#in other news I'm rewatching season one and I'm just like God This Show Is Good

[ryin-silverfish]

LMK S5 trailer, Chinese pantheon infodump, and some ideas

…Man, normally, I feel the urge to write fix-it AUs after rewatching episodes and coming across particularly bizarre theories and takes, not before the new season's even out.

Thanks, S5 trailer.

Consider this your spoiler warning, because the rest of this post will all be my personal opinions about a few major story beats that were revealed + the rough outline for a fix-it AU.

It's also a bit ranty, and features some criticisms of the general narrative, so if that's not your cup of tea, feel free to avoid this one.

Li Jing becoming JE/the regent of the Celestial Realm is just hilariously absurd. I mean, it makes a teeny tiny bit more sense than the "Nezha will be the new JE" fan theory, but that's not a very high bar.

1) In-universe, he had done a grand total of nothing while shit was hitting the fan, and only showed up after it was all over. Which, tbh, isn't too far from his role in FSYY. No, wait, at least in FSYY, he killed Luo Xuan via a pagoda to the head, after the guy had all his fire-based magical treasures neutralized and taken away by Princess Longji.

Yeah, congrats, LMK's Li Jing, you've somehow become even more useless than your FSYY and JTTW counterparts——which is a true feat.

2) Even if someone's making him JE/regent, it wouldn't be the Ten Kings. To put it simply: the Underworld doesn't have that authority. They are the most pathetic of all divine bureaucracies, who pretty much only show up to get pushed around and revive the occasional dead guy in JTTW (and I still love them).

Like, they ain't no Hades or Satan. Just the 10 judges of the Dead People Supreme Court. To heavily paraphrase Di Ting in the original JTTW novel:

"How much power do Underworld gods really have? (幽冥之神，能有多少法力)" "...Certainly not enough to stop a rampaging demonic macaque who's as strong as SWK, if I say the truth out loud in here and piss him off. Just send them to the Buddha, please."

An analogy: if the Celestial Host is the imperial court, the Underworld is the ministry in charge of judicial processes and prisons. They don't even have authority over the imperial censors who answer directly to the emperor, let alone the power to determine a successor to the throne during a major crisis.

If this was to make the tiniest bit of sense, Li Jing would be the one commanding THEM, not the other way around. Or if it's Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha himself giving orders to Li Jing…for some reason.

But we know that ain't happening bc of the show's strange aversion to showing Buddhist deities on screen, not to mention it would be very OOC for Ksitigarbha, whose job is granting relief and salvation to souls in the Path of Hell, not judging and punishing them like the Ten Kings.

3) If you must make Li Jing the emperor/regent, you have a more mythos-accurate and obvious choice than the Ten Kings, considering you already got the Four Divine Beasts involved!

Yes, I'm talking about their bosses, the humanoid "directional + elemental gods": Lord Father of the East (Wood), Queen Mother of the West (Metal), Emperor Zhenwu of the North (Water).

No South though...because our mythos can't agree on a single directional god of the South, but for shit and giggles, just imagine Zhurong, Yandi, Huaguang, and the Star of Fiery Virtues all sitting on the same narrow bench, staring awkwardly at each other.

Maybe we can have Ziwei, Great Emperor of the Central Sky and North Stars, who is one of the Four Sovereigns(四御) in Daoism (two of which could also be an alternate choice, but maybe a bit too obscure for foreign audiences).

He commands the stellar deities and heavenly bodies——which the Four Divine Beasts would technically fall under, as guardians of the four quadrants of the sky, each in charge of 7 Lunar Mansions.

4) But if you already have these deities, why the hell would any of them make Li Jing the regent? Wouldn't it be more likely for them to create a Celestial Council of Regents themselves, with Devaraja Li Jing under their command as the leader of what's left of the celestial army?

Like, you can still have them, or one of them, going after the gang and ordering Li Jing to put the fillet on SWK.

I can see Zhenwu the Demon-Vanquisher doing that, since the fillet isn't too different from what he did to Huaguang and a lot of the demons he subdued in JTTN: feeding them magical water/fire pills that would corrode/ignite their insides whenever they tried to resist.

(Yeah, compared to that, the fillet would look like the lenient option, since it's just pain and won't actually dissolve/cook you alive from the inside out...)

And it wouldn't be bc he thought SWK was to blame for the Brotherhood's epic fuck-up...somehow. Like, what even is that logic?!

I mean, I can kinda see the Ten Kings doing it as a pre-emptive "Don't blame us for our shitty security, blame that guy over there!" move...except they are no longer answering to any higher authorities who'd hold them responsible at that point!

"What about Li Jing?" You may ask. Yeah, WHAT ABOUT LI JING? Why does Li Jing have to get involved in this?

If he's forcing the Ten Kings to pass judgement on the gang (which surely doesn't look like it in the trailers), why's he enlisting the help of the weakest faction and not, y'know, his celestial soldiers and other gods?

If the Ten Kings get Li Jing to be their enforcer...well, how the Eighteen Hells did they manage that? What could the Ghost Supreme Court and their crappy prison-torture chamber-soul customs office complex even offer Li Jing as a bribe?

And if their goals were to avoid responsibilities by blaming someone else, how stupid did they have to be to actively involve/create a higher authority who can punish them once the cat gets out of the proverbial bag, instead of, I dunno, just stay where they are and keep their head down???

So in my fix-it AU, it's more of a "Better safe than sorry" scenario, where every demon working for the new Celestial Council must prove their loyalty via swallowing the water/fire pill, now that even more dangerous demons have escaped and are running around in the aftermath of S4.

And Great Sage and company are not exempt from that new law either——"If you are truly righteous and Not Like Them and not planning to rebel, what's there to be afraid of?"

Horrified by the Demon-Vanquishing Mansion's 16th century standards of "justice" and "mercy", they naturally would not have any of it, and thus the conflict begins.

Not only would this show the fallout of Azure's misguided rebellion——that, in trying to make a better world, he had made it 120% worse for both humanity and demonkind in less drastic and more realistic ways aside from dooming reality to irreversible destruction, it would also help with the major show-not-tell problem about Celestial cruelty bc the "good guys" in power saw no problem with this kind of shit.

If you want your lawful antagonists who take Order to its extremes, the warrior sovereign in black leading an elite army of demon-hunters + penal legions made of "reformed" demons would be a better choice than the Ghost Supreme Court, don't ya think?

(Fun fact: in Zaju plays, Zhenwu was often said to be the boss of Nezha and Erlang, so him commanding Li Jing wouldn't be too out of place either.)

Now, you may ask, why do I even care? After all, isn't it clear that the show is neither mythos-accurate nor trying to be, considering the JE got K.O.ed by a Bodhisattva's cat of all things?

Not to mention the season's not even out yet, so why jump to conclusions so quickly? Maybe the actual episodes will have explanations that make sense. Relax.

...Cause I don't mind less-than-stellar animations if the story's good, and since I keep noticing the less-than-stellar animations, it clearly isn't good enough.

Also, it's not like it's only the implications that are absurd——my problem is with the whole premise of "Li Jing becoming the new JE/Regent" and "The gang is prosecuted by the Ten Kings for bullshit reasons, even though these guys should not, and never have the power to enforce anything over SWK."

I don't like calling narrative choices "wrong" per se, and prefer to see it on a gradient of "least to most narrative potential". When it comes to adaptations, if the option that is faithful to the original work will result in a less interesting story, then I'll happily take the one that isn't as faithful and takes creative liberties, but makes a better story.

And here, I feel like being faithful to the Chinese mythos inspirations will add to the narrative potential instead of subtract from it, and the idea they come up with kinda...goes against how Chinese pantheons work, in a very simplified and "westernized" manner.

Mostly bc I am a Chinese Underworld mythos lover and think they deserve better than being ominous Hades/Grim Reaper knockoffs. And out of all the possible Chinese gods, Nezha's asshole dad is the least qualified or interesting candidate to fill in the power vaccum left by JE's death.

#lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid s5 #lmk s5 #lmk s5 spoilers #monkie kid spoilers #fix it au #chinese mythology #li jing #lmk li jing #journey to the west #investiture of the gods #lmk critical #lmk season 5 #chinese underworld #chinese gods

[watchmakermori]

I fully believe that stranger things season 1 is the perfect example of something being so well-crafted that people don’t realise just how good it is.

obviously this isn’t a groundbreaking show. there’s very little in stranger things that’s new or original, and there’s nothing in the themes that’s going to change your life. we’re dealing with standard sci-fi and horror tropes, a bit of coming of age, a bit of teeny romance. and I think because of those things, people don’t actually talk about the craft of stranger things nearly enough.

I’m not saying people don’t know this show is good. it’s stupidly popular and absolutely blew up on release, but in all the mass appeal and the merch and the shilling for the characters, I don’t think the skill of the writing in that first season gets the discussion it deserves. I really think stranger things has possibly the best pacing of anything I’ve ever watched. the way it navigates different subplots and characters, developing them seamlessly before drawing them into a whole at the end - this is not an easy thing to do, but they manage it so effortlessly that the skill is invisible.

no moment in the first season is wasted. it’s carefully set up so that each pocket of characters - the kids, the teens, the adults - are all discovering slightly different things, so that no one character has all the information. everybody is united around the same goal (finding will), but they’re geared towards different parts of it, which makes it unbelievably satisfying when different sets of characters finally start sharing information. the show has a great deal that it needs to convey to us; on top of making the characters loveable and interesting (and there are a lot of characters), they also have to set up will’s disappearance, the monster and its rules, and the existence of the hawkins lab and the psychic children. the series is jam packed yet never feels overloaded with exposition - we learn exactly what we need to know exactly when we need to know it. the writers know when to hold back and leave us as ignorant as the characters, and when to create suspense out of the fact that we know more than the characters. 

like I say, I don’t think stranger things is a mindblowing bit of media in the grand scheme of things. but I would still give it a 10/10, because it’s absolutely perfect at what it’s trying to be. every time I rewatch it I’m struck by how merticulous it feels. as somebody who writes fiction and has seen behind the drafting process, how you come back to a story again and again to trim the fat and streamline the subplots and make everything as smooth as possible, i can feel that work when I watch stranger things. and it’s invisible work - as consumers, we’re never privy to that part of the writing process. we don’t see any sign of the countless drafts that came before the final story, and if it’s written well, we never should. a story told well feels like it never could’ve been told any other way

stranger things season one just comes across like a show that has been polished and polished until it was the very best that it could be. it’s a bit goofy and campy and not especially original, but the dedication to the craft is just incredible and I love to see it

#stranger things #in other news I'm rewatching season one and I'm just like God This Show Is Good #i also think it's the best example of why execution is always always more important than ideas #on paper there's nothing original about stranger things but it's so well written that it doesn't matter. it makes the story worth telling

[bardinthezone]

Personally I hope that bi-generation functions as a hard reset for the series. I hope it leaves all the trauma with 14, I hope it's the end of an era, I hope this puts all the complex, weaving storylines behind us and lets us start anew.

Because I love the 2005-now era of Doctor Who (for the most part). It was most of my personality in middle school and had an immeasurable impact on who I am as a person. I'm rewatching it now, and it's still a blast so far. But god, it's getting really inaccessible.

It's 18 years of continuity to keep up with, 18 years of complicated storylines that all tie in to one another. Recently it's been really hard to tell people to get into Doctor Who, because there's no good starting point. Because you don't want to start them on Chibnal's writing. But you can't tell them to start with Capaldi, because they don't have the backstory for Clara. But then you can't really start with the introduction of Clara, because even if you start with The Snowmen you're missing the backstory for Oswin and the start of that arc. Plus you're starting in the middle of 11's run. So then you have to go back allll the way to the introduction of Amy and Rory. And even if you love Moffat's writing (which I don't), you're still telling people to watch 7+ seasons of a show. And if, like me, you want people to experience RTD's writing first, you're basically gonna have to have them start with series 1, which gives them 12-13 season to catch up on, with more on the way. And that's really overwhelming if you have other responsiblities to keep you busy.

But this offers a fresh start. This says, "Okay, we've had our trauma. We've had our Time Wars and our Rose Tylers and our Demon's Runs and our Clara Oswalds and our... Timeless Children--- now it's time for something completely different." And it's not pulling a "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and completely nuking the pre-existing canon; all the wonderful moments of the previous era are still very real! They just aren't driving the plot in the same way the past 13 seasons have gone.

If you love Doctor Who for the complex storylines, that's wonderful. I'm sure there are gonna be some new storylines and fun callbacks in the next season for you to latch onto. And there'll always be the 2005-2023 era to return to. Hell, I could be wrong, and RTD is gonna pick up right where Chibnal left off (God I hope not..). But personally? I'm getting burnt out. I want to see the Doctor get to be just a silly man flying around space, helping people and teaching them things. I want a reset.

#doctor who spoilers #doctor who #14th doctor #15th doctor #david tennant #ncuti gatwa #doctor who 60th anniversary spoilers #doctor who 60th anniversary #dw 60th

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box Series— Quinn Hughes Edition (nine)

ft. Wyatt Johnston

23-24 Season Masterlist

previous: eight

next: ten

NOVEMBER 4, 2023

if you're not a stars fan, it's best to convert quickly

yourusername

liked by _quinnhughes, t.harley48, and 17,436 others

yourusername welcome back to my postgame penalty box update show: i finally saw a mason marchment fight live and quinn was also there edition!

after quinn's personal record of three trips to the penalty box night, he decided to be good! this was probably due to the fact that i will fight him over any penalty against the stars (hey, remember when you committed interference against robo on february 27th last season? because i sure do), but we'll pretend it was because he's trying to redeem himself since my baby daddy trevy-z is at zero. the war is strong with these two!

you know who did get a penalty? one of my new besties wyatt "johnny" johnston! his penalty was for holding mikheyev in the second period! (holding penalties aren't ones i hold grudges against, so you're in the clear! but also you do nothing wrong ever, so i wouldn't hold it against you anyways) (p.s. i wouldn't have been mad if you fought garly... i was kinda rooting for it)

other penalties include: (in time order) digi for holding against another new bestie harls, mr. captain jamie benn for hooking soucy which created 39 seconds of 4 on 4, craig smith for hooking friedman, and laffy taffy for hooking wyatt's dad joe pavelski all in the first, esa lindell for cross checking garly, hronek for high sticking my blonde prince roope hintz (he got reprimanded for this), and our two fighting majors between the blue eyed menace mason marchment and ian! (mason got an extra minor for unsportsmanlike behavior) (ian was reprimanded for his hit against matt "dutchy" duchene that started the fight)

my best friend, quintin, pulled a jacky boy and fell over nothing! the conversation between the stars broadcasters went like this:

razor: "he was having a moment back there!"

bogo: "he was playing billiards off the bottom of the net to himself!"

razor: "well, he wiped out first!"

needless to say, i was laughing my ass off when i rewatched this game!

special shoutout to demmer for continuing his perfect win streak against the stars and getting his second shut out of the season! i’m so proud of you @/tdemko35 ! (for those who don't know, he has a 7-0-0 record and just gave otter his first regulation loss of the season :))

quinny, i’m going to publicly say i’m sorry that otter caught every one of your shots on goal <3 and i’m proud of your 25 minutes and 23 seconds of hard work tonight! i love you way past infinity💙 keep it up, buttercup!

p.s. dear wy, harls, and delly, thanks for the great time before the game tonight! i hope you loved your postgame goodie bags! i’ll see you boys december 21st! peace and love, new besties <3 @/t.harley48 @/wyattjohnston_ @/tydellandrea53

tagged _quinnhughes and wyattjohnston_

view all 218 comments

_quinnhughes i have so many grievances about this post... but i still love you way past beyond

yourusername i didn't say one bad thing about you!! just one little tease that i teased jack at the same!!

_quinnhughes i'm sharing my post!

yourusername neither broadcast gave me much to work with, quintin! just be glad you're in it

_quinnhughes get out of my house

yourusername fine! i’ll go to petey's!

_eliaspettersson @/yourusername let yourself in and i’ll be back soon

_quinnhughes @_eliaspettersson i was teasing! she's good! she's staying with me!

colecaufield @_quinnhughes quinn, your possessiveness is showing

_quinnhughes @/colecaufield i don't know what you're talking about

yourusername @_quinnhughes awww, you miss me! sap

_quinnhughes i can't win

user14 god DAMN that fifth pic of quinn has me acting up🥵🧎‍♀️

trevorzegras your stars obsession is so cute when you aren't rooting against me❤️ i love you, forever, my precious weirdo (what are you private thoughts on quinn not scoring on otter?) (come home, i miss you)

yourusername i love you, always, my lovingly crazy boy❤️ (i plead the fifth) (i’ll be there before the game!)

_quinnhughes (we all know she's secretly happy i didn't score against her actual favorite team)

yourusername @_quinnhughes (you can't prove shit)

t.harley48 @/yourusername (what is up with the parentheses?)

yourusername @/t.harley48 (it's for private conversations!)

t.harley48 @/yourusername (everyone can read them?)

trevorzegras @/t.harley48 (she's quirky and we love her)

t.harley48 @/trevorzegras (i’m a big fan of quirky)

yourusername @/t.harley48 (then you're welcome that i exist!)

trevorzegras @/t.harley48 (i repeat: she's quirky and we love her)

t.harley48 @/yourusername (thank you)

_quinnhughes @/t.harley48 (you caught on quick, good job)

tdemko35 thank you, y/n/n! my two shutout trophies will be displayed in my living room. i love you, too!

yourusername you are every so welcome, king! keep gobbling up those pucks like they're fruit snacks🫶

tdemko35 yes, ma'am🫡

_quinnhughes @/yourusername why

yourusername @_quinnhughes "why don't you just be yourself?... no one can help but admire your spirit" (collins 121).

_quinnhughes @/yourusername YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE HUNGER GAMES BOOK ON YOU

yourusername @_quinnhughes i had to phone a friend

trevorzegras @/yourusername i think i’m more than just a friend

yourusername @_quinnhughes i had to phone a friend with benefits

trevorzegras @/yourusername WE ARE ENGAGED

yourusername @_quinnhughes i had to phone a friend with a future tax deduction

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras looks like you can't win either

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes i blame the stars

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras me too

yourusername @/trevorzegras @_quinnhughes LEAVE THEM ALONE! THEY DIDN'T DO SHIT!

_quinnhughes @/yourusername you're right, they couldn't even score a goal

yourusername @_quinnhughes too soon, quintin. too. fucking. soon.

user21 wyatt's kinda...👀

user16 "and quinn was also there" sissy's keeping it real as always

wyattjohnston_ i’m honored to be a part of this, your majesty

yourusername i’m always happy to support my people! you deserve it!

wyattjohnston_ you're too kind!

tydellandrea53 @/yourusername and you're such a giver, princess! the guys all loved your postgame goodie bags

t.harley48 all hail the princess!

wyattjohnston_ all hail!

tydellandrea53 all hail!

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes what the fuck happened when these four met up before the game????

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras i don't know i wasn't invited and i’m really glad about that right now

trevorzegras @/wyattjohnston_ @/t.harley48 @.tydellandrea53 send a disco ball emoji you need help

wyattjohnston_ @/trevorzegras we're good😂

tydellandrea53 @/trevorzegras we formed a gang

t.harley48 @/trevorzegras y/n's the princess, johnny is the duke, i'm the viscount, and delly asked to be a jester for some reason

tydellandrea53 damn right

trevorzegras @/yourusername you leave me for two days and decided to start a gang?! without me?!

yourusername @/trevorzegras no! delly started the gang! and just be happy you knew where i was this time!

wyattjohnston_ @/trevorzegras @/yourusername this time?

trevorzegras @/wyattjohnston_ she has a tendency to hop on a plane and not tell anyone where she's going

_quinnhughes @/wyattjohnston_ @/t.harley48 @.tydellandrea if she ever randomly shows up, do us a favor and tell one of us because there'll be a strong chance we didn't know she left

t.harley48 @_quinnhughes got it🫡

wyattjohnston_ @_quinnhughes will do

tydellandrea53 @_quinnhughes no promises

user27 sissy: ceo of "never let them know your next move"

_alexturcotte one fight wasn't enough for you? do you know how to be content?

yourusername nope

_alexturcotte at least you're honest

yourusername liars get their pants set on fire! the babies could get hurt!

_alexturcotte you make a great point, girly hughes!

jackhughes @_alexturcotte does she though?

_alexturcotte @/jackhughes she's carrying my future god child and their sibling. she could tell me that there's a new state and i’d tell her she's right

jackhughes @_alexturcotte sissy and z haven't officially named you as a god parent!

_alexturcotte @/jackhughes that's why i'm kissing ass!

yourusername @_alexturcotte the ass kissing is duly noted🤍

user91 i have been waiting for this post since the nhl dropped the game schedules

jackhughes @_quinnhughes do you want to ship sissy back to trevor yet?

_quinnhughes no i’m trying to keep her for the roadie

trevorzegras @_quinnhughes not happening

jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes i'm already having withdrawal symptoms

_quinnhughes @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale you two get her every day! i miss my sister

jackhughes @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes lukey and i never get to see her! we want a turn!

lhughes_06 yeah! our turn!

colecaufield @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes @/jackhughes @/lhughes_06 I DESERVE A TURN

_alexturcotte @/trevorzegras @/jamie.drysdale @_quinnhughes @/jackhughes @/lhughes_06 @.colecaufield ME FIRST! i’m pulling the ahl card! i get to see girly hughes less than any of you!

yourusername you're all a bunch of SAPS

#penalty box series #penalty box series: quinn hughes edition #quinn hughes #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes fanfic #quinn hughes au #quinn hughes edit #quinn hughes insta edit #quinn hughes x reader #trevor zegras #trevor zegras au #wyatt johnston #wyatt johnston imagine #cole caufield #alex turcotte #jack hughes #luke hughes #quinn hughes x sister! reader #trevor zegras x reader #trevor zegras x hughes reader #quinn hughes fanfiction #nhl imagine #hockey imagine

[cnwolf-brainrot]

03 Turtles - Greatest Fears

At least, as sourced from season 3, episode 14: The Darkness Within. I rewatched this episode, where the turtles are shown some of their greatest fears through hallucinogenic visions, and I decided to hyper-analyze the scenes to a friend of mine who doesn't watch TMNT so now I'm throwing these thoughts here as well. Simply put, these are the visions the turtles are shown: Leonardo: the death of Master Splinter Donatello: the death of Angel (who they were trying to help on this mission) Michelangelo: Leonardo turning against him Raphael: himself as the Shredder

As for why each of these are extremely important, I analyze them under the cut~

Leonardo: Leo holds Splinter's praise so much higher than his brothers do. Leo is the eldest child, the leader, the good student and the role model. He strives to emulate his father in all that he does. However, Splinter's death isn't some distant fantasy that Leo could never imagine; it's a real, stark, bone-deep terror that Leo carries. He's seen Splinter on the brink of death before. They all thought they lost him for a bit during season one. Leo knows his father isn't invincible, and that is TERRIFYING to him. He's the one who his brothers look to for guidance, and Leo looks to Splinter... without his father, EVERYTHING falls on his shoulders, and is he strong enough to bear that? This is further proved by the fact that in the vision thing Leo sees, Splinter rescues him before he dies; he looks to his father for guidance, security, everything... having to lead alone is his greatest fear.

Donatello: Don gets like twenty seconds of screen time and that makes me mad, but what he gets is important. Out of all of his brothers, his is the only vision that's focused on someone other than direct family. Donatello is a people-focused character; he goes out of his way to help others, and constantly throughout the series we see how empathetic he is. It doesn't matter if the focus of the episode is helping a dear friend or a stranger; Donny is the first in line to help. Moreover, he takes every single life they touch personally. This is seen specifically through how he keeps a bond with the homeless population of New York (seen in multiple episodes), how he witnesses the loss of April's neighbor Kirby, and how he spends months trying to find a cure for people who were experimented on by the Shredder (seen in the Underground episodes) even after his brothers have all but forgotten about them. Don is quick to protect people, and when he does he takes every single failure to heart. Failing someone he pledged to help is his greatest fear.

Michelangelo: Mikey seeing one of his brothers, particularly Leonardo, turn against him shows so much of his relationship with his brothers. Mikey's the annoying one, the goofball, the one the others are always teasing to the point its almost mean... but every single one of them would jump to his side in an INSTANT if he was hurt. This isn't just something Mikey "knows", it's something he SEES. Every time Mikey is in trouble, or -- God forbid -- an enemy makes the mistake of THREATENING Mikey, his brothers come out in full force. I can't even reference specific episodes here because it's throughout the WHOLE SERIES. Mikey knows he's annoying, and he knows he gets on his brothers nerves sometimes. But one thing he never has to doubt is if his brothers would be by his side... that is, until they're not. If there's ever something that would push his brothers far enough that they're not there with him, then what would he be left with? His brothers turning against him is Mikey's greatest fear.

Raphael: Raphael. OHHHHHH Raphael. The second Raph's was reveal was the second I decided I needed to type out this rant. At first his is simple; The Shredder walks out and attacks him. Raph fights back, as he always does, but eventually the helmet is knocked off and the Shredder's face is revealed... only it's Raph's face. And this shows us just what Raph is scared of; HIMSELF. Raphael genuinely struggles with anger issues in the 2003 show in a way that's a bit more prominent than in other iterations (my favorite example of this is probably the "what's wrong with me?" from the episode Lone Raph and Cub). He's angry, he's destructive, and he KNOWS this. It's something he's been told and seen for years. He struggles with controlling his anger, and he's had times before when he's lashed out and nearly hurt his brothers. Most of the time he brushes it off and recovers and makes up for it by throwing himself into danger to make sure his brothers aren't hurt. What makes this so heartbreaking is that this Raphael is an absolute sweetheart. He's all brawn and thick skin on the outside, but he's an utter softie; take his interactions with Tyler from Lone Raph and Cub, Mrs. Morrison from Touch and Go, or Ryan from this episode. And that's not to mention his interactions with his brothers!! This Raphael has a huge heart for others, and he has no idea. He genuinely doesn't seem to understand the fact that he's a caring person because he only is aware of his own faults. The fact that he sees himself as this -- their greatest enemy unmasked to see HIMSELF underneath -- shows just how little he knows about who he truly is. Raphael's greatest fear is himself, and that utterly breaks, my heart. Ok I'm done that's just my turtle overanalysis for the day, thank you for coming to my TED talk

#tmnt #tmnt 2003 #tmnt rant #tmnt analysis #tmnt leonardo #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt raphael #tmnt 2k3 #tmnt leo 2003 #tmnt don 2003 #tmnt mikey 2003 #tmnt raph 2003

[halemerry]

I read your meta on the manipulation the Metatron used on Aziraphale, and it was such a great essay laying out every detail. When I watched the end of the episode it was early morning for me and I was super tired and I missed a lot of those details. What did manage to come through in my sleepy mind, was that I was very confused about Why This Happened? As in, I understand now that Az was manipulated, I definitely agree with that analysis, but I don't understand yet if this decision was foreshadowed anywhere in the first 5 and a half episodes. I haven't rewatched the season yet (too busy reading meta lol) but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that?

I just feel like, other than Aziraphale saying in the first episode that it's nice sometimes to tell someone about something good you've done, now that he's not reporting to heaven, Az doesn't actually seem to care all that much in the present day about his old allegiance. I wonder if maybe that's part of the point? He didn't want Heaven anymore and so he wasn't thinking about it? After all, the show begins with Aziraphale enjoying his new life. As the interviews said, he's living his best life. Good music, good food, and the love of his life.

Because if that's genuinely the case, then perhaps the point of the season is that the soft gentle romance of the first five episodes is Who They Are, and it's just that Aziraphale was rushed and manipulated into something he genuinely did not want even a little bit.

Or maybe he always thought he could fix it, because of the Before The Beginning where Crowley said, "If I was in charge, I'd want people to ask questions." Maybe that planted a seed in Azi's mind. Maybe Azi does want to run Heaven, only in a way that Crowley could be proud of it again. Fix it FOR Crowley. Even though Crowley doesn't want that (and Azi maybe doesn't understand that yet).

I came into your askbox intending to ask a simple question about your thoughts, but I have instead written an essay and asked for one in return. Consider it a quick temptation lol

Temptation accomplished hehe - though a little later than I'd have liked. No though genuinely I love this sort of thing a lot and really appreciate all of it. Anyone please feel free to do this at any time!

But uh so. Since that first meta I've done a lot of stuff breaking down that last scene here and also breaking down Aziraphale and the minisodes from this season here. Both of these operate ascribing to the idea that Aziraphale has been threatened into pseudo compliance on top of the active manipulation the Metatron was doing to him. I'll admit this is the theory I currently favor. But, while that's something I find more thematically interesting and also in more narrative alignment, I do still think there's narrative weight to this on its own.

And I think in the case you've got it dead on with the idea of fixing Heaven FOR Crowley.

Most significantly I think this is viable in the way Aziraphale views Crowley. Like. We know he thinks Crowley is Good and that he has thought this for a very very long time. Arguably his instincts have been telling him this since even before he could consciously put it into words given that even as early as Eden he was being honest with Crowley - a thing he even then did not feel he could do with God Herself. Despite being Fallen, Crowley is safe. Crowley is right. Crowley is Good.

Despite is important here. Because it is notably not and. The lesson being taught here is not that Hell can be Good. In fact Crowley himself actively encourages this idea. I'm not taking you to Hell because you wouldn't like it. My lot don't send rude notes. I need a weapon that could destroy me to keep me safe from Hell. I'm a demon: I lie. A demon could get in a lot of trouble for doing the right thing. I'm a demon, demons aren't nice- You're an angel you can't be tempted. You're an angel - you can't do the wrong thing. All of these things in culmination with the way Crowley talks about his Fall to Aziraphale - I didn't really Fall just sauntered vaguely downward - sets Crowley up as unique in the way he transcends what he is.

Meanwhile Aziraphale has been learning the hard, slow way that the people running Heaven do not necessarily have good intentions and more critically that they are not in alignment with what God actually wants. The problem is the management. The angel who would become Crowley said as much himself.

He has every reason to believe they fix it together too. He now knows that together they can perform archangel tier miracles while they're both actively trying to hold back. He knows that even when they're making mistakes and fumbling through the apocalypse they can help defy the world ending. He knows that they are perhaps the only two beings alive that even remotely understand God's will.

So here's Aziraphale given the opportunity to put himself in charge along with theoretically the single most Good being he's ever met. Of course that's appealing. You could give the person you love the power to create again - something we are explicitly shown at the beginning of this season to bring the angel that would become Crowley more joy and delight than we have literally ever seen Crowley have on screen - and the power to create a world together that actually deserves to have that person? You could undo something that you've slowly been coming to terms with believing should have never been done to him in the first place? You could be Adam, rewriting the end of the world and making it so the Bookshop never burned. All you need to do is change the color of the paint job.

Because he'd never change Crowley. He loves Crowley. Crowley is Good already it's not about making him better. The bit with the Bentley is the scene this season that encapsulates this sort of worldview most. Aziraphale changes the color of the car (which is being presented to us as literally physically linked to Crowley) but not the model. He changes how it looks just like Crowley changes into angel wear without a second thought. Neither change the core of what they are, just the aesthetics. And Crowley is always trying on new aesthetics without letting them change who he is. From Az's perspective why would this be any different?

He doesn't realize that sometimes even if you make it so a Bookshop never burnt that doesn't mean the memory of it doing so ever leaves. You still line the shop with fire extinguishers. You still swap to battery operated candles. The memory lingers as they always seem to do.

Crowley can't ever go back. Won't ever go back. Because the trauma of the Fall draws a clearer line for him both in his own identity and in his worldview than it ever could for Aziraphale who came to his own much more slowly. And because of that it's easy to see a reading of Aziraphale that can't see the specific way what he's saying eats at all Crowley's insecurities because all he can see is what they're capable of together and how that aligns with the greater good. It's all part of God's plan, just like they've always been.

#good omens #gos2 spoilers #good omens season 2 #good omens spoilers #i still prefer the lying theory but i can definitely wrap my head around where this version of Az would be coming from #answers #good omens meta #sure lets throw that tag on #aziraphale #crowley

[lol-jackles]

Have you rewatched Supernatural since the show ended. I have watched the odd episode here and there but just haven't gotten around to starting the show again.

I don't rewatch any shows in its entirety, my memories do that work for me.  There are some shows that I'll rewatch if I come across them while channel surfing, with some caveats.  For example, If it's a Star Trek: Next Gen episode, I check to see if Riker has a beard or not.  No beard = keep channel surfing.  A beard present means the episode has a greater chance of being good.  If Sam Winchester has a prince Valiant hairstyle without bangs, then it's season 10  and that's a "no".

Now there are shows that stay with me for years, decades even, that I think about, especially as I get older and suddenly the context of arcs or lines hits differently.  Will Supernatural be one of them?  Well actually due to its longevity, it already has.  I didn't like how it was  implied in season 5 that Chuck was God and I kept trying to push a round Chuck through a square shaped Judeo-Christian hole until it hit me that Chuck is actually a Demiurg who merely shaped the material reality.  In Gnosticism, the Demiurge acts antagonistic to the will of the One True God or to all things spiritually pure.  Similarly the angels in Neil Garman's books are also Demiurges that created the universe and Earth. 

I sometimes think about Sam’s hero journey-ing through the dark hearts of the American gothic roads with his brother who is his greatest ally, best friend, and sometimes his enemy.  Like how soulless Sam Winchester was unintentionally Dean’s ideal brother on paper, but Dean didn’t want him because soulless Sam wasn’t Dean’s.  Like how new mothers want their baby even though there are probably better options in the hospital nursery ward.  Newborn babies are all the same at that stage, what differences does it make to pick one over the other?  For the new mothers, the answer is obvious.  

A hero's journey is often about death and rebirth. The death of an aspect of a character and the birth of some new ways of life. Sam cycle through this a few times, with Dean being both death of an aspect of Sam's character and then his actual deaths gave Sam new ways of life, both bad and good, and finally good. Or I'm just thinking about it too much at random and unexpected times.

#supernatural

[brotherdusk]

it's time again for my favourite genre of post: tumblr user bee brotherdusk theorises wildly during the Foundation midseason!

on the menu this time is Poly and Constant's Imperial Vacation From Hell, or "oh god, I just wanted to make sure one of my favourite guys was going to be okay, but somehow I ended up sending over two dozen increasingly frantic messages to the discord while everyone else was asleep, pepe silvia-style"

(today I learned that grandpa joe shows up when you type "pepe silvia" into the gif search. deserved)

I'm gonna stick this under a readmore as it gets pretty long and image heavy, and potentially contains big spoilers for upcoming episodes, and I know some people want to watch the show completely unspoiled. all theories are based on official promotional videos already released by apple. no leaks or insider book knowledge here!

so I sort of stumbled into this theory in three stages, and I'm going to stick to that template as I talk through my analysis here, starting with:

Part 1 - I'm Genre Aware Now And Everything Hurts

let's be real, nobody saw Hari's (apparent) death coming in the last episode. death is far less of a concern in this show than in others, as the narrative all but guarantees the long-term survival of its core characters. Hari (apparently) dying so quickly after having his body restored was a massive shock, and jolted us out of the complacency that the show had lulled us into.

when the title and description of next week's episode dropped, fan concern quickly turned to Poly, who @gaal-dornick and @aquitainequeen noted has started to exhibit the classic symptoms of Tragic Mentor Figure Disease:

also, there's, y'know, The Guillotine Situation as shown in Trailer 1:

Poly's death seemed so likely that I was beginning to dread the coming episodes, but something was nagging at me; I had a vague memory of seeing a trailer where he was on Terminus and in a situation that we haven't yet seen him in. maybe he does survive his brush with Brother Day, then? I started rewatching all of the trailers, teasers, and character spotlight videos that Apple released in the run-up to season two, and came across something way wilder than I'd expected:

Part 2 - Star Bridge 2: Council Boogaloo

I found another camera shot of Poly and Constant's apparent execution in the Brother Dawn character spotlight video - note the pillars in front of the crowd, the flags in the back, and Dawn, Sareth, Demerzel, Dusk, and Rue standing on the platform behind Day and the prisoners.

note also the onlookers in the maroon robes, who are also visible in the guillotine closeup I posted above...

...hey, it's the Galactic Council as seen in 2.06, with their GILF-y leader at the front in both scenes!

remember how terrified Cleon XII was of their judgement in the season one finale? we still don't know what their exact deal is, but they're clearly big cheeses politically if XII of all people is afraid of them:

here's yet another angle of the execution from Trailer 2 - same setup, same arrangement of Empire on the podium:

let's see what happens in that shot, will we? ..... oh

... did an explosion just go off in the heart of Trantor and potentially take out the entire galaxy's government in one go???? (I mean, Empire are probably fine with their auras and nanobots and backups, but I'm not feeling too good about the Council's chances right now...)

wait - the pulse and shape that appear on the horizon bear a striking resemblance to the new Foundation whisper ships - especially Poly and Constant's ship, Spirit Rising, which is currently in the hands of Hober Mallow...

why did he take their ship, again?

holy fucking shit Hari Seldon you insane rat bastard (admiring, horrified, impressed). what have you DONE. a blade in case the religious hand of friendship doesn't work out, you say??

(sidenote: this was literally the Anacreon plan for the Invictus in the first season - the scale of the destruction would have been magnitudes worse due to the Invictus' size, but same concept)

honestly, I kind of hope the entire Council perishes in the Mallowpocalypse, if only because it would make this exchange in 2.06 deliciously ironic:

the worst detectives in the world finally found their shared braincell and made a deduction! I'm proud of them!

also, Glawen literally saw this coming in 2.04 and Bel brushed him off. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ sad!

regarding casualties - I think this shot from Trailer 1 is the aftermath of the blast. Day was standing much closer to the explosion than the rest of Empire and Dominion, and so would have taken more damage, aura or not. I also see Sareth, Rue (?), and Dawn - jury's out on whether being dead is the latest item added to Dusk's rapidly expanding list of problems?

a direct attack on Trantor would also explain why Day goes on a personal tour of the Outer Reach and ends up on Terminus, screaming for an audience with Hari Seldon (Trailer 1 again):

and hey, Poly's right behind him! he's Empire's best chance of getting a personal audience with the Prophet, after all. Poly also pops up in Day's character spotlight video, in what I'm guessing is the execution scene again, judging from the collar and the guard restraining him. it might even be the aftermath of the blast, since the shot is pretty chaotic and dusty looking. what's got him so upset?

... and it was at this moment that I realised that while Poly is present in the later Terminus scenes with Day, Brother Constant is not, and I started to worry that I'd been focusing on the wrong person the whole time, leading to...

Part 3 - What About Constant?

oh no. the question of Constant's safety has been hanging over both Poly and the viewer since 2.02. oh no

I thought I might have caught a glimpse of her in the Teaser 1 video - being restrained in the background as Day does his infamously-giffed-to-hell Big Steppy on Hober's throat - but I still wanted more concrete proof of her wellbeing.

and finally I found her in the Pillars of Foundation video, alive and well, but -

HER NECK!! HER NECK!!!

if Constant's life is just barely saved by Hober showing up in the nick of time to prevent her decapitation by an insane tyrant I will literally never be normal again. romance. that's romance. (also incredibly shitty of Vault!Hari to take her blind faith and turn her into a pawn for the Empire to slaughter, but I guess that's expected behaviour from him by now.)

... I was literally about to hit post on this theory, but I just realised; that scene in Teaser 1 where Day is facing down a bishop's claw... we all assumed he was being attacked by a wild beast in the Outer Reach - but what if he's lying in the ruins of the podium on Trantor, and the bishop's claw is a freed Beki going on a rampage? god I hope this happens. imagine being Emperor of the Galaxy, about to perform some casual executions before dinner, and suddenly you're flat on your ass with a Hell Dinosaur about to bite your face off. incredible scenes

and that's all I've got! TLDR; Hari knew that the emperors and Galactic Council would become increasingly paranoid and aggressive as the Empire contracted, and would jump at the chance to publicly end an attempted religious takeover by the "barbarian" Outer Reach. That mass gathering at the execution would be the perfect time to strike with a whisper ship, a technology which the Empire has no idea even exists. This enrages Day into visiting Terminus to deal with the Foundation in person, and potentially destabilises the Empire further if the Council have been wiped out. Empire's structure and dignity are decimated without a single shot being fired - and if there is going to be an eventual, physical war, the Foundation is now in a much better position to fight it.

again, this is just me making a theory and connecting everything together with red string etc etc. I haven't attempted to explain everything, such as the Spacers' or Riose's involvement, and have doubtless got some details wrong - but I'm really excited by how things are connecting and can't wait for next week's episode :}

#foundation #foundation season 2 #foundation apple tv #foundation meta #hari seldon #poly verisof #brother constant #hober mallow #brother day #cleon xvii

[literalite]

I remember you saying you liked young justice so I wanted to know who's your favourite character or the one you think is most like you? I've been attached by the hip to this show since I was 13 so I'm a little... not normal about it lol.

also opinions on s3?

YES oh my god it was like formative media for me genuinely and i still love yj dearly i was rewatching it like last month actually along with yaboyroshi's reactions to it 😅 we are both a little not normal about this show dw 🤝🏼 im putting the rest of this under a cut because i start Yapping

my fave characters were dick, artemis, jaime, bart, and zatanna! dick i was Obsessed with from the moment i laid eyes on him in hindsight for gender reasons, probably but artemis always meant a huge deal to me as a kid because she was like the only vietnamese character (and with a skintone like mine!) that i'd ever seen on a screen. i loved everything about jaime's character and personality and arc and i had a really soft spot for bart because characters who are very outwardly upbeat and fun but are going through a lot of shit and hiding it are my favourites ever usually 😅. i also liked rlly them as a duo. zatanna's sort of cool-girl sass was always really fun to see and i think especially in s4 where her sort of less-rigid morality had more room to shine, really made me appreciate her character more. OH also when they introduced cassandra wu-san/orphan in s3 i like literally cheered out loud 😭 shes one of my fave characters from dc comics in general, so i was already biased towards her and i really liked her depiction and the room they made for her arc

i'm actually not sure which character is the most like me... i think because i watched it so young a lot of the characters kind of made their way into my personality in one way or another. i think irl im most like dick but it could be wishful thinking 😅 i'm not as cool as he is for sure

season three.... i'm kind of on the fence about it? i will say though i think it was a little rough with the dialogue especially, and i definitely didn't bond as well with the outsiders as i did with the original team and then the s2 cast. violet was the most likeable of the group by far but i think i was really put off by the fact that they kept killing them 💀 like i get that you guys can do this now with the higher rating but there are better ways to show off your newfound creative freedom than repeatedly brutally killing them. it was offset with the majority of the other characters suffering from basically no visible injuries too- if they'd been hit with bruises or scrapes or broken bones or ANYTHING and reduced the harm dealt to vi then i would've been less urgh by it.

i also wish they'd introduced victor a bit earlier into the season instead of spending sooo much time with brion because cyborg's story felt a little tacked on at the end, and um i was annoyed by brion from the jump 😭😭 tried so hard to sympathise with him because to be fair he went through a Lot but he just kept being such an aggressive ass to like everyone. which i guess was the point.. didn't make it any more fun to watch though.

i do like that they kept with the huge mass of entangled threads of the plot that were to me the hallmarks of the earlier seasons, picking apart scenes to try and work out how things interconnect was always my favourite part. i think the cast of the show at this point for what they were trying to do and focus on may have exceeded the show's bounds though- it was still a compelling narrative but i imagine for a casual watcher who isnt as meticulously invested in who is who and can recognise adaptations of arcs from the comics it can get very confusing or frustrating. its hard because i Love the og cast too but i think with s3 they couldn't decide on letting them go or letting their new characters shine and it ended up muddying the waters a bit, with the outsiders suffering the most from it due to no nostalgia or prior narrative heft to keep them from looking secondary to the original members of the team.

with s4 they chose to throw their lot behind the old team, which i appreciated and it neatened the rough edges of the show more, but i do still miss the s2 cast quite badly so i actually kind of wish they'd kept expanding the cast but just narrowed focus onto the new characters for every season. the title of the show is young justice, so i personally would've liked to keep seeing a focus on the newer and rising heroes of each successive generation as opposed to returning again and again to the originals

sorry that this is such a wall of text 😅 but i think this is one of the shows that i could genuinely just like sit and talk about for ages and ages... even the characters i dont like at all have a fair amount of gravity and heft to them that i love. wally is still alive btw i will never stop believing 😤 get that man out of the speed force!

#sorry that i talked so much here ive been losing my mind to assignment stress all day so writing about something i actually give a rats ass #about is such an. air being let out of a balloon noise moment idk im tiiired but we move 😤 #ask #reply #bonneblah #TYSM FOR THIS BY THE WAY! slightly off topic but i was making the og team in cas the other day but i never finished 🤔🤔 I SHOULD FINISH

[unlikelyjapan]

s2e1 rewatch notes

I had some wine tonight, but by the grace of God I had the wherewithal to wait a few hours to post my notes:

The forcefulness of Fak telling Carmy "It's a facelift AND a gut" is obviously needling us about how the character development on the show is going to roll, to varying degrees. The fact that Carmy is the one to be dismissive about the statement is foreshadowing I guess?

The same foreshadowing goes with Richie & Carmy - "I've got no purpose" and "you're going to wake up and drop my ass" fears are inverted between them by the end of the season.

Marcus and Sydney have honest heat/tenderness/tension in the first episode as she checks in on his mom - her own mother issues make it super awkward as the interaction closes, but it gives me more understanding as to why Marcus erupted as badly as he did in Ep10 (not like it was excusable, just relatable) - he's in a vulnerable state where her inquiries could definitely feel like overt cues.

Cicero totally looks like he knows what's happening between Carmy and Syd as they bicker during the pitch for more cash - Oliver Platt can play a smart (smug) motherfucker like no other, and I'm weirdly attracted to that.

Cicero was really ready/itching to tell them "the story of complete and utter failure" when Carmy cuts him off with the spontaneous '18-months to pay-out" deal during the same pitch. Knowing the Gonzalez/Bartman story was at the ready in episode 1 - and that, instead, we got Claire'd - is going to haunt my dreams for a while.

Syd asking Tina if she wanted to be her sous felt like the first time she was earnestly asking another woman to have a connection with her, and that earnestness was rewarded threefold *tears*

I love Ebra's consistent tenderness with Marcus so much - I hope they explore that bond more in season 3, as they've always been so gentle together. You can tell Ebra is very invested in Marcus' future, even though it's so divergent from the path he sees for himself at his stage in life.

Syd really needs Carmy to take the lead at the lockers when she says "Uh....what are you going to do?" - she lacks the emotional bandwidth to deal with the ambiguousness of "I have no idea", even though it's such a loaded statement coming from Carmy. He also says "I have no idea" to Claire in the next episode, when she asks "how's your life been, Berzatto?" but, of course, Claire DOES have the bandwidth/game to respond.

The exact lyrics when Sydney walks away from the lockers are talking about "transcendental blues" - I am deceased now.

Furthermore, the fact that the episode (at the point where they've constructed the new 3-month opening plan) is the first time we actually hear the lines from Refused's "New Noise" punctuate an episode with "Can I scream? Good frames won't save bad paintings" - ugh.

Afterthought:

Do you think any of anti-hero character development on the show echoes back to "The Adventures of Augie March" by Saul Bellow? I haven't read it in ages, but it's the most Chicago story ever, and Storer is SO REFERENTIAL about anything literary/cinematic to do with the city that I thought.....maybe kinda.

#the bear fx #the bear season 2 #the bear spoilers #the bear #carmy x sydney #carmen berzatto #carmy x claire #richie jerimovich #neil fak #tina the bear #claire the bear #syd x carmy #sugar berzatto

[bonearenaofmyskull]

Hey! Curious if you're currently into any great shows. If so, mind sharing your recommendations? Always on the lookout for some good TV suggestions!

I imagine you've seen everything I have. I spend more time gaming. Not into anything great at the moment, but I can dig deep and see if I can remember what shows I've watched since Hannibal aired and give my opinions. I binge TV series with my mom who is in her 80's and has Parkinson's and macular degeneration and can't really do activities or read anymore, so I rewatched some old ones with her here largely to torture her with them, so they'll be in here also.

S-Tier (Winners)

My Brilliant Friend. Probably the best thing I've watched since Hannibal. If S4 is out I haven't seen it yet, no spoilers.

Better Call Saul. Possibly tied with My Beautiful Friend. Better than Breaking Bad. Much better ending. So good, no complaints. Nailed the ending. Did I mention the ending?

A-Tier (Runners-up)

Black Sails: God, there were some parts of this that were so gratuitous and tedious, especially early on, and I hated Eleanor Guthrie and not in the kind of way that means good things for a show. Some of the dialogue was just really on the nose too. This sounds like a lot of complaints, but the things it did well, it did SO WELL that it really does make up for the negatives. The acting was sooooo good and the Flint and Silver dynamic was AMAZING and the show looked great, and over all that, it really had something thoughtful to say, and that stays with you when it's over.

Stranger Things: Some parts of this show hit better than others, but I'm squarely in the bullseye of the target audience and get the vast majority of the references and nostalgia, and I love David Harbour. I appreciate their exploration of various types of horror, attempting a new style each season, and I like the charm and humor and cheese, and it's a show that knows its voice and its tone and commits fully to those things. It's trying to be a fun show and it is, and it wants to deal with real fears and real grief, and it does.

The Handmaid's Tale: Speaking of shows that are committed to their tone, this one definitely is that. It's too heavy and relentless for most people, I think, but I don't mind that at all. Parts of it do drag, but it has a lot of the same qualities (for good or bad) as Black Sails: great acting, powerful character dynamics, the things that it does well it does so well it makes up for the shortcomings, imo.

Breaking Bad: Famous show, not much to say here. Rewatched it recently and don't think it's as good as Better Call Saul, so I put it here.

B-Tier (Can't complain but will anyway)

Good Omens: Can't get into it, can't find anything particularly wrong with it. I'm into the ship. I guffaw out loud while watching it yet am thoroughly bored most of the time. Love Michael Sheen and David Tennant on screen together. I know the show can't be that all the time but I wish it was. Aziraphale ftw. I feel like people missed the point of the ending of the last season.

Mad Men: Show could give Seinfeld a run for its money in terms of being about nothing, but definitely had its charm. Watched it with my mom so her nostalgia and appreciation for how historically authentic it felt went a long way. Good performances. God, it could be boring sometimes though.

Vikings: This one was a lot like Black Sails for me. They had a bit of a struggle for a season or two but once going, they really got going. Many great acting performances and characters. Loved Ecbert and Ivar especially. Didn't have Toby Stephens and Luke Arnold, so you know...can't quite make that tier. And didn't have as much to say, or didn't say it as well, and it doesn't stay with you.

C-Tier (Can complain and will, but were good enough to stick with)

LOST

The X-Files

His Dark Materials

Downton Abbey

BBC Sherlock

Game of Thrones (I think most people have misdiagnosed this show's problems, but it sure did have them)

D-Tier (Tried but could NOT, though many people will like these...they were just Not For Me)

Bridgerton

Dark

The Good Place

The Gilded Age

Outlander

The Crown

Outer Range (what even the fuck with this show)

I tried to think of more shows I've watched in this time, but this about sums it up. But here are a couple YouTube channels I really like:

Beau of the Fifth Column

Bistro Huddy

#bear answers #not hannibal

[serpentarius]

I'm on my S1 OFMD rewatch before I dive back into S2, and I'm only now realizing something.

So, we can pretty much all agree that Ed's transformation into the Kraken by the end of Episode 10 (and leading into 2x01) is an intense one, especially considering he's only known Stede for a few weeks. (I know the descent into detached violence is primarily egged on by Izzy, but for all intents and purposes, the pivotal trigger is Stede leaving Ed.)

Here's the thing though. Ed's depression and subsequent spiral into the Kraken isn't just about Stede the person. It's about all the things Stede represents.

Sure, Ed's fallen hard for Stede. And for any of us who have gone through a particularly hard-hitting breakup (or been ghosted by someone we really liked), we can easily understand the deep heartache. But there's so much more to it than just Ed's feelings for him.

When we first meet Ed in Episode 4, he's already at wit's end. He's fed up with life and searching for a new purpose. He's already reached legendary status as Blackbeard, so of course the question is: what's next? He even toys with the idea of dying ("Haven't done that before, have I?"), and actively acknowledges that his physical presence on a ship has become obsolete. Just the name and flag alone instil the fear of God into other sailors/pirates. And at this point in Season 1, it doesn't even seem like Ed's super keen on pillaging and plundering, except for when he and his crew get to go into teaching mode when they're showing Stede's crew how to raid. But even that scene goes to show that he only enjoys it when there's some larger purpose at play.

Ed wants to be known for more than the reputation that's currently out in the world. ("Is this what they think I look like? Fucking viking vampire clown with.... nine guns all over him?" & "I'm a ghost. There's no chaos, there's no drama, there's no fuckin' life!")

He's itching to be more than this. He doesn't want to be a ghost, or the "shell of a man" that Izzy later accuses him of being.

And Stede—Stede is the person who sees something more in him. Who allows him to be softer and sillier. A human; not the larger-than-life Mad Devil Pyrate Blackbeard. Ed feels seen, perhaps for the first time in his life. And he proceeds to spend a glorious, genuinely happy few weeks with Stede.

So then cut to 1x10 when Ed's staring into the flame of the candle, eating marmalade in his blanket fort and crying while wrapped in Stede's robe. He sees everything he's lost. He was on the cusp of something new, a chance to break free from the Blackbeard persona - but it was ripped away in an instant, ripped away before he even had a real chance to explore this path.

He desperately wanted to distance himself from Blackbeard, from the Kraken, and thought Stede was his ticket to this happier future. One filled with excitement (and warmth, and good food, and possibly even orgasms). Ed told Stede that the last few weeks were the most fun he'd had in ages, years, maybe ever. And now it's all gone; and he's mourning the loss of that hope.

Where does he go from here?

#thankfully we know the answer #and it's to a GOOD HAPPY PLACE WITH STEDE BY HIS SIDE #s2 is really recontextualizing a lot of s1 for me #I highly recommend a rewatch of the whole series #ofmd meta #our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd season 1 #edward teach #blackbeard #ed teach #ofmd #ofmd thoughts #ofmd analysis

[theerurishipper]

I remember people said the scene in Transmission, where Ladynoir renounce their Miraculous and "seemingly" not thinking about each other are mean to be a plot hole, not character inconsistency.

Bt for me, if the character NOT even make a slight uncomfort gesture/expression when they see Scarabella and Black Minette out there instead of their team mate, then it's not a plot hole, it's character inconsistency.

"Plot hole" excuse only work if Adrinette make any comment/looks surprised/make any reaction upon seeing the new duo but the aired time won't let the show do more than that. But the show doesn't let them react negatively which resulting people interpret it as "Yeah I don't care about my team mate, I already got my gf/bf anyway" which is not plot hole at all.

It's 100% character inconsistency. Plot holes are when the plot is wonky, and some logic doesn't logic. When a character acts OOC, it is character inconsistency. Adrien and Marinette have both become wildly OOC since the second Adrienette became canon on this show. They don't care about superheroing anymore, they don't care about each other as Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore. Outside of like, one line about "I hope Ladybug/Chat Noir are okay" (which is quickly overshadowed by some Adrienette, cause we sure do need more of that when we're talking about the late Ladynoir), they just don't give a fuck.

Actually, this isn't even character inconsistency anymore, this is a whole character overhaul a la whatever happened to Felix Fathom. Cause Adrienette only works if you change significant aspects of their characters. What about Chat Noir meaning freedom and a means of escape for Adrien, what about Ladybug being the narrative opposite of his abusive father who gives him unconditional love and acceptance? Fuck that, what he really needs is to start centering his identity around his classmate (with whom he isn't even that close because she thinks he's perfect) and defining himself based on her needs. And what of Chat Noir being the only one who can understand Marinette's struggles? Chat Noir being her special partner whom she can always lean on? Nah, fuck that shit lmao, here's Marinette trying to tell Adrien something he already knows and Marinette trying to hold Adrien's hand even though she's done that before without a problem!

Anyway, like I was saying, they had to change their characters up so that Adrienette could make sense, because it sure wouldn't make sense if it became canon in the show that devoted the bulk of its development to Ladynoir, now would it? So that's why we get episodes like Determination, where Adrien is suddenly head over heels for Marinette out of fucking nowhere, right after the Jubilation dream sequence where they had those cabbage patch kids, and Ladybug initiated a kiss even though they realized this was a dream, and they were clearly having some complicated feelings about the whole thing at the end of the episode. Cause fuck Ladynoir, amirite? Like, why would we waste time on the relationship we spent 5 seasons developing when we could focus on some cookie cutter high school romance with retcons galore and multiple, I tell you, multiple scenes featuring Marinette suddenly having the inability to do things she's done before with no problem, and apparently, it's all Chloe's fault, like what a fucking shocker, who could have seen that coming.

And lets not get into the actual plot holes in Transmission too, cause those also exist? How does Adrien Agreste know and proudly state Scarabella's name when no civilian knows she exists? How does this not make Marinette question why he knows? Why does Marinette expect that someone else becoming Ladybug means she's free when she's still the Guardian? Make it make sense, please.

Anyway, that's all I got. I'm sorry for using your ask as a venting post, anon. I just rewatched Gamer today, and god, Adrienette are so cute and adorable in Season 1. Like, they actually have chemistry and fun interactions and it's the lucky charm debut episode! I will never forgive this show for taking that Adrienette away from me and replacing it with... whatever Season 5 coughed up.

Thank you for your ask!

#ML Salt #ML Writing Salt #ML Writers Salt #Marinette Salt #Ladybug Salt #Not really but tagging to be safe #Adrienette salt #Asks #Meta #My meta

[princesstarfire1234]

I saw your RMA Post but before i ask, first i love your artstyle its so beautiful and each time i see it, it makes my day :] and second what are your thoughts of S2 part 1 and 2? And if you can rewrite it what will it be?

Aha hello!! I didn't think that RMA post would actually catch any eyes but I'm it did!!

First off, thank you so much! It's the best feeling ever knowing my art can make people happy just like that :]]

As for your question, I recently just rewatched a good chunk of S2 Part 2 but some of the details around the later bits are still fuzzy (rewatching em is quite hard for me as the english dubs aren't exactly that easy to find out there unfortunately)

I will say though, rewatching it really opened my eyes to just how much of a downgrade Part2 is compared to S1 and even just S2 Part1 itself, not just in story but in like the voice acting and animation. The voice direction is a bit off, characters sound flat, and the animation just feels... weirder, if that makes sense. It's not the worst thing in the world though, it's just an unfortunate thing I happen to notice. They also changed some of the VAs I think (liek Rema's) which was a strange decision but alright ig... There's also the reusing of so many games instead of new ones but oh well... Despite all my problems with it though, I like the inclusion of the new characters (Manus and all the other Leos Valiants). The Leos are all such silly guys :]] I do wish the DV7s got more screentime and played a bigger role though, the first episode for part2 really fooled me into thinking they would lmaoo

S2 Part1 still holds up, certainly not as good as S1 but still, it's got charm! I love the setting actually, Old City is such a bright and colorful place with like all these abstract and messed up winding pathways, it's so weird and funkyy, I dig it a lot!

So pretty!! God... just like how funky the cities look with all of them being like giant floating islands, it will always be cool af to me

Ik most of my followers don't care about runningman much but in the off chance some non-rma fan sees this, look at Tree City (pic below), I love it so much

Although... sometimes it really does feel like Season 2 is where the studio decided to lean more into it being a children's show. It's a lot less "dark" compared to S1 which is a tad disappointing. Like just compare Akong's battle (where the dude literally uses a bunch of the old guys to power up his thingy 😭) compared to CG's big mech fight. Still, I liked it! I like the neat guardians (the lil pullulu spirits who guard the gate, Vivace and Ensemble twins my beloved <3).

ALSO ALSO THE IRON BEAST, I can always appreciate a big robot guy aha

That's all I really got for the ramble aha, I'd say more stuff about S2 and maybe my views on it will change overtime but as of now, I haven't even really gotten around to properly finishing it yet. I remember watching it waaayyy back but it was all in korean with zero subtitles 😭 luckily, I am in a server with people sharing english versions so I'll probably watch those when I get more free time!

I really just miss talking about this show really and I feel like I've largely outgrown the fandom in old spaces where I used to talk in (like Facebook groups and Amino lmfaoo), so it's absolutely awesome to find RMA fans over here on tumblr!

#star's asks #ask #running man animation #rma #runani #princesstarfire1234

[ezrisdax-archive]

Going to go with DS9 for your "5 things you'd change" ask meme. Curious to hear your thoughts :з

send me a tv show/book/fandom and i’ll say the top 5 things i’d change about it

So, I'm biased and I'm tumblr user ezrisdax which means I need Ezri to exist but that said I'd change how Jadzia died. I've personally never been a fan of that, the ending and how she said her goodbye to Worf and Sisko was fine but Dukat killing her like that just...did not appeal to me at all, I hated that. Now how I'd have her die I don't know. Maybe while she was stuck in the Changeling mind trap place they gave her a drug and it's been slowly tearing down her ability to host the symbiont. (maybe that also means it can be removed but Jadzia has to be rushed to Trill and in a coma and thus gone for a time and Ezri is there still, I can still come up with Jadzia lives AUs right?). Or have her die defending the station just not...turning around and hey Dukat is there. At least let her get one punch in to him please.

Ezri and Julian and I don't have to expand on that, dear god, no.

Worf and Jadzia's wedding, not the wedding itself but the lack of the TNG characters. Like yeah I get not wanting to pay them etc etc but also listen, I need Jadzia and Deanna meeting properly and teasing Worf. It has always bothered me they weren't there for his wedding.

Jadzia's lack of interaction with other characters after Worf's arrival. I do feel starting season five it gets really bad; she doesn't have a lot of interactions with the others that don't also involve Worf in some capacity after that and while I do enjoy that ship I wanted more weird Trill adventures as it's own thing.

Alexander's whole thing in DS9, I didn't think it fit him at all and I absolutely hated it. Like first of all he should have just been with Worf anyway I thought we went through this in TNG and second of all he's never been interested in the Klingon stuff and he shouldn't have to and then why did they make him an idiot at it? He was a smart kid, c'mon.

Did I say top five? Just kidding here's more because I can't decide. Everything about Profit and Lace. I tend to skip over that episode during rewatches and it's bad. I think they should have brought Pel back instead and have another episode with her where it shows how much she's flourished and profited in the Gamma Quadrant.

I minute thing that's also always bothered me, Mirror Jadzia dies for....???? reasons? Like Ezri in the Mirror verse is Ezri Tigan, she doesn't have or need the symbiont and they just drop that Jadzia is dead that episode for zero reasons, like why couldn't she be away on a mission or something. I'm sorry but that stuck in my head and ate away at me for the longest time.

Sisko and Ezri and the lack of a relationship in any way after the third episode of season seven. Like she Dax and she pulls him back in and I think them navigating a new relationship again where this time Sisko is the mentor figure would be way way way more interesting then the Ezri/Julian storyline they stuck in instead.

VIC FONTAINE. I hate that fucking holoprogram. Too many episodes were about him and why the fuck is there an alive mirror verse version of him?????

Screw SNW I want a DS9 musical episode.

#replies in thirty minutes or they're free #bite-my-grimy-fleshy-ass #beej talks star trek

[sallyastral]

@miss-d-tiare Answering here because it wouldn't fit in a whole comment.

So, let's recap: I made a post expressing my opinion about Sylki, and you reblogged my post and commented on it saying I am a drama queen and that I should get myself a real problem, and when I answered you answered too once again this time not reblogging (mh, maybe because I told you it's just free notes for me and you are giving me visibility that way, mhh...)

Anyway, since I don't want to drag this conversation forever, I'll answer all of your points and quit this once and for all.

Dude, you have never experienced the pain and suffering of a one-sided crush? He likes her so much that, maybe for the first time ever, he's behaving like a normal person would do instead of just taking everything he wants like the spoiled and childish god hengrew up to be. This is a new level of rejection that actually impacts on him, and that's why he looks miserable.

Yes, I had one-sided crushes, more than one, and yes, they do make you miserable, but for different reasons. And the people I had a crush on didn't try to kill me or hurt me.

It's not the first time he falls in love, he said it himself in Episode 3 Season 1: he's had partners, but they didn't last that long. Furthermore, I would highly recommend you rewatch Thor (2011) and all the movies where Loki appears, because he has never been a selfish person, he says it himself (again) many times: when he tells Thor that he doesn't want the throne but wanted to be his equal when he tells Sylvie that he didn't want the throne but just wanted to see her safe and sound… So no, Sylvie is not the heroine who saved him and is changing him, he was like that already from time but was misunderstood by everyone else. And she is no exception because for the entirety of Season 1 (especially in Episode 6) and Season 2, she's still doubting and even said it openly that he still only wants the throne, and keeps refusing to fully understand him.

And let's not forget that IT IS A FICTIONAL SHOW!!! Some conflict MUST happen, or else people would complain it's too boring. The only character who could be so important to Loki besides of his brother is Sylvie, anyone can see that's only logical that the plot conflict involves both of them.

First of all: are you aware that movies and TV series are made to entertain people? Are you aware that social media just like Tumblr are made for people to express their opinions about things? So you saying "It's fictional!1!11" is just stupid because almost everyone here on Tumblr is here to talk about what they like on their blogs, you are doing it by responding to my posts. Since movies and TV series are fiction we shouldn't talk about them at all, by your logic. I am a psychology student, so I like to do psychological analyses of characters and give my opinion, you are completely free to agree or not, I don't care. But you can't come to my blog and tell me that I'm a drama queen and that I have to find real problems, that's just plainly disrespectful. And I already have my problems in my life, thank you very much.

This is not about conflict and entertainment: this is about Marvel making horrible decisions. You can create excellent conflict between characters without romanticizing abuse and domestic violence. And all of this wouldn't have happened if the directors of the series hadn't insisted on Sylki being a romance. If it was a friendship we'd probably be all quiet and just shrug it off with a "Sylvie is a horrible friend". But since this is romantic, well... some of y'all need to understand IT IS NOT OKAY for someone to be violent towards the other partner in a relationship. Romance + violence = ABUSE.

And if you don't understand where the abuse is, I suggest you read this post from @shadow-turtle-234 (forgive me for dragging you in </3).

People should definitely stop treating the relationship between FICTIONAL CHARACTERS as an example of real life human interactions, ffs! They're complex in their own way, and appealing and all but in the end they're not real so stop being drama queens and calling two fictional characters "toxic" 🤣🤣 get yourselves a real problem instead of making one up

Breaking news: fiction is based on real-life dynamics! Even more breaking news: fiction can influence real-life dynamics! Romanticizing abuse and domestic violence is awful, especially on the part of Marvel, a franchise that is also followed by very young people who could get the wrong message. It could also cause someone who has suffered or suffers from abusive situations to suffer even more seeing that someone suddenly decided that hurting the person you "love" is romantic.

My life isn't all about Tumblr, as I said I have my problems outside of social media, so if I express an opinion I don't think it's an issue. I'm just expressing my thoughts, did it suddenly become forbidden?

Do I like, need your permission or smt to alter and post a text I wrote? What did I miss?? 🤨🤨

Nah, that was just a fun remark I made, of course, you don't need my permission. I just found it funny how you both commented and reblogged, giving me free notes and visibility. Good for me I guess.

And the double standard is where, exactly?

Double standards exist because Marvel already has problems with writing female characters. Since they don't know how to make a decent strong female character anymore (aside from a few exceptions like Peggy Carter and Jane Foster), Marvel just thinks belittling the male counterpart's trauma and actions is enough to show how strong and smart the female counterpart is. And with Sylvie, they brought this to exaggeration, because not only she belittles Loki's trauma and treats him like shit, but keeps trying to hurt him and even attempted his murder several times. But since she's a woman Marvel thinks is okay, and a lot of people think that too.

But imagine if it was Loki to belittle her, insult her, attack her, and hurt her in any way. Y'all would be screaming and yelling at Marvel because "Oh em gee, they romanticized abuse, omg!1!!!" since he's a man. Domestic violence against men is rare, but it exists too, but apparently, it is considered "girlboss" and "cool" for a woman to hurt a man.

I keep maintaining it's all freaking fiction and that it doesn't work like resl life, you really should stop reading so much into it, it's not healthy pal 👍🏻

What I do with my blog and my life is none of your business.

In conclusion: I said what I had to, and I no longer intended to keep entertain this conversation with you.

#one more insult and the blocklist welcomes you #sylki is abusive #anti sylki #anti sylvie x loki #anti sylvie #loki #loki series spoilers #loki series #loki series 2 spoilers #loki season one #loki season two