#i also love that the criticism is 'their storyline was too much and too dramatic' like....yall know this is DOWNTON ABBEY right.

[lunar-years]

In the cracks of light, I dreamed of you / and it was real enough to get me through

Part 23/?? of my favorite ships x taylor swift songs | John Bates x Anna Bates (née Smith)

#i made the mistake of googling anna's maiden name which I had forgotten and discovered downton abbey reddit apparently hates them omg. #could never be me!!! #i also love that the criticism is 'their storyline was too much and too dramatic' like....yall know this is DOWNTON ABBEY right. #it's the Unnecessary Drama show babes like that's the point #and also the age gap thing but that's just people being boring #downton abbey #downton abbey aesthetic #john bates #anna bates #anna x bates #anna smith #my moodboards #ship post #Katie’s ships & songs

[theskysungqueen]

to make things brief cause I suck at organizing what I have to say, the live action was definitely Something™.

Cast: 10/10 kinda biased personally but yall can't take this from me

Gordon as Aang and Dallas as Zuko were the standouts imo. Gordon needs some direction on line delivery and the angstier scenes but overall he's very charming and I'm so proud of him for getting so much exposure!

Ian as Sokka was great, I just wish he was allowed to be more...messy? like Sokka pretends to be chill and all that but he's actually dramatic so I hope that gets improved in the next season if there is one

speaking of improvement, Kiawentiio as Katara brought out a softer side to the character but sadly diminished her spark and passion. I like that Katara now actually feels like a younger sister, it makes sense within the context of the story that Sokka and Gran Gran would shelter her after what happened, but as someone said, her anger is so central to her character and I just wish that got shown more. It's more of a script and direction problem tbh, if you look at Kia's interviews she has the sass and feistiness Katara needs

Lizzy as Azula is great, the writing is a bit clunky though so she did the best she could with it. Can't really comment on Mai and Ty Lee yet because they're kinda just there but it's a nice setup

Maria as Suki? perfection show stopping never the same she is a queen and I love the tidbit of Suki backstory which she never really had in the og show. I love her being such a loser around her crush we love to see girlfailures girlfailing. I wish the writers didn't make them KISS though 😭 slowburn ftw

the adults were great

Writing: 6.5/10

There were genuinely good moments and I love the concept of mixing up certain plot points to condense the story

But they just suffered from too much Telling instead of Showing WRITERS PLEASE LISTEN TO THE CRITICISM YOU HAVE TIME TO IMPROVE PLEASE

Omashu, mechanist, and Jet plot mixing as a concept was fine, but it dragged on and my friends and I got bored of it. I like it in theory but if it was going to take THAT long couldn't they have just separated one of those storylines for a different episode?

I appreciate that they tried to develop the water siblings' relationship by making them the stars of the Secret Tunnels, but I would've changed the way they "conquered" the problem (really? badgermoles respond to love? cute in theory but like why). If anyone's watched Barbie: A Fairy Secret there's a part where Barbie and her frenemy accuse each other of why their friendship failed, and it helps them make up and breaks the curse put on them. So that's what I would've done, force them in a life or death situation in which they have to say the unsaid things, maybe hug it out and boom

The way they handled Koh and the Spirit World was a Mess™ but the effects were decent

Zhao meeting horrible ends in every incarnation is so deserved

Yue having more agency was a welcome change AND I LOVE THAT SHE WATERBENDS. Then waterbends even when the moon is gone. It's such a nice visual nod to the fact that she has the moon spirit within her

That said, the show could definitely use more visual storytelling, less weird dialogue. Like it's so strangely common for shows or adaptations these days to exposition dump. Like they did not have to make Yue say that the ocean spirit was angry, literally just show me the dead moon fish and I'll get the idea. Then Iroh says "That's Wrath" that's just redundant now isn't it

I like that they saved Katara bringing Aang out of the Avatar State until last even if it could've been done better

HOW DARE THEY MAKE ME LIKE HAHN HE WAS A JERK IN THE SHOW BUT THEY MADE HIM A GENUINELY GOOD CHARACTER. Yes to brown men not being portrayed as jerks but also in the original it was a nice contrast to how far Sokka had come because Hahn reflected who he used to be. But live action Hahn </3

I like that they showed the deaths and blood. I wanted a live action that was both lighthearted but more realistic when it came to the injuries and death, and that'd kind of what I got

Other thoughts + overall

You can tell they put so much heart into this show, watching the bts, the bending boot camp with the correct martial arts, the easter eggs, the nods to the comics, the beautiful adaptations of Cabbage Merchant and Secret Tunnel nomads, there's so much passion behind the show it's a shame it suffered in its writing

which is why if they read reviews and criticism from the bigger name fans (TheAvatarist, HelloFutureMe, etc.) it would really help them improve for future seasons! The cast is stunning already and they have great chemistry (hopefully gets improved too!)

The live action is just a different angle to the show. And I'm saying this as an Avatar fan–the original wasn't perfect, either. I had some problems w it but the overall show was genuinely so good and heartfelt, those problems weren't glaring enough to put me off (unlike The Dragon Prince, sorry). The live action definitely wasn't perfect, but it tried to give us a new look into Avatar. Again, no adaptation will ever be a 1:1 remake and none should be. Where's the fun in that? But while the show is so full of heart and with actual fans working behind the scenes, I doubt if they listen to any criticism that they can't pull this off better next season.

#atla #avatar the last airbender netflix #avatar netflix #netflix avatar #avatar the last airbender #netflix atla #avatar live action #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #iroh #azula

[chinesegal]

Review of Helluva Boss "OOPS":

I have a lot of thoughts about the newest episode, and I want to share my criticisms.

Ozzie calls Fizz "Fizzyfrog" as an affectionate nickname. But since it has been previously established that "firetoad" is a slur for imps, that would be like a white person calling their S/O of color a racial slur as a nickname. It has nasty implications.

Blitz and Fizz just happening to be right outside the window where Striker and Crimson are talking feels like too much of a coincidence, it's dumb.

Crimson, an imp, is extorting and threatening Ozzie, one of the seven sins, who ranks right below Lucifer. That's ridiculously suicidal. This show can't decide whether the class hierarchy in Hell matters or not; if imps are supposed to be lowly and oppressed. What's stopping Ozzie from just killing Crimson? Legally? Would the law really take the side of an imp over a Sin?

Striker, Crimson and the goons just standing there, doing nothing but looking angry as Fizz is performing his "distraction" is dumb as hell. Why not shoot or try capturing him? I could forgive this if Fizz had siren-like powers capable of capturing people in a trance, or if the audience was actually "distracted" but that's not the case; Striker/Crimson/the Goons are clearly annoyed and angry but not doing anything about it other than just standing around.

The circus burning down from Blitzo turning around and bumping into a birthday cake is so stupid. It's like the Cruella movie where Cruella's mother was knocked over a cliff by rampaging dalmatians, which a lot of people made fun of&memed about. I will explain my problems in detail here:

First off, it's so ridiculously "anti-dramatic" for a lack of a better word. Blitzo caused the circus to burn down, his best friend Fizz to lose half his body and his mother to die by accidentally knocking over a cake?

A much better backstory would be if it was a circus trick gone wrong; Imagine if, instead of just knocking over a fucking cake, Blitz caused the fire by trying to replicate one of Fizz's circus tricks in an attempt to prove to his father and the audience that he's just as worthy of applause and love. But, having no experience with the equipment and not being as agile as Fizz, he caused the first. It's not a perfect idea but at least it's a lot more emotionally resonant than OH NOES I KNOCKED OVER THE CAKE-

It would be a much better story, because the mistake would have been from his choices instead of it being just an accident that wasn't his fault.

Also, in the first episode it was established that demons can't be harmed by fire. If hellfire can harm demons, then why would you put hellfire candles on a cake? That would be stupidly and unnecessarily dangerous. Assuming of course, that both "normal" and hellfire exists in hell. When Blitzo shoots a fuel container it explodes, creating an explosion of hellfire. But that has never been explained before in the show.

Also, if Blitz' lost his home, mother and best friend in a fire he caused and he feels guilt for it, you would think that he would be more affected by the circus burning down in "Loo Loo Land"; he basically re-experienced the accident with Fizz (bumps into Wally-makes him drop something burning-sets everything on fire-gets Fizz (Robo Fizz in this case) burned).

Honestly, I feel like HB is slowly turning into a saturday morning cartoon with swearing and sex. The simplistic storylines, every conflict being resolved at the end of each episode, the one-dimensional cartoonish villains all point to something made to appeal to little kids.

#helluva boss #vivziepop #vivienne medrano #helluva boss oops #helluvaboss #helluva boss ozzie #helluva boss fizzarolli #helluva boss blitzo #blitzo #fizz #fizzarolli

[lisasmind]

Johoo, saw your post and just had to follow you you seem awsome

Question: do you have any criticism to race to the edge, if so what? I find it very fascinating to see different people’s opinions on the series

heyyy thanks for the follow! i’m glad you like my acc!

before i say anything, PLEASE DON’T TAKE MY OPINIONS SERIOUSLY! i’m coming to y’all mostly in a joking tone like it’s all chill. i like the show and enjoy watching it but yeah without further ado!

rtte. when i was younger i had a love-hate relationship with it. there were many things i didn’t like but i kept watching cause we still had a long wait for thw and i NEEDED httyd content. of course there were things that i liked but yeah.

rewatching it now, i realized i might’ve been over exaggerating! to be fair, i’ve always been a dramatic person so there’s no surprise in that.

there are still things i’m iffy about.

- first off, hiccup and toothless’ relationship. to me, toothless seemed more like a pet than a best pal to hiccup. like toothless was usually in the background for the majority of his screen time. they did have their moments like in dire straits, enemy of my enemy (i think … but i can’t recall well), and triple cross, but that’s pretty much it.

- heather’s whole storyline. it was good in the beginning but wow they just really let go of her character. like she had SOOO much potential and she was well liked within the fandom. i would suggest watching this video on youtube:

it pretty much wraps up all my thoughts on her.

- DAGUR! SHOULDVE! STAYED! DEAD!

and if they weren’t planning on killing him off THEY SHOULDNT HAVE MADE HIS “DEATH” SCENE SO TRAGICALLY BEAUTIFUL CAUSE NOW WHAT EVEN IS THE POINT

- hiccup was not supposed to see the ice spikes! again, 18 year old hiccup was NOT. SUPPOSED. TO SEE. THE ICE SPIKES! why? because 20 year old hiccup has NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE!

- heathlegs. i’m sorry but i know a lesbian when i see one.

- this one i won’t get too worked up on cause i know the writers have said a few times hiccstrid was not going to be the main focus of the show (and tbh, as a hiccstrid shipper … thank god), but i wish their development from the friends to crush to lovers stage was more noticeable. to me it kinda just felt like BOOM! hiccstrid together!

at least the kisses were good. no no. the kisses were EXCELLENT! PURE CINEMA!

- listen i know they were in a time crunch when netflix just threw two more seasons at them, but johann? really?

- ASTRID NOT GETTING HICCUP A FAWKING MAP IN SANDBUSTED!

and that’s all i can think of for now, but all in all i love this show. i literally used to sit and wait for the seasons to come out at 3 AM MY TIME!! like this was my teenhood! i went to school sleep deprived for this shit so don’t you think for a second that i’m coming from a place of hate or ungratefulness.

i do have positive things about rtte but i’ll save that for a different post (also i plan to rewatch each episode one by one and make a tumblr post of my thoughts cause why not).

anyways thanks for asking this!

#httyd #astrid #hiccup #hiccstrid #httyd 2 #httyd 3 #httyd thw #rtte #race to the edge #snotlout #heather #tuffnut #ruffnut #fishlegs

[cageyworld]

A nuanced recommendation for "Unchained Love" (浮图缘 – fútúyuán)

“Nuanced” meaning a lot of disclaimers, probably. First one being: I’m a U.S. American viewer. I’ve been studying Mandarin at my university since 2021 and I watch a lot of Chinese shows, but I am not of the culture of the source material. Inevitably, my perspective of the show is colored by my own Western upbringing. I can’t pick up on the finer details of language, clothing, history, etc. that may rankle other viewers, nor will I be fully conscious of all the ways my cultural viewpoint impacts my perception of the show.

With that said: I’ve been so charmed by “Unchained Love” that I thought others—perhaps especially my fellow Western watchers of these lovely Chinese-made shows—might enjoy it, too. There’s a lot to love.

I will keep spoilers to a minimum.

Some highlights of why I love this show:

Women voicing their rage and grief about patriarchal systems

A romance of respect and clear communication

Badass Dylan Wang (looking incredible in his costumes)

Found family

Cute dog

Angst with a happy ending

Read on to allow me to persuade you even more…

CRITIQUES—A.K.A. “THE JANK.”

THE TONE

I’ve read the criticism that the tone can be uneven, especially if you come to this (like I did) right after watching 苍兰决 “Love Between Fairy and Devil”. I agree. The tone is super uneven throughout the series.

The storyline contains some truly horrific and dramatic elements (see the list of content warnings at the end of this post), and yet tries to maintain an overall soft, romantic dramedy feel. It’s not successful in this and does create some dissonance. This dissonance is only amplified by…

THE MUSIC

The opening theme is a banger, but the scoring choices throughout the show itself are distracting. Sometimes we get plinky, Mickey Mouse comedy music when the dialogue and acting convey drama and high stakes—and occasionally, vice versa. From my experience, this isn’t unique to “Unchained Love,” but oh boy, is it striking in this series. The music seems to work against the narrative at times. I found myself saying, “I don’t feel like laughing right now!” at the screen. There can be emotional whiplash, from the very serious to scenes suddenly meant to be effortlessly light-hearted. It is not effortless.

WHAT GOT CENSORED

This show got chopped for sure. From what I can tell, it was largely the scenes of more overt sexual content between Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou. This couple becomes respectfully, mutually horny for each other and it’s a bummer that so much of that got trimmed. That said, what remains is still lovely (and quite sexy at times).

The ending is also rushed in a way that feels like aggressive editing. It ends happily for the characters I loved most, and leaves lots of room for fanfiction expansion or extension, but it’s still a little unsatisfying as a viewer.

WHY THESE DIDN’T PUT ME OFF, PERSONALLY

I was able to make peace with the uneven tone mostly because of where the unevenness struck. The most serious elements of the show nearly all revolve around some aspect of violence against women. While this violence was not always treated with the gravity it warrants, it also wasn’t played for laughs. The choice to include each of these incidents is questionable, but I never felt the show was downplaying the seriousness of that violence itself.

Also, I appreciated that the women were in the forefront of those moments. We were expected to empathize with their situation.

For example, the opening episode’s plot of the deceased emperor’s brides being hanged as tribute to him wasn’t shown entirely as the horrific nightmare that is—but it also didn’t make all the women nameless, weeping beauties who existed only as tragic figures. Our heroine comes from within that group, and we see each of the women find their own way to deal. Some (understandably) weep, others negotiate their way out or flaunt their privilege to do so, others accept their fate. And then you have our Yinlou who is always eyeing an escape or a new foothold to a better situation.

We’re invited, tacitly or actively, to identify with the women being murdered. The violence against them isn’t set dressing. It’s very much an implied motivator for everything Yinlou does—she is a woman who fears the “cages” in which society can trap women, so she’s repeatedly calling attention to all those various cages.

There’s a later scene that’s not of much consequence overall where Yinlou comes upon a concubines’ graveyard. There are no markers with their names. She comments upon this and identifies with them, as a woman in their same situation. I deeply valued moments like this in “Unchained Love”—a character acknowledging how men in power are so often surrounded by “nameless” women whose own hopes and lives are forgotten.

One of the show’s major themes is: It is dangerous when powerless women catch the eye of powerful men.

THE GOOD – A.K.A. WHAT MAKES EVERYTHING ELSE WORTH IT

DYLAN WANG as Xiao Duo

I mean, he’s why I’m here, so we gotta start with him. I adored his performance as Dongfang Qingcang in 苍兰决 and he’s even more impressive as Xiao Duo, the head eunuch of the feared Zhaoding Bureau (FYI: in episode 2, we learn he’s not actually a eunuch—he’s pretending). This is an Earth-bound tale, so don’t expect the wild range of body-swapping or high drama of Hellfire power. Instead, he gives a far subtler performance where the harshness of the character blends smoothly with his softer moments.

He makes excellent use of his ability to look cold and cruel, and even the fact that he’s very handsome is relevant to the plot (because he, too, catches the eye of someone dangerous and powerful). For me, he disappeared into Xiao Duo in this performance. His mannerisms, body language, and tightly controlled expressions all felt so consistent with this man’s lived experience. He felt thoroughly three-dimensional and authentic.

Xiao Duo judges him. You. Xiao Duo judges everyone. CHEN YUQI as Bu Yinlou

I left “Ashes of Love” having most enjoyed Chen YuQi’s performance, so I was thrilled to see her in this. I like her energy on screen, and her goofy little smiles. She’s an uncouth mess as Bu Yinlou, and yet can believably play the perfect imperial concubine when she needs to. My fellow Eowyn “I fear a cage” and Beatrice “if I were man, I’d eat his heart in the marketplace” girlies will love Yinlou. Her fear of that patriarchal cage is one of her primary motivations throughout the series, and Xiao Duo is often the Benedick to her Beatrice in a “name the heart and the marketplace, baby” kind of way. Yinlou’s go-to problem-solving strategies are: gamble, lie, or set it on fire (literally).

Yinlou shares her secret fourth method of problem solving. SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

Not a dud in the bunch as far as I’m concerned. Everyone’s acting is strong and all the major characters are given the opportunity to be three-dimensional, to have their own perspectives and hopes. I found one of the side love stories a bit silly and cringey, but even that couple won me over by the end. Yinlou’s closest companion is her servant (played by Nan He – Duo Er La from “Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty.” I was thrilled to see her!). Xiao Duo has his own devoted right-hand man, and even a himbo of a general. There’s manly devotion everywhere, women being friends, bonding with sex workers, and hierarchies dissolving to become “family.”

The four pillars of the found family.

A braincells trio.

XIAO DUO and BU YINLOU TOGETHER

This is very much a “the man falls first” story and it seems likely that some of the early scenes got chopped, which is unfortunate, but I will say, it didn’t bother me. Perhaps it’s my years of writing and reading fanfiction, but I could find the threads easily.

Bu Yinlou catches Xiao Duo’s eye first by being clever. He’s initially wrong about what she’s scheming—but he’s right that she’s a schemer who is smarter than she pretends to be. For her own survival, she tries to stay on his good side and he's used to people praising him (or paying him) to get his favor by flattering his power, his strength, his ambition. Bu Yinlou starts praising his kindness, his mercy, his intelligence. For his own reasons (no spoilers!), he’s deliberately made himself a terror. Bu Yinlou starts talking to the real person he is inside.

Xiao Duo gets the thumbs up from Yinlou.

We do get the delightful Chinese drama tropes like slow-motion gazing with the love theme playing, but I didn’t see it as a normal “oh, she’s so beautiful” sort of moment. She’s being ridiculous, and Xiao Duo is struck that this woman is being ridiculous for him. He’s the scariest man in the Imperial Palace! People literally drop to the ground or run when they see him! And here’s this woman trying to make him smile, or grabbing his sleeves, or heckling him. What a strange creature she is…and you know, she’s rather pretty, too…

Pretty (and drunk at the mo')

After only a few meetings, Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou instinctively understand one another, even if they don’t fully realize it. They’ve met the other person who plays 4-D chess and who never wanted to be here in the first place. I find it truly a joy to watch them—two people who barely trust anyone—maneuver around one another and learn to believe each other.

The actors seemed very comfortable with one another, so there’s lots of casual intimacy and affection in their body language together. With Xiao Duo, Yinlou feels safe enough to experience attraction and express her own desires for the first time. Her giddiness and girlishness about him are so heartwarming to watch.

Something has been awakened in her...

We also get the fantastic subversion of some classic romantic tropes. I admit: I’m a viewer who is frustrated by major conflicts erupting from simple misunderstandings, characters deliberately withholding information from each other—or worse—not having the five-minute conversation necessary to clear the air. Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou COMMUNICATE. They truly treat each other as equals.

Avoiding spoilers, there’s one moment where a bad guy captures Bu Yinlou to bait Xiao Duo into a trap. A man in love, Xiao Duo storms out to go rescue her—and then pauses. “This is a trap,” he realizes, and he goes back home. He trusts that Bu Yinlou can get herself out of the scrape—and she does. Bu Yinlou does the same for him a few times. They profoundly trust one another and it shows on screen through their actions, not just their words. I found that unbelievably refreshing, even if it means we don’t get the HIGH DRAMA of so many other romantic dramas.

It made for a subtler experience that is perhaps just for me (but I write this in the hopes that it’s not). All the pain of the later episodes comes from truly understanding that Xiao Duo and Bu Yinlou would be happy together. Not in a soft-focus, dreamy-eyed, picture-perfect way, but in a real and tangible way. They could live together with their friends and their dog, raise some goats, and have wonderful life with one another. But there are powerful, dangerous, unpredictable forces in the way, and that hurts beautifully to watch.

THE PLOT

“Nirvana in Fire” this ain’t. The imperial palace intrigues are broad and only rarely more than 2-dimensional, but I still found myself delighted by some of the unexpected twists. There are characters I loathed in episode 1, and then grieved in episode 36. That’s the good stuff.

Bu Yinlou is the emotional center of the series. She wants to be free. The primary conflict of the show, then, is built around two suitors: One who will help her fulfill her dreams, even if it hurts him, and the other who will make her dreams match his, even if it hurts her.

This is all happening within larger maneuvers of outside forces trying to take down the empire. To them, Yinlou is a pawn in a larger game to control the emperor and Xiao Duo. (And Yinlou does not appreciate being treated like a pawn.)

THE VILLAIN

I have complex feelings about the primary antagonist for the show. I think that’s a good thing. He feels, in many ways, like an Incel given imperial power—he is both a sad, awkward, lonely man, and an entitled, spiteful monster. He’s played so deftly by Peter Ho, it took several episodes for me to realize he was the antagonist. On rewatch, it can be heartbreaking to follow his story, too, because there were moments of intervention where it could have gone differently. That, to me, makes for a richly imagined antagonist—who goes full “scenery chewing” villain toward the end. That, too, is compelling to watch. Peter Ho was clearly having a good time.

A PERSONAL CONCLUSION (and maybe a plea for fanworks)

“Unchained Love” is not perfect, but there’s such clear heart in the performances that it more than makes up for the show’s weaknesses. They explore storylines and themes and especially gives Yinlou some moments that I’ve longed for in a show maybe all my life. I like that Eowyn in the Lord of the Rings movies talked about fearing “a cage.” I wish she’d gotten to talk more. Yinlou gave voice to so much of what I wanted to hear her say.

“Unchained Love” quickly joined the tops of my favorite Chinese media, alongside “The Untamed” and “Yin Yang Master: Dream of Eternity.” I will probably end up writing some fanfiction for it, and I hope others will too. The gifsets on Tumblr have been so excellent that I can only hope for more. More fanworks, I guess that’s what I’m saying. There’s such great fanworks potential in this series. It’s in that sweet spot of having compelling characters, beautiful costumes and settings, and juuuuussst enough left on the cutting-room floor that we fans have all the room in the world to play.

HOW TO WATCH

The first two episodes are up for free on YouTube with English subtitles. It’s also streaming on both Viki and iQiyi. I liked it so much, I bought it on DVD from AustinDVDStore on ebay. The subtitles move too fast sometimes, but hey, I’m practicing my Mandarin anyway…

CONTENT WARNINGS

For the show overall:

The entire show deals with the idea of women as objects—which means there are often people treating women like objects. This is depicted as a bad thing, but it’s still hard to watch.

Some gender essentialist nonsense is spewed in relation to eunuchs and what it means to be “a man.” Later in the series, the villain becomes particularly fixated on this concept.

For specific storylines:

Opening episodes revolve around concubines of the deceased emperor being killed in tribute to him.

Accidental death of a child in episode 4.

A man in charge of the Imperial Mausoleum targets and sexually threatens, harasses, and assaults a woman forced to live there.

Yinlou’s father is verbally abusive to the women in his family.

Yinlou’s sister is forced to marry an enemy prince; this enemy prince is violent and threatening to her. The emperor is also violent and cruel to this character. (Yinlou’s sister is essentially a “what if Yinlou did what she was told” character, so her storyline highlights that going along with these powerful men won’t save you… It’s rough.)

The emperor’s dissent into tyrannical behavior is paired with a physical disability he develops. He also becomes fixated on his inability to bear children.

#unchained love #chinese drama #cdrama #recommendation #wang hedi #dylan wang #please watch with me #I love this show so much

[agentbootyreportingforduty]

so many things happened where i didn’t expect them to happpen like this or i’m just so confused by this direction??

• zava retiring with no fanfare or foreshadowing or anything after they just built him up for so many episodes??? i thought he’d end up injured or joining an opposing team like something dramatic

• shandy storyline like what is the point of having her go and make her own pr firm cmon like we do nottt want to see that bffr 😭

• higgins wanting to fire ted and them just brushing past it……… 🧍‍♀️

• the way we won so bad with jack and keeley and the bi keeley confirmation we’ve always wanted but like it’s gonna feel so wrong when they go back to focusing on roy x keeley. they didn’t consider the optics on that at all

• jade not showing any interest in nate before this but suddenly she’s into him? like they’re cute but i thought it’d be way more of a slow burn tbh

• what was the point of having keeley basically ignore rebecca this entire episode as she goes through something really difficult :( so ooc and also psychic storyline taking up wayyyy too much time this season like I thought it was gonna be sumn quick

• trent feeling more and more attached to the team and trying to help with strategy was so sweet but then also none of anyone’s ideas worked? i would have understood if the team were still affected by nate’s betrayal for a few games but why are they flopping suddenly no matter what and even with zava?? I wish we got to see more team dynamics or even training with zava so we could see firsthand how he was affecting morale

• still no update to colin or his relationship with michael or trent knowing or anything when it was such a huge cliffhanger

anyways im confused on some storyline choices and while i love the show i think media criticism and review is important as well so these are just my jumbled up thoughts and my personal opinion!!

#ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso season 3 #ted lasso #rebecca welton #keeley jones #trent crimm #roy kent

[legolasvegas]

Ok so I’ve only seen the pilot so bear with me but I have a lot of thoughts about Wednesday.

Overall rating: 3/5 due to entirely mixed feelings

TONE: Nailed it

Visuals: Wonderfully enjoyable

Jenna Ortega: literal perfection

Writing: a horrible clusterfuck

I have the same complaints about this show that I do about most modern tv/streaming shows. And that is that there is something worse when you try to make tv bingeable instead of writing standalone episodes.

The pilot should have been three separate episodes. Not only would it fit better with the nature of comedy tv, but it would fit the actual storyline and make it more powerful.

Episode one should have been a true pilot, where they set up Wednesday’s academic past, her history with her family and mom, and introduce the murders and Nevermore a bit. It should have ended with the goodbye between Wednesday and Morticia, and Thing falling out if the car. The perfect ending to a pilot for this show would have been Wednesday walking into Nevermore alone.

THEN in episode two you can actually dig into the school, meet the roommate and social scene, etc. The climax of this single episode would have been Wednesday fighting townies, to parallel her fighting her classmate (which would have been an awesome comparison but it gets lost in the thousand other things that happen). And we would learn a little more about the murders through her meet-cute coffeeshop live interest. We can get some clues as to why Rowan is so weird and interested in Wednesday and build up that suspense. Her escape attempt of the episode will have failed and we will end the episode with a beautifully haunting cello performance on the roof. THAT was a great ending of an episode if I’ve ever seen one.

Episode three is about her second failed escape attempt, her developing relationships with Tyler and Enid, her visions, and finally Rowan’s wild confession. It could have been so much more exciting of a revelation if it hadn’t come out if nowhere. Like the whole “my mom was a powerful seer who had a crazy vision about you that she warned me about before coming here” could have been a sweet bombshell of a twist but instead it was sudden and confusing and then suddenly over. With three episodes those seeds could have been planted to make that a dramatic reveal instead of a blindsided plot device.

The writing has so much potential to be interesting and intriguing—it IS interesting! But the narrative is a breakneck rollercoaster with too many stories being told at once.

Also as a side note, unrelated to my plot criticisms, is the fact that we never see Wednesday actually in school? She’s there for a week?? I don’t even need details of classes but maybe a mention. And I would have loved to see a parallel from the intro if the normie school crowds parting for Wednesday in the halls to how the Nevermore students react to her in their halls. Maybe they will get there in later episodes but its been a week so we lost a chance for those initial reactions. The only “schooling” we saw was the fencing scene which was dope but jarringly out of place since we so no other classes or school structure at all.

Another side note, why was the Harvest Festival mandatory? What is its significance?

Tl:dr I miss long-form television where each episode told its own part of the story.

#wednesday #wednesday 2022 #wednesday netflix #the addams family #wednesday addams #television criticism #episode 1 #s1e1

[what-even-is-sleep]

REACTIONS to the latest PJO TV episode (5. A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers)!!

First half is positive/hype reactions, second half is negative/critiques.

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨spoilers!! 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

POSITIVE/HYPE:

I liked that they showed the irl reactions of media/first responders to the arch.

Love love loved the aunties/Fates. Perfect characterization

THE PERCABETH HUG. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD.

hype continued under readmore

OHMYGODOHMYGOD OHMYGODDDDSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Percy jumping over the railing felt like hardcore parallels to how I imagined the dock scenes in HOO

THE FKCN PERCABETH HUG. IT WENT ON SO LONG. LOVED IT

Loved the physical comedy of the trio being behind that concrete highway block lmao.

ARES WITH THE DRAMATIC-ASS LEATHER CAPE I FKCN LOVE IT

The physical comedy with the trio popping up behind the concrete highway divider!!!!

Ares starting flame wars/fights on twitter lmfaoooo. Such a good addition to his character

Gabe was so pathetic. I don’t love the comedic turn of his characterization, but the pathetic wormy-ness was good to see

YES GROVER MY BOY!! PLAYING ARES LIKE A MF FIDDLE

The amusement park was interesting! Not how I imagined it, but v cool effects.

THE TRAP WAS SO COOL!!

LOVED ANNABETH GEEKING OUT ABT THE TRAP

Ok falling more in love with the amusement park designs

Percy’s reaction to Ares/Aphrodite affair lmfao yes boy drag those fools

The way the “What is Love” section ended was great lol. Very Harry Potter rollercoastery vibes

JUST. ALL THE PERCABETH MOMENTS. PERCY KNEELING BEFORE THE CHAIR. AHHHHHHHH!!!!

The fact that Ares just blatantly says that he hates kids and his own kids OUGH! Makes Clarisse’s storyline hit so much harder.

YES GROVER GET HIM. MANIPULATE THAT $&*%£+

SEAWEEDBRAIN

SEAWEED BRAJN

GRAHHHHHHHH!!!!!! IM GOING INSANE 🫨🤯🤩🥳🥹

Their whole convo fr 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

OIYAGHHHHHHHHHHHH ANNABETH KNOWING THAT PERCY NEEDS HIS MOM AND LOVES HER SM AND- AND- AND- 😭😭❤️😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

AND HIM BEING LIKE ALSO UHH CAN U GET ME OUT OF THIS SOME DAY TOO LMAO

I can’t even analyze all the stuff in this convo, in this scene, in that exchange yet bc I’m IMPLODING!!!!!! 🥹❤️❤️❤️❤️

LEAH AND WALKER’s ACTING WAS SO GOOD DURING THIS SCENE OMFG

AND THE SPECIAL EFFECTS GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Stunning, magnificent, no notes

“Percy stand up I mean it!” “I’m ok, I’m ok, I’m-”

IM NOT CRYING YOU ARE

AOUGH. I cannot keep reacting in all caps this is unsustainable. But like. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Annabeth immediately going to reverse the chair mechanisms <333333333

The way the ladder goes up is so cool fr :0

HEPHAESTUS!!! One of my fav gods ngl <3. Bro is more dramatic than I thought with the whole “baby don’t hurt me, no more” 💀 😅

ANNABETH DEFENDING PERCY WITH HER WHOLE HEART. AND HER GROWTH AHHHHHHHHHH

Maybe it’s just bc I’m a music nerd but OUGH I just adore how music is mechanical and a key for Hephaestus n everything. Idk just, very cool.

OUGH the way Percy comes out of the chair. So dramatic <3

Annabeth holding the shield and the way she drops it in front of Ares is badass asf and I fucking love it.

OUP THE BACKPACK!!!

YES GROVER U DROPPED UR CROWN KING 👑

Lin Manuel Miranda jumpscare at the end there again lmao. Looking forward to the next episode 👀

The negatives/media-critical:

🚨🚨🚨🚨warning: I’m v critical. 🚨🚨🚨🚨

“Short version, we need to go to Santa Monica.” Okok im pretty sure that’s almost exactly what he says in the books, but it felt poorly set up in the show. Part of the pacing issues perhaps, but grahh it pulled me out of the story.

Where’s Percy’s backpack? Doesn’t he have one before Ares gives him one? Honest question bc I don’t remember for sure lol. Not assuming it’d stay with him thru the arch-falling shenanigans but like,,, what abt everyone else’s stuff? They aren’t walking around with NO water n stuff, right?????

Where is Annabeth’s necklace half the time? They keep forgetting it T-T. Sometimes it seems plausible that it’s under her shirt, but most of the time it’s very clearly not. + when they showed her dads ring on it last ep, that thing was Chunky-the outline of the ring would be showing under any shirt collar!!

The conversation behind the concrete highway thing felt kinda stilted. 1) when annabeth mentioned only one of the Fate’s names and 2) partially bc there was no background music the whole time…. Whenever the background instrumentals come in the quality of the show jumps so much!!!

Some of the Ares expressions/first convo/delivery felt hellla cheesy at points. In general when the gods characters say stuff like “young one” at the end of their sentences it feels kinda like a throwaway. Like the actors are embarrassed abt the line or smth… idk. Just doesn’t feel in-character enough the way those lines are delivered.

Ares says he’ll help them, then says they’re going to fail, then says he’d kill them so he can eat in peace when he offered them food in the first place…. makes them help him, then helps them anyways… idk the motivation portrayal in the show felt way more wishy washy and weak than in the books

The trap was really cool but it didnt read well until Annabeth went thru.

Different food on the table with Ares when they cut back to him and Grover at night. Super understandable that they could go thru multiple meals, but there’s no visuals of either character eating or calling the waitress over to get more food or like ANY storytelling cue to have the changing food make sense/have a reason to change. It just becomes another thing that kinda takes me out of the story.

Why is the Tunnel of Love where the shield “must” be?? There’s no indication that Percy and Annabeth have a demigod intuition towards the place, or that they’ve looked elsewhere. It’s stated like a fact that the audience is just supposed to accept and go along with. Where’s the reasoning???

Didn’t love the sound design when “What is Love” came in. Is it supposed to be playing in a tunnel loudly or not? The song kept getting louder and softer at diff points in a way that really took me out of the ‘realism’ of the moment.

What in the H2O water powers hard-to-read special effects was that 😭😂

The scene cuts between the Percy/Annabeth to Grover/Ares feels so choppy… :(

THE SWITCH TO THE FISHBOWL/OVERHEAD CAMERA POV… laughing so hard mfg. just Why.

Hwhat is the reasoning behind automatically assuming that the chair and shield are connected. 😭😭😭. Ik the books have way more context and internal dialogue. Pls show, just have them try and reach the shield or pull it down or say SOME sort of reasoning for why they’re connected instead of just spouting another fact that we’re supposed to go along with.

Ok I love Hephaestus’s character in the books and in mythology. For some reason this actor didn’t conjure him for me. My Hephaestus is hunched, buff, more noticeably physically disabled, more dramatic and eccentric and kind and gruff. Idk this actor just fell flat for me.

Just small things with the scene cuts. Like how the camera stays on someone’s face for a second or two too long… all the fckn time. Small, consistently annoying thing for me. ¯\_(:/)_/¯

“Thank you for the emotional abuse and the cheeseburgers.” … what? Isn’t the whole point that Grover was buttering him up? What is the point of the emotional abuse comment to Ares’s face if Grover was playing him up the whole time. It feels like something that was written for kitschy woke-ism points instead of a genuine callout/dialogue that fits more smoothly with what’s happening before, during and after that moment. Cause then Grover asks for paper towels immediately after… 😅 bruh what.

#mypost #pjo tv spoilers #pjotv #Percy Jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #pjotv reviews #pjotv reactions

[sugdenlovesdingle]

from duncan's newsletter:

(he's actually critical of ED?? I didn't know he was allowed)

How to get Emmerdale back to its best

I love Emmerdale. Its gorgeous and unique setting, its array of fabulous characters and gripping storylines over the years, and its ability to tackle serious storylines head on, and break format creatively, often set it apart from the crowd.

Over the last few years, the soap has dominated awards ceremonies, winning rightful acclaim for Meena Jutla’s (Paige Sandhu) reign of camp terror, Paddy Kirk’s (Dominic Brunt) depression and suicide attempt, and Marlon Dingle’s (Mark Charnock) sensitively handled stroke storyline.

And Faith Dingle’s (Sally Dexter) death scenes were undoubtedly the highlight of the anniversary month, bringing far more to the table than flying caravans and cows on the loose.

Recent castings have been spot on too – William Ash is right at home as the complex Caleb Miligan, and Louise Jameson is unsurprisingly a revelation.

Being able to secure returns for the iconic Kim Tate (Claire King) and Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) can also be chalked into outgoing boss Jane Hudson’s legacy.

After five years, she has stepped down, having achieved a great deal on the show.

Wanting to spend more time with her family, Jane is looking forward to a well earned rest – running one of the UK’s top shows is a more difficult job than people give credit for.

Soap bosses are held to such a high degree of scrutiny and standard, and if there is anything fans are not happy with, boy they let them know!

Listing the above paints an overall solid picture of Emmerdale and, despite dramatic reports, the show is far from being in crisis.

However, the recent resurgence of EastEnders has helped identify how refreshing shows can put them right back on the map.

There are many things Emmerdale needs to improve on – things have become far less character led, with an over-reliance on stunts and, despite my love for the clan, the Dingles.

The often ignored older generation, lack of fresh blood who aren’t connected to existing villagers, and some storylines that are starting to feel a bit of a strain are some of the factors that it is now a good time to address.

A new pair of hands and perspective on the steering wheel will bring new ideas to the table – there’s a reason why soaps benefit a lot from regular producer changes.

We all have different thoughts when it comes to our ideal soap. I have struggled with some aspects of the show for a number of months now, and have some thoughts on what could give Emmerdale its mojo back.

The community feel

The Man Club is evidence that Emmerdale still knows how to integrate the cast in a community way, but the show really lacks the warm feeling of community that it has previously been known for.

Character groups feel very separate – the Andersons are packed with potential but are generally isolated aside from Charles leading a wedding or funeral, for example.

Many characters have deep connections and pasts with each other but at the moment, much of everything is storyline led, with a definite beginning, middle and end.

A return to the focus on character, and the village itself, will make the storylines feel less plot, and more organic.

New blood

There have been some solid castings over Jane’s tenure, but very few who join the show unrelated to existing villagers.

Many of the links have been a bit contrived – Nicola’s attacker Naomi really didn’t have to be the same character as Charles’ daughter – and introductions such as Chloe and Tom have so far felt unable to hit the mark, with explorations into the connections themselves feeling very light.

Chloe rarely interacts with Sarah anymore, while Tom’s tensions with Jimmy and Chas were resolved extremely quickly.

Bringing in some fresh new faces or even a new family could buck this trend and inject some additional new life that doesn’t have to be an add-on to an existing story.

A big name casting a la Amanda Donohoe leading the Wyldes would also bring some solid attention and buzz.

Bring back Kim Tate’s edge

This is an ongoing bugbear with me – I long dreamed of seeing superbitch Kim Tate stalking the village and lording over Home Farm once more, so when I got my wish, I was delighted.

Her return was camper than a tent shop, and great fun but unsustainable, so it was understandable that Emmerdale had to tone her down to keep her around.

Kim was still mean but started to take on some deeper dimensions. Having a grandma instinct reminded us of her heart, and her friendships with Mary and Lydia are great.

But, over the last year, Kim has completely lost that edge that makes her Kim.

There is absolutely no way that Harriet and Caleb would escape her wrath like they have done.

Crossing Kim to such an extent would doom you to some hardcore revenge, but Kim seems to have just rolled over and taken the hits.

Let’s get her back to the middle ground. Keep the layers – but re-introduce her harder side too.

A leopard can only change its spots so much – Kim will always, and should always, be utterly ruthless.

Consistency

Emmerdale’s powerful storylines are its absolute strength. When the show tackles something serious, it really treats it with care.

The aftermaths and long-running focus on Marlon’s stroke and Paddy’s mental health have been sublime – with storylines only this week revisiting Paddy’s grief over Grace, while Marlon has anxiety over getting back behind the wheel.

And the fact that the Man Club continues to be a solid staple of the village is refreshing; the story could easily have fallen into the soap mistake of being done and dusted then forgotten.

But when the show tries to get across a message, things can get a bit jarring when combined with other stories taking the same issue a lot less seriously.

Just days after raising awareness that a single punch can kill someone, a scene showed Bob smack Liam in the face with zero consequence. So, how are we treating punches?

Bernice’s equally important menopause group ran concurrently with Paddy’s Man Club, but has been played for laughs, which has felt like a major mis-step.

And, after Noah faced pretty much zero ramifications for stalking Chloe and displaying incel behaviours, he became central to a story about his girlfriend Amelia being stalked by a creep.

Noah portrayed as a hero in this scenario leaves a bit of a sour taste.

The show needs to take care not to undermine its best work in this way.

They stick to their guns when seeing these stories through, so they also need to stick to the core message.

Redemption arcs

Speaking of Noah’s redemption, the show has had a bit of an issue recently of desecrating characters and changing their personalities – only for it to be reversed with the expectation that viewers should forgive and forget.

To be fair to the current team, this is not a new issue – it still annoys many that Kerry and Amy live care-free in the village – and judge the crimes of others – when they effectively got away with killing Frank.

Noah was a character that ‘learned his lesson’ and was re-established into the fold without much furore, but it’s pretty hard to forget in this Amelia love story, that he really was a very serious danger to women not long ago.

And the character of Chas is back to being a little bit sanctimonious about the bad behaviour of others – such as Charity cheating and Caleb lying.

It’s very hard to warm to Chas again after the way she treated Paddy without any real remorse.

If Emmerdale truly wants us to forgive these characters, the redemption arcs need to be deeper and longer, with a much more detailed exploration of the behaviours and motivations behind them.

LGBTQ+ couples

It was noted during Pride Month that three LGBTQ+ couples in Emmerdale split up in quick succession – which was not a good look for a soap that actually nails it with diversity in the show, and representation for the community, character-wise.

Not all that long on from the controversial Vanity split, couples with potential, most notably the moving Heartstopper-esque pairing of Arthur and Marshall – were dropped.

Arthur’s coming out was handled beautifully and in an understated way by Emmerdale, so I am still confused by why the relationship went south so swiftly.

There are hints that Nicky will embark on a relationship with Suni, so hopefully this can be reversed to an extent that there can be a bit of joy for gay characters.

We are still rooting for Mary – and just when is Ethan going to get something to do?

Dropped stories need addressed

Emmerdale has kicked off stories that have the potential to be very interesting – but some of them just go nowhere.

The Rhona and Gus plot – which explored the concept of Rhona being asked to help her ex with having a baby – was new territory, but it was over and done with within weeks.

It left a few loose ends, with the expectation that more was to come but, months on, there is no sign of that.

Where is Chloe’s dad, after all this time and mentions of him? And why drop the big ‘Kerry is her mum’ bombshell right as Laura Norton left?

It was simply left hanging, with zero aftermath.

Tone down the huge stunts

Emmerdale knows how to put on a spectacle – some of its stunts have gone down in history, such as the motorway pile-up and Meena’s burning maze.

But, and this is more of an ITV issue, ‘Super Soap Week’ has become a bit of a problem.

It’s now the expectation that some sort of stunt has to half-destroy the village and kill off residents in October, which makes it predictable and pretty unrealistic how disaster will strike the same time every year.

There is also the pressure on Emmerdale to up the ante and beat the previous year each time, which led to a week with simply too much – a storm, a cow stampede, a man impaled on a tractor, an exploding quad bike, a crushing under a caravan – it was out of hand and the effect is diluted.

Time was, even a car crash would be extremely exciting and considered an event but it can’t be the case any more.

So with stunts, let’s mix it up a bit. Have less, and when they do happen, do they have to be in October?

And, unlike the big storm which had pretty much zero consequence (Harriet and Liv who?), there needs to be a return to character before spectacle. If we are blowing up the village, the key should be on what comes next.

‘Life will never be the same again’ can only work if, well, life is never the same again.

Less of the crime stories

How many drug dealers can one village have? There has been a reliance on short term criminals arriving – very often to create conflict for Cain – and it’s not very inspiring to see Nate now caught in a gangster style scenario. Which, again, it looks like Cain will resolve.

Two dimensional thugs and gangsters are so un-Emmerdale. And done far too regularly now to have any impact.

Does anyone even remember Dawn’s ex’s short-lived reign of terror? Or the gunman who shot David?

Dingle domination

The Dingle family is a double edged sword. They’re one of soap’s most iconic families and that should never change.

But it’s rare to see a story that isn’t Dingle connected, leaving the likes of the Sugdens and Tates hanging about in the background.

Even Caleb’s war with Kim Tate quickly became more Dingle focused.

Marlon and Faith’s stories were impeccable and there is another topical story coming to the Dingles that will undoubtedly be fantastic.

However, we need a bit less Dingle overload, it is hard to keep up and there are too many Dingles for them all to be realistically involved in each of the arcs ongoing.

But with all that is happening, each member absolutely would be part of it in real life. They need some breathing space to give it more of a family focus rather than story after story – and so do we.

Bring back Meena

Well, I can dream can’t I?

 

#emmerdale #i actually agree with most of this?? #duncan making sense?? #what is happening??

[justjimedits]

Somebody said that the Teen Wolf movie reads as fanfiction and I think that’s exactly what it is. Davis considers it a love letter to all the fans of the show but in reality, it’s his love letter to his show. It’s clear that the storyline was written before he even knew what actors would sign on and since he didn’t get everybody, he had to rewrite it. So of course he picked the most popular bad guy of the show, because he was counting on having a Stiles. And he thought he could still make it work without him but he forgot that the reason why season 3B is so popular, is because of Dylan. But he had no Dylan. It’s why characters say things they normally wouldn’t or why characters have no real meaning to being there. Their lines were written for another character.  It’s also clear that there was no script until the last two weeks of filming because it all feels like improv and hurried last minute scenes (Like Dylan S sounding like he’s reading the Google translate for Japanese out loud for the first time).  Now, the CGI in the show was always pretty bad ( The way the actors all had to fall with their hands flat and fingers outstretched to not break the cheap glued on claws for example) but it feels like in the movie they used some Tiktok filters and called it a day. The werewolf eyes move around unnaturally and are placed too high or too low because the software had trouble tracking the pupils. And that’s why not many transformed or why Derek didn’t transform (And they had some excuse to explain it but it truth is, they had no money for a wolf). It all adds to the feeling of this being a movie they filmed in a weekend and why it doesn’t make much sense Teen Wolf lore wise. It’s a very campy movie I can’t take very serious.  Tyler Hoechlin tried his best with the little he’s given but Derek Hale ended up being a strange hybrid between Derek and Clark since Tyler H was still filming Superman and Lois at the time. And he clearly didn’t have a lot of time to be there for filming so they have Derek being critically injured so they can all shoot scenes around his prostate body with Deaton hovering to hide his face so we don’t see it’s a stand in lying there. He’s dealing with a replacement Stiles, since Eli was written once Dylan o’Brien said no and I have to say, Derek and Eli interacting was the only highlight of the movie, along with the sheriff.  Tyler Posey can’t really act, but he can say his lines so there’s that. And he’s getting a much needed paycheck without having to be naked for it. Which is what I think made a lot of actors sign on, to be paid because why else did it all feel so flat? And why, Ian, did you have to act like you’re on live theater with your overacting and dramatic gestures which were very not like Peter? Then there’s the complete disregard for the lore. Derek becoming a true alpha through his sacrifice? Sure. But why did his alpha spark not transfer to Eli or Peter when he died? Why was the Nogitsune some hybrid thanks to the bite of Scott when it was what defeated him in the first place? Why did Derek not tell Eli that his family had humans in it as well so it’s fine to not be a werewolf? How did Derek have a son who had to be born around season 4/5 and why wasn’t it mentioned at all?

#teen wolf the movie #teen wolf movie #spoilers #review #derek hale #Scott McCall #noah stilinski #teen wolf

[mangoisms]

Heyy it's yj anon

With my midterms officially over, I can finally make time to read again. Thank you for the help with No Man's Land; I'm not well-versed with storylines prior to the 2010s unless regarding specific characters...but I'm working on it.

I initially started off as a Damian fan and only read stories that pertained to him and Talia (it's been rough). I read Red Robin on a whim after seeing some of my Twitter mutuals speak so highly of the series, and I absolutely loved the storyline (minus the last few issues; I also hate how Tam was treated. It was fairly iffy throughout the run, but it was further emphasized in the final issues; there is so much to say about the entire mess that was love interests, but that's for another day). The art style is nice as well, I understand why people are so fond of Tim during that era. Though I figured with no prior knowledge of Tim's character, it was a rough place to begin understanding his characterization. So, I started reading some of his older material, and it's been very interesting!!! I just started Robin 93, but Young Justice has taken up a majority of my attention. The silliness of the first issue with dumb gags about nuns in a station wagon filled with explosives, Tornado finding the trio so annoying it brought forth whatever humanity was left in him...I just couldn't stop scrolling. Safe to say, I am fairly invested in Tim (and Bart, he's just so younger-cousin-coded it's endearing), I plan to go back and read his Robin run (along with Impulse) once winter break allows me the time to properly read and analyze.

I haven't been following you long, so I'm unsure if you've answered this question prior, but what initially got you into Tim's character? (that wording sounds a little off, sorry.) But besides that, I hope you're doing okay and that midterms have been going well! Midterms beat me to a pulp, so I hope all is good on your end lolol

oh man i’m sorry this is so late! i had wanted to get around to answering this when you sent it but i got distracted. glad to hear your midterms are finally over! mine are too, thankfully T_T and of course! happy to help!

red robin was an interesting run… tim is Quite Annoying there and his relationship with tam (and um. women in general there) was a bit Eh. i used to like it but i think that was just the pretty art influencing me LMAO by now it’s just Meh especially because of the way he treats tam and steph and just generally acts. but again you are right that it is a Rough Place for his character. though i would also say that were it not for the grief and general dramatics of the situation, it’s probably reasonably honest? for his character i mean but that’s just me hehe. you’ll see some hints of it in robin 1993 i think but young justice 1998 really helps soften some of it just because it is a more light-hearted one! it’s definitely a lot of fun! i need to pick up my reading for it again tbh but i’m torn between that and reading for diana.. alas

oooh what got me into tim… initially i didn’t like him! i was into jason when i first got into dc and my exposure to tim wasn’t great… i got more accustomed to him through fics but it’s always been a bit grudging on my end LMAO, more of like a ‘i can fix him’ type of situation or at least one where his flaws—because he has Many—are highlighted and confronted. or sometimes assumed to have been taken care of, which is an assumption i welcome when it comes to my own fics. that is a large part of why i like him actually—that he has sooooo many issues. i’m veryyy critical of him HAHA it’s kind of why i’m turning away from whump fics regarding him, just because i’m like… he is not an angel compared to the others LMAOOOO so… yeah. it’s reluctant. and honestly these days </3 he annoys me LMAOOOOOOO it’s weird i know but. he’s like a chew toy to me

ANYWAY thank you sm for this ask!!! hope you’re doing well!! take care of yourself!!!

#i knowww it’s weird considering i’ve written like almost 100k for him #BUT in fairness. Things have changed since i was writing those fics #anyway. yeah. thank you for this again!!! hope you’re doing well!! <3 #inbox #anonymous #should probably come up with a tag for you… perhaps…

[toksinblack]

I usually don’t share my thought on much of anything on the internet, but seeing how negative people, especially on Twitter are about Dream smp ending really rubbed me the wrong way. 

I want to preface this by saying that this is all coming from my subjective experience and taste. You have complete right to disagree with me, I would love to have a conversation.

It feels like no matter what the ccs would have done, people would have been unsatisfied, because it seems like people had huge expectations for a silly minecraft roleplay server. I feel like if we look back at the lore streams themselves, they were never serious with maybe the exeption of exile and even then exile had plenty of goofing around, which people forget in favour of dramatic scenes. The fandom ourselves being angsty and hyperfocusing on those scenes does not help either.

Like with a lot of things the problem is that people take everything too seriously, at least regarding the ending, not the abuse portrayal (I have no experience with it, so I can't speak on it). I’ve consumed a lot of media in my life and spent a lot of time dwelling on how things could have been better. And don’t get me wrong, being able to critique is a usefull skill that helps us learn on other writer’s mistakes. But also being able to enjoy things not for what they could have been but for what they are made my life so much better.

It’s kinda funny how people say that the ending was rushed and dragged out simultaneously. Was it rushed? Personally, I don’t think so. Were lore streams far and few between? Yes. But also I don’t wish for them to have streamed everyday, like during quarantine. Again, personally, I have a full-time job, personal life and other interests and hobbys, so I wouldn’t be able to keep up.

I understand, that people probably wanted something grandiose, that involved every person on the server. But I have the feeling that it was simply not possible. I understand people being upset that Techno’s house is gone. I am too. But even if it was around, we almost never would've see it in lore. I'm content with going back to older vods and seeing both the house and Techno preserved in that small window in time. Unchanged. Forever.

What I don't understand is people on Twitter posting shit like "abuse apoligism??!!" And oh boy I'm gonna bite someone's fingers off. No, not it's not. People have already said this but I'll repeat for thr people in the back. Sympathy =/= forgiveness. Different people will have different interpretations of Tommy's last words. I saw the sorry as "I'm sorry things had to be this way" when he realized him and Dream ultimately wanted the same thing. It's this bitter realization that if things went differently they could have had happy lives. Or it could be "Sorry I have to kill you, I didn't want to kill anybody in the first place". It can be different things and forgiveness is not one of them. You think a guy who, just a few days prior, scolded c!Dream apologists will have his character forgive his abuser? Guys, please, have more faith in him than that, jeez.

I don't know which one it is: viewer's either a) inability to engage with media critically and taking everything on a surface level or b) willingness to engage with media and ccs in worst faith baffles me, either way.

There are also sentiments floating around that fans' time and energy, that they put into supporting the story over the past 2,5 years, was somehow 'wasted' by an unsatisfactory ending. Sure you can dislike it, but it shouldn't and does not take away from the fun and enjoyment we collectively had in that time period. It's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

Regarding the nukes, it's great that they used an already established pieces of lore, instead of pulling something out of their asses or going with a Deus Ex Machina. Admittedly, I haven't kept up with Tubbo lore, from what I've seen the nukes got stolen and they dropped the storyline, so to bring them back in an impactful way creates nice continuity.

I also understand from what I've seem that people wanted a good ending. That after all that suffering the characters deserved a nice happy live. I've got nothing to say on that, I enjoy angst. It has a right to exist.

And I understand the ccs wanting to flip over a new leaf, instead of letting everyone live and continuing with their characters. Yes, people have emotional attachments to these characters, but if they stayed in the same world they would've had to navigate through 2 years of lore and relationships that have accumulated and viewers would have been not happy if they got that lore wrong. So starting over allows them to have new storylines, new relationships without having to trip over preexisting convoluted mess that is dsmp lore. Everything has to end. Let's let go.

On that note, what upsets me is that a lot of lore streams are fucking lost media now. I loove how Wilbur made his lore videos, they're bite sized and easy to follow. I was trying to pick out important exile streams recently and god damn it's impossible. There will be them joking around, one important line and then another hour of not really important stuff, I swear.

In conclusion: let's enjoy thing for what they are and engage with media in good faith please. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

#rant #Dsmp #i understand that most likely most of these people are like 12 17 #and I'm in my early 20s should i even be talking abt mc roleplay #but I feel like engaging in these kinds of debates betters peoples media comprehension skills #toksin rambles

[whoopigirlberg2015]

you will always hear me putting respect on pllos and all the actresses names bc the product was amazing but i do have some criticisms.

i love how everything had reasoning to back it. motives were there and most questions were answered. however the last two episodes were paced way too quickly. you could tell they were struggling to fit all the tied up ends into two final episodes once we got to ep 9. for instance with mouses storyline ash and her moms just show up at the motel room and everything is fine? no further explanation for what mouse is even doing and why. the back to back nature of the reveals playing out was so fast that it became a bit absurd to me. that was a good thing abt og pll was that you had plenty of eps in a season to space things in a more digestible fashion. now i do think 20 is too much but a little filler in between the heavy plot points would be nice. it’s just that the pacing was very good in the first 7-8 eps and then everything was quickly taken care of in a very dramatic way in two eps.

also again i loved the motive and explanation behind A and the actions they took but i didn’t like that we barely knew anything abt the principal other than that he was annoying and we only knew abt angela’s brother right before the reveal. wish the girls would’ve questioned the principal abt angela since he was a teacher in 99 and then we would’ve known more abt him and who he was so we could’ve been more emotionally invested in his character or had him ruled out already only to be surprised by the reveal. og pll failed in this area too with later A reveals bc ppl want betrayal which requires more work and confidence from writers and producers to ruin character perceptions of a character their audience knows or loves. if they could’ve done this right pllos would have been the perfect reboot imo. maybe with another season angela’s brother will be revealed to actually be someone we know. one thing abt me is that i’m always gonna prefer a peer as A to an adult bc get a job and stop torturing children youre 30+ years old, it’s lame behavior.

there were some pieces that should have been or need to be followed up on though. would have liked more closure on the joe situation and the waters house including the cage and dead body. why was joe there and chasing imogen like that? also didn’t like how everybody kind of just brushed past the fact that tyler was killed. he was garbage but still that’s a murder and should raise more eyebrows. and another thing, what was the deal w A’s box in imogens basement like what all was in it and what is the significance of it being an army trunk/crate? there’s a lot more that could be garnered from that. finally, i filed this away in the back of my mind early on and don’t know if it’s still relevant but did noa actually destroy the usb with the karen video? we never actually saw her do this hm.

regarding characters and actors, miss bailee madison delivered as imogen and i will see to it she receives her emmy for this bc from the screams to the chase scenes everything was on point and just calibers above what is to be expected from a project like this. i absolutely loved the main girls and the chemistry they were able to bring despite only ten eps. yes i think the chemistry came a bit fast for them almost all being strangers but they had to work with what they got. the best chemistry was that between imogen and tabby which i’m hoping develops into something more (but also faranoa hello). i need more one on one interactions between the other girls though so we can get that chemistry that came with the og girls and all the pairings. and while talking abt the girls, i wanna shout out farans arc and just how much she changed over the season bc she’s one of my faves for that. in terms of lgbtq matters, the show has widely improved trans rep in ash and love him and mouse together. mouse is also queer and love that for her and at the same time i also need wlw relationships involving at least one main girl (pls let it be noa i need to see maia reficco kissing women) so hoping for some slow burn development in s2 as previously mentioned.

i think the thing that sold me most was the aesthetics like for one, the spooky autumnal vibes no matter when the events were taking place and part of that was that they shot in the same school building as chilling adventures of sabrina and i think that set is immaculate. plus i love old school horror and they paid so much homage to that and that sells it for me above a lot of other things.

one thing that is unforgivable though is the heavy handed insertion of predatEzra (© mikes mike on yt) Fitz. like i don’t need to explain this one, i don’t want to see or hear abt him, especially not when what’s said implies and basically spells out that he and aria are a perfect and acceptable couple bc it’s a slap in the face when all throughout the season the writers consistently and rightfully denounce sexual violence and grooming behavior only to end with this after we were led to believe the reboot had tried to make up for the sins of the original. it’s ugly, sick, and twisted! and only marlene king would continually make this the hill she wants to die on but that’s a topic for another day.

#pllos #pretty little liars: original sin #my

[blris96]

Do you think Rosalind’s storyline came to an end once she got killed or she was planning for something after her death?? Maybe it was time for her to let someone else follow her footsteps and complete what she has started because honestly this makes more sense. Her dying by only going after Bailey and Chris and she didn’t even make sure that they are dead was totally out of her character, I believe she would’ve made much more damage that will have an impact on everyone’s lives. 

Chris has the highest possibility of being evil. I don’t want him to leave the same way Ashley did, I need something big to happen after their breakup. Honestly Bailey is suspicious too, what if both Bailey and Chris are working for Rosalind and there are planning for something big but Chris will be dumped by Lucy sooner than expected which will make him do stupid shit that will make him suspicious which will piss Bailey off and she’ll try to get rid of him. I can see him going after Tim by damaging his reputation and framing him up in a crime, Tim won’t surrender and will run away because all the evidence are against him, he’ll go to his father seeking for help or a place to hide and once in his life he will make something good for Tim before dying by supporting him and having his back all the way. Lucy will be the only one who knows where Tim is and she will keep meeting him secretly to update him about the investigation, Tim will tell her that they need to stop seeing each other because he is trying to protect her which will end up with them confessing their love and sleeping with each other. Tim will show how badass he is and he will gather leads and dig deep to clear his name while the whole team will investigate in the case and they’ll find valid evidence that he is innocent which will make Chris go crazy and try to kill Tim before he gets caught. Wesley will be the one that finds out the Chris is behind all that because they work with each other lately a lot and he notices something is wrong. By the time they found out about Chris, Chris will kidnap Tim and threatens the team if they don’t do what he says he will kill Tim. Tim will manage to escape on time and shoot Chris, Chris will confess and he’ll tell him about Bailey before he dies and boom Bailey is here and she’ll shoot Tim and make it look like Chris did. By the time they find Tim he is in a critical condition and hurt badly and they won’t find out about Bailey soon but once they do Nolan will be the one who takes her down. 

Maybe I have a wild imagination but I need more action, drama and surprises. Chris being evil and Tim almost dying will make the bond between Chenford stronger. Bailey being evil will not only going to be dramatic it will also have a good impact on John’s character and we will definitely see a shift in his character which will make him more interesting. 

Unpopular opinion, I would love to see Genny (Tim’s sister) & Nolan together, I think they will be a cute couple. 

Hi lovely anon!

Alexi said indirectly point blank in a post mortem interview after that episode where she was killed that she's gone for good.

Honestly, the whole thing was anticlimatic. But, I think it's the end. I'm bummed how they ended it. Anything is possible though and that there could be another protoge out there.

I'd give an arm for some more action to be honest.

Do you write fic lovely anon? This would be a good one!

Genny and Nolan... I've never given much thought to this one. You do you lovely anon!

#B Answers Questions #ask box #tim bradford #lucy chen #chenford #the rookie #chris sanford #rosalind dyer

[all-the-tyler-talk]

I love the Lois and Clark working together stuff, but this last episode had way too much of the kids in it, it seemed like they got more screen time than Lois and Clark and I really don't give a shit about any of their angsty relationships and underaged partying shenanigans so I'd prefer it better if they focused less on that. I feel like the cancer storyline is a bit pointless because we know she won't die, but it will give the opportunity for a lot of emotional scenes that Bitsie and Tyler are really good at so far.// yeah, well all the teen party scenes are pointless because they truly add nothing to the general plot lol it'd be okay as comic relief but I agree they spent too much screen time on them. I also like Clark and Lois working together, the only thing I'm kinda meh about is that at times it feels like they try to dumb down Clark. And I know he's supposed to be goofy and stuff, and that Lois is this worldwide amazing journalist, but I felt like it's too on the nose that Clark is supposed to be inferior, and she has to boss him around? I don't know how to explain it better, I'm probably in the minority lol or thats how the comics are but I really don't read comics haha of course I love Clois anyway, and Bitsie does dramatic scenes really well, so whatever happens with her illness I know they will bring good scenes, I feel like she makes Tyler better at these emotional scenes too...maybe they even get a nomination at least.

It does feel like sometimes Lois is the dominant one in that relationship. I think that's how it is in most versions, comics and past tv shows, even in the recent movies. I've seen some people criticize Tyler for not being able to cry, but I thought he was actually pretty impressive in this episode, he never over acted any of the emotional scenes, and you could clearly see Clark was upset in his expression even if he didn't cry (which could've been in the script, they might not have wanted him to outright cry because Clark was supposed to be being strong for his wife and he did clearly have watery eyes). The concern and love for Lois in that kitchen scene near the end felt very genuine, it was miles better than anything he ever could've done in his Teen Wolf days.

[devakey]

Forefront 4 : The Storytelling in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) dominated the 2022 Oscars, becoming the first film to win five above-the-line Oscars (Fuster, 2023). As a film that really lives up to its title, it gave a lot of viewers whiplash with its almost overwhelming quality while also astounding critics and moviegoers alike.

There were several reasons for its success, but the part that I would like to highlight is its storytelling.

Image: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) | Allyson Riggs / A24

Making

Writers and co-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert wanted the film to have a sense of infinity, with the several possible universes and their moving pieces constantly being felt throughout the duration of the film (Pennington, 2022).

For a film with so much going on, filming was done in only 38 days (Quan, 2023). The post-production work last for another 11 months. It really is impressive how the filmmakers managed to deliver such an exceptionally complex and emotional film with a team of only 6 people. It helped that the entire team had some sort of experience working as either art directors, filmmakers, directors, or VFX artists (Sharma, 2023).

Story

The film takes on the herculean task of executing a multiverse concept while centering the storyline around a very relatable and difficult mother-daughter relationship. It is this emotional, dramatic core that adds flavour and substance to what might feel like a flashy, gimmicky film.

Image: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) | Allyson Riggs / A24

The choices in its storytelling add depth to every scene, tugging at your heartstrings under a surface of humour and excitement. The film has absurdly ridiculous scenes showcasing the most profound character moments, and it urges your brain and your heart to follow along and keep up.

Even before the film launches itself into the multiverse, the characters are already in different worlds; they’re already speaking past each other (Kwan,2022).  The film follows the development and repairment of these character relationships - everything else, in a way, is just noise. Yet, this noise is what exaggerates and amplifies their turbulent journey back to each other. It acts as just another tool for storytelling rather than feeling like an unnecessary addition.

Image: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) | Allyson Riggs / A24

Philosophy and Psychology

In the midst of the multiverse chaos, the film touches upon several insightful philosophical and psychological themes. The villain, Jobu Tupaki, is a direct result of Evelyn pushing Joy, her daughter, too far due to her expectations of her. Joy breaks down and takes a Nihilistic approach in response. In all her loneliness as the sole person with the knowledge of all universes, she still chooses her mother to follow her suit. At the end of the day, she still craves understanding from and the company of her mother, regardless of how much they end up hurting each other.

Image: Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) | Allyson Riggs / A24

With the knowledge of the multiverse and all the possibilities, Evelyn finally gains an understanding of her own potential and is in awe of the various lives that she leads in the other universes. This understanding translates into her loving herself as a person more and gives her a fresh perspective on the life she’s led and on the people in it. Her growth allows her to finally reach out to her daughter and repair her relationships with the daughter and with her husband.

Inspiration

One of my favourite films of all time, Everything Everywhere All At Once made me realise what my focus has been throughout my animation projects at University - the unconventional storytelling. It made me reexamine my own work thus far and what I would like to focus on in my practice in the future.

It serves a profound tale of healing fractured relationships lined with humour and pizazz in the most interesting and effective way, something that I have been working towards and would like to perfect. My best attempt at this was for my Major Study Project, where I used a seemingly ridiculous premise to get across a more philosophical message about ignorance and denial.

References

1. Fuster, J. (2023) Oscars: A24 Becomes First Studio to win top 6 awards in a single year, TheWrap. Available at: https://www.thewrap.com/oscars-a24-record-sweep-top-categories/ (Accessed: 22 June 2023). 

2. Pennington, A. (2022) Behind the scenes: Everything everywhere all at once, IBC. Available at: https://www.ibc.org/features/behind-the-scenes-everything-everywhere-all-at-once/8535.article (Accessed: 22 June 2023). 

3. Mangalindan, J. (2023) Oscar nominee Ke Huy Quan says the hardest part of filming ‘everything everywhere all at once’ was cramming everything into a 38-day shoot, Insider. Available at: https://www.insider.com/ke-huy-quan-hardest-part-shooting-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-2023-2#:~:text=While%20many%20films%20may%20take,the%20movie%27s%20multiverse%2Dhopping%20narrative. (Accessed: 22 June 2023). 

4. Sharma, P. (2023) Oscars 2023: How a 6-member team brought ‘everything everywhere all at once’ The best editing award?, PINKVILLA. Available at: https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/hollywood/oscars-2023-how-a-6-member-team-brought-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-the-best-editing-award-1212680#:~:text=Everything%20Everywhere%20All%20at%20Once%20won%207%20Oscars%20including%20the,was%20responsible%20for%20the%20VFX%3F&text=Everything%20Everywhere%20All%20at%20Once%20swept%20the%20Oscars,7%20awards%20in%20major%20categories. (Accessed: 22 June 2023). 

5. Yamato, J. (2022) ‘everything everywhere all at once’ explained: Hot dog hands, empathy challenges and meaning in the absurd, Los Angeles Times. Available at: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2022-04-14/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-explained-daniels-spoilers (Accessed: 22 June 2023). 

#forefront