgusts me the most out of all of this hellhole... i had to see character after character ruined, completely ruined in their essence, for the sake of stating: hey Jon Snow is a good guy! Rhaegal, who had to be butchered for the sake of triggering Dany and also because Dany and Jon and Tyrion were too stupid to remember Euron’s fleet still existed.  Missandei, who had to be butchered in chains for the sake of triggering Dany. Grey Worm, who had to be metaphorically butchered and turned into a blood-thirsty savage longing for blind revenge for the sake of Agony Targaryen, our lord and savior, being the merciful savior who claims pity for unarmed men. the women of King’s Landing, who had to be raped by northern soldiers, again for the sake of Agony being the good guy who saves one of them. and at the end of the day... Daenerys Targaryen. the little girl who wanted to go home and return to her house with a red door. who was exiled and sold and raped and harassed and humiliated and abused and betrayed and used and objectified. who made terrible choices more than once, yes and i erase none of them, but who made them with a good intention and who paid the price of said choices --- like Jon himself did, like we all, flawed human beings, do. the strong, willful, kind woman who heard Jon’s plea for help and went to save him and his men beyond the Wall and who lost one of her children for it. the queen who wanted to break the wheel and to make this world a better place. the breaker of shackles. Mhysa. she, who was never her father. reduced to this, for the sake of making Jon Snow the good honorable man who does his duty even at expense of his own interest and his own happiness.

          dear Mr. Daniel B. Weiss and dear Mr. David Benioff: do you know since when Jon Snow is a good honorable man who does his duty even at expense of his own interest and his own happiness? since always. since 283 AC. since far, far before you got your incompetent, untalented hands on him. and he never needed to be shown as one --- he was one. without the need to sacrifice 90% of the plot and the characters to make him seem so. he IS so. and this is why i’ll never forgive you, even if you did give me exactly the finale i wanted. because what you did to him, in order to bring him here? honestly, you deserve no redemption. ever. and if there is one thing that makes me extremely, utterly, earnestly happy today, it is that never again you will touch him. Jon Snow belongs to George, and he belongs to me, and he belongs to every beautiful talented roleplayer who writes him, and he belongs to every beautiful talented roleplayer who writes muses who interact with him. never to you, again. and for this i thank the old gods of the forest. today, Jon Snow is finally at rest. and, as of today, i can finally stop writing out of spite --- and return to writing because i love this boy.

#GOT spoilers #anti GOT #long post #「ᵐᵉᵗᵃ ᵗᵃᵍ」ᵗʰᵉ ᶜʳᵒʷ ᶤˢ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵃᵛᵉᶰ'ˢ ᵖᵒᵒʳ ᶜᵒᵘˢᶤᶰ #i tried my best to be concise #...and i clearly failed #and i tried my best to make sense and to put my thoughts into words clearly #but guys #i am all over the place #so if anyone wants to ask questions #would like me to better explain/explore some topic in particular #please feel free to send me asks about it! #and/or IMs #i will possibly be slow in replying but i will definitely get to everything <3

[slothcritic]

Dragon Ball Z Abridged - Episode 5 Review

Weird yet creative cutaways with strong overarching momentum.

Vegeta: Kills Bugs Dead opens with Goku finally reaching the end of Snake Way and the end of his journey to reach King Kai. The "nice job, jackass" as Goku literally craters into the planet sets the tone for this character in a big way. We're also treated to the incredible hijinks of Vegeta and Nappa.

[Title Sequence]

The pit-stop at Arlia at least receives a well-fitted and rather hilarious incarnation in this series. Even though the episode alternates its focus between King Kai and Arlia, I'm going to talk at length about Arlia first, and then move onto the King Kai segments.

I'm already going into this scene with some personal bias, as the "stronger guy playing along with the weaker guy because it'd be funny" trope is one of my favorites. And here we have exactly this. Vegeta and Nappa allow themselves to be captured and thrown in jail by the Arlians, where they meet an assortment of varied bug characters.

"Don't drop the soap" seems a little outdated for the modern style of TFS, as I feel they've leaned away from really older, cruder, less PC subject matters like calling someone retarded or insinuating prison rape, etc, but it fits Nappa's character completely as someone who is childish, crass, annoying for the sake of being annoying, and kind of a jerk. TFS has at least acknowledged the idea of possibly re-dubbing Season 1 with better equipment and perhaps a more refined script, and I dearly hope they keep this line unedited simply for the sake of nailing Nappa’s character identity.

After very nearly becoming a prison bitch, Vegeta decides he's had enough and promptly kabooms his way out of prison, landing smack-dab in the middle of a coliseum with the king of Arlia and his queen.

Nappa's blunt manner of introducing himself with simply "Hi." will never age.

It’s noteworthy that scene is also the first moment we get a good look at Vegeta as a character. Nappa was firmly established as the goofball from the start, but Vegeta's portrayal has more depth to it than could be conveyed in one-liners. Most of which is just sass, smug pride, and anger, but still.

It's also made clear very quickly that despite their bantering idiocy and gruff talk that they're not just for show, as Nappa no-diff's the thirteen elite Arlian guards with a massive shock wave that we later see level a city.

The king and queen are then more or less blackmailed into fucking. Nappa's eager fascination during this whole scene, the descriptions, visual edits and sound design are... Well, there's no other way to put it, it's fucked up. And it is hilarious! These are some very creative takes and decisions that were made entirely for internal experience of the show itself rather than as a parody of something else. Nappa even takes a photograph of it and sends it to Vegeta, since he's abstained from watching.

The comedic jabs don't stop there either, as Nappa tries to adopt the Arlian Rancor, but just like the kid who can't sit still, Nappa ends up breaking everything he plays with. Just as Vegeta is about to kill the king, rocks begin flying around the coliseum.

"What are you doing?"

Vegeta smirks. "I'm about to rock you, like a hurricane." And then boom, he hurls a rock into the king and kills him. Let's put a pin in that brick joke for later.

The long flashback scene doesn't play any music, which feels like a weird editing misstep after a series of home runs. They leave the planet as heroes, and Nappa sets Vegeta up for another predictable bit of mood whiplash, where Vegeta obliterates the entire planet. This is a huge escalation in power scale compared to everything else we have seen thus far. But then, this is Dragon Ball Z. We've already reached “destroying planets” at only the fifth episode, and everyone knows that it only goes well past 11 on the dial from here on out.

Granted, there is controversy in the official version about whether or not this would’ve been possible for Saiyan Saga Vegeta, considering Arlia is not canon, but I will not be considering that simply because DBZA contains no filler. Everything shown in the flagship series (not counting movies, DBZA Kai, or other shorts) is presented as being canon to DBZA. Also, Vegeta and Nappa are shown standing outside of their pods... in the vacuum of space. Series veterans will understand the massive can of worms this opens. I'm looking at you, Battle of Gods.

Once everyone, including the people that they JUST SAVED from a tyrannical king, have been reduced to space dust, Nappa closes off this scene nicely.

Now that we've discussed Arlia, let's focus on King Kai's role in the episode.

He explains to Goku that the planet has high gravity due to it's small size. Gregory from off-screen pipes up that this doesn't make any sense. I suppose "higher planet density" wasn't considered when writing the script - or perhaps it was, and they just decided that the easy answer wasn't the funniest one. Maybe “there’s an incredibly powerful pirate trapped in the core of the planet, which is why the gravity is so strong" was deemed better for a parody.

Honestly, I agree. Bojack works as an in-the-know reference, and is also fleshed out enough within the show that a newcomer would understand what's being discussed.

At the time of this review, the Bojack Abridged movie has not yet been released, but this is easily one of the longest brick jokes in all of DBZA, since Episode 5 was released in 2008 and it is my expectation that Bojack Abridged will be released within the year, leaving in its wake an 11 year old callback.

When King Kai asks Goku why he had been sought out, Goku explains that the Saiyans are coming to Earth and he requires training. Excellent fade-in and musical choice for Goku's uncharacteristically serious speech to King Kai.

Of course, it gets cut off at the peak swell with King Kai's indifferent "sure", leaving Goku gobsmacked.

In this series, King Kai's indifference and easy acceptance of Goku is attributed to the mind-numbing loneliness of only having a monkey and a grasshopper (cricket, sorry) to talk to for the last 500 years. Goku agrees, as he couldn't imagine anything more boring.

Major flash-forward to Namek. Just this scene being here at all is a major instance of a sequence break. But it is the introduction of another exceptionally interesting character in the series.

In terms of placement, this works as a long-term cutaway gag and reminiscent humor but not much else. We're still about half a season away from even considering Namek within the story, and the Saiyans haven't even arrived on Earth yet. The decision to slide this segment into the middle of this episode leaves some serious questions in my mind. But at face value, it's not that bad.

We're treated to a solid ten seconds of just staring at a massive fat green alien while birds chirp in the background. We hear a fish go "plonk!" in the water, and Lord Guru calls for someone named Nail, who looks a lot like Piccolo, to approach him.

"I saw a fish. That was all, you can go back outside now." 

Definitely reinforces the point of boring. And while Nail is lamenting how boring his job is, Lord Guru tells him that he saw a bird and then promptly instructs him to "kick its ass."

But we’re not Nail, are we? We’re the viewer, and for some reason in the human mind, segments of extremely boring content usually pique our interest even more, because we have it drilled into our psyche that something is going to happen to break the tension sooner or later. That notion, the idea of slowly leaning closer to the monitor during the ten long seconds of a single still image, both conveys the boring tone of Namek, but also leaves the reader waiting in anticipation long enough for these dull scenes to just fade from their perspective and only latch onto the climatic moment. In this case, Guru commanding his apparent servant/bodyguard to assault a fish.

Not to overstate the obvious, but if it’s not the viewer’s own sense of tension and curiosity, it’s the pure absurdism and characterization of Guru that carries this scene. Disregarding source material, the design of Guru is meant to make him look old, wise and compassionate. Making him a lazy, annoying, verbally violent fatass is a near-infinite cash cow of writing material. It’s very difficult for me to judge this scene unbiased, knowing what comes next, but I imagine this would be a tryhard non-sequitur at worst, or promising potential for the future at best, with regards to this scene on its own, within the context of this episode and nothing more.

This episode also saw the genesis of perhaps not the first, but one of the most popular jokes in all of DBZA: Piccolo just jobbing the shit out of Gohan. DODGE! The scenes chosen and the delivery are outstanding compliments to this cheesy, simplistic joke. At this point I feel it's important to address that my editorial reflections or descriptions of these skits are relative to the context of these episodes. Even with the best of what this episode has to offer, we're still in peak 2008 internet humor era. The use of the word "outstanding" here will not carry a similar significance should I use it to describe a later episode.

Also the most random cutaway in all of DBZA, full-stop, is the brief look into the Hall of Justice, as Superman, Batman and Aquaman debate how they will stop the approaching Saiyans. This is humorous only in its absurdity, but less-endearingly than Guru was. Even if this scene makes zero sense, and relies upon an almost lower form of comedy than slapstick, Aquaman's voice is still just Krillin's voice. At least Superman and Batman sound different than the main cast. I'm really tempted to dislike this more, but the lackadaisical attitude and context of the whole scene definitely draws your eye more than a lot of the sensible but base-line plot progression of the story. I don't know if it belongs. To me, this scene just screams out that TFS is flinging spaghetti wildly at the wall, any and everything that might be funny, and while some of it sticks for one reason or another, (Jadoshin as Solid Snake, Antics on Arlia, even Guru's abrupt cameo) some of it flops. If anything, this show builds upon the corpses of its failures, and learns what works and what doesn't work surprisingly quickly.

Conclusion

Bizarre, but I liked it. Nothing in this episode that's bad is memorable. I might criticize the Namek cutaway for being out of place, but after letting this review sit for a few days, I just remember Goku saying "Man, nothing could be more boring than that!" and the immediate cut to Namek, and Nail pleading for the love of his sanity for something to happen. I might criticize the Justice League cutaway for being wildly out of the place, but I just remember "WHAAAAAALES!"

The meat of the episode was also decent, as it establishes Goku training under King Kai, and Piccolo's continued training of Gohan, the origin of DODGE! and the realization that Gohan can transform into an Ozaru. And you can nod your head and say that these may be necessary to the story all day, but they're also presented with... let's call it a clumsy grace. It's not bad, but it's miles away from official dub quality. This is in essence what the benchmark or gold standard was for early abridging back in 2008. The quality that TFS will continue to evolve the series into simply defies all logic or explanation, and in comparison makes these episodes look downright crude. 

But let's face it, if Episode 1 began with a person lying on the ground and shot in both kneecaps, Episode 5 shows that same person at least hobbling down the street to the hospital. 

It might not look pretty on the whole, and some of the dialogue might be clunky, but it seems like a lot of the flaws in this episode are simply caused by being products of their time.

Whether we're looking at Namek or The Hall of Justice, even the most outlandish oddities of this episode have still made me laugh. That's really the end of it.

Score: 75

Passing Thoughts

"I hope something exciting happens around here soon. I don't care what it is." - Ominous!

"You're surrounded by my thirteen elite *KABOOM* ...dead guards."

"SUMMON THE RANCOR!"

#slothcritic #DBZ #Dragon Ball Z Abridged #TFS #teamfourstar

[mittensmorgul]

here's something i've noticed. i've been in this fandom many, MANY years, and each and every time it always complained about the same thing: why all this drama, why isn't the show letting them be happy and healthy for once. and now that they all have the healthiest relationships they've ever had in the show, still traumatised but talking and healthily expressing themselves, the same people are complaining about how boring it is, how there's no drama, no stakes. just what is wrong with people

Eh, people watch for different things, and for different reasons, and with different expectations. For a good long while, the show followed a rather predictable formula. The entire Carver era (excepting the back half of s10 because wtf, and the second half of s11 because I credit that to Dabb era) followed this formula, and… excepting that back half of s11, it’s not my personal favorite.

But having come into the fandom just before that era began, and having watched the entire thing unfold in real time, and through all the meta that was written, I know loads of people thrived on it. 

I know people who are still watching waiting for the show to play out in that same sort of predictable fashion are bored and frustrated with it, but I’m personally loving this 100000x more because it’s actually interesting TO ME. The character arcs aren’t structured around a central main plot the way they have been in the past, and overall the show has become much more centered on the storytelling being driven BY the characters rather than the other way around.

I’ve seen people referring to “filler episodes,” but I think that’s entirely missing the point of what the actual overarching story even IS. I mean, back in season nine people were already mocking the old structure of the ever-increasing bad guy narratives that drove the story before. The whole “how do you even go worse than the actual devil as the Big Bad,” and jokingly commented something about Lucifer’s cousin’s college roommate, Fuckhands McMike. The guy who posited that was told it had already happened, and his name is Metatron and we definitely hate him more than the devil… I mean, the storytelling literally was becoming a joke of itself.

So where do you go from there to keep the story alive? To the actual characters we care about so much. TFW, Wayward, the core members are what we are all here for. You don’t stick around for fourteen years watching a show just to see how they’re all gonna defeat the next impossibly bigger big bad. WHO THE FUCK CARES?!

What do they know we also don’t really care about? Large groups of new characters! They don’t EXPECT us to care about them all, because they’re part of the landscape as much as the supposed “big bad.”

So who is actually the big bad? Why should we care about what all the characters are doing to fight said big bad? BECAUSE WE CARE ABOUT SAM, DEAN, AND CAS. And one step down from caring about them, we care about Jack, and Jody, and Donna, and Claire, and Alex, and Mary, and Bobby, and Rowena, and Charlie. All for different reasons, but we care about them mostly because SAM, DEAN, AND CAS care about them.

It’s impossible to become emotionally invested in everything, so they can’t legitimately expand that core, established cast that we DO care about, when they’re all already so deep into their own character journeys. But they HOPE we care about those characters enough to allow the narrative to be structured around THEM, rather than around their pursuit of Fuckhands McMike.

But I personally can’t comprehend how people are bored by this, because I am living for it. I can’t see how this lacks any drama. It’s just not the same kind of drama as it’s been in the past. I can’t see how someone can suggest there’s no stakes, either. I mean… Michael still is lurking in the background of the narrative, but I literally do not care about him. He’s making awful monsters that are making hunting incredibly dangerous in ways it hasn’t been for the Winchesters in years. When was the last time they were this unprepared on a regular basis, you know? Back in s12 they were plowing through hunts like nobody’s business, but now they’re finding all sorts of weirdness, from supervampires and superwerewolves who were immune to standard methods of killing them, to a djinn who can mess with reality instead of just being confined to messing with people inside their own minds. How… is any of this… boring?

I just have no idea what people are expecting, and I am personally reveling in the characters and their ongoing development. Everything else is set dressing.

And again, I’m gonna point at Scheherazade and just scream unintelligibly until people understand that that’s the structure for Dabb era. Trying to watch through Carver era lenses is gonna give you a migraine. The narrative focus has shifted out of all the little stories Scheherazade is telling, and watching all those other little stories drift by and focusing on those to try and tease out overarching structure is just… missing the entire point.

#spn 14.05 #narrative structure #the scheherazade of supernatural #not even for the destiel implications of that tag but just... #this is how stories work #and I LOVE this story and i personally don't WANT them to start telling it some other way #supernatural is never gonna be the flash or any of the other shows on the cw #AND FUCK NO I DO NOT WANT IT TO BE #i mean not just because I am bored out of my mind by most of those shows #and yes i did try to watch the flash because mr mittens does but fuck WHY?! #i will take this richness of characters i am emotionally invested in over... flashiness.... any damn day of the week #Anonymous

[dorianpavus]

hi katie! i've seen looots of ppl talk abt critical role and i reeeally wanted to start watching it but i have no idea how it works. AT ALL. and i know there are LOTS of eps out there and do i have to start from the 1st one or is it something like season 1, season 2, etc? please guide me i'm really looost aaaaa thank u

omg omg!!! hi i’m so excited for you i love critical role so much!!!! :’)

so yes, there are currently like 96 episodes out… and most of them are 3-5 hours long. holy shit. it’s definitely a commitment, but super worth it imo (i love my family…. they are my family… so pure…. so positive). plus, you can watch it kind of like a podcast and just listen to it if you like, since so much of it takes place verbally. 

(though i actually prefer to watch it cause i love seeing their faces and their cute interactions and reactions and acting and just… ya know. to each their own :3)

BUT OKAY

there aren’t actually seasons!! i know on the critical role wiki they list episodes as in “chapters”, but it’s mostly just a fan construct to help group and organize the episodes. the game itself isn’t actually designed in Chapters/Seasons/Whatever, not exactly… 

THAT SAID there are a lot of story arcs and plotlines!!! that have clear beginnings and ends, and those are really helpful in dividing up and discussing the show. (usually the “chapters” of which ppl speak – they just take the story arcs and roughly group them together into “chapters”, though i think that tends to lump episodes together that don’t always belong together ya know)

in any case you don’t necessarily have to start from episode 1 – i mean, the cast members even played together for 2 entire years before ever starting to stream their games on twitch, so EVERYONE who watches the show is still kind of getting thrown into the middle of their journey. plus tons of fans start watching from like…. any given episode, and most of them turn out okay. :P

however, episode 1 is designed intentionally for people who are new (duh). it starts the Very First Arc of critical role, it introduces all the characters (for the first 20ish? episodes they have a little character-introduction video they play at the start of the episodes and during breaks that helps you familiarize yourself with the characters and their brief backstory & info).

i’m only on episode 66 myself (OUT OF 90 SOMETHING) but that’s partially because i’m determined to watch them in order…  because i love them and don’t want to miss out on anything. even though i’ve been watching for over a year, lmao. i mean, i’ve had a lot going on in my life!! ya know!!! (ok… but really i’ve been watching so much lately so i feel like i’m gonna catch up pretty soon lol).

ANYWAY

i can break down some of the arcs for you and give you some recommendations on where/when you might wanna jump in and why, without giving away spoilers! 

dun dun DUN

ARC 1 - KRAGHAMMER (ep 1-16ish) - so the first arc of critical role is designed intentionally to introduce viewers to both Vox Machina (the party) and dungeons and dragons. it’s a very traditional dungeon crawl where the party was tasked with rescuing an npc from a dungeon, so… story-wise, the plot isn’t the most interesting, and there’s a pretty fair amount of combat. but it’s vox machina! and you get to fall in love with them from the first time!! this is also most of the time you’re going to get to see Tiberius, a dragonborn sorcerer played by Orion Acaba. orion leaves the show around ep 27 i think, (which… to be perfectly honest i was really happy about because i kinda disliked him as a player… ahem… but other people LOVED tibs and orion so that really depends :P). all that to say, if you want to get tiberius content, if you want to truly get the whole Critical Role experience, if you want to get familiar with the group as they play and fall in love with their fans for the first time as you fall in love with them for the first time, arc 1 is the way to go. i do think it’s the most boring arc by far, and because the show was just starting out the production quality is by far the worst, but i still loved it, so. :P

MINI ARC - VASSELHEIM (ep 17-23, ***NOT*** including ep 22) - this is where critical role really starts to hit its stride. the players are more comfortable on screen, everyone relaxes, the story is funny and it’s kind of an In Between mini arc – the events of Arc 1 have finished, but the next arc hasn’t really started yet. you could call these “filler episodes” but they’re some of my FAVORITES, more lighthearted and goofy and fun as the party sort of takes a breather from the intensity of their previous arc. this also features the Slayer’s Take episodes, a series of 4 episodes that SPLITS THE PARTY!!!! and features guest characters for the first time, including my beloved Zahra (i’m lov!!!! her!!!!!!) played by mary elizabeth mcglynn. also featuring felicia day, wil wheaton, and will friedle. honestly these episodes are… fun. i love them so so much.

STANDALONE - EP 22 - keyleth-centric episode - episode 22 isn’t included in that above mini arc; it’s kind of a one-standing episode that features a moment in keyleth’s overarching character development and plot. it wasn’t my favorite episode, but it features some cool elements and if you like keyleth you’ll def wanna watch it.

ARC 2 - PERCY’S ARC - (EP 24-36) - yehhh boi!!! PERCY’S ARC. THINGS ARE REALLY HEATIN UP FOR VOX MACHINA. okay, some of my favorite episodes happen in percy’s arc, and you get a LOT of no mercy percy. there’s intrigue and danger and delish combat and just like… what more could you ask for? the stakes have really raised for vox machina in arc 2. i love it, and my personal recommendation would be to not skip this one. :P

ARC 3 - (ep 37/38, REALLY starts ep 39 and goes way past where i’m at right now so i haven’t even finished it yet) – so the first two episodes of this arc start of really slowly (eps 37 & 38); they’re setting up for the shit that’s about to go down, which pretty much starts in ep 39. this is sort of the BIG BIG BIG arc that spans like 30+ episodes. i mean, don’t get me wrong – there are a billion smaller arcs within this arc alone, but i’m grouping it together because… it’s a big overarching plot unlike anything we’ve seen before in critical role.  i mean, the majority of episodes of critical role have been about this arc, haha. even if you skip everything else (… though i don’t think you should :^)…), you’ll probably still want to watch from here on out. some episodes are better than others (my god, the Planning episodes…. rip) but like… this is sort of Modern Critical Role™.

ALTERNATIVES - of course, you could really skip that arc. you could jump right in right now to ep 96 if you want and just watch from here on out, as you slowly go back to watch older episodes (even though that gives away so many delightful spoilers and plot twists, it is efficient). or you could watch from wherever that big arc ends, which is probably around like ep 90 or something (i don’t know!!! i’m not there!!! i know it’s roughly around that point haha). wherever you want to start watching is up to you. critical role is a commitment. but since you did ask me my opinion, i’d say either start from arc 1 (even though it’s a little more boring/combat-oriented than the other arcs because it’s The Introduction, it’s really nice to have that background and not be missing out on great moments and episodes and stuff), OR skip the first arc and start with the MINI ARC beginning on ep 17. it’s gonna be a little less cohesive for you, and the cast doesn’t focus on explaining their background/what’s going on quite as much for you, but the stories being told are just kinda more fun, haha. OR start with percy’s arc. but i’d recommend not just starting on Arc 3 (aka The Big One) because you’d be missing out on a lot of fun and history and the important moments won’t mean as much to you because you won’t be attached to the characters and their world.

tl;dr either start from the beginning (which is what i did and i don’t regret it), or start from the mini arc or arc 2. or do whatever you want. :P

GOD I KNOW I WROTE SO MUCH 

I’M SORRY

just… i wanted to be…. helpful. lol. ahem. ANYWAY 

I HOPE THIS HELPED

even though i wrote a book D:

i hope you really enjoy critical role friend!!!! and thanks for asking!!! and calling me by name cause i melted!!!! :3

#critical role stuff #leetytrack #asks