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trickster-archangel · 7 months

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Random thoughts about Hawaii Five-0 rewatch: part 1/?

So, as someone of my mutuals already knows, I'm currently undergoing the exhausting task of checking all the fucking 61 DVDs from the H50 box set before the 30-days guarantee expires, because it's physically impossible to watch them all completely in that time, even if I took 1 month leave. So I'm simply skipping back and forth and leaving the regular rewatch for when my life will be less of a living hell...so, supposedly around 2038...

I have one complaint, which is the subtitles are not completely matching all dialogues, but since my brain only needs them until it's switched to English-mode and I can start understanding it again, I guess it's alright. Second complaint: they're fucking HUGE and OVERLAPPING THE SCENES SO RANDOMLY IT HURTS.

Anyway, I've by now processed only s1-s5, and dude....some things I caught in the deleted scenes (which I've watched entirely) AND in some parts of the commentaries I specifically sought because curiosity won, and which I've never seen giffed or captioned....man, I was so angry and disappointed at times. So I thought I'd be randomly processing them here, no pics sorry, only thoughts.

~~~~~~more under the cut~~~~~~

Thought #1: Alex and Scott goofing around.

Trust me. The gag reels are so much better than you'd expect. At times I was genuinely laughing to tears and god knows how rare it is.

What I loved most was to watch that scene where Alex and Scott start cussing in Italian, and I bet no one who's not Italian could understand a fuck about what they're yelling. Best part, though, were the subtitles, captioning ALEX AND SCOTT: SWEARING IN ITALIAN 😂 Just to make sure what language exactly they were using.

Thought #2: missed chance to make Amber's character less of a plastic doll, or: Why did you fucking cut those 57 seconds?!?!

While watching s5 deleted scenes, I stumbled upon two real jewels from the 24th episode. I'm still trying to understand why they couldn't include them in the canon episode, since both of them combined are less than a minute and surely there were other moments that could've been cut. My only explanation, sadly, is that it would've painted Amber in quite a different light, making her a stronger, rounder character, and giving her an agency we rarely saw in her, except when confronting her ex husband. They could've followed that route, but we cannot have a beautiful woman who's also her own person, a self-confident person, and not just a plastic Barbie doll, right?! God forbid a woman can have agency and call out men on their bullshit, it would threat masculine privilege too much....

So, what exactly happened that bothered me so deeply? (Be aware I'm quoting by heart and not literally, as I didn't take screenshots and anyway I can't make gifs. Also, the following meta is just my interpretation of the implications running through subtext).

The first scene is very short, just six or seven seconds long, but it's a jewel in subtext and non-verbal communication. It takes place presumably after or around the moment Rachel tells Danny about Charlie: we see them from afar, clearly in a street-taken point of view, from an external observer. They are agitated and distressed, Rachel more than Danny, who's tensely spread on the bench with his arms looped behind the backrest, angling far from Rachel's compact and almost self-hugging frame.

They're distressed, not happy, not even remotely connecting to each other, so it's clear it's not a scene which could be envisioned as romantic. It's only a couple of seconds long, and then we see whose this external point of view belongs to: Amber. Amber who's not an idiotic, mellow, shallow doll. Amber who's been so clearly upset by Danny's lie about the texts, that she decided to follow him to the place Rachel had indicated. Amber who's been manipulated and controlled and abused long enough to become suspicious and self-preserving when someone she loves, and who knows her vulnerability, tries to play her around. Amber who looks at them, and clearly isn't angry nor jealous, because those few moments the actress uses to convey all of Amber's inner distress, are some of her best ones (giving that the actress, alas, is not very expressive to begin with), and we understand that she doesn't see any romance in the air. She's disappointed. She's hurt. Betrayed. Again.

Amber's face, in a handful of seconds, perfectly displays the devastating feeling of someone who finally felt safe and respected and secure, only to discover that it's yet another kind of control and manipulation, less cruel, less brutal, but not less humiliating and even worrying.

This is something she's learnt at her expense, and now that she knows the red flags, she cannot trust a man who can't be honest with her, not with this kind of problems, not with something which is clearly affecting his life to a deep level. He wants Amber to be a part of his life, but only if he can control the terms, limits, boundaries and times of their relationship. And Amber has been through it all before, and can't trust that history won’t repeat itself.

She then drives away, hurt and disappointment written all over her face.

The second deleted scene is even more important plotwise, because it explains Amber's absence as Danny’s plus one at Kono's wedding, after all the talk he did in the car about bringing some Amber's friend as Steve's date, and it casts a new light over Danny's reaction to Steve's resolve to ask Cath to marry him, or his tension about Lynn, or Amber's condistent absence for the whole first part of s6, or even Danny's and Amber's fight during their Valentine's dinner.

The scene is longer, about fifty seconds, and it supposedly takes place right at the end of the episode, after Danny pulls up at the hospital's parking lot, after Steve's affectionate text. He takes his phone out of his pocket again because he's received a voice-mail message.

A message from Amber (sorry, I noticed just now I'm still going with Amber instead of Melissa).

She says she's sorry to be doing this by voice-mail because she'd prefer to do it in person, but given their situation it's probably for the best if she spares them both the trouble to be forced to find shallow excuses. She says he's an amazing man, and that she likes what they have and that she thinks it might be real, and that she hopes he feels the same. She's understanding that his job comes first and it's terribly demanding, as she's also aware of how hard his life and his backstory is, with Grace and Rachel. This all considered, she thinks it's best if they stop and take a pause, so that he can reflect and decide if he wants to keep this thing going, but as for now, she can't keep seeing him on these terms.

Amber decided to stop seeing Danny until he decided what to do with their relationship and be honest with her, and started thinking seriously if he was just using her, as she probably felt.

Why?? Why did they cut this whole plotline? It's pivotal for Danny's arc, for his strained and angry attitude towards everyone, for his constant distress, for his even worsening negativity, for the way he's overcompensating with excessive euphoria to Steve's announcement about Cath, for how he meddles with them and confronts Cath about being honest, for how he's not thrilled about Lynn's insertion inside Steve's life.

Because he's alone, at that time. Call it temporary breakup or period of reflection or a break, but he was single and thinking, again, about everything he was doing wrong with his life and his relationships, and falling again into his old black hole of depression and self-sabotage, and seeing Steve going on with his life even at the cost of pretending he was happy with this woman he had supposedly no trouble cheating on, during their "couple retreat", making him wonder if either what he had with Lynn wasn't serious, or if his obvious charade about his threesome with Alyssa and her friend had a second meaning.

Also, they were probably both single again, or at least testing the waters, when they were at the retreat. And Danny definitely was when Cath left Steve once again abandoned, betrayed, and never-chosen in face of anything else.

Quite a lot of subtext to think about, for just 57 seconds which were, prudently, cut.

#h50 #mcdanno #steve mcgarrett #danny williams #h50 5x24 #danny/melissa unhealthy relationship #rachel edwards #h50 meta #h50 rewatch #h50 deleted scenes #h50 gag reels #long post #amber vitale #melissa armstrong #alex o'loughlin #scott caan

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lizthewriter · 3 months

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bad idea right? / diego hargeeves

PAIRING s1!diego hargreeves x fem!reader

SUMMARY you and diego broke up a while ago, but when he texts you at perhaps the most vulnerable time of your life, you can't help but answer.

TAGS s1!diego hargreeves x fem!reader, clubbing, partying, exes, reunion, making out, everyone simping for five meanwhile my obsession with diego 🧍‍♀️, i just rewatched s2 and s3 of tua

QUOTE "i'm right here with all my friends, / but you're sending me your new address, / and i know we're done, i know we're through, / but god, when i look at you," - bad idea right? by olivia rodrigo

WORD COUNT 1.1K

WRITTEN 12.10.2023

tonight was your night. strobing lights flashing all around you, sticky spots on your arms where people accidentally spilled their liquor, bodies flush against your own as everyone flowed with the music. you could forget all about any and every difficulty in your life. one night of drinking and partying, which you would most likely regret in the morning. but for now, you didn't care. you were having fun.

"hey, what's that?" your friend shouted over the booming music. you couldn't hear her.

"what?" you shouted back in confusion. she reached over to you, pulling out a blinkering device from the small, glittery purse barely hanging off of your arm. It was your phone - someone was calling. She looked at the caller ID and her expression darkened. "Who is it?"

You walked around her, only to see him. That stupid fucking smile of his, so goddamn beautiful. You felt your heart sink into your stomach and it settled with a tragic gurgle at the bottom of your gut. Your friend immediately hung up on him and gave you your phone back. "Just leave it alone, okay? Remember why you came here in the first place . . ."

Her expression was encouraging - she wanted you to say it. With a relictant role of your eyes, you responded, "to get drunk and forget about him," with as much disdain as you could.

"Exactly," she responded with a simpering smile, clapping her hands together. She grabbed you by the shoulders, turned you around, and started to push you towards the mass of bodies. "So go out there, dance your ass off, and make every man in this room jealous that he can't have you. Go!"

"All right, all right!" You exclaimed in response, shrugging her hands off your shoulder and entering the crowd through a very narrow passageway between two couples dancing it out. As the scent of alcohol, sweat, and sex assaulted your senses, you started to wonder whether this was a good idea at all. You slowly looked towards your purse. No. You promised yourself you wouldn't crawl back to him. But it was just too easy to pull out your phone and stare at new messages you recieved.

DIEGO (10:34PM) look, i know things ended badly

DIEGO (10:34PM) but i can be better

DIEGO (10:35PM) Location shared. come on please, just talk to me

It wouldn't be a big deal if you went over, right? I mean, you were just friends. That's what you decided on when you ended your relationship, even if you had ignored him since said desicion. It was just one night. One singular night, and you were just stopping by. It totally wasn't a bad idea at all. Right?

You didn't bother saying goodbye to your friend. She was probably already luring they guy she was dancing with to the bathroom - you wouldn't see her for a while. And she wouldn't see you either.

His address wasn't far off from where you were - you could walk there, even. You ignored the catcalls and whistles thrown your way, rushing through the streets to the one person who could ever get you to do something like this. He was your biggest strength and your worst weakness, all at once.

You climbed the stairs to an apartament complex to the second floor, flying past the different room numbers until you found his. With heavy breath, you raised your hand to the wood but hesitated. How was this night going to end? Well . . . how do you want this night to end? You weren't going to pretend as though you didn't miss him whole-heartedly. But it was hard to pretend as though he wasn't the one who ended things.

You were delusional. You thought, maybe one more night together would be good for us.

You knocked, three times. It wasn't long before he swung open the door and leaned against it, again, with fhat smug smirk. Diego. His eyes followed the length do your body - you almost forgot you had dressed up to go out with your friend.

"All for me?" He asked, returning his gaze to your eyes. It was alluring - not begging, but demanding that you come inside. It was hard to tear your eyes away from him. He was still in his vigilante gear and he knew how that made you feel.

A plesant blush spread over your cheeks. "I was out clubbing," you responded shyly, shifting your weight between your feet. He said nothing, only moving out fo your way and pulling the door wider. Asking to please, come in. You hurried inside - after all, you were shivering from the freezing cold in a much-too-short mini-dress and skinny heels. "I'll admit, I wasn't expecting you to reach out."

"No?" He had his back turned to you, by the small counter that must be the kitchen. He faced you again, with two glass tumblers and offered you a drink. You accepted - after all, he was being hospitable and you didn't want to be rude. Finding a place to get comfortable, you leaned against what you could call a kitchen table, but being truthful, you were practically seated upon it. "I wasn't expecting you to come."

You shrugged, taking a long dreg from your tumbler, staring at the bottom of it when it left your lips. The tension in the room was thicker than blood. You looked up when the sound of Diego's drink meeting the table met your ears. He approached you, almost cautiously, like you were a deer in headlights. Taking the drink from your hand, he placed it on the table far from you and rested his hands on the surface of the table behind you. You were trapped. But it didn't much feel that way. In fact, you felt almost free, like ever since the break-up a piece of you had been locked up and now that you were with Diego . . . you were free to be who you are and do whatever you wanted.

"Which means we both know why we're here, right now," he said softly. An hour ago, you had told your friend that you and Diego were purely platonic. I only see him as a friend. You scoffed at yourself now. If that wasn't the biggest lie you've ever told yourself.

One of his hands reached out, trailing shapes onto the skin of your hand. This was a horrible idea.

"If you don't want to do this, I suggest you leave now."

It was a terrible idea.

But God, you wanted him.

"Why do you think I'm here you big dummy?" You smashed your lips against his, wrapping your legs around his torso while your hands trailed their way up his neck.

He grinned against your lips, his hand trailing down to clutch your ass. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

#diego hargreeves x reader #diego hargreeves x you #the umbrella academy #tua #my writing #fanfiction #my fanfiction #my fic #writing #fanfic #— [ glizzy posts ☆ ]

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kmze · 2 months

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Thoughts on 2x01 - 2x11 So much better than S1, I am so much happier having more characters involved in the storyline and Katherine is such a great villian. I also noticed the lighting is warmer and brighter this season. I think I read somewhere that was intentional because they were introducing werewolves (warm orange hue) whereas the first season was vampires (cold blue hue). Also feel like I can SEE the scenes now (modern lighting on shows is the bane of my watching experience everytime) Random thoughts under the cut!

I cannot stress enough how much Katherine makes everything better, Nina deserved more accolades for how she played two very different characters interchangeably so flawlessly. Her presence even made me care more about the love triangle and the albit messed up dynamic. I mean her and Elena look EXACTLY the same and the Salvatore's want me to believe there's no transference issues? I'm so sure.

I definitely get more from Stefan and Katherine than I do from Damon and Katherine though. Katherine brings out the meaner side of Stefan that he pretends doesn't exist and I appreciate that. She is clearly still under his skin though as much as he wants to deny it because I really loved their scenes in 2x04.

Damon and Elena have great sexual tension and chemistry but I just cannot vibe with it because he killed her brother like a month ago?? I just continue to be flabbergasted by that (I am a hater).

Obviously I have seen the Stefan and Caroline scenes from 2x02 and 2x03 dozens of times but watching them like this in a rewatch makes me love them even more. Especially their scenes in the woods and at the swimming hole, Stefan is so much lighter around her. Even his scenes with Lexi last season didn’t feel as effortless. I know this early on he's friends with her because of Elena and "hero-boyfriend" duties but he still let her distract him at the grill because I think he genuinely likes being around her. Him showing her his insecurity about Damon and Elena already shows they have a lot of trust building between them. I love them.

I was so happy and almost cried at Liz being the first person to see how much Caroline changed when she became a vampire! The physical strength gave her so much confidence and Liz saw that instantly. It was so sad watching Caroline (kudos Candice) have to compel that away. I was just thinking in S1 like damn I can't believe their relationship was this rough but this moment sold how and why they become so close in the later seasons.

It’s really not a surprise Aimee and Sarah died, they were always too eager to get wasted in a town with mysterious deaths weekly. The odds were never in their favor. Katherine killing Aimee on the dance floor in front of everyone had me cracking up though! The best crazy bitch ever. The masquerade episode was probably my favorite so far in my rewatch, this is when the contrived events work with everyone playing a part in the game!

Caroline turning into a vampire really helped start to remove her from being stuck under Elena. Especially now as she's getting involved in Tyler's storyline who truly has nothing to do with Elena narrative-wise. She's even got her own love triangle brewing already.

I like how easily Stefan accepted he was going to be stuck in the tomb with Katherine for a few days, as if it was a weekend retreat. In all honesty he probably wanted to avoid Elena and the self sacrifice mission so he wouldn’t have to go along with it since he’s in “boring-choice-matters-self” mode. Because I thought it was odd he wouldn’t let Elena even see him and then told Damon to keep her away from there, so that's my theory.

Trapping Elena in the house was the best move for everyone involved. I’m sorry but the whole suicide mission was getting on my nerves. Girl shut up and sit down.

Someone should really have told Jenna already about vampires because then she'd stop inviting them into the house! Sadly I do not care about Alaric and Jenna either, I remember when I first watched I did but now, meh.

Bonnie and Jeremy are cute I don't care what anyone says! I know they have their issues in the later seasons but they could have come back to them, I can't have nice things.

Bonnie and Damon really do have great chemistry as enemies to reluctant allies, I will never forgive TPTB for denying me this.

Elijah is zzzzzz so far.

Lines that made me laugh:

Damon: Elena’s on a martyr tear that rivals your greatest hits (I yelled! he wasn't lying oh my god!)

Caroline: They were more... gold with amber highlights (she's so unintentionally funny)

#tvd rewatch #tvd spoilers #S2 rewatch #2x1 - 2x11 #my elena tolerance is very low lmao #but I'm enjoying almost everything else #and everyone is sooooo pretty #I mean the cast has always been gorg it was the cw #but this season is like damn #everyone can get it!#k rewatches tvd

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flythesail · 5 months

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The shadow & bone cancelation is just... These have been my favorite books for years. My relationship is different with them now. I grew up with them. Am I growing apart from them? I excitedly waited for the show and rewatched s1 so many times. The writing wasn't that good. The cast was so dedicated and cared deeply. The two series never should have been combined. I had a fun time watching and that's most important. I can't look at it too critically. I saw my favorite books come to life. The books weren't always reflected well. I watched every interview and awaited every piece of news; took off work to watch. Binging it made it an event over too soon; my s2 interest didn't last. Some of my favorite scenes made it on screen. The context of those scenes changed. I'm grateful for the new versions and enjoyed them all the same. There's so many scenes I'll never get to see. Six of my favorite characters became real. They'll never all be on screen together. I only wanted a six of crows show from the start. Netflix would never green-light a third season and a spin-off. Something is better than nothing. It could have been a lot better. The cast wanted it and deserved it. Could it be as good as I wanted? I'm really sad. This show was imperfect but it meant a lot to me.

#shadow and bone #six of crows #flythepost

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lavenderjewels · 5 months

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Rewatched the latest jjk ep 18 so going to throw my random thoughts about this season here with manga spoilers

I didn’t want to rewatch this episode, but my family hadn’t watched it yet, so I went along with it. Didn’t have anything to worry about, since I didn’t get emotional this time and mostly just had fun with Mahito

Something I loved about JJK when I started it is how it set up some of its death scenes—With Junpei, Nanami, even Jogo, it’s obvious at a certain point they’re not going to survive. Junpei when he realizes Mahito isn’t a good person, Nanami the second the scene shows Mahito in the photobooth, Sukuna being Sukuna, etc. This isn’t going to work for everyone watching, especially if you don’t care for the character(s), but that anticipation for their deaths always made the scenes more tragic for me.

Mahito being a great villain also helps for those scenes. His personality and ability makes him some of the most fun to read and watch, and he’s incredibly smart, or, at least, perceptive in a way that’s sometimes hidden by how chaotic and childish he can be. I can’t wait to see the rest of his fight with Yuuji and his final words towards Kenjaku. I never noticed this in the manga, but in the anime, the look that Mahito gives Kenjaku the last time they met makes it clearer that Mahito had some understanding of Kenjaku.

Mahito and Nobara’s confrontation was gorgeous with the colors and lighting. It’s devastating knowing this is just. it for her. It’s too short and I’m still hoping for her return, but it’s been a long time with nothing

This season has been an interesting watch, since it’s changed a lot of my feelings on the shibuya arc and some characters. Had an opposite situation than with csm (spoilers for s1) where I was surprised after watching season 1 because I thought power was way more prominent than she actually was in the manga, except this jjk season was me being surprised at how much Megumi was here. It wasn’t an overwhelming amount, but he was involved in the background and at the focus more than I remembered. That and how his expressions/body language was animated with the voice acting made me like his character more

Somehow I ended up liking the shibuya arc a little less—also like with the csm anime, although these aren’t animation faults, only seeing the series in a new light and in a different medium. I was never huge on the grasshopper, seance curse users, miracle curse user (haruta??) fights, which take up a good portion. The toji fights were great, although I’ve always been neutral-ish about his character. The Mei Mei fight was surprisingly better, mostly since the comedy gag aspects with her brother were toned down (its still evident she’s grooming him to die for her but it’s not framed as comedic as the manga) and the atmosphere was unnerving and dark. Nanami is also a character I’ve always been neutral-ish on, so overall not the most interesting parts of the series for me. Love the kenjaku and curses team though.

But on the positive side, it made me appreciate what’s to come more. I didn’t care as much for some of the fights and most of my personal favorite characters (yuuji, choso, maki, kenjaku) get explored more after this arc, minus yuuji who gets time near the very end. I’m very curious to see if I’ll end up enjoying the Culling Games colonies more and less when they’re animated. A part of that will likely depend on how the future chapters handle things set up or continuing in this arc.

As of now, Hidden Inventory/Premature Death and the stretch of chapters from the end of shibuya to the Higuruma scenes are my favorite parts of jjk. For the latter, I honestly love when the characters have long talks, whether it’s about themselves, lore, or anything. The power system is fun, but when the chapters focus too much on that technical side, that’s really the only time I’m bored by dialogue or narration heavy chapters. Thinking mainly of the Gojo and Sukuna fight with that, but there’s a few minor instances in the series.

Choso and Yuuji episode is still my favorite! I am incredibly biased

Part of me wishes I watched this show first without ever reading it, but the manga is still more impactful for me, probably because I got to read at my own pace/digest what was happening and read it without expectations coming in

#my family doesn’t want to hear me talk about JJK so my blog will 🫵😤#jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen season 2 #long post

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booksandpaperss · 9 months

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rewatching s3 for the first time in awhileeee bc my brother is binging stranger things so here’s some of the things I’ve noticed/thoughts I’ve had:

-my brother liked mleven in s1 and 2, but he thought it was hella weird that all they were doing was making out and he agreed with hopper’s frustration

-hopper actually had a lot of great points abt Mike and el’s relationship he just went about it terribly

-hopper’s treatment of Mike was portrayed as light hearted and for funnies but like… it rlly wasn’t

-I know this has been covered before but the fact that Mike felt the need to lie to el instead of just tell her that hopper was keeping them apart smells a lot like he was also secretly glad to have space

-Mike really truly does put zero effort into being a good boyfriend. lmao

-my brother thinks s1 and 2 were better (we haven’t even gotten to episode 3 lmao he’s so real for that)

-I love the party antics at the start of s3 I miss my blorbos :(

-elmax friendship is so god tier (knew this already but still)

-Joyce was very clearly not interested in anything romantic with hopper and still grieving bob but hopper just kept pushing and pushing. didn’t like it the first time I watched and I certainly don’t like it now

-don’t blame hopper for being in love with Joyce tho bc I would be too 🫡

-Joyce really is set up for zero development and was mostly there for hopper’s character. like I knew this but wow 😐

-whenever romance as a topic was brought up in the party Mike and Will were in the shot without el and this happens two or three times in episode 1 alone

-I miss s3 Robin. bring my girl home she was so snarky and fun

-max and Lucas are so good for each other even when they’re squabbling they clearly enjoy each others company

-the difference bewteen mleven and lumax in the first two episodes of s3 alone is so loud

basically s3 has a lot of individual things working for it but like my brother said… s1 and 2 are just better

bonus: my brother didn’t want me to watch with him at first bc I’m “way too nerdy about this show” and he was worried I’d spoil everything 💀💀

#byler tumblr #byler #st 3 #elli talks stranger things

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fratricideknight · 1 year

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Do you have a favourite sam hair era? Mine was in season 1 and 2 when it wasn't that long yet but still had the cute curls at the ends

don't even get me started! (sorry for how long this is. there's a tl;dr if you don't wanna read.)

just the fact that sam has longer hair is a gigantic plus with me. i love his hair so much, it looks so soft and gorgeous. i'm really enamored with that anime-esque style, so when a physical man (and a real one, bc jared) manages to pull it off, my heart is instantly stolen.

as for specific standouts: season 1, as you said. it's just so cute! and the bangs never reappear so i'm particularly fond of them. season 1a especially, when his hair curled up so much at the ends, with the gorgeous lighting which made him look so good - *chefs kiss*. i love it when they let his hair go curly, which is why i think his pilot hair is cute but i prefer the overall s1 hairstyle.

i adore the s3/s4 hair, too. i view it as an improvement on the s2 hair, but idk, maybe that will change when i rewatch. the side part is probably better suited to him than the bangs as he gets older, and the little curls stay (esp. in s3), so it's a win.

i love the longer hair. s7 was dragged down by the sideburns and was too straight imo, as far as i can remember, but season 6 had its moments! maybe that's just because soulless!sam was hot, though, lol. as for the king of long hair: i. love. the season 8 hair. both 8a and 8b had their moments. i haven't watched it in a while, though. all i remember is that he glowed. i would have loved it if they let his hair go full wavy, even for just half a season, but it had the flicks so it passes with flying colours.

s9 hair was cute, too, because it was allowed to curl! a little, anyway. let this man's hair curl! tbh, though, by this stage everything becomes kinda fuzzy. i need to rewatch these seasons to get a grasp on the hair (i wish). s12 was kind of a return to form (?) with more structure than the preceding seasons so that was cute; all i really remember is the time he dressed as a priest and it was hot but i feel bad admitting that. also he looked really cute in a sweater in the same episode. you look good in anything, but please wear something other than flannel, sam. s14 hair was kinda similar (i think) and he had a beard!!! for a few episodes. so that was fun. i like the beard tbh, just not too long. dean deserved to burn for 40 more years for telling sam to shave it.

tl;dr: i love the longer hairstyles, but s1 is probably my favourite atm bc i love the bangs and i love s1. my fav varies, though.

thank you for giving me an excuse to ramble about sam's hair 💕

#sam winchester hair #sam's hair #sam winchester love #sam winchester #supernatural #spn #mine #askbox #mostlybbucky

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x-birdsong-x · 11 months

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can you do that criticism/things youd change about scream queens for s2 alone?

This one's probably going to be messy because I have a LOT to say about S2. Some of it overlaps with others, and I also have some positive things I will never miss a chance to talk about.

As always, when I do things like this, I'm saying it right here: There is not a single SQS character I genuinely dislike. The retcon is not canon.

And a quick note, I've talked about a lot of this stuff with my buddy @sarahpaulsonsclown, so credit to them for something I say about Cassidy later.

The first- and the cause of a lot of other things- problem with S2 is the tone change from S1.

Tell me I'm exaggerating, but S1 blended the comedy and horror in a way that worked and came across naturally as if they weren't doing it on purpose, and it just happened to be 50/50.

Season two writes the comedy in completely on purpose, but it doesn't focus enough on or bring in enough of the horror to balance it out, so it comes across more "artificial," I guess than S1's whole tone did. It just doesn't blend the way S1 did because there's not enough of the horror kept around this time.

And that's a shame! Because when S2 does switch to more of the horror side of things, it WORKS. There are scenes here that carry the horror really well, and had the whole season had more of a tone like this, the comedy could've been balanced out better.

One of my biggest examples of this is when Zayday first confronts (and gets kidnapped by) Jane. The music, the weather part of setting the scene, and the lighting. (Although I really wish they'd not have used Sophia's gold for Jane and Cass so often, given they're the least linked to Gigi in S2. I'll come back to this.)

Even the scenes where the girls first start visiting Hester before she's moved to the hospital can be a good example. Those scenes have their little comedy moments, but they're serious scenes, and the characters are treated seriously in them.

This tone issue starts disrupting things in later episodes though, and I'll come back to this later talking about other things, but Addison's (Chanel Number Nine's) death was so off-tone and so mean-spirited given how we spent half this episode being introduced to her extreme fear of needles, and this was such an awful death for her to be given. She didn't even do anything! S2 carries an issue with not having enough horror to balance out the comedy, and then they just threw in a death like this??? What did she do?? Still not quite comparable to how Maggie was treated in AHS, though.

When it comes to character issues caused by both tone problems and other things, I'm going to start with Brock because he's going to be the simplest to talk about.

A problem with S2 is the pacing in the last few episodes especially and the more I rewatch (S2 gets put on loop a lot when I'm writing for reasons I will talk about later) the more this can be blamed on Brock's silly hand issue.

For one thing, Brock's hand is stupid in itself, and it doesn't fit with SQS's original tone at all. This does not work, and it's not helped by the way they do the stupidest things possible, focusing on it as if Brock wasn't originally introduced as just an off and less-lovable version of Chad.

They spend SO MUCH TIME on Brock's ridiculously inconsistent issues that don't fit with SQS's original tone, including letting him narrate a whole fucking episode and naming multiple episodes after his hand problems and giving the hand a goddamn voice actor that when they finally dropped it the pacing was already SO thrown off that they didn't have any time left to stretch other things out the way they could've/should've.

Munsch's illness plotline (which is also mildly inconsistent but not nearly as much as the hand stuff) was so rushed near the end of the season, and (Thank you to @nocakesformissedith for noticing this too, if I remember correctly) Lovin' The D's ending with that "I'll be dead in a month" line is so oddly sudden because they had to shove a bunch of stuff into the other half of the episode that should've been stretched through the whole season, and then Drain The Swamp spends more time scrambling to wrap up Munsch's plotline so she can leave alive and well by the season-ending narration instead of building up to a climax between the villains (who, this time, are ALL STILL ALIVE) and the girls.

Brock's issues with his hand are inconsistent, even in how it affects him. One minute he's just losing control of it every so often, then it acts up when he's stressed, and then we get to how he treats Chanel.

The first time his hand acts up around her, it's pretty in line with how we are introduced to it without confirmation when Zayday first meets him and Cass, but as the season goes on, not only does he consistently threaten her, but he yells at her each time he does and then in the later episodes- when he already has a new hand, courtesy of Cass's favor- is when he starts using both hands when snapping at her and Hester takes her interest in him. And him yelling when he smashes the table when Munsch questions him about his blood type doesn't work with this either because that is not how his hand is introduced!

By Drain The Swamp also, he's having no troubles with his hand at all, and while yes, this is his new hand, it is this hand that continued with his "kill Chanel" stuff.

More of an opinion this one, but if he continued to snap at Chanel, Hester shouldn't have trusted it, and while I'm reaching with this detail, the way she reacts when he grabs her to try calming her down when asking him to kill Munsch during surgery is some good fuel for how they could've gone with Hester's opinion of him. I'll come back to this later because it links into a theory of mine I've had for a very long time.

And no, him reaching for her neck vaguely in Scream Again doesn't entirely count as foreshadowing any of this later behavior because even there, he notices and pulls his hand away with the other. Also, Chanel was clearly a little uncomfortable with the way he was reaching for her there too, but that's a little note/nitpick of mine, given how their relationship goes through the season.

And before I move on to other characters: S2's crack in the timeline.

In Scream Again, when she's narrating to catch us up, Munsch says she hasn't thought about the Chanels for two whole years. S1 canonically stuck firmly in 2015. Later, Brock says Chanel is twenty-four. Chanel was either nineteen or somewhat recently twenty in S1. In Drain The Swamp, when Chanel is narrating the flash-forwards, she says it is canonically 2016. If I'm wrong about this not making sense, then blame it on my dyscalculia, but this is just a nitpick I've had for a while anyway.

Back to problems I have regarding the character writing of some in S2, starting with the ones I have the most to complain about: Jane and Cassidy.

My problem with Cassidy especially comes from how he isn't treated seriously by the writing, and when he is, it doesn't work. I know what they were trying to do because they wanted Cass to be three things:

Boone, through his conflict with Jane, which goes especially and mostly for how he interacts with his mom when we first find out he's her son. The "I'll take care of everything," - "After all you've been through," lines especially.

Pete, given this moment is a direct reference to Black Friday (Yes, I got that moving shot on purpose):

And his own character, which rarely works the way it could have because he isn't taken seriously by the writing!

Cassidy and Sadie are vaguely a play on the Romeo and Juliet trope, but they're not built up enough to warrant her being the one to "change" him. Pete's attachment to Grace worked perfectly because from his very first scene, we are aware of his attachment issues, and we SEE that problem already forming from the minute after he meets her. Again, this part of Cass isn't a play on S1, but it's a comparison fair to make given how Cass's relationship with Sadie is such a big part of both of them in the season.

In Cassidy's first scene- with Zayday- he states that he isn't interested in dating anyone, and I personally think that would've been a more interesting road for him: to have had him get close to Sadie intending to get some better judgment on how to take each of the girls out, only to fall for her through the season. It's still cliche, but it's better than the way S2 expected us to care deeply about this relationship when it started so suddenly and isn't taken seriously anyway.

Even the little details with Cass and Sadie being changed could've helped make this a little better. Throughout the season, Cass ONLY ever calls her Chanel Number Three, and it's too long, it makes the lines that are meant to be big moments for them too clunky.

The best example is when Jane trips him into choosing her over Sadie (which is quickly gone back on by him, which should've been emphasized more), and when he implies that she should leave, he still fully calls her by Chanel Number Three. Having him eventually start calling her Sadie at some point through the season- or hell, even just calling her Number Three like everyone else- would've made those lines come across smoother.

And then, we get to their deaths.

Jane and Cassidy's deaths should have been serious scenes, and they were not. This is partly because S2 had pretty much completely worn out the chance of having these two be seen as serious characters by the time we reach Drain The Swamp and also because, once again, neither of them was written seriously in the first place.

I'll talk a bit about Jane soon, but even Cassidy's dialogue weighs his character down. His lines at the start of the season especially, the "I envy ice" moment especially, are similar to Brock's issues in how completely out of tone they are for SQS itself.

One thing I have to say about Cass being given lines like this is that I get a feeling from them that whoever gave him these lines ran from some of Grace's earlier dialogue and her little speech in Black Friday about killing Munsch, but it doesn't work here because in S1 those lines were not tonally comedic, and they weren't the tone of SQS itself. That was just Grace, it was part of her characterization.

Even Cassidy's "I'm dead" thing was... why? It has the same vibe as Brock's hand problems and makes me wonder if they put it in just so they could have Sadie test for it to give them an extra scene together when they could've done that anyway if they'd written them properly!! It was so random and unnecessary, and much like Brock and Munsch's hand/medical plotlines, it goes nowhere and only comes in at random times.

Going back to how they wanted him to be three things, and this goes for Jane too, S1 introduced the Devils all in mostly or partly comedy-toned scenes, Boone especially, but not once when we find out any of them are villains (mostly excluding Hester given she's not officially revealed until TFGS) do we have to remind ourselves later that they are the villains. Every scene where it comes to them being Devils, not once is it impossible to take them seriously, no matter how the scene started, is going, or ends. Boone and Gigi taking the first height of Ghost Stories doesn't come across suddenly nor does it fall apart because of how they've been written previously and/or when they were introduced!! Gigi's relationship with her kids is clear and absolutely heartbreaking, and even when we don't even know she's a part of it this goes for Hester's relationship with Boone and Gigi too!! Pete goes from how he's written in Hell Week and Pilot to having the darkest, most intense death scene in the show and being the Devil with the MOST close-call attack in the show with how close he gets to killing Chanel in Black Friday!!

This doesn't work the same for Jane and Cassidy because they AREN'T written seriously from the very first scene we meet each of them.

And when it comes to introducing Jane in Scream Again, I do think something about how we start off mimicking S1's party falls somewhat flat.

It's very clear here that Jane loved her husband, and that sticks through the season- and it's also fairly obvious that Jane and her son will be villains considering how S1 went, but I think it may not feel as harsh as S1's opening because it feels almost rushed.

We only get a few seconds of Bill and Jane interacting and talking, and aside from those moments, we don't get any implications about their relationship.

We have no insight into any layers Nurse Thomas or Dr. Mike have, aside from a few (selfishly-reasoned) lines from Nurse Thomas. Seemingly, Dr. Mike is the most heartless one of the two. They are both completely happy once Bill's body is in the swamp, and aside from the one obvious cut to Jane, that's the end of the opening, and we know it all. This does not come back later. This does not get added to. We find out about the first massacre, and Jane tells us about that later, but that is it. It doesn't add any details to these four characters other than one extra detail about the first massacre Chamberlain and Zayday very quickly found out about.

Compare this to S1.

We don't start following Bethany. We follow Amy. We follow Amy because she's the one intending completely to help Sophia and is quickly implied to probably be the closest to Sophia out of the group.

And we're made to sympathize with Amy right away. We're made to sympathize with Sophia right away. We're made to pay attention to the others right away.

Coco doesn't follow immediately, as we get told when she runs in late and comments on the music downstairs. Bethany has silent, expression-given moments of shock and panic before she switches completely to being snappy. She also sets up the attitude of Chanel and the others. Sophia's line here gives us a good look through the delivery itself. It's made fairly clear she was likely the quietest/shyest one in the house. Mandy turns back briefly when she, Beth, and Coco leave before following, so we get a look into her relationship with everyone just in that. She did care for Sophia and Amy, but she'd suck up to Bethany as much as she could. Amy does not budge through this whole scene. She's addressing the others and only interacting with Sophia by holding her hand and glancing at the baby, but it's already been made clear that Amy cares about her, and it is obvious in these looks and little details that Sophia trusts her completely.

When the others come back after Waterfalls, they are shocked. They are panicked that Sophia's dead. They each get reaction shots, Bethany included. Amy has already taken it upon herself to hold the baby, who she still continues looking at when the others are there, which already creates a slight connection between Amy and the baby.

And this is where the scene ends. We don't know what they do with her body. It is left ambiguous until Chanel gives us a little more when she and Grace talk in the basement, and then we get the rest when Mandy tells us episodes later. It's not until Ghost Stories that Munsch confirms to herself that there were two babies confirmed that night, even when we've known about Boone since Hell Week.

I think S2's tone issues make it worse, given it struggles to add real weight to Jane's loss later, even when we do know most details from the start.

S1's opening, to those willing to analyze, anyway, already works to give weight and emotion and depth to every single one of them while still managing to leave a lot of things ambiguous until we are told later. It's immediately made obvious that nobody here is going to be a black-and-white character, and that only continues to go harder and harder through the season. The whole opening and all of the things previously mentioned even add to Gigi once we get the details about her. It adds to Gigi and Boone's relationship, with Boone's conflict over knowing and thinking about what would happen if Sophia were alive. It adds to Hester pre-retcon and how close we know she was to Gigi and the fact she sees Chanel and the others as replicas of Bethany, Mandy, and Coco. It adds to Grace turning out to be Bethany's daughter.

I've not got an ending point to come to with this one, but it's a big opinion of mine, given how attached I am to S1's characters.

I don't have much to say about Hoffel aside from the fact what more depth she could've had isn't gone through with, and that's unfortunate for her. There's lots of implication that she and Cassidy did genuinely have some sort of bond, but given S2 rushing through everything and/or ignoring it to focus on other things and the ways Cassidy and Jane are written in general, nothing is done with it, and it takes away what weight it seems like there was meant to be in the scenes where they argue over Cass drifting out of the plans. Even the way she reacts genuinely caught off guard when she kills him could've had more weight if it had been a serious scene.

Hoffel and Hester don't get to interact enough, and when they do, there's very little to it, and that's a shame. Hoffel is seeking vengeance for Agatha, who was there when Sophia's death was covered up and likely when Munsch told Amy and Gigi to leave with the babies, and- while I can absolutely partly blame the retcon for this- Hester doesn't get to feel anything about that.

Considering it's fair to assume Hoffel was pretty close with her sister, there's a chance that- given Agatha lived in Kappa- Hoffel might've visited even once or twice when Gigi and Amy and the others were still around, given it's fairly clear she hadn't ever met Chanel directly before.

Then there's the little detail in Hoffel's narration: "I've had my eye on the Chanels since they were released from the asylum."

Chanel was called out for (accidentally, but they didn't know that) killing Agatha far earlier than that. That's why she was first arrested by Chisolm in S1. Since Hoffel and Agatha were direct family, Hoffel would've been informed here. She would've been told her sister was dead once they found her body in Shady Lane and then- if Chisolm wasn't too lazy to do it- updated to know who killed her when Chanel was believed to have done it all.

As odd as it would be for all of them, I don't think it's impossible that maybe Hester alone either sought Hoffel out at some point in between seasons to "tell her what really happened to her sister" because Chisolm's laziness had him never do so, OR since Denise handled the case so heavily when Hester was caught, Hoffel was invited to see Hester face-to-face in a setting akin to an interview as a chance to get some closure over what really happened to her sister, and Hester twisted it then into Chanel purposefully killing her.

And this can also go for what they could've done with her and Cass, going off the last option mentioned, Hoffel- while definitely with rougher edges than Jess and Amy had and seemingly less directly than Hester- seems extremely family-orientated.

The fact she's doing this for Agatha, the fact she's genuinely upset to kill Cass (accidentally), the way she reacts to Wes saying he wants to kill Hester by snapping that's his daughter.

If Hoffel knew Gigi (and Amy, and Sophia, and- given Bethany likely wouldn't have been too friendly, met the others), then Hester would've told her the whole story. About Agatha playing a part in covering up Sophia's murder, about Munsch, about Amy and Gigi, and everything that happened to them. Maybe she'd have even mentioned Boone.

And Hoffel would- in a twisted way- honestly halfway understand that. She'd zone in on the next thing she could- someone who, in her eyes, has nothing to lose, Chanel.

Even the way she reacts when she finds out Wes is Hester's dad in the first place is so outward and odd to me, but had Hoffel met Gigi, it gives something to Hoffel briefly defending Hester when Wes puts forward killing her trying to save his own skin. Just a little way she could've repaid Gigi for what harm Agatha was indirectly involved in. She's after vengeance for her sister, yes, but she can keep Hester safe while she's doing it.

These theories don't have to be connected, but going back to that theory I mentioned earlier:

Hester's urgency over Brock killing Munsch as soon as possible has always made me believe that it was never meant to be her and Brock going to Blood Island. It was meant to be her and Hoffel.

Again, this is a theory, but Hester leaves as soon as Hoffel is ready to kill everybody. She doesn't seem to think once about Brock being caught up in that, and as far as it's implied, he had to find a way to meet her there already on Blood Island. Hoffel is getting ready to leave before the Scooby-Doo chase starts. Hoffel was aware when Brock was going to propose to Munsch, she is the one who goes to fetch Chanel. Hester told her this plan.

It was Hester's idea for him to propose to Munsch anyway. She stood with Hoffel (and Cassidy) during the said proposal and was there to hand Munsch that pen at the wedding. She knew what she was doing. She had something planned that all this was a necessity for.

It's entirely possible to me that her plan was to have Brock kill Munsch and take the money, and once everything was done, it would've been her and Hoffel escaping to Blood Island to just do whatever they want as just partners in crime.

They also put Hoffel in Amy's blue a lot, be it with that one dress or with her nails.

And then we get to... the most pathetic, wet dog of a man in the show.

Wes is stupid. Wes is hilariously stupid. What happened to Grace is more his fault than Chanel's, and he attacks everyone he says he isn't interested in, Munsch included, given that Green Meanie she nearly unmasks at the start of the season is Wes considering Hoffel didn't have the costume by then and Cass was there in the scene with Sadie. He attacks Zayday multiple times, even if during one, he leaves her alone because she was Grace's best friend.

He yells at Hester never to call him dad, and then immediately tries tripping her into taking his side by yelling that he is her dad, and then later that same episode, says he wants to kill her to save his own skin, and this is the writing's fault, but he doesn't even say Grace's name before he dies, he says playlist, which was a running gag in S1, but was not mentioned in S2 up until then.

Wes showing up so randomly this season alone is fuel for my theory that a S3 would've brought the dead villains back (S1 villains at the forefront) because he is here just to tell us what happened to Grace and then fucking die. They could've easily done this through Zayday, but Grace literally does not exist until Wes comes along, she's mentioned like twice- never by the girls- and then she's never mentioned again.

Wes and Zayday never even see each other face to face, and she is NOT MISSING by the time he gets there. This is not acknowledged as her actively avoiding him, and even when she mentions Earl Gray to Jane, her connection to Grace is not acknowledged. I get it, boyfriend is closer to husband, but why would you not have her talk about Grace here? Have her say she lost Grace to the Devil murders!! If Grace as a devil is meant to have the power to possibly have ALREADY killed Chanel then mention her in S2!!!

Although this is also the fault of Wes being hilariously awful since S1, he is also impossible to take seriously as a villain both for that reason and because of how he's re-introduced and is here for like half an hour in total.

Wes this season also has a negative effect on Munsch, given her health issues are put on pause while he's around. This isn't the first time they seem to disappear, but it's the time it lasts the longest. Zayday told Munsch she had less than a year to live, and we get through the implication of her knowing she only has a month that she did her own research and put the timeline together herself, and as emotional as she got telling Zayday (and Chamberlain) about her worries in the first place, this is ignored by her until the last two episodes start rushing to wrap it up.

Even the brief deal he makes with Cass not only goes nowhere, but it's also impossible to take seriously because neither Cass nor Wes are written seriously in general, and by then it's too late to take them as such, especially with, again, how Wes was re-introduced.

Wes also gets his ass kicked whenever he tries physically fighting anyone, which is absolutely hilarious.

I'll mention this here due to the fact I can't say much about her because she's inactive for so long this season, but Denise being the hero of the season is pretty funny, although I do wish they'd have done more with her instead of putting her away before Hester moved back in with the others and Zayday went missing especially.

To move on to more positive things I have to say about S2, and why I rewatch it so often when I'm writing Chanel and Hester especially, season two does have a lot of really great character interactions with the girls.

It's the characterization and dynamic between the girls this season that slips through the intentionally more comedic-toned writing, and I love it.

Brock's inconsistency leads to unnecessary drama between Munsch and Chanel, but pushing that aside, there is something so special about how clear the bond between everyone is in Season Two.

Chanel and Zayday's bond is amazingly done. Chanel starts off purposefully trying to knock Zayday's confidence this season, but it isn't a rehashing of their S1 dynamic; it's a continuation. Where Chanel starts this season makes her possessive of whatever chance there is to be seen as the leader around the hospital, but it doesn't last. She'll be spiteful and snappy occasionally, of course, but within a few weeks, she's already calmed down, and she and Zayday are working alongside each other- and living together- fine.

We see more of Chanel and Sadie this season, too, as much as a lot of Sadie's scenes are pushed to be surrounding her relationship with Cass. They're closer than people would think they are, and the fact Sadie continued testing whether Chanel really wouldn't give in when she tries saying no to letting Hester stay is a huge nod to the kind of dynamic those two have in the dynamic of The Chanels in general.

Libby gets a whole relationship with Zayday this season, and it's adorable. It's so well-written, and I don't know why. We see them care about each other. Zayday brings Libby down to earth. Libby notices when Zayday goes missing. I don't know whose idea this was, but I don't think anyone can look me in the eye and tell me that a S3 wouldn't have continued with these two's relationship. They're running the hospital together by post-finale. They're practically married by the end of S2.

And pausing going from character to character for a second, S2's moments of building/emphasizing bonds between everyone makes me wonder if it was their way of setting up for a S3 being more character-focused and bringing in both the S1 villains and Grace as the Devil, and Zayday and Libby are my biggest example.

Zayday this season takes Grace's role, and with Chamberlain gone, she'd need someone else to investigate alongside her in a S3- where Grace is undoubtedly the Devil. Having Zayday and Libby investigate/visit Jane together seems like their way of testing whether that would work using Libby as Zayday's partner in investigating, and with these two being given such a nice dynamic, it did.

Even Munsch's wonky way of caring for the girls works oddly well this season. There's the unnecessary romance triangle that covers it more than other things I'm talking about here, but it's there through the whole season, even through the more in-character-conflict moments of threatening Chanel over Hester's whereabouts. Smaller things like her friendship with Denise coming back! And the way she is when they first visit Hester in the asylum this season is so interesting. She's so spiteful, and it just makes me wonder if it comes from the fact that part of her does know that it's partly her fault any of S1 (Wording it this way because the retcon's not canon) happened at all. She is partly at fault for the Devil Murders happening in the first place, and she's still too prideful to admit it to herself- especially when they first go to Hester, pushing aside the problems with the plotline, Munsch is under the impression she is dying.

Chad's big moment before he dies is so fucking sweet. I know it seems like I give him too much credit just off his word for this scene, but it's owing to Glen's phenomenal delivery of the little moments Chad gets even in S1 (his line in Ghost Stories when he asks if Chanel is the killer). He's so genuine in this whole scene, and it's just nice to have him admit that he does care for Chanel. Saying he just wants Chanel to enjoy her wedding? I am ugly crying.

I have some opinions on Chad's death. It's really stupid that Wes was the one to kill him, and killing him off so soon was a very bold move, but that scene was a sweet sendoff for him.

This one's going to be very long, have quite a bit of an old S1 analysis of mine, and have shots slotted in, so bear with me.

Chanel and Hester's dynamic this season is perfect. It's honestly quite surprising because when doing S1 to S2 right after the other, aside from Thanksgiving, all of their moments in S1 are coming from Chanel's clear bias, and then little things like Chanel's reactions to Hester being hurt in Dorkus/TFGS and then her reactions to when Hester is framing her, which may very well have not even been scripted.

In S2, their moments seem mostly intentional. There are a lot of little details again, but even the obviously scripted things like everything Chanel does when it comes to moving Hester in and refusing to tell Munsch anything about her whereabouts genuinely do make me think that a S3 would've continued developing these two's dynamic.

Looking back on Chanel's reactions in Dorkus/TFGS, first when they find Hester with the heel through her eye:

This is before Hester wakes up. When Zayday struggles to feel a pulse, and it's quickly being concluded she must be dead. From some of the others, this wouldn't look like much, but this is Chanel. In front of the others. In front of Grace.

It's implied at least one of them stepped away to call an ambulance because TFGS picking the timeline back up starts when Hester's already being wheeled out. And Chanel is there, running alongside her and telling her over and over that it'll be okay, she'll be alright, destabilized with the "Can we save the shoe?" line similar to how Pete messing around in Kappa was used as a destabilizer in his last scene. That's an in-character destabilizer, but it doesn't take away from how she's acting otherwise. This is Chanel running alongside and trying to comfort the girl she pushed down the stairs a few days ago. This is Chanel running alongside and trying to comfort the girl Zayday and Grace JUST CALLED THE LAST DEVIL. And Chanel believed them. She knew they were right. Everyone knew those two wouldn't have gotten it wrong, especially not then, especially given what Grace went through literally the night before.

But the next time we see her, she's following what Hester said when she was awake and yelling at Libby to confess that she's the last Devil. And added detail, to the others, it probably should've been thought that Hester wasn't entirely in the right mind when yelling about Libby, the girl was half-blind, had just regained consciousness, bleeding, and in a lot of pain. They don't know she did that herself.

And then when Hester moves to her during TFGS- with their completely parallel colors too- she snaps about it at first, but when Hester starts backing her toward Sadie and Libby:

Hester is the only person to pull this type of genuine reaction from Chanel. To pull reactions like this from Chanel that aren't faked or dramatized purposefully by her in the moment, and this continues into S2 in ways that, again, seem to be completely on purpose.

This isn't to do with Chanel, but I just want to point out that Amy, Sophia, and Gigi all get their own bits of reference in Chanel Pour Homme-Icide when Chanel and Hester first meet back up. Amy and Sophia get their colors in the lighting that follows Chanel through the scene- blue and gold respectively- and Hester faking ghostly sounds is directly taken from Gigi even if the retcon would never allow that to be acknowledged.

I had to bring those S1 moments up because I'm pairing them a bit with how Chanel continues to react toward Hester through the rest of the scene in CPH-I. She snaps at her- barely, for her standards- twice. And then it's implied that she listens to what Hester says mostly in silence because the scene cuts away to the apartment, and Chanel announces that Hester's moving in with them.

Even the things Libby and Sadie seem to start noticing and actively start pushing back against.

Libby's reaction wouldn't have done much to Chanel anyway, sure, but the way Sadie doesn't start a direct argument over it when she also refuses makes me wonder if she didn't give in as soon as Chanel said they'd have better luck with Hester there just to see if Chanel really wouldn't go back on her word, and she doesn't.

All it takes is this look, and Sadie lets it go.

This is all after Halloween Blues.

Chanel assumed when she was attacked there that it was Libby and was later directly proven wrong. She also says herself when Zayday's helping with her leg, she doesn't know why she wasn't followed. It's never brought back up, but there is very little chance that she didn't piece together that it must've been Hester.

Even things like barely snapping when she wakes up to Hester standing over her bed (The fact Hester ended up rooming with Chanel is a whole thing on its own) she's scared for a few moments, but she fully listens to what Hester asks for. She's bored, she feels caged up here, and she's just got out of one, she wants something to do, or she'll kill someone for the hell of it.

Before this, and before Chanel confesses and gets Hester free-roam, Munsch threatens her over Hester's whereabouts, where she stays completely silent and refuses to say so much as a word.

Hester's characterization in S2 is something I actually really like for her. The retcon's still present (and patchy), but there's actually quite a bit of her depth that slips between the cracks this season.

Although nearly all of what I'm going to say here is not confirmed directly, her calling the Green Meanie summit when she did is a nice little detail. She sees them arguing, and it's fair to assume through her, "We're here to divvy out the remaining murders so that no one's feelings get hurt," line that she worked to settle things as soon as she noticed the infighting because of what happened between Gigi and Boone.

I've talked about her and Chanel already, but on Hester's end specifically, we have some of it pretty intertwined with her characterization here in general.

She takes the chance to tease Chanel by stealing her blood in Blood Drive, but it comes with her actively trying to keep her promise not to kill anybody so she doesn't have to be locked up again, which is something about her character that I've always really liked given her past in Palmer. It's fitting for her to hate being locked up as much as she does, and S2 goes really hard with it.

Going back to Chanel, there's also a lot to S2's cliffhanger. There is a 50/50 chance here that Chanel is either badly hurt or canonically dead, with how few ways there were for her to have gotten out of it. Sadie would've most likely been the one to find her, and Hester (and Munsch) wouldn't be there to know about it. The cliffhanger this season also brings me back to what I said about a S3 possibly being more character-driven, both with Grace as the Devil and the fact that if she'd been hurt here, Chanel would've had Zayday and Libby especially keeping an eye on her given they're canonically leading the hospital by the end of the season. This could've pushed a lot between Chanel and Hester too, looking back at the fact Hester and Boone constantly spared Grace in S1 and did see her as their little sister.

I won't say anymore because I'll probably just end up repeating myself, and this is already far too long, but there you go, anon. Told you I had a lot to say.

Bonus for S2 being very adamant either on purpose or not on purpose that Chanel is asexual.

#SQS #Scream Queens #THIS TOOK FOREVER

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sidecharactersdomatter · 5 months

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Thoughts I had during TGCF S1 Ep 1

Note: I have just seen all 12 episodes of Season 1, and I’m watching the entire donghua in English. Now here we go!

-Is that a Jiao? (The red palanquin the servants are carrying the woman in)

-Welp, it sure got gorey fast, and the Jiao has been dropped.

-That Origami Crane has seen better days, and it doesn’t even have eyes!

-Don’t go out there… don’t go out there… don’t go out there… don’t go out there… *Bride gets snatched* Okay, maybe you should’ve gone out there.

-An intense first start to a really interesting Donghua!

-Now I know not to skip the opening song this rewatch~!

-It’s an actual live Crane!

-It’s Laputa from Castle In the Sky (So need to actually finish that movie)

-It’s that town background from Genshin Impact (I literally know nothing about that game, and I’m not interested in playing it)

-It’s that bright light column from Legend of Korra (I haven’t seen the full series and I also don’t plan to watch it, Die Hard Last Airbender fan here)

-That was good animation, and the person running towards that light beam inspired a scene I’m writing my TGCF OCs Hong Hai and Qing Tao are running towards it to see who just ascended.

-Right after XL ascends, Hong Hai and Qing Tao then go, “Huh, Who is that?” Then everybody yells at them, “PRINCE XIE LIAN!”

KOI FISH!

-Why didn’t they have the “Most likely to be cast out of Heaven reward” in my High School Yearbook, heck I could’ve gotten nominated that easy…

-I wasn’t kidding when I said Xie Lian’s English voice was like butter melting on warm fluffy flapjacks!

-Ling Wen is a savage!!! She might the Chinese Equivalent of Athena or Themis.

-He has a fanclub?!?!?! (I might be one of the members)

-The Official’s Okay!!! And a badass!

-So much property damage…

-Yeah it kind of is, (Hehehehehe Last airbender quote)

-They are using Yuan as currency right?

-Not like the Matrix movie right?

-That’s Lucien Dodge

-Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!

-Really? He got banished over a tea break?!

-Woah they’re all just harsh on his return to heaven

-Those translucent viewing cloths…

-Is ‘mana’ how they say ‘qi’ in the Dub?

-Magic Sleeves of Holding! count: 1

-Aw he thanked her!

-He said his famous line people “And may all taboos be shattered…”

-It’s the Jasmine Dragon Tea shop from The Last Airbender

-And ‘Hear no Evil’ to complete the iconic Monkey Trio!

-Awww it didn’t land on his finger like in Book 1 (Oh yeah, I’m reading the first two books I purchased JSYK)

-She has him on Speed Dial (DCAU Justice League reference)

-I love how they both looked really pissed off at him, yeah XL it’s totally the latter option.

-And then she hangs up on him

-Green tea! (I hope it’s Jasmine)

-Hahahahaha he spat out his tea! XD

-Fu Yao, *Is sarcastic and rolls his eyes* Basically me: He’s just like me fr!

-Oh and they’re staring daggers at each other!

-FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

-Xie Lian’s such a peacemaker!

-The fact they responded in sync

-That explains the intense cold opening

-That mission briefing took the whole afternoon?

-See what did I say? Ghostbusters!

-Those people in the wedding procession do not look professional at all

-Hey I’m half Asian with freckles, and I think I look awesome so I’m taking full offense at your insult!

-I think it’s an unwritten rule that Alejandro Saab is typecast as a self serving asshole I’ve seen it in Nomad of Nowhere

-Wow brutal Fu Yao

-Well I honestly hope he dies

-He ripped her skirt, freaking bastard!

-How is he doing that without mana????

-Yeah beat his ass!

-Thanks Nan Feng!

-Yeah you better run

-No! Not the Tea shop!

-Aand he got slapped W H E E Z E!

-An abacus!

-The tea shop got fixed!

-Well Fu Yao ain’t wrong

-Hehehehehehe Dick joke XD

-Fu Yao’s giggle!

-“Go sweep the floors!” “What was that?” OOOOOHHHH!

-Don’t give him Cinderella’s chores Nan Feng!

-OOOHHHHH!

-FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

-That poor poor altar!

-Not only is it dirty but you’d be disrespecting the god it was offered to SMH

-Wow diplomacy really does solve everything

-He’s got her on Speed Dial too

-The fact that they stared at him together! XD

-Sees Bride!XL: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I’m Sorry XD!

-Honestly, Fu Yao, VALID.

-She fixed her skirt.

-Yeah right a few alterations, she totally fixed his make up calling it.

-Oh so now you’re smart enough to know Proverbs SMH again

-U said it Fu Yao,

-*Sees Bridesmaids NF and FY like* W H E E E Z E XD XD XD XD

-Is he smiling? I can’t really tell in the animation.

-I can see why this episode literally came out on Halloween

-The Jiao got dropped again!

-So basically ancient Chinese zombies

-So that’s how he was able to last longer than the previous bride

-That Owl again

-There’s that butterfly

-Well there’s his groom (Not the Ghost groom obviously that’s for sure)

-Oooooohhhh! Backstory!

-Pass me the Aux cord! You better not be playing mainstream garbage! *Turns on One Flower and One Sword and vibes like there’s no tomorrow*!

-My favorite song out of the Season 1 soundtrack!

-He’s out of the Jiao and in strong arms!

-Yep that’s totally gonna be important later

-Oh that’s how he was able to confront that bald jerk at the tea shop!

-That battle animation is so freaking fluid! *Chef’s Kiss*

-There go the wolves

-That looks really bad, and it explains his bad reputation in heaven

-Aiaigasa! AIAIGASA people!!!! *Fangirls like there’s no tomorrow!*

-It’s the same umbrella!

-I knew that kid was gonna be important, called it~

-I now pronounce you both husband and husband! You may now kiss the gro- I mean, bride!

-Don’t mind me, just gonna go jam to the rest of the ending!

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reservoirreputation · 7 months

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House, Season Three

(tw suicide, referencing 3X03)

This season, so far, I've remembered the most plot details of.

Binging the episodes really puts into perspective just how much these characters have changed; I think the one I'm most struck by is Cameron, and how neccessary her development is.

Like, Chase really comes into his own professionally in S3, but he's also been there the longest, almost comes across as a late-bloomer when it comes to thinking like House. Specifically the episode with the little girl allergic to light, how he has the confidence to approach House with this idea, despite getting socked for it. How he went from 'first to turn against House in S1' to remaining loyal, even as the situation's being manipulated by Tritter.

And with Foreman, those last few episodes where he's really questioning the ethics of what it takes to get the right diagnosis, no matter what, and being afraid of losing himself. He's easily the best doctor, a good balance of professional, objective, invested, calling out House's bullshit, but the stuff where he could be wrong? The thing that haunts every doctor/medical professional, and I've seen that Scrubs episode, too, where you're bound to kill at least one patient. It really does highlight that this was Foreman's first screwup, and that he's never had to confront this scenario, before. It honestly makes me wonder if House reacted in a similar way, the first time he killed a patient?

How all three 'ducklings' (I love this fandom) have experienced this failure; first Chase in S2, Cameron at the start of S3, and Foreman at the end of S3. Cameron's is very interesting, though.

Of the trio, she can't talk about assisting the patient's end of life care. She can't confide in anyone, except maybe House, the only one who knows she did it, but still has the strength the move forward. It's also interesting how the writers have managed to make these characters go down these similar paths without it feeling like copy-pastes of the first major fuckup; Chase's patient dies because he's emotionally distracted, all tied back to his daddy issues and the first major critique of his character, that of being too laid back. Cameron's is about setting aside her personal feelings about a patient, and doing what's best for the human being, all tying back to how emotionally invested she can be, for better or for worse. With Foreman, making a calculated mistake, convinced it was the right call, only for the worst possible outcome. All of these actions fit their characters so well, but it's also about how they've moved on from these mistakes. And, thinking about it, if I were in the writers' room, I'd also agree that these characters can't move on from House's department until they've experienced that loss.

Tying it back to my thoughts on Cameron as a character, we first meet her when she's very naiive, wants the best outcome, believes in the best that humanity has to offer, sees the world in fairly black and white terms. Of the trio, she had the most to grow, as a doctor. Her softness very often broke her own heart, and left her patients in potentially really vulnerable positions. And how every step of the way, back when House would damn near always pick her to deliver bad news, to help her grow that thicker skin, and he stopped altogether when she didn't need it anymore. If I'm recalling correctly, I think he stopped after she helped end the patient's life in 3X03. But! It also didn't come without consequence! Cameron began closing herself off in the process of 'becoming more jaded' and only looked for fleeting physical hookups with Chase, running away when it became more serious. Finding that softness in herself once more, going to Chase to start a relationship, but also being in full control of her emotions when it comes to her work life.

During my first watch of the series, like everyone else, I was most entertained by House's antics. But, on rewatch, I think I love Cameron's development the most. She's always had the most interesting reactions to patients and what they're capable of (the episode where the wife's secretly poisoning her husband comes to mind). Being endlessly surprised by how awful they can be, and I really do think she peaked with the episode where the woman was happy to guilt-trip her partner into staying. How wildly different her actions are in S3 compared to 1 and 2, but they make sense.

I might write something about House/Wilson/Cuddy, but the ducklings have my full attention, right now. Season three's been a great conclusion for these main arcs, I'll just leave it at that.

#house md #season three #rewatch thoughts #tw suicide

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devitalise · 9 months

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i agree with ur thoughts on s2, here some of my in depth thoughts though:

stuff i didn't like

- i totally agree about carmy not being as big of a presence in this season, i understand they wanted to show that he absolutely isn't ready for a relationship, but imo if ur gonna do that u gotta go bigger? crying in the fridge and getting in a fight with richie who we know he'll easily make up with isn't that big of a deal to me.. i would have loved to see a huge break up that made him confront his inability to let himself be happy AND claire reminding him of hs, home and michael (they kept hinting at this and all we got was one panic attack scene? ok)

- i actually didn't mind claire. it was very clear she was just a plot device from the start and i def wouldn't mind there being more depth to her character, but they had chemistry and the actress did a great job. idk i rly liked her character, but disliked the narrative surrounding her (i started rolling my eyes by the 20th time someone mentioned carmy liked her in hs, we get it!)

- i hate what they did to marcus, i don't see him as a bitter guy who yells after getting rejected idk what the point of that was since it got resolved in 10 min

- ebra's arc felt a little unfinished, like a scene or two was missing? but other than that i think it was great to see him struggle with smtn and more of his friendship with tina

- maybe a me thing, but i missed some of the surreal elements s1 had (the cooking show, the literal bear, the cage, the nightmare..)

things i liked

- literally everything else. the acting, dialogue, direction, lighting, you name it i loved it. the comedic moments were so good this season, richie and fak were standouts for me.

- just when i thought this show couldn't possibly overwhelm me more, but the christmas ep proved me wrong. it could have been shorter (the tiff and richie scene was especially long), but jamie lee curtis was too captivating for me to care all that much

- despite there being a lot of things i dislike, this is such a short list for me? i fucking love this show sm, and s2 was a great comeback as far as i'm concerned. not as great as the first, but still a banger and i can't wait to see what they do next <33

hi babe sorry i kept remembering and then forgetting to answer this and then i didn't want to drop spoilers the same week as release because i can't put your ask under a cut but it's been a month now so i'll go under the cut to hit your points

i didn't completely hate the fridge breakdown like him not being able to be there for such an important career milestone because he kept putting things above the bear opening?? fitting and deserved to me!

yeah i feel the same about claire like after a certain point none of the claire carmy scenes were offering me anything new. i wasn't learning anything new about carmy and didn't feel like the plot was moving along either. and the sex scene?? EW (not in a puritan sex way but carmy is sooooo sexless to me i don't want to see him breathing into this woman's face all sensual like creeps me out)

yeah that was sooo???? HELP! glad they got over it at the end of the ep they'll be fine

agreed about ebra! not completely there but i think he'll shine in s3 if there is one in the same way tina came so completely into her own this season. (love tina!)

yeah absolutely! there was a whiff of it with syd in the last ep with the ticket printing and ep2 where she's going around eating food but more weirdness would have been appreciated idk

i'm gonna rewatch s2 in a couple months i think to really see how i feel about it the further removed i get from watching it the better my memory of it is for me so i'll see how that goes

#the bear #anonymous #i did NOT forget about this ask i promise!! just hadn't had the time to sit down and answer this

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cabbxges-and-kings · 1 year

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honorhearted asked : 14 (adore) - the first character you liked on the show? 75 (cost) - hardest scene to watch? 122 (dead) - if you could prevent one character’s death, who would it be? 199 (faithful) - who’s the real mvp in the culper ring? (who’s the most valuable member?) 266 (honest) - unpopular opinion about the show? 299 (intrigue) - what made you start watching turn? (Sorry for so many, but these are good questions! lol)

turn (amc) asks pt. 3. / @honorhearted -- accepting

14 (adore) - the first character you liked on the show?

I can’t remember too much of my opinions of characters when I first watched. I know I softened to some characters in my second rewatch and over time. I know I did not like Hewlett at all in s1 when I first watched it and I’m an avid Hewlett enjoyer. I think the first character I liked was either Caleb with his lighthearted nature or it was Ensign Baker.

75 (cost) - hardest scene to watch?

Any s.ex scene. Caleb torture scene for sure. Sometimes I can find myself enjoying Simcoe and his snarky comments, but when it comes to that scene, it completely erases any small amount of likeness I have for it because the scene is so creepy and cringey (in a good way, it means it was very well acted). I think even in my rewatch, I felt as uncomfortable as I did when I first watched it and as squeamish. I would say the time Hewlett was in the rebel camp, but idk, the torture scene is more vivid and in your face than that whole segment.

122 (dead) - if you could prevent one character’s death, who would it be?

One character? I would wish to save Sackett, Sprout, and Baker, but overall? Probably Baker. I love Sackett and Sprout, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like Baker was the most innocent maybe? Idk, he was placed in a hard position where I think he was destined to die or to kill Abe (someone was going to die regardless). For all of the stuff he had to deal with in s1, he deserves to live.

199 (faithful) - who’s the real mvp in the culper ring? (who’s the most valuable member?)

Abe. This question is hard because each person represents a role in the spy ring for it to function. Townsend is in the city to collect stuff there, Abe sends the intelligence from Setauket to Caleb and that gets to Washington, Abe also gets Townsend’s intelligence reports, Anna alerts Caleb to get the intelligence, Ben gives it to Washington. Abigail gets any intelligence she can within Andre’s home and from the fellow officers that may remain there. Everyone has a cog in the machine, I suppose. Like if one stops, I think it would be hard for it to fully operate.

Overall? I would say maybe Caleb because I don’t think it would be easy for Ben to travel out of camp with his duties and Caleb is the most trusting man for the job and he knows the area. If Caleb wasn’t around and/or died, it would be difficult to get all the intelligence over to Washington in a timely manner.

266 (honest) - unpopular opinion about the show?

I have talked about Caleb more than I ever have, but I’m going to talk about him again because I’ve been meaning to write this up.

I think Caleb deserved more development/better development. I feel like almost every character in every season was affected by the events in some way, maybe not by much compared to others, but I feel like almost every character had some change from s1 all throughout to s4. Caleb only ever seemed to get this change in s4 and that was when he was traumatized. I think it is an interesting angle for Caleb, the guy who kept everyone in good spirits and was the positive light in the room being the one that’s struggling. It’s an interesting change, but I think it should’ve been earlier or he should've progressed more than just the comedic relief side character. It felt like it was really rushed in my opinion than a progression like it was for the other characters.

I love Daniel’s portrayal of Caleb and I think with his acting range with emotion, he could’ve pulled this off if the writers went this route. Just for an example, I feel like the Thanksgiving episode in s3 could’ve really affected Caleb. Or even the Battle of Setauket with his uncle dying. (Though, I will admit, I don’t have the greatest memory if Caleb did show any signs that he was affected by this event in s2). But for the Thanksgiving episode, Caleb could’ve shown some more vulnerability with all of the stress in that episode alone with Rogers there. He already had a run in with Rogers before, two times when they were looking for the King’s bust, and the fact he couldn’t kill or defeat Rogers a third time could’ve shown a crack in his confidence, in his light-hearted facade, and he could’ve been the one that needed someone else supporting him like he did for others with trying to lift them up. He didn’t kill Simcoe when he had the chance, I think he had some idea in the whole Arnold going to West Point thing, and he couldn’t outsmart Rogers, so Caleb could’ve really dealt with some inner conflicts from that. (Not feeling good enough, being the weak link in the group, perfectionism, etc, all of these “failures” building up over time and really weighing on his shoulders).

Again, this is one example. I think the writers could’ve had more interesting development with him if they started from the beginning, building it up over time to really strengthen his character, and it could’ve made Caleb even more memorable in people’s minds because I feel like the comedic relief characters often go underdeveloped generally in media.

299 (intrigue) - what made you start watching turn?

I know it was during my winter break, I believe it was 2019? I saw it on netflix and long when I still used my main blog, I followed annastrxng and was slightly familiar with the show. So I gave it a shot and really liked it.

Then I made Lydia a few months into 2020, I think, because I wanted to have a new character that could interact with the turn characters to see where things would go, but I did ponder over adding a few canon from the show. I ultimately decided against the idea because the turn rpc was more inactive than it is today. R.ed d.ead r.edemption 2’s rpc was still popular since the game has only been released a year and once I burned myself out on that and the fandom got smaller, you came in and interacted with Lydia. That really developed her character overall and eventually, more people in the space followed me and interacted with Lydia and now she has become one of my more popular muses on my multimuse. That’s when I decided to write canon characters because there was more activity in the rpc and I honestly wanted a little bit of a break from the wild west setting and the rest of my muses and do something new. I have developed a ton of new interesting dynamics from it! I couldn’t be more thankful for it!

#asks #honorhearted #( ooc )#( thanks for sending these in! )#( send as many as you want! I can talk about this stuff for hours tbh )#( I have no interest in writing Caleb myself but I really wish we had a really developed Caleb around )#( in a fanfict or a rp blog )#( just something to fill in the space the writers overlooked )#( feels for Caleb vibes tonight )#long post tw #long post #// long post

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redleavesinthewind · 2 years

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hii, thanks for the tag @blue-eyed-cutiepatootie <3

rules: answer 30 questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to get to know better.

name: elliot

star sign: pisces

height: 165 cm

time: 11:30 am cet

birthday: 6th march

favourite bands/artists: ugh it changes all the time…. at the moment it’s fleetwood mac (though they’re kinda always up there), florence + the machine, the oh hellos, avatar, bear mccreary, barns courtney, john powell

last movie: i’m not a movie person, so i genuinely have no idea what the last thing is i watched. but i think it was ella enchanted

last show: i’m currently watching so many things at once it’s not even funny. rewatch of merlin (s1), black sails (s4), stranger things (s2) and i’ve started first kill

when did i create this blog: this one specifically? i genuinely don’t remember and i also don’t know how to check tbh

what i post: so much fandom stuff. sometimes i throw my writing in the mix. i also complain about uni a lot

last thing i googled: 33 degrees c to f because it’s fucking hot here and i got curious if this would get us into the 100s in fahrenheit (it doesn’t, it’s like 94)

other blogs: not really. i had a ted lasso sideblog but i barely use it, i prefer to stuff all my obsessions into one very chaotic and overfilled blog

do i get asks: sometimes! it’s mostly when i rb ask games, but sometimes i get some randomly. anyway, asks is one sure way of making me smile, my inbox is always open

following: 325. there was a time i tried to limit that number, but i’m in too many fandoms for that tbh

average hours of sleep: 7 or 8

instruments: learned to play the flute when i was a kid but hated it, so i switched over to piano. i haven’t actually played in a long time, but songs i was able to play include house of rising sun and nights in white satin

what i’m wearing: black joggers with my uni’s dance society’s logo on, a black stranger things shirt that my mom got me, my glasses (purple rims) and a purple bracelet/band that was a ticket to a party event a few days ago

dream job: i kinda just want to vibe and live in a house with my friends and write sometimes and raise a few children isn’t that enough?

dream trip: well it was the highlands, but i’ve been there, so now it’s norway

nationality: luxembourgish

favourite song: you want me to choose?? anyway, the chain by fleetwood mac, herzalarm by blümchen, the black sails theme, sinners by barns courtney, the only murders in the building intro, fast car by tracy chapman, talk by hozier, no light no light by florence + the machine, pompeii by bastille, caesar by the oh hellos, i could go on

last book i’ve read: solitaire by alice oseman

top 3 fictional universes i’d like to live in: hmmm this is hard actually…. the pjo universe maybe. there are monsters but who doesn’t wanna be a demigod, really. also whatever the umbrella academy universe has going on (when the world is not ending of course). it’s just kinda weird on its own already, i’m intrigued

okayy, that’s it! no pressure to the people i’m tagging <3

@kafkaguy @oliverbanks @romasubrosa @cardsharps @scoobydoo-ghoulschool @emeraldcas @marlborocas @faithdeans and whoever else wants to (i know i should have tagged more people but i had barely any sleep and my mind is empty of people i know)

#tag fun #pigeon coos

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bridgertonblr · 2 years

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Hi, first I’d like to tell you how much I enjoy your blog! I can tell you put a lot of work into it! Thank you! I’ve actually never asked a question on tumblr before, and I hope this isn’t too weird, but I have a question that’s been bothering me every time I rewatch season 2 (which is an embarrassing number of times). Please feel free to not answer if it’s a ridiculous question, or not important enough to consider. I won’t be offended. I’ve just always wondered……..when the Sharmas first arrive at AH in ep3, none of the Bridgerton women are wearing gloves when they greet them all outside. I thought this was a nice nod to maybe being more relaxed in the country, and possibly to show how the Sharmas had really already been accepted into the family, even if they didn’t realize it. I’ve always assumed that when it’s just the Bridgertons there, they wouldn’t wear gloves to play Pall Mall, bc it’s just their family there, and they never wear gloves around only each other, so there would be no need. When they do start to play, the girls are all now wearing gloves, but Violet, LD and Mary, are not. I also thought this was a nod to the comfort they felt, and the casual atmosphere. So, finally, my question is………in the epilogue, when now it’s just family (and LD, but I think she’s considered family to them), ALL of the women are now wearing gloves. Even Violet and LD. Why would they become MORE formal around only their family, when no guests are around? Especially when they weren’t even wearing gloves to meet Anthony’s future bride, or during the game for the mothers. Maybe I missed an explanation somewhere, or maybe it’s in the books, but I can’t find where anyone has talked about it, and it’s driving me crazy! I would’ve loved to see them all together, as a family, playing Pall Mall, and completely relaxed and comfortable together. I’m sorry this ask is so long! I know I’m putting way too much thought into a scene from a fictional show, but I thought it was an odd choice to increase the formality, and the “rules” when they are there by themselves? Also, Since Kate is very outspoken about her dislike for rules, I don’t think it would be on her behalf. Has anyone ever thought about this, or know the answer? It doesn’t really matter, but I decided I would just ask and see. It would’ve made the epilogue even better than it was, IMO, if that’s even possible. Thanks for reading my rambling message. I hope you have a great weekend! Thanks again for all of your hard work!

hi! firstly, thank you for the compliment!! we're really excited about this blog and happy you're enjoying it too!

re: gloves — I can't 100% speak to the directors/writers/costume designers choice behind the Bridgertons, Sharmas, and LD's glove-wearing in the Aubrey Hall episodes but I did some light research on Regency glove etiquette and here's what I think. under the cut since it's a bit long:

2x03 the Bridgerton ladies + Mary Sharma are gloveless when first meeting outside AH — I can only assume the Bridgertons are more comfortable at their country home (this source mentions rules were more relaxed at country homes) and, having just come from hanging around inside, didn't feel the need to put gloves on. the Bridgertons also have a much more informal family dynamic than others as shown by the youngest children joining them for dinner (which Simon noted in s1). not sure why Mary wouldn't be wearing gloves while LD was though

2x03 pall mall players wearing gloves vs Violet, Mary, & LD gloveless — since one purpose of gloves was to protect the wearers hands from the dirt & the elements (source), I can only guess that the ladies playing pall mall wore them to keep their hands clean from the mallets. you can also see that most, if not all the gloves are the sheer mesh or netted type which seemed to be a choice that allowed more dexterity (source / source). also, for ladies, glove etiquette meant they didn't wear gloves while dining (source). I think Mary & Violet removed their gloves because they were sitting by the treats and tea. I can only assume LD had done the same to eat but got excited and kept her gloves off while cheering on the players. again, country home rules seem to be more relaxed anyway

2x08 all ladies wearing gloves in the final scene — I don't see anyone eating or drinking in this scene, so I can only assume that everyone is wearing gloves to protect their hands from getting dirty (as mentioned previously). specifically, I think it makes sense, with the regency rules, for any of the ladies playing to wear gloves. and, despite them wearing gloves at the start of the game, I also have a good feeling that as the game went on, Violet & LD would soon remove their gloves again

again, I'm not totally sure what the choices were behind when the gloves were on vs off but I can only guess the show tried to follow Regency etiquette as best they could while also occasionally highlighting the Bridgertons' tight-knit, informal family dynamic. I hope this helped put these scenes in a new light for you!

#ask #anonymous #long post

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threewaysdivided · 2 years

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As someone who just recently rewatched some of young justice through clips on YouTube for nostalgia, perused a little around the tags and found the absolute goldmine of writing analysis in your blog I just wanted to say thank you! Your knowledge and your care for these characters really shines through and reflect some truths that I feel are more appropriate than ever: no one individual should be pedestaled for the success of a narrative, especially when he seems to misunderstand his own themes. It's very refreshing to see criticism so pointed and razor sharp, especially for a series I wish was better than it is. Your essays certainly gave me a lot to think about in my own writing!

Thank you! 💜 That’s really lovely of you to say.

It always makes me happy when someone stops by to tell me that they enjoyed/ got something out of my analytical posts. Part of why I write things like the YJ Narrative Breakdown Essays is to get the thoughts out of my head, but a lot of it is that I want to share them with other fans who might feel similarly and want to talk. (I’m especially proud of the YJ: Invasion Case Study - it doesn’t get a lot of love because it’s so long but I’m super happy with how it came out as a capstone to the set.) It’s really gratifying to hear that someone found them useful or that it helped articulate a feeling they were having or gave them some new concept/ framework to use when thinking about other stories.

If you want more Young Justice stuff, I’ve done some Season 1 metas on The Light, A Different Take on Martian Racism and Dick and Wally’s Friendship. I also made a short list of other stories that I think capture similar vibes to Season 1 in aspects of their theming/ genre/ character-writing/ structure/ tone etc. which might help any lingering cravings.

I also have a general writing tag if you’re looking for writing discussions, as well as this resource primer for analytical readings.

pssst! If you want to see me try to put some of these ideas into practice, I’m also writing a fic. It’s a YJ crossover (canon-divergent post S1) and Arc II which started this year at Chapter 18 is intended to emulate some of the things I really liked about S1, including an overarching mystery and missions.

When it comes to pedestalling individuals, I completely agree. I think Auteur Theory and Great Man Theory are mostly fallacious - not only in art but in general. A lot of successes are collaborative (“self-made entrepreneurs” who were actually financially supported by family or succeeded through connections etc.) and, while the lone-visionary idea makes for a simple and compelling story,it can also cause IRL problems in how it disproportionately elevates certain voices, devalues less visible work and creates unrealistic expectations. It’s good to have a healthy scepticism about those narratives, especially when they centre on people who already had privilege greasing their wheels.

I also think we often underestimate just how many people are involved in commercial art production. Even Books (one of the closest mediums to sole-creator) often involve input from editors and possibly a publication house - as well as potential ghost-writers, co-writers etc. Television teams can have dozens of staff across multiple production areas, and for big-budget films and AAA Games that number can balloon into the hundreds.

The role of developer/producer can be a real mixed bag in that space. Some are close to the visionary/ auteur type - very involved with their teams and in steering the creative process - but others can be coattail-riders or even active liabilities that their teams have to work around. (The Danny Phantom fandom has some real showrunner war-stories).

Still, it’s easy to see how we could go from talking about a team lead/ spokesperson as convenient shorthand for the idea of The Author™, to accidentally treating that person like they are the only significant member and attributing all the credit to them personally.

Whether by accident or design, Greg Weisman definitely presents as the visionary type on the surface (something that the fandom and the wiki creators have unintentionally and well-meaningly contributed to). His ask blog’s visual style certainly makes him look like The Gargoyles Guy™, and the Young Justice wiki editors put a lot of emphasis on him, often directly inserting information from there and his social media straight into main page content as “unconfirmed canon”. That ask blog also creates a very parasocial environment; I’ve seen fans write posts like they’re talking to/ about him as a friend, and directly attribute specific lines or episodes directly to him. To look at the wiki, his blog or hear the fandom talk he is the mind behind.

However, once you look closer, he has much fewer direct creative credits than you would expect for that reputation.

And, as it turns out, Young Justice is one of 3 separate series to see substantial drops in story quality after Weisman assumed control as primary writer, with common complaints including weak/inconsistent character-writing (even for characters he supposedly helped create), poor story structure and a seemingly shallow understanding of those stories as a whole.

Now, if it was just a case of Weisman just being a passionate doofus - someone sincerely having fun exploring ideas that interest him but who shouldn’t be left creatively unsupervised because he can’t hack it narratively - that would be frustrating but ultimately fine. It happens. Unfortunately though, there has been… quite a bit else that has pushed me more towards parasocial enemies territory.

As I’ve mentioned before, all three series contain instances of Weisman disempowering strong female characters; rewriting their narratives to centre on men and/or a sudden desire to conform to traditional gender roles. Plus other sexism that resonates uncomfortably closely with pick-up-artist/ incel rhetoric. His work on both Magic: the Gathering and YJ: Outsiders was also criticised for casually racist and overtly queerphobic writing - especially in his treatment of feminine bisexuals. A lot of the most egregious instances can be found in the book - the medium where Weisman had the most direct creative input. Weisman also doesn’t seem to understand the difference between organic character-conflict, manufactured “negative drama” and abuse - something that combines really badly with his seeming unawareness of the invasive implications of telepathy; which results in several telepaths being written as borderline predators/rapists, only for Weisman's narratives to either make no comment or take their side.

I also find his conduct very disingenuous. I have no problem with ask blogs but the fact that over 80% of Young Justice’s critical narrative content can only be found there, and the implied attitude that fans who are surprised by the sudden appearance of information that was never previously set up in-story are at fault for not seeking it out strikes me as creatively dishonest. I’m also not best pleased with his responses to the criticism over his insensitive writing (discussed above). One instance that’s really emblematic to me is Weisman getting kudos for posting a snarky twitter-clapback to a bigot asking him to remove the diversity from Young Justice, despite himself having actively attempted to erase the sexuality of one of Magic: the Gathering’s fan-favourite queer characters (a scandal that made it onto his Wikipedia page). Respect is something that really needs to be Shown not Told, and Weisman’s work frequently shows the complete opposite.

And look, I don’t know this guy; I can’t claim to understand what Weisman’s deal is or what’s going on in his head. Maybe he’s always been like this and it just passed under the radar until recently because previous co-creators were skilled enough to pull him up with them. Maybe he used to be better but let the success of other series he’s been involved in, and the showers of personal praise from his ask blog, go to his head. Or it could be something else entirely. I think the only answer we’re going to get is that we’re not going to get an answer.

Which is super disappointing and frustrating. Like I said in this post, we come to stories in good faith; we want to put our trust in the promises made by the narrative, we want to be able to take the creators at face value, and we want to see the love and respect we have for their story and characters reflected in the effort they put into telling it. Fandom in part reflects the passion creators have for their work, and when those creators start treating that work carelessly, cynically, or taking their audience for granted, the fandom can start to wane. (Danny Phantom being one of the only communities I’ve seen thrive after completely severing ties with their producer.)

Circling back to the pedestal/auteur thing, I think that mindset makes it much easier to take this kind of thing personally when it happens. It starts feeling like a single person chose to make all those promises and show that potential to you, only to intentionally betray them; rather than the Swiss-cheese model of compounding changes, failures, mistakes and/or poor choices from multiple people that more likely happened.

In these situations it helps to remember that we are the ultimate arbiter of our personal relationship to a story. We don’t even have to be part of fandom; our fan experience can be just between us and the part of the work we found compelling, or us and a small group of buddies who feel similarly. There’s no rule requiring us to perform fannishness or conform to the mainstream fandom consensus. A good book/ game/ movie/ season/ comic can stand on its own, even with a few unresolved threads - we don’t have to personally accept subpar sequels, poor-quality prequels, rubbish retcons, superfluous side-content or extraneous add-ons just because they happen to exist.

a good plot was one which made good scenes. The ideal mystery was one you would read if the end was missing. -Raymond Chandler

There are fine things that are more brilliant when they are unfinished than when finished too much. - François de La Rochefoucauld

And, for stories that are created by multi-person teams, it can really help to change how we talk about them; to step away from that auteur mindset and start giving credit where it’s actually due.

So, in service to that, here is a breakdown of main episode credits for Young Justice Season 1:

Putting this together actually made me realise that I’d had too narrow of a focus; I’d previously speculated about changes to the writing staff but I completely overlooked the impact of episode directors. Which is nuts because directors can potentially have major influence over the structure and presentation of the finished narrative.

A few things strike me. First is that Weisman doesn’t have a lot of direct writing credits; he has the most (albeit only by 1 episode) but it barely amounts to 25% of the season, and you can see that the specific episodes he scripted aren’t ones that put a lot of character focus on the main cast or paying off the emotional narrative. (Which isn’t to claim that he wasn’t doing other developmental/ production work behind the scenes, but it does make sense; characterisation and narrative resolution are not things Weisman is good at).

The two names that really started to stand out were Jay Oliva and Michael Chang; each individually credited as director on over a third of episodes, and covering more than 75% of the whole season between them. That’s not to say that they alone were the secret sauce that made S1 so good (that would just be applying Auteur Theory to a new target and, while their IMDB resumes are impressive, it’s likely that other, less-visible team members were also involved) but having that level of direct input across so much of the season would have given them opportunities to maintain consistency and provide structure/ guidance.

And notably, neither Oliva nor Chang have any major credits post Season 1. For whatever reason, the directors who handled over 75% of the episodes never returned for future entries. (Compare most of the Season 1 writers, who do make repeat appearances - although no writer other than Weisman or Vietti gets more than a single episode per season of the revival.) Which is a pretty substantial gap to leave behind. From that perspective it’s not surprising that the show saw big changes going forward; to some extent it really wasn’t the same creative team driving things.

At this point we might be tempted to speculate that, if Oliva, Chang and the rest had stayed on (or come back for the revival), then Young Justice would have stayed good or at least been better than how it turned out. But the truth is, we can’t know. It’s possible that Season 1 was too much a product of that specific team, time, production environment and media landscape to ever last. Maybe it was always a doomed venture; the lack of proper planning, Weisman’s creative weaknesses and aversion to endings, Vietti’s relative inexperience with original storytelling, Cartoon Network’s infamously awful treatment of “less marketable” PG-rated series, and executive mandates from DC Comics as they pivoted to push the New 52 and got increasingly spooked by the astronomic rise of the early MCU inevitably destined to force changes which undercut the narrative. The only answer we’re going to get is that we’re not going to get an answer.

But, you know what?

Despite everything, as frustrating and disheartening as things may have turned out… Young Justice Season One is STILL really good. It has a distinct creative verve with its combination of espionage-meets-superheroics, grounded-but-still-positive tone, character-focus and interwoven plot threads that pay off as a remarkably self-contained fair mystery. There is a reason why Season 1 is so enduring; why people still make art, and write fic and reference those characters even now.

So, to that original team; to Michael Chang, Jay Oliva and all the other creative staff - be they writers, directors, story-boarders, animators, colourists, composers, sound designers - who are so rarely mentioned when we gush about how clever and good Season 1 was: thank you for what you gave us.

Because that first season, when Young Justice was just trying to be itself?

It really was lighting in a bottle.

Hats off to them for that.

#Young Justice #Greg Weisman #Greg Weisman Critical #Michael Chang #Jay Oliva #Anonymous #3WD Answers #Scattered Thoughts #YJ Essays Collection #I’m really really flattered to hear that you like my approach to criticism #the rule I try to go by is that (even when I’m being uncharitable or unkind) I should still try to be fair #(believe me there is a LOT in that book that could easily be used to make Weisman look very terrible)#(including some Humbert-Humbert-adjacent nonsense)#(but doing that would be intentionally misrepresenting him and I don’t believe in that)#Weisman’s writing strikes me as that of a deeply incurious person who aestheticizes intelligence and progressivism #someone who wants to see themselves as those things (because it makes him feel good) but who doesn’t do the work to embody those values #which is how you get things like token 'girlboss’ moments for female characters who are still written in fundamentally chauvinistic ways; o #empty dialogue about ‘pronouns’ or ‘identity’ from characters who are still written in fundamentally prejudiced ways; or #lines that sound superficially profound/philosophical but turn out to be contradictory/meaningless/nonsensical when examined.#it’s definitely the mistake of thinking ‘I used the language of [thing] therefore I am [thing]’#Not 'I am [thing] because I try to act in ways that show respect to [thing]'#It's telling that Weisman wants to release tweets positioning himself as better than the bigots #and yet he has a million excuses for why THE SAME bigotry in HIS OWN writing is 'not his fault'/ 'not a big deal'/ 'a misunderstanding'#he looks down on others for not meeting a standard while effortlessly carving out exceptions for his own substandard behaviour #it's all very hypocritical (and in ways that are consistent with other patterns of right-wing conservatism throughout his work)#In short: a deeply tiresome and condescending fellow #I think a much healthier approach would be to talk about the people who made YJS1 good than dwell on the guy who bollocksed it all up #So I propose that we henceforth refer to Weisman as ‘That guy from War of the Spark: Forsaken’ NOT ‘the YJ/Gargoyles Guy’#and talk about the season 1 production TEAM instead #Weisman's writing credits could be covered if every other writer picked up just 1 episode. Meanwhile Oliva/Chang would need 20 substitutes

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