#i guess some people don't?? care??? about watching them wrestle with that trauma and go on to try to have lives

[harrowharkwife]

i am SO fucking exhausted by mainstream media opinions lately and i don't understand why they're frequently SO different from my own? like i genuinely don't think i am approaching anything from that unique of a perspective as a viewer? maybe it's just that i'm too easy to please when it comes to stories or something but like. how is the mainstream, widely accepted consensus on yellowjackets season 2 is that it's "bad" and "doesn't work as a season" and is "riddled with problems." literally what the fuck are you talking about. this is the most fun i have had watching television uhhhhh literally Ever? you're telling me people hated Burial? how? why? like i don't...i just don't GET it. and i'm not playing dumb for kicks here im like genuinely honest to god confused. that was the single best episode of television I've ever watched in my life. like i get that people have different opinions about things and that's fine but HOW am i in the minority here what am i missing

#most of the critiques I've seen are that it 'focused on the adults too much' and was 'too weird' re: mistys sequence #like??? that was clearly supposed to be funny and campy and silly and artistic and a twin peaks homage? #and the 'focusing on the adults' i... i mean i guess some people are just here for the '96 mystery #and are completely uninterested in the psychological effects it had on all the characters? #i guess some people don't?? care??? about watching them wrestle with that trauma and go on to try to have lives #after something like that? #but like. that's the entire point of the show though. if you hate that why are you watching it every week #with enough investment to like. blog about it and put energy into writing whole ass thinkpieces #so much of media criticism these days boil down into 'i wish this show was Not the show that it is' #'i wish it was this other show that im writing with my twitter mutuals' #and like that's fine and fun and cool and valid and that's what fic is for! but a show isnt BAD for committing to itself and its own vision #like. there is something sooo sexy abt a piece of media that is so wholly itself that you have to meet it where it is #and judge it by its own metric #it creates a whole new unique lens for each and every thing you love! quit comparing apples and oranges! #it's SO fucking fun analyzing different pieces of media through the lens of their own little world and conventions #and guiding principles and plot pacing and what they choose to emphasize and their genre conventions and etc etc #it's FUN! and not to sound like a pretentious film bro dipshit but like why does it seem like this is a dying art these days #'s2 is boring' THEY. THEY ATE A PERSON. ARE WE WATCHING THE SAME THING

[defiantbird]

Aight I finished Azure Gleam. Here are some disorganized thoughts.

TL;DR it was ok. Best part was the character interactions, gameplay and storyline were meh.

It wasn't terrible. I was glad to find that it was more "what if this other stuff happened instead?" instead of "what if they never met Byleth?"

I don't love the gameplay. It's alright but it got pretty tedious, though admittedly I think I leveled too fast and things got too easy or something.

The story was underwhelming. As much as it was nice to see everyone get good things, it just wasn't compelling. It's great that Dimitri got revenge and never had a feral stage, but it didn't actually feel resolved at all. What made AM compelling was how he had to learn that revenge wasn't going to heal him, and that he would be wrestling with his mental illness forever. The moment at the end where he tells Byleth that he's going to visit his loved ones graves for the first time in years? So good! It's him saying that recovery is a process and he can grieve his loved ones instead of being terrified of their judgement! So like...great that he got answers in Hopes but I don't feel like he actually got better?

Shez was equally meh. She felt like a generic protagonist, almost annoyingly plucky. I just didn't get attached to her at all.

As mentioned, the character interactions were the best. It was nice to see the Faerghus 4 really addressing their trauma together, along with Dedue. It was awesome seeing Duscur soldiers in camp and being able to talk to them and get their perspective a little.

I was expecting more of Sothis. She was there for a bit and seemed to have strong feelings on things, but we never got more of an explanation of her knowledge of Epimenides. Also, when you defeat Thales, Rhea speaks about cleansing the world herself...I'm guessing she has similar beef with humans but plans to fix it more through control than through destruction? Or is she talking specifically about Agarthans? Idk still a lot of questions on all of that.

I'm interpreting Edelgard's behavior as like...having reverted to her child-self. It was really interesting but I wish they delved more into it. It honestly seemed strange that when she seemed to remember Dimitri, he just decided to walk away and not deal with it. I feel like he's cared about that a lot and he gave up on it really quick in the name of forgetting the past.

Other thoughts aside from things I've already expressed elsewhere-

- Byleth my beloved. Her interactions with Jeralt were my fave part of the game.

- Jeralt just being like "Yeah Byleth's weird. She's my world tho. If I die try to be her friend aight?"

- So much Faerghus lore, with the more casual stuff being most enjoyable, like Rodrigue talking about how people get super competitive in snowball fights.

- More Glenn characterization ❤️ His letter was everything I've wanted about him.

- Child: Did you see that big funny knight who's carrying entire carts of stuff?

Yuri:...oh my fucking god Dimitri are you serious

- Felix has a cat now it's canon

- Also canonized: Dimitri falling asleep facedown on his paperwork and people having heart attacks thinking he's dead

- Shez: Let's relax in the woods!

Dimitri: Haha someone could easily jump out and stab me in the back 😬

Anyway, idk if I'm gonna play the other routes after a break or just watch them at some point.

- Are we serious with Jeralt being like "you might have been a student or Garreg Mach...cause it's not like you're qualified to be a teacher lol" and Byleth like "hmmm"

- Ngl, I felt like Sylvain was stripped of a lot of his character. Again, this was long the lines of "glad everyone is happy but now there's no conflict"

#few3h spoilers #azure gleam spoilers