#ive never watched a single episode of the show and i only watched like. the new movie with bendercunt fuckmyass as khan

[lightwise]

Omega is not okay

I know we've all been over the moon about Crosshair and Hunter's dynamic in The Return, but I want to draw some attention to Omega in this episode, and something that I think Joel Aron is trying to draw attention to with his lighting choices.

Omega is not okay.

Joel has made pointed out many times that he loves doing reveal lighting (think the overhead light in Crosshair's cell or on the freighter at the end of A Different Approach giving him a halo, or how Hunter stops short of the overhead light on the Marauder before stepping out to greet Omega). And throughout this whole episode, the light is breaking over Crosshair and bathing him in warmth more and more. He is slowly returning the light and coming home to his family.

Omega, however, in nearly every single scene in this episode, is in shadow.

Yes, her hairstyle is contributing to the fall of light on her face, and yes, she has her hat on while they're on Barton IV. But this is showing that her psychological state since they escaped Tantiss is uneasy, at best, and very conflicted and darkened, at worst. Even when she wakes up in the comfort and safety of the Marauder, she is shrouded in shadow. And even in scenes where the light wraps around and highlights Crosshair's face, Omega's is kept harshly defined, and she is often looking away from the "camera".

Even when we see her somewhat happier at points in this episode, usually due to watching her brothers reconnect, her face is not as well lit as theirs.

Omega kept her positivity and optimism at the forefront while she and Crosshair were in prison, and throughout most of their escape. It's what we most associate with her--being a ray of sunshine and encouragement for those around her. Now, however, she has the opportunity to relax a bit, for the adults to be handling certain things, and the trauma and perspective shift that she has just gone through is coming to the forefront.

Her survivors guilt, her shock at not being the only female clone, her confusion and questions over who she is and why she is so important, the cruelty she's seen Hemlock be capable of, and her continued empathy for anyone who is suffering is all swirling around in her in ways that she doesn't know what to do with yet. Yes, she has seen much suffering in the galaxy already in her short life, and has always been adamant about her need to help others. But ultimately it had never impacted her like this. Until now.

Crosshair has been broken and remade by his experiences. Omega is being broken and remade by hers as well. And I'm not sure the boys fully realize just how much yet.

Omega refuses to be left behind. She feels responsible for the fact that the rest of the clones are still on Tantiss. She feels guilty that she could have a chance at a life still and they don't. She feels an all-encompassing need to help them if she can, even though she is still young and vulnerable. This is ultimately going to conflict with Hunter's desires to keep her safe and hidden. Echo has already chosen the fight. Wrecker is willing to go wherever he's needed. Crosshair has been through too much to not be willing to fight back however necessary.

Hunter is going to eventually realize that while Omega is still a child, and does need to be protected, at the same time, her own sense of responsibility is going to eventually supersede his desires.

Echo and Crosshair especially will be able to understand some of what she is feeling and hopefully help guide her through it. Hopefully, Omega will be able to reconcile who she is, what she is capable of, and what is outside of her ability to fix, sooner rather than later. But it's safe to say she will never be the same after this. At least she has a little bit of reprieve before facing whatever is next.

#the bad batch #tbb #star wars #the bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers #omega #omega bad batch #tbb omega #the return #tbb season 3 #the bad batch season 3 #the bad batch season 3 spoilers #tbb season 3 spoilers #some light edits #somelightedits #somelightramblings #some light ramblings

[comradekatara]

Okay either Mako/that dumb fucking prince, or. Bolin/Korra?

LMFAO I think ive already explained at length why I hate that ship and character generally and the utter tragedy of saddling him onto my poor boy mako (just go into my wu tag) but bolin and korra is not a ship i’ve ever talked about and I do actually find it fascinating. not because I necessarily think that they’d make a good couple, but because of the way in which bolin’s character assassination happened in the same episode that they established him as a contender in the love triangle, and then seemed to immediately realize that two (extremely codependent) brothers fighting over a girl is kind of weird and thus desexualized bolin (at least for the rest of the season) by lobotomizing him.

in the first couple episodes, bolin is actually quite charming and grounded, but you wouldn’t know that from watching the rest of the show, because from the moment he goes on a date with korra forward, they only afford him the mental capacity of a five year old. like, I think that mako is supposed to be the book smart sibling and bolin is the street smart sibling, but bolin is actually unfathomably naive and foolish, and mako is just. both book and street smart. so it’s like. okay. well what is bolin doing here.

remember when he used to be someone with a brain and actual charm? no because his brain slipped through his ears after going on one single date with korra. a date that went spectacularly well, I might add. they never actually give us a reason to believe that korra would sooner have feelings for mako than bolin. all she and mako do is argue, while she and bolin have a lot in common and good chemistry. obviously i’m a korrasami truther, but like. what they did to bolin to justify makorra is just strange. this is what I mean when I say that lok has some of the clumsiest writing i’ve ever seen.

but also, I will say this: it’s very funny to me that bolin is into korra (definitely understandable) but never asami (the most beautiful woman alive). like mako is very understandably into both of them because who wouldn’t be. well, bolin wouldn’t be. because he’s only into brown girls. amen

#ephemeral-phosphorescence #asks #bolin #korra #mako #lok crit #they literally lobotomized him so that mako could fumble two gorgeous girls 😭 mess

[inventedfangirling]

i should probably wait for tomorrow's episode to get the full picture and closure and the promos might have misled me into thinking we have lesser of Patpran than there actually is BUT P'Aof ive got a bone to pick with you.

He literally created a brand new problem (Pat jumping to help Pran without letting him do it on his own) something that wasn't an issue in the OG show but it now is (which makes sense when you think about it especially given their impending separation because of singapore and both of them needing to learn to be separate individuals) and then solved another that didn't need to be solved, like wth was that about Pat "admitting" that he can't live without Pran, as if its brand new information, as if its something that he's insecure about, as if he's worried that its only him and that Pran won't feel the same way?

we're literally talking about the guy who was ready to throw away his family and friends and halt his entire education just so he could run away and live with you in a zero waste village away from all that he knew and was familiar with?? the same guy who said "i can be anywhere as long as im with you", the guy who has always been there alongside him, fighting WITH him, FOR him...Pat KNOWS that...and Pran knows that Pat knows that....thats what the whole ep11 was about! Them being the most SOLID, in love, 'if he goes down i go down with him', we're a team couple-couple there ever was! Both of them know of how much the other loves them, how their love is so strong it can withstand anything! they know that, their lives, their words, their actions, their choices have proved that!! so the grand declaration in this episode is basically the same thing we already know, we got NOTHING new.

at the same time the conflict that was actually relevant, that Pat thinks Pran needs his help when really Pat needs Pran to need him, he wants to always be the one to help him and Pran's need to do things on his own and prove to himself that he could do shiz by himself like he had all through his life before Pat and him met in college again. Pran needed to do things alone for himself and Pat needed to take a step back and let him do his own thing knowing that he got this. That was the conflict and that's what should have been addressed and instead we got a whole episode of unnecessary confusion and separating the two couples and i cant believe the realest 2 convos happened when Pat and Pran weren't even in the same premises.

and don't even get me started on Pran feeling insecure that Pat was the one sacrificing the most like hello? they both have sacrificed equally, its just Pat is the more vocal and ever ready to express affection with words and very obvious actions so from an outsiders pov Pat looks like he's carrying the relationship which he is not and YET like hello Pat is the one who feels that he can't admit that he cant live without Pran? the same guy who yelled out his love in front of the entire architecture branch? the same guy who wanted to flaunt their whole relationship on social media? the guy who from the day he discovered that he had feelings for Pran has almost made his entire personality about being in love with Pran Pat? that Pat?

but also that scene of Pran just looking on as Pat tries to put on the remedy cream bruh aint no way yall playing me Pran would NEVER watch on like that for so damn long without taking a single effort to help like aint no way hello who the hell was calling the shots, was P'aof even around cos if so sir HOW COULD YOU !?

ep 1 was underwhelming but ep2 had so much going for it but then ep3 was so meh and actually sorta undermines the OG by pretending that this "i can't live without you" is a HUGE thing when WE ALL KNEW IT, like WHY P'Aof, WHY YOU DO THIS TO US? Why to Pat & Pran? And pls the way this episode did next to NOTHING for phupha & Tian, its actually insane.

Despite today's disappointment i do (semi) trust P'Aof and i hope he ties it all up as clean as possible tomorrow and if nothing happens i will pretend this whole special was an AU and move on with my life. that being said we better get that finger sucking scene cos baby i didn't watch this special for ALL of that. Except for that scene in the house that withstood the "shake", the whole endeavor added NOTHING to the story of Pat-Pran and i will be mad about this. It's like they made the Taj Mahal and then decided to pour blood all over it and like yeah the blood can be washed away but why tarnish the glorious monument in the first place!?? for whomstttttttttt

#paof i need answers #its like he shot them with a bullet #and then tried to solve it by sucking the poison out #except there's no poison #and we didnt get no finger sucking either #ooh im mad #patpran #our skyy 2 x bad buddy x a tale of thousand stars #bad buddy

[okay-j-hannah]

Hii hannah! I'm bout three months late because i had exams going on, well, I still have exams going on but I decided to not procrastinate and just write this.

Thank you so so much for writing my tenth doctor and rory requests. you don't know how much it means that you took time out of your life to write my requests. when I first started watching Doctor who, barely a season in, i stumbled upon your blog and read your dying girl story, i didn't even know anything properly bout doctor's character or other companions but your fic though! it captured doctor's character so well! It was in May I read it and started watching the show and I now always connect that time with doctor who and you and your fics haha. 

 I got so obsessed that I made this dying girl reader universe in my head with headcanons and stuff and started associating songs to the reader and fic ; i know they are like kinda popular cliche songs but snowman by sia and never be the same by camila cabelo really reminds me of the amy and rorys wedding scene with reader and doctor dancing (was it real or I made that up in my head?) and memory of reader practising mind reading thing and seeing memories of Doctor and she's like who's this beautiful person in his memories and doctor is like that's you love <3 moonlight serenade, spring waltz, we'll meet again, moon river, across the universe are some other songs I associate with them,, you didn't even ask for playlist but here I'm sharing it just because lmao 

and then you wrote my ten request and added it dying girl universe, when I tell you actually started screaming from excitement when I saw it! I really wasn't expecting it, i was so so happy! And Idk why but I just feel so honoured that my request was added into the "official" dying girl universe masterlist! and the rory fic too, it was so sweet! you wrote it exactly as what I had in my mind when I sent you request, tysm for that! 

Ngl I always checked your page once in a while when you were on break because I just looked forward to your writing so much and in January, around my birthday, found out you were active again and posted my requests and gotta say, best birthday gift even if it technically wasn't lol. I wonder if you've finished twelve's episodes, you mentioned how it is hard to "let go" of a doctor and I completely agree,  I finishesed twelfth doctors episodes in December and God was it hard to say goodbye to him, I know I can rewatch but it won't be like first time :'( you know, the "i love my current doctor so much" feeling?

I've started thirteen but it doesn't feel the same, especially without murray gold's music and well, moffat and rtd. so glad that rtd is coming back for new seasons though!

Oh and have you read love is a choice fic on tumblr? it's a mostly eleven but also kinda thirteen x reader multiple parts series and tbh, one of the only fic that made me laugh and cry like dying girl series did. if you haven't i hope you check it out, it's a great read!

Kinda unrelated but can I just say ty to that person who sent you ask related to will turner, i recently watched one of the potc movie for the first time because i thought the will turner guy looked cute from the ask and now ive fallen down a rabbit hole lol I finished your will turner fics and now im searching up tumblr for more will turner x reader, it seems he's my new hyperfixation 😭 anyways ty again to that person and you ofc for the fics, and this is not a official request(it could be ig) but I hope you write second part to the merchant/pirate will fic!

And I've sent you two requests this time too, hope you'll like them enough to write it! I know I've said it lot in this single ask but Again thank you so much for everything and it's great to have you back on here and I hope you enjoyed your break, remember to take them again if you need to <333

My darling, my dearest, my love, you're making my heart so so happy!

I love that you took off with the Dying Girl universe because honestly that's what it became for me while I was writing it. It became so big I knew I could write so much about what happens in between the parts, and your request fit perfectly there.

Thank you for the playlist 😂 it does kind of bring the characters more to life when you associate them with things like songs. And you definitely didn't make up the wedding dancing scene, that happened in Part 6: The Lost Shoes!

I totally understand finding yourself fully immersed in a story, even if it is fanfiction. When that happens to me I just write and post it on here 😅 That's happened with the Dying Girl and the episodic series I started for the Eleventh Doctor and the Samwise Gamgee series and this Mandalorian one I'm starting.

My brain is hardwired to come up with these random tangents to canon stories, and they end up becoming these elaborate fanfictions.

I'm so glad you liked your requested fics! I had a lot of fun writing them. The Domestic fic was so fun to get back into the Dying Girl universe. I wouldn't mind writing more about their in between adventures. Happy belated birthday!

I have not finished twelves episodes - I'm still on his last season. Just like I wrote on our last conversation, I'm terrified of how sad I'll feel when he leaves because ten and eleven were real heartbreakers. I agree, I love him, and I'm so excited you requested something for him.

And I'm also so stoked for the new seasons with RTD and the 60th specials with ✨David Tennant✨ I'll have to finish twelve and thirteen before that comes out at the end of this year.

I haven't read "Love is a Choice" but I immediately looked it up and added it to my likes, so perhaps it'll be the fanfics I read when I try to sleep tonight lol

And I'm sorry... you hadn't seen any of the Pirates of the Caribbean!? I've been watching those movies since I was like seven! It's such a great fandom and Jack Sparrow is such a mood and Will Turner is such a dreamboat.

I'm almost honored that my blog prompted you to watch such an excellent franchise. I also hyperfixate on new characters and fandoms I love. I do have one request in my inbox for Will Turner and I've gotten multiple messages to write a part 2 for A Merchant Sailor, so perhaps when I finish this batch of requests I'll add it to the list.

So do expect more Will Turner fics to come 😘

I love that we have this little pen pal relationship where we just write each other letters 😂 It's honestly really good to hear from you, mysterious anon. I'm happy to have you as a reader and fandom friend.

Thank you for reaching out! I definitely love your requests! It'll just take me a while to get to all of them with my busy schedule, but I will write them in due course.

Have a lovely night and a good morning!

Prologue: The Dying Girl

Part 1: The Sun God

Part 2: The Tonic 

Part 3: The Ending Song

Domestic: The Doctor returns to spend a few ‘human’ days with you {Set during Part 3}

Part 4: The Dream 

Part 5: The Regeneration

Part 6: The Lost Shoes

Epilogue: The Vanishing Act

Finale: All Of Time And Space

A Merchant Sailor: Pretending to be a merchant, you befriend Will Turner as you keep your pirating a secret, until your brother forces you to reveal the truth

Blacksmith’s Hands: While visiting Tortuga, you find yourself injured and in the capable hands of a shy Will Turner

Lovey Dovey: Jack has never been overjoyed at the thought of you and your boyfriend - especially when you’re kissing on his ship

Sea Salt: On a mission to get you back, more might happen between you two than expected

#tenth doctor x reader #eleventh doctor x reader #twelfth doctor x reader #will turner x reader #okayjhannah question #okayjhannah #anon ask okay j hannah #okayjhannah answer #okay j hannah #hannahbeartalks #fandomfantasia

[orange-lover]

so. throughout my whole life. ive always loved skeletor from he man. who doesnt. hes fucking skeletor. hes sexy as shit and funny and cool and awesome. he rules.

i never registered that he was a buff dude with a skull for a head.

i always thought he was a skeleton wearing an inflatable muscle suit around his skeleton body. no muscle. no blood or anything. the suit just maintained perfect shape with his bones rattlin around in there.

i thought this until this very day. where someone described him as just. a man with a skeleton head.

i dont even know if you give a single shit about he man at all because i really dont outside of skeletor. ive only watched a couple episodes of the original show. but i still feel like this is such an odd thought to have had for my whole life.

this is the most beautiful thing ive ever read. yellow man

#davepeta talks #asks #coelacat

[jackiietaylor]

unpopular stranger things opinions/hot takes 👀

omg thanks for sending this and giving me a reason to share my opinions 👀 this got really long because i have a lot to say apparently

first of all, i genuinely love and enjoy this show and that seems to be an unpopular opinion recently? like i was shocked when i logged on after watching volume 2 and everyone on my dash hated it because i loved it. and i love all the other seasons, too. yeah obviously there’s some parts i don’t like and things i would change but overall i still think it’s really good. but yeah mandatory “i do actually really like the show” before i start complaining about some things

s1 > s4 > s3 > s2

i don’t understand the obsession with character death. not as in i don’t understand why people don’t want characters to die but i don’t understand the constant need to talk about how characters are “definitely” going to die. no main character has been killed off throughout the whole show and yet pre-s4 no one would shut up about characters dying. also after the reaction to eddies death i think the duffers are gonna be too scared to kill anyone off lol

on the other hand, killing el off/not giving her a happy ending would be the single greatest mistake the show could make

el’s side plot in s2 is one of the highlights of the show for me. the lost sister will probably forever be my favorite episode of the show. ive never understood the hate it gets. im really hoping that kali comes back in s5 and helps fight vecna

el is the only Main character. there are obviously many other characters that are leads but she is ultimately the main character. the entire show revolves around her and her plot(s).

nancy has some of the best development in the entire show. ive seen so many people say she has no development outside of the love triangle and i find that so surprising because she’s changed soo much. her entire journey to wanting to be a reporter directly stems from her not being listened to and her desire to do something about barbs death. everything about her current character stems from that specific moment and we’ve seen throughout the seasons how that’s progressed and shaped her into and i think because of that development, she’s pretty much the only character with a defined ending (career as a journalist)

mike has done like one thing wrong in the entire show and im so unbelievably tired of people acting like he’s the villain. he’s a 14 year old who doesn’t know how to perfectly express himself sometimes. people need to leave him alone

steve & robin and el & max have the two best friendships on the entire show and anyone who says otherwise is wrong

hopper should’ve stayed dead. his death was perfectly written in s3 and reviving him brought nothing to the plot. it wasn’t even explained how he survived, he was just there. it wasn’t well thought out or well written, and overall it just wasnt necessary. they ruined what was ultimately a beautiful send off (the speech to end s3) for a cheap plot twist that had no payoff.

(also i don’t like hopper because he gave brenner el’s location in s1, fully intending that he would kidnap her again. it’s unforgivable regardless of what his reasoning was and i hate that it was never brought up ever again)

going off of that, the entire russia plot is the worst written part of the whole show. it could be scrapped entirely from s4 and the season would lose nothing

stranger things is blatantly obvious about what ships are gonna end up together at the end of the show

jancy is just a truly terrible ship all around. jonathan hiding in a bush to take pictures of nancy through a window while she was taking her clothes off is soo unbelievably creepy and unforgivable, and it’s terrible that it was just dropped with no consequences whatsoever for him. he doesn’t even actually apologize! he says he shouldnt have taken the picture, but when she asks him why he took it in the next episode he says it was just a nice picture and then starts lecturing her about how she’s gonna end up miserable like her mom?? they should’ve never got together after all that. and then there’s all the bullshit in s3 when he undermined the misogyny she was facing at work and didn’t believe her at all which just further proves that they shouldn’t be together! and then she forgot he existed for most of s4 anyway

i want nancy to end the show single so bad

robin/vickie sucks lol. stranger things is probably the only show that has me rooting against the lesbian character ending up in a relationship. vickie is sooo boring and has absolutely no personality! even suzie’s random family members got personalities in s4! im tired of being told to accept the bare minimum just because a show is adding a random throwaway gay character. vickie serves no purpose in the plot and id rather not waste the extremely limited time left in the show developing robins relationship with a complete nobody when her friendships with pre-existing characters should be the focus. also every single one of their scenes featured steve in some capacity which was very annoying

steve and nancy actually have such an interesting dynamic as characters but specifically as exes. personally, i do not think they should get back together, but i think what makes them interesting is why they shouldn’t be together. obviously their first breakup is because of their different reactions to barbs death. their relationship was never going to make it past that. barb died because nancy brought her to steves house, she died AT steves house, and died while nancy was alone with steve. there was never any coming from back that, not while nancy hadn’t processed her grief and especially not when steve was trying to convince her to forget about it and go to a party. but they’ve both grown as people since then, and they’re still not going to work. steve wants a big family, nancy is career-oriented to the point that she will do anything to succeed as a journalist. nancy doesn’t want the suburban, nuclear family life. they are fundamentally mismatched when it comes to what they want in life and i think exploring THAT aspect of their dynamic is so much more interesting than just shoving them back together

overall the show is so much more enjoyable when you don’t care about ships <3 please disregard everything i just said about the ships <3 but seriously the main focus of the show is not even remotely centered on the romantic relationships and watching the show without really caring about that aspect of things is way better

this isn’t a hot take about the show but more the fandom: a lot of the dynamics do not exist at all in the show the way some people think they do. most obvious example is el and will, who both are wayyyy closer to at least 3 other characters than they are to each other. this isn’t just limited to stranger things, it happens in most shows, especially ones with a found family element (ex. agents of shield) but people tend to forget what the dynamics actually are and then project their opinions onto the characters

semi-related and not really a hot take but if i had to choose underrated/non-existent dynamics to explore in s5, i would choose: lucas and el (connection to max), nancy and el (both on the show since s1 but have barely spoken, both the only people to know vecna’s full backstory firsthand), and nancy and mike (siblings who both probably think they’re only children at this point because they never interact with each other)

also related to fandom but it’s so clear that so many people either have not watched the show or just don’t anything remember what happens in the show when they post shit. and that’s way there’s sooo much mischaracterization everywhere

this show has way too many characters and it’s resulted in a lot of them having nothing to do for entire seasons. look at the california group from this season. they spent the entirety of episodes 5-8 driving around in a van with nothing to do. even joyce, who was one of the main main characters in earlier seasons, felt like she was just kinda there this season. part of it is the way they divide the plots, especially geographically this season, but the other part is just not having anywhere near enough time or plot spaces for all the characters. it’s unfortunately probably only gonna get worse in s5 because they have to somehow wrap up every characters individual plot in addition to the greater shows plot

and my hottest take is that will is severely overhyped sorry. he’s just not that interesting of a character and i really don’t understand that obsession with him? i mean he’s a fine character and he hasn’t really done anything wrong but there are so many other characters that are actually involved in the plot that i find way more interesting, relevant, and better written. like he was barely in s1, s2 was more about things happening to him than him actually doing anything, and s3 and s4 he didn’t do anything. hopefully s5 will give him something interesting to do but for now i just don’t see it

#this is so long oops #some of these are probably more unpopular than others idk #moonlayl #answered

[curedeity]

If you’ve got any, 17 for the fanfic ask?

17. Do you have any other writers or works that inspire you (i think that was the question i didnt copy paste)

Yes always and inspo is one of my favorite things to talk about!

One of my first writing inspirations was the Percy Jackson books, and that phase of my life still kind of influences the genres im interested in writing and the like. I read a lot more novels when i was younger so i remember having more distinct favorites back then. As for novels right now, Id say Kelly Barnhill is one of the bedt authors ive recently read. Her narrative style is quite captivating, her chapters are short, and there is always a slightly different progression than i imagine there being. Ive only finished "the girl who drank the moon" but i started both "iron-heart(ed?) violet" and "when women were dragons". I wish i still used goodreads so i could go theough a list of what books id read recently, but i wanna quickly mention ve schwab. Her books are hit or miss and not always the best but damn sometimes she puts out a banger, and when she tries she can have an impeccable narrative style that leaves me breathless. Sometimes i also like reading neil gaiman works. They both intrigue and inspire me somewhat but i dont think to the same extent other authors have

Now that was JUST novel inspos!

A lot of my main writing inspiration actually comes from podcasts. Welcome to Night Vale was a huge early writing inspiration for me, introducing me to a surreal style of writing that i love getting to develop. Wtnv and other productions by its team are often so stylish that it is impossible to not be inspored listening to them. I think wtnv and within the wires are my faborites on a writing level.

Cant forget the magnus archives, the narration is very slick and the interconnected plot growth so well done, along with really good and intriguing inpersonal dynamics that never failed to offer something intriguing. I never finished season 5 but i remember listening to just some of the first episodes and being awestruck at how stylish the writing was.

Then there is unwell podcast! One of my favorite pidcasts to discuss on a writing level, it has so many ups and downs, but one thing i will give it is having great character voices! There is not a single character that doesnt speak distinctly and the dialogue flows so well, being one of the best parts of the show. Id love to be able to write character voices as well as they do.

For tv shows now!

Madoka Magica has squickly become a huge writing inspiration for me. Honestly, more like the crown jewel of great writing. I cannot praise madoka magicas writing enough. Its thematic unravelling is so layered, its character writing gripping, its way of writing narrative parallels and foils impeccable, and just. God. Incredible. I cannot explain how much i want to be able to write on madoka magicas level. But madoka magica is the only show ill mention bc the other stuff i watch is often shit.

Uhhhhhhh for video games... i havent played that many yet sorry. While i love pokemon, it isnt a writing inspiration, and most games i play dont speqk to me like that.

And then comes the format thet is probably most applicable... fanfic...

Ill admit i read a lot of fanfic, but i dont actually think that many inspire me writing wise, so ill take a second and just focus on beyblade to say Val was my biggest inspiration to write beyblade fanfic in my fandom early days. I was inspired by some of the stuff she did, and especially some character dynamics (madoka and yuki) but realized i wanted to do incredibly different things. So i think her inspiration wasnt so much of "oh god i love this idea and characyers and synamic and plot" but just like, more of a realization of what i might be able to do with the characters as a whole?

Also wanna drop that Sadie has an impeccable writing style omg im literally eating it up i need it. Sadies art is also a huge inspiration for me to the surprise of no one who has seen Hikarus Adoption Agenda.

#crafty you gave me too much power thank you for the ask #ask game #idk if id recommend all the things i put here like. so ill just say #please read the girl who drank the moon. it is an incredible book and deserves a read by so so so many people

[steveharrington]

Could you talk more about the issues you have with s4? I’m only asking bc I think you’re very sensible when writing about ST!

yessss i love to whine and complain <3 plus ive had a lot of time to Reflect and Marinate on the season so i think these thoughts will be more coherent than some of the stuff i was posting directly after it came out. here we go <3

biggest overall complaint is steve's storyline taking a sharp left turn back into stancy territory. before anyone sends me a why dont you like stancy ask: stancy itself isn't even the reason i disliked this storyline! (also they arent compatible and want different things and its canonically stated like 5 different times in the show) but the Main reason i disliked steve's writing this season was that it largely undermined the value of his relationships with other people. season two established that steve would willingly put himself in harm's way for the kids both against billy and in the tunnels, and season three went on to establish that steve feels the most comfortable when he's hanging out with robin and dustin and just being himself, free from social expectations. all of these discoveries that we worked up to since season one were basically just forgotten in this season. steve is annoyed with dustin, annoyed about staying with the kids, gets injured and only has a meaningful interaction with nancy while robin just walks off screen, doesn't get a single emotional interaction with dustin about the danger they're in or the trauma they're undergoing even after eddie fuckin DIES and overall i just felt like he wasn't acting like himself in terms of his relationships with other people, and this to me seems like an issue with the duffers wanting to prioritize a love triangle once again

i also just have issues with the plot writing as a whole. soooooo many glaring mistakes that just do not seem typical of a stranger things season! ive seen people say "well what did we expect" NOT THIS?? idk from small details like will's birthday and hopper apparently just lying on the floor completely unscathed to larger overall bad writing like eddie's death being absolutely pointless and no one talking about it afterwards, the season somehow feels rushed? even though it was 2x as long as any other season and they had three years to write it? how do you have a 2 hr 30 min episode and not a single scene where the people who spent all season protecting eddie don't get together and talk about his death. that's just...unfathomable to me

out of the four storylines in volume one, two of them were like unbearably boring to me. im so sorry. it got to the point where every time it cut away from hawkins i would text em "FUCKKK" because they were far and away the most compelling story. i always predicted the russia plotline would be boring like the second s3 ended i said oh boy thats gonna be boring. but the HNL storyline......was somehow even more boring. and i love el! i liked venry as a villain! i LOVE JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER but jesus christ is brenner a redundant boring ass character who's always entering the frame sneakily and saying some shit like "eleven......the virus inside you is spreading.....you are an evil evil little girl" like JESUS dude we get it. idk ive never found his character nearly as interesting as the show seems to think he is, and i think spending this much time with him this season was honestly a mistake! so glad he's dead rip. i also wasn't a fan of the stretched out bullying plotline because it was very cartoonish to me and also just like. not necessary. we already know el feels alienated. watching her get shoved to the ground and have a milkshake spilled on her precious little dress just felt like kicking her while she was down

anyways theres a lot this season did well! quite honestly, it all falls apart in the last episode. without the mistakes made there, it would have been so much stronger. but alas i fear it's my least favorite season of stranger things so far because of these issues </3 to me there were times where i was like "am i really watching stranger things right now??" because the writing choices were just so bizarre and uncharacteristic of the show as a whole. praying season 5 is better but i have a strong feeling season 2 will always reign supreme

#anon #answered

[storiesofsvu]

Alright, happy Thursday hoes, lets get to this.

Mothership first

Okay… interesting open…

Omg…how many times are they gonna use the trope of “don’t touch that!” “who the hell are you?” surprise it’s the new laywer…

Not surprised its another old white dude, but at least he’s not as old as mccoy

Okay seriously…. If they get rid of Samantha I will not be watching this show anymore..

I wonder if they’re going to bring this staff change up on svu too considering this guy is also now carisi’s boss… but the writers seem to have forgotten that these shows all exist together until they want to do a crossover.

If this was svu the ada would be storming into the squad room yelling at the detectives for making a mistake that’s gonna cost them their case. Why don’t we get to see that on mothership? I want more crossing over between departments, cops never show up in the gallery either, just to testify if they’re needed.

Oooo yesss that maroon suit. I see you ma’am!

Man they’re just right fucked with this case aren’t they?

This defence attorney is super crusty

How come these videos are coming up NOW and not before things went to trial??

This judges office is barba’s office. They really only have so many sets, hey? (also the continuity of that office on this show/universe drives me fucking insane).

My subtitles keep cutting in and out and that is also driving me insane

Toronto time.

Will I pay attention? Likely no

JESUS FUCK talk about a cold fucking opening wow.

Big surprise I stopped paying attention halfway through the ep. Like, it’s fully muted right now and I’m working on writing LOL

SVU time

BRUH is this maria stuff ive been seeing all over twitter legit?! I thought people were fucking clowning LOL

Olivia in uniform just fucking makes me so fucking weak every single time

Clearly the other captain hasn’t been in the field a lot if that was her immediate reaction to that crime scene

Okay… hear me out… olivia literally saved maria’s life and stayed on the phone with her ALL night. We all know she has a habit of taking in strays… there’s no doubt maria became a cop because of liv… maria would have reached out TO HER about her graduation, not the other way around…

Velasco getting actual screen time finally. I do have to say, im back on my Velasco bullshit…

LOL. I know it was unintentional but the harshness of velasco’s knock on the door killed me.

4 hours of law and order is too much. Im getting bored and this is the show I actually like. I think imma start skipping Toronto cause mothership does hit some days

If this girl has a good enough lawyer she could easily get off on an insanity type plea… tbh this episode would’ve been way better on criminal minds. That would’ve been bad ass.

This episode is almost over and we got absolutely NO closure on the maria thing AND we didn’t get to go to court. Im OVER this fucking show man lol

Liv being back in her bac nail polish era is bomb though

Fin doesn’t strike me as a scotch guy… this is weird..

Okay… liv is really not okay. Like this girl needs support, she needs proper and regular therapy, she needs a break from work. Go home and spend time with your son instead of drinking cheap wine alone in a bar? Also while we’re talking about drinking alone after work being all sad, can we touch on the fact that her mother was an alcoholic, and that was what *killed* her… this is incredibly worrisome and I doubt we’re ever going to touch on it/get it fleshed out like we should…

Okay we at least got some maria closure. Thank you.

OC time!

Jet *attempting* to control stabler, woof. At least someone’s trying loooll

This bitch is so dead

Part of me feels like its bullshit that se wouldn’t know any of this about her own brother, but also I never talk to my family so…. LOL.

Fuck he’s creepy as shit

There is NO WAY THAT TINY MAN IS THE SAME SIZE AS ELLIOT

The fact that it took THIS long for someone higher up to question his anger/trauma/etc affecting his job is wild.

THE BARTENDER IN ME IS FUCKING DYING. I had a PHYSICAL reaction to that conversation.

“you’ve never had a long island ice tea?!” “I don’t like ice tea it’s too bleh” guy promptly orders two to prove that theyre good? THERE IS NO ICED TEA IN LONG ISLANDS

Cragen’s really just gonna be in the last second of this episode isn’t he?

Everyone: proper ear pieces

Jet: nah. Air pod.

I really thought that stabler was gonna be missing for a like, a good chunk of time with no one knowing.

OHHHH right! The foil he found in the bathroom garbage and immediately licked… right… I forgot about that. Now the question is who it belongs to…..

#law and order svu #svu #law and order #law and order special victims unit #law and order spoilers #spoilers #live watch

[schibi12]

I get a lot of hyperfixations sometimes they can last for 2 or 3 days, or weeks, months, years...but now ive started to notice this weird hyperfixations i get which are always temporary and happen when a current media is like trending.

For example when the Clone High Reboot was airing, i was kinda hyperfixating on it even though i have never and still havent watched a single episode of it, but i was watching reviews and reaction videos about the reboot, redesigns of the new characters, clips and edits on Tiktok, beck i even did a poll here on Tumblr if i should watch it and then the show ended it stopped trending and the hyperfixation also ended like i am no interested in watching it at the moment i will probably watch it in the future.

Another example is currently with Futurama being back again (again), i watched a video of it in YouTube and now im kinda hyperfixating on it but also on the other Matt Groening shows, and i have only seen like a handful of Futurama episodes and just know like basic info and the memes, but now i want to watch all the episodes and video essays about it and i'm pretty sure that when this season is done with it's run the hyperfixation is going to end.

Does anybody have these temporary hyperfixation that are caused by whatever media that's trending???

#schibi rambles #hyperfixation #hyperfixating #clone high #futurama #animation #adult animation #i need to know peeps #i need to know if im the only weirdo who does this

[spacedlexi]

have you watched tlou? thoughts?

ive made a few posts about it if u search tlou on my blog but i never made a final thoughts or anything

this kinda turned into a final thoughts ramble (essay) so under the cut it goes

honestly it kinda peaked for me at ep 3 (which was a REALLY good ep so the bar was high and i was mostly enjoying the changes up through that point),, i still liked it but i feel like some of the changes they made altered the impact of the og ellie/joel relationship. theyre dedicated to rewriting ellie to have some "violence" problem to attempt to set her up better for part 2 but i just hate that they actively have chosen to do this to her character. they took a lot of her sweetness away which is a huge shame to me. theyre so weird about ellie honestly i dont like the way they talk about her half the time these days i had to stop watching the bts because the way they kept talking about "violence" made me ill sick even. like you can still have your character have a "descent into madness" type plot after experiencing an extremely traumatic event (after a lifetime of traumatic experiences) without being weird about how "violent" people are. they love to throw that word around but they dont like to investigate Why exactly people are being violent and to Who. its typically just violence and/or revenge=bad 😐 (<-and that i think kinda leads into other problems i have with the plots they write in general)

i had less problems with joel. my only real problem was that they really played up the old thing a little much like save it for part 2 lol also not enough accent i didnt hear a single "elleh". i wasnt a fan of how they decided to change joel and tommys convo about ellie, and while i can appreciate it more now knowing that they still committed to portraying joels actions in the final episode as the selfish acts they are, and seeing joel have fears of failure makes sense because im sure he feels he failed as a parent, im still not a fan of how maria doesnt get to chew him out for his selfishness (important character moment of reflection on selfish behavior and consequences of actions on people around him), and how it changes the atmosphere of his and ellies argument when half of the reason he doesnt want to take her is because he feels too old and slow to protect her. and Then when he Does decide to take her its like? werent you crying last night about being slow and deaf and the impact that has on your combat ability? did that change? i understand why they added the lines they added but i dont feel like it made sense with how they continued to play out the episode with line for line scenes from the game...like these are two different things now. similar, but different enough to introduce problems where there didnt used to be. and then hes stabbed and dying 10 mins later

the pacing in general was a little iffy to me. it was only 9 episodes and 2 of them are separate from the main plot. that, plus rewriting existing characters/plots, plus not being able to fit in the more softer personal moments between joel and ellie that would just happen throughout a map(i know its hard to make watching 2 people walk cross country interesting but we needed more of those moments), plus ellie being preemptively hardened so we see less of her soft side slowly cracking through joels tough shell really impacted the believability of their relationship for me. we're supposed to see ellie become more hardened over the game but honestly in the show she always feels at the same level to me :/ those soft moments Are still there but i wouldve liked to have seen more of them. especially felt the loss of the scene where ellie sees real fireflies for the first time

the reason why i love the original last of us so much is because i think it is an INCREDIBLE character piece. every single character plays a very important role in shaping the development of the main two protagonists relationship (the two of which are Also impacting each other) over the course of the story. while i loved bill and franks ep, i wish they would have introduced a new character to fill the role that og bill left. because og bill was very important for joel. he was like a ghost of christmas future showing the man he could become if he continued to push people away. and throughout bills segment joel frequently pushes back against his ideas and this usually lent to a little bonding moment between him and ellie. but this also showed us that joel was open to new connections. whether he would get over his fear of that or not to be solved at a later date (ie: the tommy incident that was altered for the show and my problem with it because joels choice to take ellie after their argument is EVERYTHING and the show muddied it a bit). but by the time they leave bill, joel and ellie have begun building a true connection

sam and henry also suffered from this imo. by writing in all the kathleen stuff, it takes the focus away from how sam and henrys familial relationship is the foundation from which joel and ellies closer familial bond is allowed to grow (which also becomes a source of division when ellie wants to talk about what happened to them but joel wants to move on, which leads into their conflict during tommys section which boils down to more "talk about it vs move on"). i also feel like the story is weaker for choosing not to include the story of kyle and ish. because although it happens mainly through notes, its a story about letting yourself learn to trust new people and the things you can do with a strong community, its a story about how even though good things may come to an end, the time we had together was important and meaningful and WORTH IT and i wouldnt have done it any other way. id much rather focus more in on that as a theme (compounds with the riley/left behind segment/plus joels final act of selfishness) than whatever tf was going on with kathleen and her revenge plot. plus i thought the first game was all about "love" so why not go harder into these "light in the darkness" themes? kathleens plot is just a watered down part 2 anyway i still dont think we needed that :/

all my grievances aside however they Did stick the landing and i was so relieved plus i enjoyed the added anna segment. as someone whos played tlou like at least 10 times over the last decade plus watched others play, it was going to be impossible for me to not constantly be comparing the two. to be fair i think one of the strongest points of the show was how they really nailed how it felt to actually BE the player in these scenes that i had already played a hundred times myself. im sure this show was great for someone whos never played the game since a lot of my problems come from how they decided to do certain things for the show. i hope the people who enjoyed the show but havent experienced the game go watch a clip comp or something because i definitely believe the og game is still the best way to experience this story. video games also deserve more respect as an art form but thats a whooooole other conversation

i wish my opinion was stronger than 'it was fine overall with a couple solid episodes' but welp....definitely couldve been worse tho so im glad its at least as good as it is. it is good!! but the game is very near and dear to me so...i am biased but i tried to at least give it as fair a shake as possible. i think it started pretty strong. peaked with bill and frank. then dipped a little lower than the first ep. then picked back up to first eps strength again for the final stretch. the bill and frank and left behind eps were my favorite parts of the season. its a bit of a shame that the 2 eps that are most removed from the plot are the strongest to me, but also i guess it makes sense

#replies with lexi #incognito #half of this is me gushing about why i love the game so much but it gets at where my problems with the show come from #after u get past my ellie grumblings #tlou critical #but also pos :) #i really did a deep dive hoo boy #time to post this at an unreasonable hour #time to stop agonizing over Opinions and go to sleep

[biohazard2017]

im watching degen rn and ive just realised that one of the main reasons that leon and claire feel off in infinite darkness is bc you dont get the sense that leon. respects claire in that show. you get me.

like in degen, leon is constantly deferring to claire. when her authority is challenged, he immediately lets everyone know that she survived raccoon. he doesnt say We survived raccoon, he keeps it to just her, so that she cant be further debased. hes protective, sure, as evidenced by the elevator convo and the one in that tent, that "me and chris took one path you took another", but he also knows that shes capable. he throws his gun to her in the middle of battle bc he knows she can handle herself and trusts her to. there is no "i must protect you", its "i trust you to protect yourself bc we respect each other and i know what youre capable of".

in infinite darkness, leon is honestly.. kindof dismissive of claire... he brushes her off w/o letting her know anything in those first scenes of the white house, and of course theres the whole thumbdrive nonsense at the end. claire having to say "when are you gonna stop treating me like a little kid?" is completely antithetical to their whole relationship. leon is protective of course, but hes also compassinate and trusting enough to know that shes claire fucking redfield. theyre on the same wavelength, they have the same battle instincts, theyre always trusting each other to keep themselves safe. claire has never needed leon to protect her, and infinite darkness choosing to insinuate that going into the "reboot era" of the franchise is really worrying.

the original franchise w degen & rev2 was really careful in telling you that claires decision to join terrasave is just that. her decision. her being an ngo employee doesnt detract from her experience and her skills and her survival instincts. she chooses to prioritise protecting sherry and rani and moira to the best of her abilities, but you are not to forget that her abilities are her skill with a shotgun. even in degen, where claire doesnt have much to do, when she does get a weapon for that brief period of time, her body count is still on par with leons.

this is in direct comparison with infinite darkness, where claire doesnt kill anything. her detective work is hampered by leon learning the same things as her episodes in advance. she has to be saved by leon and is downed minutes into the final boss fight. considering that infinite darkness was basically capcoms degen reboot, claire not being able to just.. Be Claire is worrying!!!!! why does she not get a single weapon! why doesnt she get to fight anything! why does she have such a weaker storyline in comparison! why is she left injured and hostile to leon at the end!

in degen, claire and leon have pretty equal storylines exempting the finale. in infinite darkness, leon has triple the screentime claire has. already we arent getting a cv reboot, the only other mainline claire game. its not just leon, the narrative no longer respects claire redfield.

#dude i fucking love claire redfield so much i am jusg so mad #im only like half an hour into degen when writing this post ok maybe the rest is shit to claire idc!!! at least its better than fucking id #claire redfield #resident evil #nitzie.txt

[fatherramiro]

anyways some final dark thoughts with some 1899 musings sprinkled in for flavor

definitely ended the show with my top five faves being noah, claudia, charlotte, hannah, and katarina. im also deeply obsessed with jonas (the teenager and eyk variants at least) and bartosz came in for a last minute win. 

probably controversial opinion but ulrich... i respect the tragedy but my buddy you could’ve solved a lot of problems by not banging everyone in sight

there are characters who i adored who i wish got a little more time to shine but overall a+ character development. leave me wanting more than overplaying it or adding in unnecessary plots

also, i do wish martha’s badassery had been brought out a bit sooner in season two because she and jonas were giving me charladay from lost vibes and that is not a compliment in this case. like i wasn’t sure what jonas was seeing in her and it felt like he was just obsessing over someone (in this case, his motherfucking aunt) and there was little support. season three... perfection though on that front.

holy fuck the cast overall was spectacular. ive never seen casting that perfect overall, especially for the younger vs older cast members

it was also interesting to me how the main cast mostly didn’t change throughout the seasons - bo and jantje were able to pretty much keep everyone for three seasons regardless of character fates in various timelines/words. that makes me feel like they'd have kept the 1899 main cast around for the entire show run if they’d had, you know, a seasons two and three.

as mentioned in other posts, love that they also stored the love in the fake priest here too. 

the entire show being about love - with the incident that creates the loop being born from love and the solution being conceived of by love is so important. also the fact that the solution isn’t to cause further harm but to save lives? incredible

overall, it wasn’t as nihilistic as i expected? i found the ending to be really powerful and bittersweet but also not quite as heavy on the bitter side as anticipated. 

the last line hit me like a shit ton of bricks.

it also thrilled me that katarina and hannah got to exist/be happy in the end. i know hannah is controversial, but both their deaths were the most viscerally upsetting to me so i was really glad that it didn’t just end there for them.

seeing the way they used every shot and word to convey meaning absolutely destroyed me. not a single goddamn wasted moment or throwaway line

my other minor complaints are that i think they needed 10 episodes per season for all seasons, and that i wish the unknown (aka the terror trio as i was calling them) had a name that wasn't just. the unknown.

the montages!!! fuck me up!!!

ive got so many thoughts about 1899 and where that was going based on this show but the only one ill share here is that im pretty sure that outside of the eyk/maura/daniel triangle, the endgame pairings had to be clémence/jérôme, ling yi/olek, and ramiro/ángel. there was too much emphasis placed on those relationships by the season finale that it would’ve been weird to like. swap out one half of a pairing for someone else. the set up felt very deliberate there, and overall bo and jantje do not waste moments like those.

why did it take me so long to watch this show???? it is perfect and i want to write a thousand essays on it

#dark blogging with julian #dark spoilers for ts

[shinneth]

hello~!! didja see the journeys ep with paul yet? what did you think of it? 👀

Oh, I sure did! Less than 24 hours after it came out, no less. Which is saying something, since I've not watched any of the Pokémon anime since XY (more had to do with getting rid of cable + general burnout; not to knock on XYZ, but Best Wishes hurt me).

Thoughts on it? Well, a little on the mixed side. Least I can do is go over it in more detail. Without watching Journeys at all outside this episode, I've got the overall gist well enough. So, guess it's time to pick this apart.

Cramming 2-3 plots in one episode was a misstep imo

I heard the last time Ash's reserve group at Oak's lab was featured in Journeys, it did a less-than-stellar job showing them off. Apparently, a good chunk of them weren't even seen in that episode, let alone had a role in it. This episode rectified that and made sure every single one of Ash's currently-owned Pokémon was at the very least visible, as even the ones who only got background/still-shot moments at least got to display an element of their personality. That much I greatly appreciate. Guess it's inevitable that pulling this off well will only become increasingly difficult as the series presses on with Ash as a protagonist, so at the very least I can respect this episode for going out of its way to make the vast majority of these Pokémon relevant in one way or another.

Especially since the Fire-type brigade had a special purpose in helping Ash's Gengar learn Will-o-Wisp. And as someone who values the strategic aspect of Pokémon battling, I'm super happy it was this move that Gengar learned and not something like Fire Punch. I enjoyed seeing this being shown in such detail! It really did feel like stepping back to the older seasons that actually put effort into showing off the importance of training.

However, as I watched the episode, I noticed how much time was being invested in these two plot points and remembered this is supposed to be the episode where Paul returns after a 12-year absence...

And from what I understand, Paul ain't gettin' any more appearances after this. This is it! This is all we get after a decade-plus of nothing!

So, in all honesty, I think at the very least the plot of Ash reuniting with all his Pokémon, Goh properly getting acquainted with them all, and the training for the Masters 8 should have been its own episode. Because I do believe it's very important to honor history and give everybody their due diligence when the anime gives them time to actually show up and matter.

Now, with Gengar learning Will-o-Wisp? That meshes in well with Paul showing up. I'd keep that. But the abundance of nostalgic fluff (that I love, but I gotta tell it like it is) really made this episode feel more than a little truncated in the areas that should have mattered most.

It was a competently written comeback for Paul...

On a superficial note, I am a little bummed that Paul didn't get any tweaks in his design (such as colored irises, which Ash was granted from Best Wishes onward; before then, his eyes were just as dotted and black as Paul's). I certainly didn't expect him to get a new outfit or anything since they didn't give Dawn that much (... from what I recall they DID give that to Serena, buuuut Serena's from the era of customizable PCs so I guess that makes a little more sense? Didn't play Gen IV's remakes, so idk if they offered that in those), but it would've been cool.

Then again, I HAVE heard about the interview in which the logic for never ever letting Ash age for the sake of keeping some "feeling like the first day of summer every day" sentiment... much as I roll my eyes at that, I've pretty much given up on the progression of time EVER being feasible in this series. Up through DP, I could at least pretend Ash was aging a year per major region (minor quests like Orange League and the Battle Frontier didn't warrant full-year lengths to me). At this point, given the design and how many generations we're in now, there's really no other choice than to accept this is basically Anime Simpsons time-wise.

Paul having his own Gyarados, Garchomp, and Metagross was completely believable, of course. He's been doing this Pokémon training thing just as long as Ash has, and there was zero indication that he would have stopped after Ash beat him. Unlike Gary, Paul didn't decide on a career change. He was set on challenging Brandon again (more on that later...). So, yeah. It would be perfectly logical for Paul to have about as many reserves as Ash. Reggie's got a big-ass backyard for that, after all. And all three of these Pokemon are ones I'd totally see have Paul having on his own journey.

Would've liked a longer battle, ngl

I'm not sour that Paul lost to Ash again here. Ash losing to Paul at this stage probably would have damaged his cred significantly (considering what all he's accomplished from XYZ and Sun/Moon) - this is right before the Masters 8 stuff starting up, after all.

But I think I would have at least preferred a tie.

Then again, with a certain other plot element I'll get to in a bit, I suppose that might have weakened that message a tad. Really, though, I would've liked a longer battle. I'm just used to Ash/Paul battles being lengthy affairs, full of twists and turns and crazy-ass strategies being utilized. Like, in all fairness, all 3 of Ash's Pokémon gained significant abilities from this battle alone (Lucario got Bullet Punch, Dragonite got a crazy-ass combo move, and Gengar got Will-o-Wisp). I am bummed we didn't get a resurgence of Counter Shield - THAT would've been cool to see make a comeback! And it's one of Ash's few legitimately clever tactics. Though I guess that technique was more of a Dawn-related thing, ultimately. Still, didn't stop Paul from copying it in the Sinnoh League :P I wanna say Dragonite's made-up technique may have been some kind of loose reference/spiritual successor, but in practice it looks like they serve completely different purposes.

Thanks to so much time being eaten up with Ash's Pokémon reunion, there sadly wasn't much left for there to be an epic fight. What little we got was good enough, and it was very nicely animated.

The real appeal in Paul and Ash's rivalry, though, was in how Paul actually made Ash question himself and his methods/motivations. Paul on the outside came off as someone who should have no business being as good as he is because he isn't all about the "love and friendship" aspect of Pokémon. Naturally we're past that development for both of them, but this extended into their battling as well. Their first full battle was loaded with multiple switch-outs on both ends, Ash being forced to wonder what Paul had planned when something didn't immediately make sense to him, and it was just a glorious display of battling psychology.

I guess switch-outs being forbidden from the off in this battle played a role in how this could have been just a little bit more in-depth. And it'd be foolhardy to just expect this battle to be right up there with both of the full battles that happened in DP. The characters are both in very different places now compared to then.

Still, I couldn't help but roll my eyes a little when Paul actually wondered "Oh shit, is Burn really affecting my Metagross' strength?! The thing that the Burn status effect has always been?!"

ofcoursehefuckingknowshehasafuckingmagmortarwithflamebodyandREALLYfuckedpikachu'sshitwiththeburnstatussowhytheeverlivingfuckisheevenwonderingaboutthistohimselfgoddammit

... a GYM LEADER you say

So. I'm of two minds about this.

It's REALLY COOL the series itself is acknowledging that Paul is far too talented to just be an aimlessly-wandering nobody trainer and gave him something that'll elevate his status and reflect just how his presence positively affected the series.

Bonus points if (and this is SUPER-DELUSIONAL OPTIMISM btw) Paul actually became a Gym Leader for the next series AND was adopted into the game canon by actually being a Gym Leader in the Scarlet/Violet games.

On the other hand...

COME ON, HE IS AT LEAST A FRONTIER BRAIN CANDIDATE

YEAH FUCKING REMEMBER THAT? LAST THING WE KNOW PAUL DID POST-LEAGUE WAS GO OFF TO CHALLENGE BRANDON AGAIN.

WHEN ASH BEAT BRANDON, HE WAS OFFERED A POSITION TO BE A FRONTIER BRAIN.

SO EITHER

PAUL BEAT BRANDON BUT TURNED DOWN THE OFFER BECAUSE WHY BE A FRONTIER BRAIN WHEN YOU COULD BE A GYM LEADER AND IT'S NOT LIKE THE ANIME ESTABLISHED FRONTIER BRAINS > GYM LEADERS OR ANYTHING OH WAIT YES IT HAS

"It’s a group of facilities, somewhat like a Gym, but more intense where you challenge and battle against an amazing group of powerful trainers called Frontier Brains." -Brock

OR

PAUL JUST NEVER DEFEATED BRANDON I GUESS

(also lowkey I really really really would've loved for Paul to meet Cynthia again...)

His behavior in the battle this episode DID have him more in, say, a "gym leader's" mindset, I would say. I'd go as far to argue that Paul wasn't really putting his all into any of those matches with Ash. He really seemed interested in drawing out new powers from his opponent. The few times where he shows something of a reaction during the battles, it's when one of the three new powers/techniques started showing that aura-like flare.

I'm certainly not saying Paul wouldn't make for a good Gym Leader. Given the subtle showings of his growth in the episode, such as Infernape actually following Paul's suggestion; something he wouldn't have done in DP regardless of Paul's prior ownership of him... also, him telling Electivire to play and all that, yeah. That's indicative that he's not as excessively rigid as he was before. Paul has the maturity and discipline to be an excellent Gym Leader; certainly 8th Gym Leader material for sure.

My thing is... this is very much beneath him. If the episode had more time, maybe we would have gotten Paul saying that in his pursuit of gaining power, he realized that wasn't ever going to stop someone out there being more powerful than him no matter what he did.

We could have gotten something like, Paul admitting that his fascination with seeing power really felt the most rewarding when his influence drew power out from his opponents.

Looking at the facts, almost every time Paul and Ash battled in DP, Ash would either get one of his Pokémon evolved or they'd learn a significant new move or ability (or technique). Paul is really good at making Ash dig deep and bring out the best in all of his Pokémon.

It stands to reason that Paul's passion might lie in bringing out the true potential of other trainers; it gives him a better battle to have that improves his own team while simultaneously benefiting his opponent.

With a specific sort of focus like this, added with the fact that Paul has zero type preferences of any sort (all we know is that he really likes powerful 'mons who are as good at tanking hits as they are at dishing them out), that really screams "Frontier Brain" more so than "Gym Leader".

In all fairness, it's never outright said whether or not Paul accepted the offer to become Gym Leader. Which can let me headcanon that while he went to Professor Oak to educate himself, it wasn't necessarily to become Gym Leader. Paul's realizing that he can't rely entirely on self-taught methods to ascend in this way of life. Whatever he becomes in the future, Paul's clearly taking the steps necessary to reach the level he seeks to be.

So while I wasn't really thrilled about Paul being used as the "measuring stick" for Ash's chances against anyone in the Masters 8, at least there's an implication that Paul isn't exactly spinning his wheels, either. Much as I'd love to have him be part of the Masters 8 (no guesses on who I'd have him replacing in that), clearly the powers-that-be did not have that intention from the onset.

Hell, one can argue that Paul becoming Gym Leader is just his stepping stone to reach greater heights. After all, it's not uncommon for Gym Leaders to later challenge, on on rare occasions, defeat and replace members of the Elite Four.

So there's an ounce of hope here. Of course, I don't expect we'll ever actually see Paul in the anime again. Maybe 24 years from now. I'll be lucky to be alive by then!

Paul plz

gawd you're still so tsundere af

BITCH YOU HAVE BEEN IN NO LESS THAN FOUR POKEWORLD EQUIVALENTS OF THE SUPER BOWL

SHUT YO' ASS UP

I'd post more pics/gifs but I ran my limit now

So uh... yeah! Those are my thoughts on the episode. In a vacuum, it's great, had lots of nostalgic potential and at the very least they didn't completely ruin Paul like they EASILY could have. Kudos on the writers for making him show his maturity through his subtle cues rather than making him overtly friendly like the rest of Ash's recurring posse.

I really do enjoy more strategic elements being employed in the battle and the episode overall. I feel like Gengar's Will-O-Wisp especially will be a game-changer for Ash's chances in the Masters 8.

However, I would've really appreciated having more time, maybe not compact this episode with three major events, y'know? I'm sure there's a filler somewhere in Journeys that could've been trimmed out to facilitate this.

Also not thrilled about the prospect of Paul becoming a Gym Leader as it's very much beneath him (unless this is some clever-ass tie in to the games and god is that ever wishful thinking or his stepping stone to reach the top), but I do like that I can infer that Paul's at least found a reason to battle for his own sake now.

Yeah. Remember when Brandon asked Paul why he battles? We never got an answer to that, ever.

So this might be the closest we get: not a Gym Leader aspiration, but a necessary step in Paul's mission to bring power out in others to improve his own style.

Could use some work, but considering I'm almost certain this is all of Paul we're gonna get from here on out, I'm just gonna treasure and headcanon the hell out of it.

#answered asks #mangoberri #pokemon journeys #pokemon paul #pokemon shinji #pokeani #lots of rambling #so many headcanons

[somebodylovesyougcv]

what's your better caul saul season ranking 🤨

this actually was so difficult to answer because it’s not like the ranking is favorite to least favorite??? i don’t dislike a single episode ???? Or season. They’re all so good. this is just my subjective opinion and weird logic

1. season 5. i love lalo salamanca, mcwexler marriage, BAGMAN, the entirety of wexler v. goodman (the mesa verde commercials..), jimmy actually becoming a version of saul goodman, nacho! and then him and lalo together. the little snippets we get of kim’s past. i love this season so much. Every episode is so so so so so so good. And i love lalo so bad

2. season 3. chicanery, the entire jimmy v. chuck storyline that spans the entire season is so captivating and all of it culminating in “you never really mattered all that much to me” agonizing. And brilliant; then we have the nacho storyline of him trying to take down hector to protect his father. Love it sm. I just love this whole season so much there’s so much within it. The scene of kim stumbling out of her wrecked car with the gatwood oil papers flying everywhere lives in my brain forever. Also orange jumpsuit jimmy is my favorite. More on that in the future

3. season 2. origin of giselle and viktor, wexler-mcgill!, the mesa verde 1216 scam, nacho and mike working together is a dynamic that i love so so much. erin brill my girlie! kim wexler is brilliant this whole season and so beautiful. i love watching her go at it alone (ish) in solo practice. jimmy and his davis and main cocobolo desk

4. season 6. some of the craziest television ive watched in my entire fucking life. the way the show wraps up each characters storyline by the end and gives us an ending that both hurts and makes sense and it’s so bittersweet and jimmy is redeemed! (at least to me he is) only qualm is that nacho dies. In my dream reality he lives and runs away to like michigan idk. just far away from the salamancas. But seriously like 6.07/8/9 I don’t take a single breath the whole time.

5. season 1. i love jimmy endlessly in this season, watching him try to claw his way to success. crazy ass kettlemans are also a highlight. A Mike background story! “what are you packing?” “pimento” and of course we get to meet new characters and the seasons sets up the show very nicely. ill only say that i felt like it moved slow for the first 3 episodes. But i watched it immediately following completing breaking bad and after that final season of course anything feels slow in comparison

6. season 4. this season has my favorite scam: the letter writing campaign to keep huell out of prison. but jimmy isn’t a lawyer and i miss that aspect of the show a lot. also him and kim having a weird dynamic for a while makes me sad. But lalo comes this season :) and werner ziegler which brings about the change in mike’s character which i loved to see. Also the scene of kim ripping howard a new one during the reading of chuck’s will is one of my favorite scenes ever. And her crying while jimmy reads the letter. Even though this is my “least” favorite season I still love it so bad. I love this whole show so bad

#olivia’s corner #jake thank u for this question #even though you opened a door in my brain that cannot be shut because now i just want to talk endlessly about this show

[wondereternity]

I am trying to be hopeful but I am a little scared that they might do love triangle between EJ, Gina and Ricky which I think would so boring and repetitive for EJ to date another girl who ends up with Ricky. I don’t think it would be fair for EJ to lose a girl twice to the same guy. Let EJ get the girl for once obviously him and Nini were not meant to be but I do however think EJ and Nini could be really good friends that support each other. I really hope they don’t screw up Portwell in S3. 1/2

If I have to watch Ricky pinned after Gina when she is dating EJ I will literally turn off the TV and never watch the show again. I am being dead serious I don’t want EJ to fall for another girl who realizes she still has feelings for Ricky. EJ and Gina seem to be the happiest when they are around each other don’t get me wrong Ricky did make Gina happy at one point but she seems more happier around EJ in my opinion. I really hope Portwell is the series endgame b/c they deserve each other. 2/2

i honestly think y'all are worrying abt it too much, like i get where its coming from but come on. they barely just got together, havent even kissed on screen yet do you really think they'll break up just like that.

as plenty of others have pointed out this season is 8 eps, and that isnt a lot. barely enough to cover songs from frozen, camp rock AND HSM. Like with all that and taking into consideration how many characters they have to cover. Its highly unlikely ej and gina will break up, and gina will get together with ricky.

i also dont think they'll go with ANOTHER love triangle, we've had ricky-nini-ej, nini-ricky-gina and the whole ms jenn love square. doing anything with ricky and gina would not only start a ej-gina-ricky triangle but also potentially a gina-ricky- lily triangle. Which is a LOT for a show that has like 8 different main characters and 8 episodes this season. and ur right, at the end of the day it would be repetitive. Which is exactly why i don't think they'll go this route.

and ive said this before, but them breaking up just goes against their personal arcs. The whole nini thing was EJ losing her because he wasn't truly being himself. and bc he stole her phone but whatever. But it was different with gina, he was nothing but himself and gina liked him for just that. so for both scenarios to have the same result, doesnt make sense imo. its the same with gina, her arc was not letting people in, not trusting. and she thought ricky could be trusted but ended up getting hurt. Then she found ej who proved her wrong, and she learned that letting people in doesnt always end in tragedy. What was the point if she just broke up with the person she let in in the first place.

besides ricky isnt even in the right headspace for a relationship right now. He JUST broke up with nini, and is dealing with lily (unfortunately). i kinda think he'll just stay single this season. Which id 100% support.

and i could go on forever but just have a little hope anon. we've come this far.

#portwell #ej caswell #gina porter #hsmtmts #ask #anon #and i neeeed a nini ej friendship #and gini friendship #anti r*na #kinda