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taakosleftshoe · 10 months

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hey can you describe the plot of the last two arcs of ethersea s1 to the best of your ability? I haven’t finished it and I want to listen to it in my head during the ap calc exam tomorrow

Well peter you are in a heap of luck because my answer comes to you like two or three months late! Hurray!!!!

Oh um and if you're my friend Siena, don't read this post!! Spoilers ahead!!!!

Okay. So. The menagerie. Following the shit that happened in cambrias call the crew have saved the city and yada yada they're heroes . They go back to the bluespan brokerage like hey we want a new mission and Ravi is like oh yeah I have this one or the biomass swarm which has been available since day one with Ballaster Kodira but keep running away from it I guess. And Justin is like I'll take the first option. Anyways they go to the conservatory where the curator is and he's like hey uh some of my animals got stolen

And they talk to the horse, well Zoox does I guess, and Devo follows one of the security sprites cause he doesn't fuckin trust it. And he does such a good performance check that he turns into a white cube or something. And they manage to not track it exactly but realized it's the same type as was in the abyssal auction. And they want to get in touch with this guy

So they are like ok the best way to do this is to talk to someone who we Know would know him. And they take a wine bottle to Aloysius supremes house and try to bribe him into telling them? Honestly no idea how that worked out for them. But it did.

And then they take their ship to where he told them to and dock and pretend to be fucking window inspectors or some bullshit of equal holding. And they infiltrate and they are like damn this is fancy and amber and Devo chill in the study but Zoox is like I need to soak :( and then amber like pulls some stunt maybe it's another bathroom break scenario and Devo dresses like a waitstaff to blend in. He goes to the docks and talks to tolliver maybe who he learns runs the place? Which is called crescendo. And amber finds the place the auroch is stored and goes into it and she has to fight some dude cause they're trying to hunt the animals. And she saved the auroch but then it started talking and oh what it has griffins face ok that's weird . And they get it on the ship or some bullshit and then Zoox bombs the place and kills everyone inside and damages the Coriolis a little bit but it's mostly fine. Idfk what their deal is.gonna be real I remember menagerie the least. There was an undersea encounter somewhere there and I think it may have been blinksharks telling Zoox about the four arm woman person who hang in the sky and boil sea? And he's like yeah ok. Also it may have been the ghost ship? Or a mermaid?

Then they get back to founders wake and another ship is like uh permission to board and KODIRA!!! shows up and she's like... Devo I'm im so sorry. The hand of guidance is dead

‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥

So they go to the Parrish and investigate and Kodira's like look this is kind of illegal but I'm gonna let you all do whatever you have to to investigate. And they're like she didn't kill herself someone made her do this and then they go to the schoolhouse and talk to seldom and idk what came of that cause I forgot.

They decide it's probably orlene and he's been weird so they are gonna go after him and they're like hey let's bring Kodira also urchin has a friend now but it's not important. Along the way they come across some minefield or something and aaa blinkshark maybe? The important part is the statue that is at the bottom of the ocean. Amber swims down to it and when she touches it she has a vision where she is like on land and Koda is about to step on her but he is smiling. And then her astral arms are way more powerful and the statue glows green.

Kodira blinks them back and is like wtf happened and amber is like check it pretty swag huh? And Kodira's like. I gotta process

And then after a day they reach this big dome made of bleached coral. And they have to fight the last of the blinksharks which they end up killing. And they go into the dome and fight a coral dragon. But amber hears fighting downstairs from Kodira so she's like!!!! I gotta help! An she sees that there's just been.. a.. slaughter. Kodira is standing in the middle of just a field of slain bleached coral bodies. And a red eye on her forehead is glowing. Koda starts talking to amber about how magic destroyed world's yada yada join him to stop it from destroying the next or shit idfk he sees ambers green arms and is like you have such a power you don't know you possess. And then fights her for it

Kodira has six red astral arms out and amber manages to grapple her into a bear hug from behind and hold them down. And Koda is like wow she... Really.. . Doesn't want me to fight you. And they fight more and she eventually is like fine I'll join you if everyone gets to leave safe. And Kodira's mouth is bleeding and she gets some blood on one of the empty portal attempts and uh it activates.

Upstairs, Zoox and Devo defeat the coral dragon and face orlene. They learn that he wants to go back in time and be with his family. He has a bunch of portals formed from the coral which is what he was using drynarr to do . They talk, fight, etc. Zoox is separated from his body and becomes the coral tower, after a chat w finneas in his mind palace . Orlene dies. Devo looks into the portal of the past, and says the words he knows so well,

"when kingdoms fall the sea provides a home for all beneath the tides... and bring your families"

And then he returns downstairs where koda-kodira and amber have been fighting. And amber is like hey Devo come look at this and she's like, I just wanted you to see it once (I'm not cryi--). And then goes back to fighting Koda and she's like actually if you want magic gone you're gonna have to come get it and dashes for the portal and leaps into it shouting kela sai guppies momma's home! And Kodira jumps in after her and holds herself up with these red arms and grabs onto amber but then amber turns on the vapour suit, snapping at Kodira's arm, and they both fall into the new world and the portal shuts behind them.

Devo and Zoox go home. He wants to see seldom but goes to the schoolhouse to find only beck, saying seldom took his ship and went away. Devo becomes the new head of the Parrish and he turns it into a school. Zoox is made th defender of the city and has a giant mech body. He builds a coral statue of amber. They go out in their freetime to try and find Amber.

But uh funny thing is, Devo has a headache. It started back on their way home. And then he sees a visage of a man in front of him, the one he knows as tolliver. And tolliver is like yeah man u made two different timelines when u did that shit. And Devo is like oh yeah well I'm your brother Damien cern and tollivers like oh yeah well I'm kind of a personification of magic at the moment so.. and then we see timeline b in the world that got devos version of the call. He is at the Parrish still and guidance is alive. He is happy, maybe, and teaches kids about benevolence. But without his help on their first mission, amber and Zoox died.

Back in uh timeline a as we are now calling it. The main ethersea timeline. Devo is going through his stuff and finds a book from orlene with a handwritten note that says "great oraters seldom whisper." And everyone is like OHHH SHIT SELDOMS A SPY

And we go up. Up up up to a city in the sky. And we are inside a cell. Where we see Seldom. And a man approaches him. It's benevolence.

And Devo vows that he is going to kill god.

Meanwhile in the other world amber and Kodira are giant and theres blinksharks in the water and they're like fuck what's up and then Koda is dead as hell and they're basically gods and they goof and fall in love and then sun sets the end

Anyways hope your calc exam went well the results are probably in by now xoxo (for dramatic effect) DBSKFJKSKFJDKD

#sierra speaks #taz ethersea #taz ethersea spoilers #thank you for the ask!#wow i spent a long time typing that

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lostshitpirate · 9 days

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Legend of Korra S1 thoughts

So I literally just finished s1 of lok and wanted to like jot down my thoughts lol. This is just my current thoughts on s1 and idk how to feel about the entire series

Long post sorry

Spoilers for season 1

So I like it so far. I think it’s pretty interesting. Not the best season but I like it so far. I wish I went into it blind bcuz it might have been a little better but whatever.

The biggest critique I have of this season is the pacing or moreso how face paced it is. I feel like in alta we had episodes to get to know the characters and their relationships and the world while also building towards the plot. I know this series has less episodes per season than alta which is probably why the pacing feels off honestly.

I feel like I don’t really know much about republic city or any of the characters really. Like the characters have personality but I don’t really know their relationship with each other or any of their motivations or drives really. Things about them kinda get throw at you.

Like it doesn’t feel like any of them know each other since we don’t get a lot of time to see them interacting together outside of small moments. They don’t really feel like a team.

Also the romance is somehow worse than alta. Like the romance in alta was kinda meh not terrible but not for me, but here it feels sorta contrived. Like no one really has chemistry at all. A lot of the romance scenes between them feel sorta forced. Like it didn’t happen naturally. Also Mako is a little bit of a whore lol. Like he kinda sucks lol.

My conspiracy is that the writers knew ppl wanted zutara so they gave ppl korra x mako to make up for it. But that’s just a theory, a game theory.

I do like korra tho. I like how she is the opposite of aang and is trying to find out about the world and how to be the avatar. I like how she over compensates trying to be the avatar. I like that she does things with force and needs to learn to strategize.

I kinda wish her air bending had a better build up bcuz it sorta just happens. And a lot of her insecurities are just kinda sprung on you too. Also I kinda wish her losing her bending had more room to sit with you. I think it would give it more weight.

I also liked amon as an antagonist. I do think the equalists were interesting especially since exploring what it’s like to be a non bender in a more advanced bending world and how that disadvantages you is interesting. I do wish it had more room to build. Like I wish we could see how the equalist movement built over time. How non benders are disadvantaged. What it is actually like to be a non bender in their worlds society rather than hear ppl just talk about it. I think seeing korra actually see what it’s like would flesh her out more too.

Non benders in avatar are really cool. The way they developed their own fighting styles to go toe to toe to benders is really cool especially in a more technologically advanced setting.

The amon and counselor tarlock twist was alright. It kinda came out of nowhere. I kinda wish amon was just a non bender bcuz that would have been way more interesting and make him more intimidating. I also thought tarlock and amon were working together to systematically take power which would have been interesting to see but that wasn’t the case.

The ending scene with amon and tarlock was cool but kinda idk. Unsatisfying sorta? Like I don’t feel like we got enough time to really get a feel for their relationship. We kinda just hear about it then just see them interact in that final scene. I also feel like we don’t really get a real sense of amon’s goals too. Like just vaguely hear that it’s connected to Yakone. I think it would have been more interesting if he genuinely was an equalist.

I just wish we had an episodes to flesh out republic city and this new unfamiliar place. I wish we had episodes just focusing on the characters and their relationship with one another. Just an episode to breath and feel like we’re learning rather than having stuff be brought up. Just some episodes to breath and feel and learn about everything.

Overall, had a good time. Needs work. Would give it 6/10

#legend of korra #lok #just some thoughts #idk #lok season 1 #lok s1 spoilers #spoilers #lok spoilers #just tagging spoilers just to be safe

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beetlemancy · 2 years

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I finally started Sanctuary (I actually just finished S1 Ep 4 tonight!). I like it so far! The story seems interesting - I've always had a soft spot for stories with a sci fi/fantasy edge to them. John and Helen - I want to know more about their story. I didn't realize that the actress who plays Helen Magnus also plays Sam Carter in SG-1! That was a welcomed surprise on my end 😄

Oh! And the sibling I mentioned I watch Farscape with (which we've almost completed! - 2 episodes left of S4 + Peacekeepers War) is also watching Sanctuary with me so it's fun to have a shared experience again 😄 also, the show has great music too

It starts out a bit rough around the edges, in terms of cinematography - the reason being it was initially a web show. It started out online before Atapps and the boys managed to get it going for "reals." The webisodes were sort of rewritten/added into the first few episodes so the vibe is a bit strange. Later in s1 it gets way better. It might be a little dated compared to stuff today but tech goes so fast - interestingly, at the time, it was the first TV show to use the RED cameras. That's what gives it a bit of a video game vibe at times. Their sets were almost entirely green screen, barring a few exceptions (parts of the actual Sanctuary facility are built sets, but not all of it - and its legit hard to tell which sometimes). Amanda produces the show as well and directs some episodes. The main creators, including Atapps, are actually also from SG1 - Martin Wood and Damian Kindler. They worked on SG1 for years! They all three did a TON of behind the scenes commentary for the Sanctuary DVD sets. Listening to them talk about their show - its def one of my favorite behind the scenes content i've ever listened to.

Aside from the tech though (which i can nerd about for days - its one of my favorite shows to talk about in terms of like industry stuff), Sanctuary is just a fun time with its story. Its more about character development for sure, being an ensemble cast. You might see more SG1 people down the line as well ; ) Monsoon, in s4, is the best episode ever.

EDIT: Oh I almost forgot to mention - YES I LOVE THE MUSIC! Most of it was done by Andrew Lockington. (HERE) is a link that goes further into detail on it if you're interested - I'm not sure if there's spoilers but there probably is.

#sanctuary #the fargateuary #fargateuary

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still-a-morosexual-help · 3 years

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OBEY ME! LESSON 58 DETAILED SUMMARY + DISCUSSIONS/THEORIES

*I wrote this days after the lesson was first posted and never bothered to go back and edit it so meaning there will be me theorizing about the next lesson as well

*I write a small para for each chapter and I write it immediately after finishing that chapter so there’ll be theorizing about the next chapter too

*I swear more than usual here

*Some of the dialogue is heavily plagiarized and a few is lifted directly from the story, the game is to figure which is which.

*Summaries and Discussions/theories for all the other lessons can be found on this blog under #obey me spoilers or #my theories or #my headcanons

This has two locked chapters. So I usually play one chapter and then write a summary for it and then play the next and so on, I don’t come back and edit the summaries or theories I write but this lesson is special enough that I had to come back and write a special intro to it. Hoo BOY! is this something! You think it’s gonna go the usual way with MC solving the problem demon by demon with each of them having some wacky fear and it is like that for a while until it nosedives into TRAUMAtm and ISSUEStm territory and becomes surprisingly dark. And for someone who loves speculating and coming up with theories this whole lesson was a goldmine, Enjoy!

Black mist swirls around the hall, Mammon & Levi shriek and the hall starts rattling until the mist forms pissed off demon Lucifer which makes Asmo yelp (and this is what I mean, the greatest common fear in this group (if you don’t consider Simeon and Lucifer) is probably pissed off demon Lucifer but on their own they’ll probably have different fears.) Levi stutters out that it’s lucifer and real lucifer tells him to calm his tits cause the he is actually with them. MC identifies it as the bogeyman (genius) and it starts shrieking for Mammon and Levi, which leads to Mammon screaming and Levi closing his eyes and chanting ‘no’ as they cling on to Belphie as the entire hall rattles again. Solomon happily tells MC ‘Welp there’s your exam, deal with it.’ Simeon’s slightly more helpful and tells them staying calm is the key. MC says they can do that. Solomon laughs and says that’s the answer he’d expect from his talented apprentice. MC uses a spell “light born of shadow” to repel the spirit, the spell and the spirit makes the wind howl and the hall shake and the spirit growl/groan. To escape the spell it flees into one of the hotel rooms and the hall suddenly becomes eerily quiet. Mammon collapses to his knees and Levi, with his eyes still closed, says he lost 500yrs of his life. Neither of them have still let go off Belphie. Lucifer calls them pathetic for being demons scared of a bogeyman (bro they’re scared of *you* akjdvkdfjjjkdn) Mammon snaps and says he ain’t scared of the bogeyman and Satan asks how he can say that after what they all saw. Levi says it’s not the bogeyman it’s a fully pissed off Lucifer he’s scared of. Mammon still insists he’s not scared. Levi tells him to shut up cause he was so scared he couldn’t stand, Mammon says he just wanted to sit down for a bit. Lucifer calls them pathetic again and Levi protests. Lucifer then says they must find a way to get rid of it for good cause it’ll start to come after each one of them individually. MC says maybe they can admit what they’re all afraid of so that they’ll know what they will be facing ahead of time. Solomon agrees with this plan and tells them to start with the oldest and work their way down, listing their fears. Asmo calls Solomon out on using this as an excuse to find Lucifer’s weaknesses to use later. Solomon smiles and says he’d never do that, Belphie says the look on his face suggests different. Beel says that there’s probably nothing that scares Lucifer and Lucifer says that nothing comes to mind (and this feels like when you’re a child and think your parents are all knowing and invincible only to get a sometimes painful reality check later). Mammon says he doesn’t get scared, Levi calls him a liar and says pissed off demon Lucifer scares him and then he goes on to list fears based off being an otaku (eg: the final ep of a series he loves and etc). Simeon cuts Levi off as his list grows and asks Satan. Satan straight up says “Nothing scares me.” And Simeon smiles and says it takes a lot of confidence to say that (yeah even Lucifer said that in terms of a greatest fear “nothing comes to mind” implying he’s felt fear before and probably had moments of ‘greatest fear’ too. Satan just straight up says nothing at all scares him and I think that shows his age and experience gap compared to Lucifer. Even the way Simeon smiled and said the confidence line felt like he was indulging Satan rather than believing him). Asmo jumps and says being ugly scares him. Beel says he thought about it but he really doesn’t know (with the saddest expression on his face) but he also says a pissed off Satan and Asmo are also pretty scary. Asmo yells at Beel for calling him scary (didn’t Asmo very seriously threaten to rip MC’s heart out in S1? I feel like a lot of people forget this… I’ve seen people say Asmo and Mammon were the only ones who didn’t attack or seriously threaten MC and I’m just like no??? Asmo was definitely ready to kill them and he gets even more pissed if MC says they don’t think he’s the most attractive person. MC doesn’t get the chance to talk back when Asmo threatens them either which makes it seem all the more serious. When Mammon first threatens to eat MC after they first meet he says it in that same over the top way he said he wasn’t scared in this lesson – completely unbelievable. And MC probably catches that too cause they get to talk back and tell him that they literally give no shits about whatever he’s talking about.) Belphie says he used to be afraid of the alarm clock satan gave him which wouldn’t snooze or stop, which he threw away (I feel like they’re greatly underestimating what ‘greatest fear’ means…) Solomon asks MC what scares them the most and the chapter ends. (I HC MC as having heavy abandonment issues, of waking up and finding out this was all a dream and that they’re alone but I doubt OM!’s gonna let them say that)

Asmo’s very excited to find out about MC’s worst fears but Levi says when MC came face to face with the bogeyman and chased it away it didn’t transform which means… Levi smiles and Mammon laughs and goes ‘holy shit you’re scared of Lucifer too!? Asmo points out that Mammon said ‘too’ implying… Mammon vehemently protests. Simeon says that that Luke’s blessing is still active despite it being given some time back and it makes the Bogeyman have no affect on MC. Asmo’s shocked and asks if that isn’t really impressive. Simeon says it is and that Luke’s blessings are so powerful that it even rivals some angels’ higher up in the hierarchy (do you think that’s why Michael has such an interest in Luke despite him having no ranking?) Simeon says Luke himself doesn’t realise how special his power is and MC’s amazed by what a bright future he’ll have. Simeon says he’s looking forward to it. Belphie says once that once Luke grows up he’d be able to banish Mammon with a snap of his fingers (and ansknvjbkdc BELPHIE!? Isn’t this also a self burn you fucking idiot???? Considering Mammon’s the 2nd most powerful and you’re the 7th?????? They really do genuinely forget Mammon’s ranking don’t they?) Mammon asks why Belphie had to pick him to shit on and Levi laughs and says Mammon will totally deserve being banished by an angel. Mammon goes to murder Levi but Lucifer cuts them off saying Barbatos just messaged him saying ‘don’t fucking stand there like fucking idiots kick out the bastard that you lot are responsible for unless you’d rather me come there and rip your fucking innards out you fucking assholes’ MC picks up on a very key fact and says “He’s fucking spying in us!???” Satan says he’s probably watching them at that very moment which creeps Asmo out. Solomon says they should go after it then which has Mammon yelping and Levi protesting. Lucifer says if they all go barging in everything will devolve into chaos and that just a couple should do. Levi laughs about MC being OP cause of Luke’s blessing (love the self awareness) Solomon tells MC to pick who’ll go in with them.

Asmo’s demanding why he got picked and Mammon, smiling happily, says Asmo should consider getting hand-picked by MC an honour, Asmo says they just happened to make eye contact and MC picked him and he can’t help it if MC’s eyes are naturally drawn towards his beauty. (I just realized considering Mammon’s the one MC usually picks for stupid, dangerous adventures so he probably thought he’d get picked and he’s so smiley rn cause he’s relieved). Satan tells Asmo to suck it up and Asmo says it’s easy for them to say since they aren’t been made to go in the room. All sparkly and teary eyed Asmo cries about how his beauty ended up being his undoing. Simeon wishes MC luck and says that should anything go wrong he’ll come in. MC tells Asmo they’ll protect him, Asmo throws himself into their arms and calls them the best. Lucifer tells them to keep their guard up, even with Luke’s blessing. The hotel room looks like someone has used a negative filter on it. Inside Asmo screams and says he can’t take it and that he knows what he’ll see and that an ugly version of himself will be so bad that he’ll have a heart attack and die adding on “I’ll DIE, MC!” at the end for emphasis (wait so bullets won’t kill them but heart attacks are a possibility? Or is this Asmo just being melodramatic?). With tears in his eyes he says he gives up. MC tells him nothing will change how beautiful he is, he agrees but still struggles to argue with it. The black mist then starts forming and Asmo squeaks. With a rumble it shakes the room and transforms. Asmo starts screaming and sobbing about how ugly he looks and how it hurts his eyes. To stop Asmo’s oncoming mental breakdown MC shows him a mirror and he starts cooing over how beautiful he really is but he still says he can’t take it and runs out the room (I like to imagine the bogeyman had to do the bare minimum to make Asmo see a hideous version of himself, like anything less than perfect flawlessness would freak Asmo out.) Back outside Lucifer sounds disappointed that these are some of the most powerful demons in the devildom, Satan calls the whole thing pathetic, and Levi laughs about how they should have known not to trust Asmo with this (..I mean you wouldn’t have done any better either), Mammon mocks Asmo for calling himself a demon, Beel says he’s hungry. Asmo tells them if they’re so much braver than him they should go in. Solomon tells MC to pick the next one. MC happens to make eye contact with Belphie. Without MC even saying a word Belphie realizes what has happened. About Asmo’s fear maybe I’m making it too deep but in S1 and in other places too Asmo talks about how beautiful he was in the Celestial Realm and I always wondered if part of his obsession with his beauty now is because it’s a way to cling on to that, the last thing that he can keep unchanged after his whole world was turned on his head. I think in the very early drafts of OM!, back when the brothers had canonical demonic demon forms as well the writers said Asmo hated his, so it’d make sense after how even his actual form changed he’d cling so desperately onto the human form he shared with his past angelic self.

Belphie asks if they really need him to come, Satan says it’s not like they can let MC go in alone, Belphie says they have Luke’s blessing so they may as well throw them into the sharks (I want to say I really like sharks and am always somewhat upset by the misconception of them as these ruthless killing machines when at most they’re just idiots with bad eyesight) Lucifer says that there’s always the possibility things won’t go as planned, Belphie says then Simeon will just step in (Belphie’s trying so hard guyssss. And like I imagine a majority of it is cause he’s lazy and doesn’t want to deal with this but I also feel like a small part of him knows that something worse than an annoying alarm clock could be waiting in there. I mean your greatest fear can be very personal and for emotionally constipated idiots like this who’ve lived millions of years and fought two wars? I imagine they’d be very private about it.) Simeon says that though that’s the plan it would but an end to MC’s exam. Cause he isn’t part of their additional materials the way the brothers are, says Solomon. Beel begs Belphie to do it for him and that he wants Belphie to keep MC safe. YO! Mammon brings up my point immediately. God I love him. Looking smug, he asks if the truth is that Belphie’s trying so hard to avoid something other than an alarm clock. Belphie looks shocked, then looks to the side and says “No…”. Mammon says then Belphie should be just fine, that it’s an alarm clock and it’s not a big deal (You know and I know that Mammon knows well that it’s not gonna be just an alarm clock, what a shithead picking up on Belphie’s weakness like that and manipulating him when nothing else worked. I love him so much). Belphie agrees to go. Inside the Bogeyman is already forming and a shrill alarm clock starts ringing, until it suddenly stops and everything goes black. Belphie makes a small noise and MC calls his name. He starts asking what’s going on and where MC went, sounding more and more distressed with each question. The wind keeps whistling through. MC says they’re right there. He can’t hear them. He’s now screaming for MC to answer him. Then he starts screaming for MC and Beel. Then for Asmo, Satan, Mammon and Levi. Then for Lucifer. When he gets no reply he says, “This can’t be happening…it can’t be…I…I…” He screams that he can’t take it and that he’s scared, asking where everyone went. MC moves towards his voice and hugs him. He screams for MC and Beel to help him. The chapter ends. This whole scene is haunting. From the bitch black screen, to the whistling wind being the only thing you can hear, to hearing Belphie who’s usually so unaffected start screaming for his family just? How it all started with the shrill screams of the alarm clock which just abruptly stopped. It came outta nowhere. I honestly didn’t think they’d do something like that and I’m shaking imagining what the others might see. I’m 100% sure that Belphie used all his energy to focus on the alarm clock so that the bogeyman wouldn’t pick up on this darker fear and that’s why the alarm clock went off at first. I initially thought Belphie’s real fear will be something directly related to the second war but this makes so much more sense, it makes sense that after losing Lilith his biggest fear would be losing the rest of his family and being alone and just wow I’m??? I love that they did this. It hurt to see but it was desperately needed.

Back outside Asmo and Belphie are both silent and depressed. Beel quietly calls Belphie’s name, saying all the colour has drained from his face and asking if he’s okay. Asmo whines about how Beel only cares about Belphie and hasn’t even checked up on him. Mammon says they both do look pretty awful and Satan says they look like Levi and Mammon did after seeing Lucifer’s pissed demon form. Levi says not to even bring it up. Beel asks what happened inside the room and Belphie says nothing. Beel orders (the key word here is ‘orders’ and it’s so different from his usual self that it was great to see what he becomes when the people he loves are hurt) that MC tell him what happened (and look on one hand it’s important to keep Belphie’s privacy and to not say anything without his consent, on the other hand he will NEVER tell anyone this, something he’s been bottling up for thousands of years, and he really should talk it over with them. Personally I think they should take him aside later and talk it over with him and then if he wants let him approach the others). MC can say “the truth is that…” or “…”. For the first he gets really pissed off and yells at MC to stop. He then takes a step back and apologizes and says he doesn’t want them telling the others anything. For the second Belphie quietly thanks them. He then says it wasn’t a big deal and something happened that he wasn’t expecting. He smiles and tells Beel not to look at him like that. Beel still can’t get over it and still looks furious, saying that he doesn’t know what happened but he knows it really messed Belphie up and he’s not letting it get away with that. He says he’s gonna destroy it and calls MC after him. Inside the room it’s dead quiet. Beel says again he’s not sure what he’s scared of but even if it turns into an angry Asmo or Satan they need to attack it without any hesitation. He says that whatever that thing did to Belphie it terrified him and that they need to make it pay. All of a sudden there’s a flash of light and long groans as the room shakes and the mist forms. Beel tells MC to attack it using his power before it can transform and MC commands him, Beel says his power is theirs to command and everything he does is for them and Belphie. Beel uses a spell to send a bolt of light towards it and for a second it seems to shrink into itself before it comes back stronger and holy shit holy shit holy shit GUYS!!!!! There’s a flash of light and they’re in front of the Celestial Palace except everything is on fire asdjkjdfjcusjosdsjdj FUCK. The bolt Beel had previously sent to the bogeyman instead pierces through the chest of angel!Belphie (FUCK!!?) Beel screams and then screams for Belphie. “Don’t take away my brother too! I can’t bare to lose anyone else…!” MC tries to tell him he hasn’t lost anyone but Beel protests saying he’s attack hit Belphie and now he’s… Beel’s unable to finish that sentence. He then looks at MC and starts pleading with them not to go, again saying that he’s begging them not to go anywhere. They tell him that they’re right here with him. He tells them he’s scared. The chapter ends. AND WTF!!!!????? They really went there huh? I’ve been screaming about the trauma Lilith’s death would have lead to since maybe Mammon & Luke’s train lesson but they really are bringing it up now huh!? I’m just holy shit.

They’re back in the hotel room with the mist swirling around them and at the screams Belphie comes running into the room and tries to span Beel outta it (and isn’t it sweet given how reluctant he was to go in and how shaken up he was after that he’d come tunning in for Beel). Levi comes in next with his eyes closed and stuttering but wanting to be there for Beel, then Asmo with tears in his eyes saying they’re not gonna abandon their “adorable little brother” despite how scared they are. Mammon comes in next, red faced and also with his eyes shut and asking Beel where he is, Lucifer comes in after telling Beel to focus and stay with them. (guys they’re all such good brothers I can’t deal). Beel seems genuinely touched that they all came for him. The Bogeyman flares and seems to grow again and Satan puts himself in between it and the others, angry that it had messed with his brothers and saying it was up against him now and he wasn’t scared of anything. The think groans and the room shakes and they’re in the coliseum like place in the Devildom (the place where Diavolo said he found Lucifer with Lilith after they fell) and everything around them is on fire again. Mammon asks if it’s turning into Lucifer again and Belphie says it looks like it is. It turns in to angel Lucifer (oh boy…I actually stood up and walked away. Satan…….dude….holy shit?). Satan gasps as the reveal and I genuinely think he didn’t know it was coming unlike Belphie. The name reads Lucifer (?) and I’m gonna just directly quote what he says. Also Angel Lucifer surrounded by fire and this pale purple aura with a kinda blank yet pissed off and judgmental expression while tense lowkey creepy music plays is actually kinda scary? I think it’s the fact that he’s supposed to be an angel but he looks genuinely scarier than when it transformed into demon Lucifer… Anyway: “…Satan, you fool. It’s time you learned your place. Because in the end, you’re nothing more than an inferior copy of me. You must already realize that.” Satan growls at him to shut up but he continues, “I know you, I know how you think. Because you were modeled after me. I was the original.” Satan says, “…Stop it.” It laughs and says while smiling, “It seems you don’t want to admit it, do you? You don’t want to but you have no choice. You hate it and you hate yourself. You’re consumed with self-loathing, aren’t you?” Satan screams at it to stop. Screaming that it’s not true and then screaming shut up over and over at an increasing volume. Lucifer, real Lucifer, tries calling Satan’s name, telling him to get ahold of himself. This shocks Satan out of it for a while. Lucifer goes up to him saying, “Satan, I need you to listen to me. You and I are not the same. You’re not me, and I’m not you.” He says his hobby is music while Satan prefers reading and that Satan loves cats but Lucifer would pick dogs. “You’re not a copy of me. No… You’re my brother.” He says he’s the brother to Lucifer, the avatar of pride and that he’s Satan the avatar of wrath. He asks if that isn’t his name. Satan is speechless after that. He turns to MC and asks them to tell him who he is. “You’re Lucifer’s younger brother, Satan.” This makes him laugh. He agrees with them. Saying he’s Satan. “No one else, just Satan.” He tells MC to use their pact. MC uses a spell to lend power to Satan and he uses that for a spell to banish the bogeyman. There’s a bright flash and everything turns white. (Holy shit Satan….the fact that it was angel Lucifer who was his worst fear and not normal Lucifer, that it was angel Lucifer’s judgment he feared? And I think I said this in two of the other summaries too but Satan’s the only brother Lucifer didn’t choose. Lucifer as an angel chose all his siblings and practically adopted them into his growing family. Satan was the only one who just came along and who Lucifer had no choice but to keep. Do you think that could be one of the reasons why it was angel Lucifer he specifically feared? Everyone else was with angel Lucifer in the celestial realm and fought by his side except Satan, Satan was never even an angel. He was always a demon who angels were taught to hate. Do you think it’s possible that he thinks that if angel Lucifer had the choice he wouldn’t have chosen Satan and brought him t the family? And that’s why the fairies thought he needed to meet angel Lucifer and hear him say he wished he had a brother like Satan. Also is it just me but does Satan have imposter syndrome vibes? Like the feeling that everything he achieves is cause he’s a shade of Lucifer and Lucifer’s just naturally perfect so he always has to work even harder to be better than Lucifer to prove he’s his own person.)

They’re back in the hotel room, except now all the colours are back to normal. Mammon asks what happened, Beel asks if it was destroyed and Belphie tells Satan his last spell was really impressive, Asmo tells Satan that he’s amazing and that he made his heart race, Lucifer says it was excellent and says well done. (lowkey disappointed we didn’t see Lucifer’s greatest fear but whatever). Satan dismisses all of it, saying it wasn’t a big deal and trying to move on and turn attention on how he’s gonna convert all the leftover emotion he has after having his vulnerabilities forcefully displayed in front of everyone into anger so he can murder Levi and Mammon. The two yelp and make a break for it. The other 3 also give chase, with even Beel saying he wants to take a bite outta them, while Mammon and Levi scream about how they’re gonna get eaten (…what would the other guests think…). Solomon follows the 6 of them happily to watch the carnage. Simeon asks if Lucifer wasn’t going to chase after them and he says he’d run himself ragged if he chased after them each time they fucked up. The two of them then congratulate MC and they say they couldn’t have done it without a.) Satan. Simeon says it was them who was able to draw such immense power from him and that their talent was impressive. B.) all of them, Lucifer laughs and says that some of them weren’t any help at all. Lucifer’s smile then slips and he tells them to wait a minute and sike that bitch is back! It has barely any strength left and is making one last attempt. Everything flashes white and it transforms into a bright light streaming from the window. The next two are direct quotes. Simeon: …! That light- Lucifer: Simeon, calm down. This one’s “mine”. Lucifer transforms into his demon form, saying something that transforms into your deepest fear is something he could live without. He says, “And here I’m thinking we would never meet again.” And I feel like he’s talking to the ‘light’ and not the bogeyman they thought they killed. He tells MC to use his power. They do and Lucifer uses the same spell as Satan and the bogeyman is finally killed. Simeon is silent and looks upset. Lucifer says they killed the last of it and they should be safe. He says it’s a good thing MC was there next to him or it might have ended very badly. Simeon’s still silent and Lucifer refuses to make eye contact with him. He says he’s going to check on his brothers and says he’ll see them later. Simeon’s silent and now looks thoughtful and MC can ask him a.) If something’s wrong. He apologizes and says he’s fine and then sighs and says “Oh, am I?” b.) they wonder if Lucifer’s okay. Simeon says he’ll be fine because Lucifer is strong and then quietly adds “…unlike me…” C.) they ask what that light was. “Not what.” Says Simeon, “who…”. Okay there’s so much to talk about I think my brain died. 1st – Simeon is stunned when the light first appears and Lucifer has to tell him to calm down that the light was his fear. Which meant Simeon thought the bogeyman was reacting to him and showing him his own fear and that means Simeon and Lucifer’s worst fear is the same thing and Lucifer knew this as well. Now you could say Simeon thought this light was the real deal and not the bogeyman and that’s why he reacted that way and that’s why Lucifer told him it’s just his fear BUT Lucifer said beforehand that the bogeyman had not been killed an they all see the mist forming and the room shaking and the thing groaning before the light is formed so it’d be hard to make that mistake. Plus simeon’s “unlike me” line seals it and pretty much confirms that Simeon and Lucifer share the same greatest fear. And I said earlier that I believed the bogeyman acted on the common fear of everyone it could affect but both Simeon and Lucifer were sure it was their own fear that was taking shape, plus the bogeyman only had enough strength for one last target, so yeah the ‘light’ is definitely both of their individual greatest fears. 2nd – who was it. MC’s being talking with a voice in the light every once in a while and I always assumed it was Michael cause he seems to have the same position in the celestial realm that Diavolo has in the Devildom. But why would Michael be Lucifer’s greatest fear? It’d make more sense for Lucifer’s greatest fear to be his Father but that’d mean MC’s being chatting with God this whole time and that’s absolutely fucking insane and I’m not even gonna consider that further. So Lucifer’s greatest fear is (probably) Michael but why? Because of what he represents? Because of what happened with Lilith and their Fall? Because he could threaten Diavolo’s plans for harmony? Because of some other unknown trauma? 3rd – What happened to Simeon? We know he was a seraphim who was demoted for some reason. We know he stole from Michael and was caught and Michael called him back to face some sort of consequences. We know after this he was stationed semi-permanently in the human world for some unknown reason. We know he’s meeting with angels (probably raphael) here in the human world. But what happened that made the angels or Michael his greatest fear? What did he mean by Lucifer being strong unlike him? Personally I think despite the Celestial Realm saying they cast the brothers out, the brothers actually fled after Lilith was struck. I think Lucifer asked Simeon to come with him and I think Simeon denied him and instead helped them escape and this lead to his demotion. We know from that one devilgram that after meeting Diavolo for the first time Lucifer realizes the Celestial Realm nor his Father particularly care for peace with the Devildom, while Diavolo’s actively seeking it and that demons and the devildom are not like what he believes they are. The more Lucifer meets with Diavolo the more he learns about the Devildom and the rest of the world, as Mammon said about Luke, he learns about the real world, how the angels aren’t always right and how there’s more to everything than the Celestial Realm and so the more disillusioned with the Celestial Realm he becomes. As Simeon was his closest friend he might have relayed this all to him, or at least given a vague idea of what he’s starting to see and Simeon in turn starts seeing things from Lucifer’s perspective or more accurately he starts seeing the whole picture (and this is what Barbatos means when he says Simeon is likeable because he’s different from the other angels) unlike Lucifer though this doesn’t make him angry at or resentful of the celestial realm – it just opens his eyes up to its faults but that doesn’t mean he loves all the good parts of it any less – So when Lucifer offers him the chance to leave (the way Simeon himself sees it) he’s never strong enough to take that leap. Or that’s at least my theory of what happened till the next lessons clear it up.

Simeon is still silent and looking upset and then he laughs and apologizes because he can’t seem to stop trembling (and okay first wtf? Also so the theory about Lucifer and Simeon sharing a greatest fear was right. But also what the fuck did Michael do that’s made Simeon tremble? Though the first time the brothers spoke of Michael Mammon said he still shook thinking about his punishments… But would Michael do anything like that to someone who used to be a fellow Seraphim? Was that light really Michael or was it the Big Guytm cause that’ll be terrifying I don’t want to deal with that…). MC asks him if he’s okay. He says he appreciates their concern ands says it’s just that the light was just a sight he hadn’t seen in a long time AND WAIT!? SO IT WASN’T MICHAEL!!??? IT ACTUALLY WAS GOD!!!??? I’M WHEEZING AND NOT IN THE LAUGHING WAY WTFFFF HOLY SHIT SERIOUSLY!!!??? AND WAIT SO MC’S TALKED TO A VOICE IN A LIGHT ABOUT THRICE NOW??? WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT!??? PLS TELL ME AT LEAST THAT WAS MICHAEL!? I’D LOSE MY SHIT IF IT TURNS OUT MC’S BEING COMMUNICATING WITH GOD HELP- I’m okay. I’m good. I took a walk. Simeon’s still trembling and MC hugs him. Simeon blushes and says humans have a strange warmth to them. He says that sometimes he wonders if MC would make a better angel than him (which supports my ‘not strong enough’ theory in the previous paragraph). He holds them back tightly. He says there’s something he wants to tell them and says I- before Asmo screaming for MC to come watch them torture Levi & Mammon cuts him off (would he confess to them again? He did it before and it seemed done when they rejected him and he backed off. I guess emotions are more complex than that). He looks upset at the interruption but covers it with a smile and says it seems like they’re wanted. He asks them to drop by the café later and says they can continue the discussion then. The two of them are hung up upside down, Mammon’s screaming to be let down and Levi’s sobbing and screaming at Mammon not to throw a temper tantrum right next to him. Diavolo says they make an interesting chandelier but that they don’t fit with their interior design. Mammon screams at him to then fucking let them down. Barbatos suggests a muzzle. Satan suggest shutting them up with their fists and Belphie says it’s too much work and that they’ll juest wear themselves out. Beel says there’s a style of cooking in the human world like this. Lucifer says these two don’t look appetizing and that he’d rather have actual churrasco. Solomon welcomes MC back and gives them the star of humility. He says they are now officially a sorcerer. Diavolo and Barbatos both congratulate them. Asmo says they’re amazing and that he’s even more smitten with them. Belphie says he’s really impressed and says good for them. Beel says he’s really happy for them and says nice going. Satan says “MC the Sorcerer” has a nice ring to it. Lucifer says well done. MC thanks them all. Solomon says nothing makes him happier than seeing his apprentice become a full-fledged sorcerer. Mammon yells that he wants to be part of the celebration too and to let him down, Levi says he’s going to be sick. And the chapter and the entire lesson ends.

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veneli · 2 years

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hello hello!! for the redacted ask game; 11, 15, & 19? (hope you’re doing well and having a lovely day/night!!)

My night has been lovely, thank you! It is currently 12am PST and I have school tomorrow, but I can't sleep so here I am on tumblr *jazz hands*

@sweetheartmilo's request!

Hey!! Thanks for asking, both of you!

Both are very similar questions from the game, so I’ll put them together.

Spoilers for Avior's latest installment below!

11. Character(s) you want to know more about? FUCK, AVIOR. I NEED

But for real, after that last installment, and that deadly cliffhanger, even deadlier than his fall down to the first circle - I have perished and I am fighting the River's current. I was so invested in his storyline, and we kinda got pushed to the back burner a little bit for DAMN Season 2 and Inversion (no complaints, well, maybe a little grumble). Erik deserves a break. But gOd do I need Avior to survive rn. (New kind of d(a)emon: one that can only live off the energy of another d(a)emon. That would be very complicated)

15. What character(s) would you want to be friends with? To be frank there's many, but here's the ones that are definitely not 99% similar to my friends I have IRL. Huxley. and Lasko. and Elliott. and Geordi. Huxley: very huggable and is a nature freak (same), mountains person, will 100% steal hoodies and will ramble for hours about things he likes (I will listen 100%) and I need someone to yell at me to drink water.

Lasko: Anxiety bros! there's always something on our minds and we are equally distracted and stressed. Would lose a game of (insert video game) to 100%, I can't play to save my life, but I imagine it would be epic going against him. Also, I heard he likes bowling?? Count me IN.

Elliott: Dreamer, probably a Pisces (me too!!). Likes astrology, flirty, sweet, best friend type. Will stay up with him to look at the stars or just talk about random shit then fall asleep while he rambles because his voice is so calming and relaxing <3 (as the dreamwalker boyfriend, I wonder sometimes why he doesn't have a sleep aid yet...)

Geordi: CHOATIC. Overthinker, careless, forgetful, and brain all over the place (like me)! However goofy, will set boundaries and respect with every ounce of his being. He's like the kind to hug you from behind and the type to run and crash for a hug and I live for that. We can be stupid together and not give a damn.

19. Which character(s) are you most similar to?

I would like to say a cross between Asher and Damien. (I know, what?) High standards like the both of them, having both a serious side (Damien) and a fun side (Asher), Loyal to a cause and my friends and family, responsible in school and tries to be on top of things. Take on high responsibility and do my best to fulfill what my superiors ask of me and my own standards. Stubborn like Damien, and conscious of when I need breaks.

34. What was your first Redacted video you listened to? It was a Vincent audio! I joined the fandom about 10 months ago, in May of 2021, just as DAMN S1 was closing up with the non-canon DAMN boy confessions. I just started getting into ASMR content, and I was drawn towards the supernatural and fantasy, then I was lucky enough to have Erik grace my feed with "Found By a Flirty Vampire". HIS FIRST EVER VIDEO ON REDACTED. HOW LUCKY!!

youtube

After that video I was like, "yo, this Vincent guy is pretty nice, I WANT MORE" and Lo and Behold, there was an entire fucking library of other supernatural stuff with DAMN 1 ending and the Shifters getting started.

To be honest, I didn't listen to the Ivan "Yandere boy takes you" or the Project Meridian storyline because I'm not too fond of Yandere content and I don't like the overload of personal attention, so I kind of missed out on content from that.

I spent maybe 1-2 weeks catching up and binging all the videos (aside from Ivan and Marcus) from start to finish, including the non-canon game of matchmakers. Waited (impatiently) for The Cost and wondering why Vega was being a dick (realizing later it had connections to Ivan's story).

As you can see, I fell into a spiral and an obsession with supernatural/magical ASMR content and I have never left Redacted since then. I was so caught up with everything already that when Eri hosted the channel trivia for Channel-versary I could answer 80% of the questions.

Cruised through summer and into the Games Prep arc, tiptoed quietly through Imperiem-tober and got scared of a few characters (ehem, Sam, Asher, Huxley, Lasko), Games day arc, then you know what happened. I cried, a lot.

and here's a bonus because I really wanted to answer this one lmao: 23. What kind of Empowered would you be? (ex. Elemental, Energetics, Freelancer, Shifter, Dreamwalker, Deathwalker, Seer, Vampires..ect)

Several personality tests say werewolf Shifter, and I'd say I agree. Pretty loyal (if i do say so myself), I like responsibility, my favourite animals are wolves (no bias), and they're gentle creatures when unprovoked (it's another story when they are). However I think it would be soooo cool to be a Fire Elemental or a Dreamwalker. Fire because, yeahhh arsON I'm always cold and if I can make my own heat/absorb heat that would be great thank you. A Dreamwalker because I'd like to experience how the inside of someone's mind works while they sleep. How the brain comes up with the weirdest scenarios ever, while rearranging memories. Psychology and psychiatry seem pretty interesting from inside the mind.

(I suppose telepath could also work, but with Dreamwalking you get the image and the art rather than just sound and voice.)

#eli’s requests #eli’s rambling #redacted asmr

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steve0discusses · 3 years

Text

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#Yugioh #Yu-Gi-Oh #yami yugi #S5 #Ep20 #It's actually Ep 20 now I was wrong last time #Yugi muto #Grandpa Muto #Alexander the Great #Joey Wheeler #Tristan Taylor #Tea Gardner #TeaxYugi #never thought I would ever use that tag #in this show where they are canonically dating but sometimes it happens #Puzzles and Dragons #Because yes I had to talk about it. This collab is great

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redrobin-detective · 3 years

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Crawls out from the Pit

Alright so after about 2 and half weeks I have finished all 8 seasons, 80 episodes of Ben 10 Omniverse. I’m a little sad to be done but also glad to have my free time back (also if I have to hear that motherFUCKING opening theme again I will actually cry). So it was an experiencing one that was both super enjoyable but also infuriating. Let me break down my thoughts (with some spoilers) under the cut.

Things I liked

- From the very first episode I was, and still am just fascinated by the basic world set up. Ben Tennyson is known across the entire universe as a hero and wielder of the Omnitrix, everyone he meets knows who he is. Coming off series with locked down secret identities Ben’s status as a universal celebrity had both pros and cons and was simply fascinating to watch.

- Aliens are common in his hometown of Bellwood and there’s a thriving populous under the city. Watching aliens and humans interact with awkward moments and periods of adjustment was damn interesting, great world building in there too.

- The Plumbers being intergalactic peace keepers of sorts (again with all the good and bad that come with essentially being space cops) and having a presence on earth and beyond. Ben’s status as being part of the organization but not a true member, one who really answers only to himself was intriguing.

- For all that I nitpick Ben and Rook’s relationship (stilllll not seeing shippers sorry) I loved Rook Blonko as a character, he was delightful. I also did like Ben and Rook’s relationship bc their individual prejudices and problems kept them from becoming actually close and reliant on one another and while it came close at times it never really resolved which I’m okay with.

- Love the time travel shit *chefs kiss* Professor Paradox my beloved. Also I would die for No Watch Ben. And why is Ben 23 so popular? He’s a lil bitch.

- Genuinely did love the cartoony artstyle, I was obsessed with how green Ben’s eyes were. My personal fanon is the Omnitrix has slowly made them green and glowy over the years. Also the flashbacks to 10-11 year old Ben, baby diagnosed. Such a cutie patootie.

- Speaking of which, loved the frequent callbacks to the original series (my first and favorite). OV felt way more connected to that Ben that I first fell in love with than AF or UAF.

- Ben, when his character was executed right, was wonderful. A big hearted teen who has way too much power and responsibility just doing his best. He covers his fear of failure with jokes and a deceptively casual attitude. While he can be lazy and overconfident and doesn’t think things through, he is dedicated to what he does not for fame but to help people and his determination and adaptability always see him through.

Things I Didn’t Like

- So when Ben was done right it was great but my biggest peeve was how they changed his personality, maturity, competency level episode by episode. Sometimes he was capable of complex negotiations, sometimes all he could do was complain and eat junk foods, sometimes he he could sheer climb walls, other times he was pathetically weak without his Omnitrix. Needless to say I was really irked by the dangerously immature & reckless, rude to the point of being mean, willfully idiotic moron version of Ben who didn’t care about anything.

- When I first started someone said the first half of OV was good and the rest was not. They were right, loved S1-4, 5-8 had good episodes but overall was either cringing or rolling my eyes. S5 in particular aggravated me with Ben being at his worst. I was pulling my hair out at Ben yelling about how ugly and monstrous the citizens of Anur Transyl were like Ben... you regularly turn into those aliens.... your whole deal is being able to see from other’s perspectives...

- Just, the lack of taking itself seriously or following through on some damn interesting storylines. Like Ben being put on trial for recreating the universe? And being found guilty not just of that but misusing the Omnitrix??? That’s good shit right there but they waved it all away with some trial by combat bullshit and well back to normal. I know its a cartoon but that episode infuriated me.

- Gwen and Kevin... didn’t care for them much here. Their characters just felt flat and shoved in whenever it was convenient with no real meaningful interactions between the supposedly close trio. They really were thrown under the bus to make room for Rook and the whole Plumbers thing.

- Kai *long groan* Honestly any attempt to address Ben’s love life was so nightmarishly bad. Everyone who says that Ben is Aromatic is absolutely correct. Boy hardly showed any interest in dates and tried to get out of most of them and yet he was ‘destined’ to be with a girl who was shown only to care about his transformations and not him? And that he didn’t really respect back? Hell no.

- Most of the villains were kinda Meh. Maltruant was cool but underused, we hardly got ANYTHING interesting out of the series big bad Vilgax, Albedo was... still don’t know what to think of him. Malware was cool tho, the whole Feedback thing was painful.

So overall the good outweighs the bad but I liked it far more at the beginning than I did the end. I’ll rewatch some of my favorites but probably won’t do a full binge again. Still, I love the idea of this particular universe and really did enjoy most of my watch!

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thesandbeneathmytoes · 3 years

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Mayans Season 3

Soooooooooooooooo I have a lot of thoughts. Like, a lot. No one asked for this but some of you did express enthusiasm when I told you I was gonna go AWF, so here we go.

DISCLAIMER: I should perhaps also mention that this is simply a critique of the finished product — I understand, of course, there were other issues that affected the production of the season that perhaps didn’t affect seasons one and two, such as Covid and some of the confusion after the departure of Sutter. Some might say, however, that this season without Sutter was easier because there was less tension on set (I’m just re-counting what some of the cast have intimated). Ultimately, though, I really just want this to be a critique of the finished product, in the way that I assume all creators and artists want their work to be judged… Standing alone versus as a potential outcome of problems or challenges.

It’s probably clear by now that I wasn’t a huge fan of this season, so first I’ll start off with what I did like:

*SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY*

• The cinematography was really nice. We got a lot of great wide shots that made us feel how expansive these worlds are, how lonely the desert, how wide the ocean, etc. They showed us the freedom that comes with this life but also how small it can make you feel when you get swallowed up in it. Scenes were also a lot less dark-lit, which was great cuz I didn’t have to mess with my screen’s contrast as much, so that was appreciated.

• There was also some beautiful color work this year. A lot of oranges and purples that I appreciated. EZ was almost always beautifully framed. We got some nice close ups of Angel as well. The scene with the tear running down his cheek was beautiful, which leads me to:

• THE ACTING: Danny Pino was far and away the best for me. His microexpressions, his ability to change emotions on a dime, his capacity for showing us the exact thoughts going through Miguel’s head, as well as his continued excellence at portraying Miguel’s duality and his divided loyalties (his family of origin vs. his current family, his American vs. Mexican heritage, his classy Cornell acapella-singing [!] self vs. his ruthless cartel persona) never ceases to impress me. Carla is amazing as well, she gave me chills in pretty much every scene. Sometimes I remember that she’s my age (30) and I’m just like holy shit, where did all this poise and presence and focus come from?? Couldnt be me! Honorable mentions include Clayton Cardenas (aforementioned crying scene, “WHERE THE FUCK IS RAMOS?!”), Michael Irby/Alexandra Barreto (diner scene), Felipe (telling Gaby to go scene...most scenes with Gaby), Emily Tosta, and Holland Roden. Richard Cabral did great too, although his storyline bored me so much that I couldn’t really pay attention to his excellent performance. Hope also was a distraction for me, but (much) more on this later. JD was pretty strong throughout, although some of his scenes (especially the ones with Gaby) were so poorly written that I imagine it was hard to make them anything but wooden (more on this later too, unfortunately). Sulem was hit or miss for me, but I felt like she hit her stride later in the season, and by the end, I fully bought it. MOMO RODRIGUEZ made me feel everything. There was a nuance and a depth to his performance that I was not expecting. It was a beautiful surprise to have a comic character (and a comedian) bring such an important role to the show. I loved that they made him symbolic of the heavy toll this life can take (I regret his death, but I think it was a wake up call) and how you can’t always escape your pain. And the fact that EZ was the one to try and tell him otherwise, emphasizing his own internal struggle, was especially poignant and heartbreaking, which now leads me to:

• THEMES: I liked a lot that we got to explore some of these character’s inner worlds more this season, and that we finally got to see the emotional consequences for what these characters have done and who they are. I never watched SOA, but from what y’all have said on here, it seems like more of those characters acted with impunity and were largely unphased by their own demons. It’s really nice to see the Mayans own up to what they’ve done and the lives they’ve chosen, from EZ, who wonders about the darkness inside of him and if he always was this way (see: theme of fate, later in this paragraph) to Alvarez, regretting what he’s done and who he has been (killing his own son) and wanting to live a new life, but not sure he deserves it. Angel’s monologue about “no happy endings in this town” was especially revelatory as well. It was also nice to see POCs, notably POC men, allowed to explore their emotions, cry, and lift back the curtain on what this kind of life does to your fucking soul. It humanizes the characters and liberates them from the Latinos = gangsters trope that we’re all so used to seeing, the very racist trope that ludicrously & infuriatingly suggests that POC men, especially Latinos, are almost meant to be gangsters and have no qualms about it whatsoever, that they are good at it because they are unburdened by the strict moral code that governs white people (LOL @1/6/2021). The theme of FATE was also drawn upon heavily, and I really liked that. It harkened back to S1 [Church of] Coco and the conversation he had with EZ on Celia’s floor, talking about how “everything that happens is what was meant to happen.” He insists that even though EZ thought he was supposed to be the “Golden Boy,” he ended up in the MC for a reason, maybe that other life was never an option for him at all. We now know that part of the reason his parents encouraged his Golden Boy persona so much was as a way to KEEP him from indulging his darker side. I liked the development of this theme a lot, but it did, unfortunately, also cause some problems, which leads me to:

PROBLEMS WITH MAYANS MC SEASON 3:

Characterization: I think this season suffered from what TV can often suffer from when a new person takes the helm, which is a lack of continuity from previous seasons… I understand, of course, that the characters were going through a lot this season, but I don’t think that warrants a total change in their personalities. The biggest offenders here, for me, were Angel and Coco. While we certainly had an idea that Angel, before he was with Adelita, was something of a hoe, I didn’t get the vibe that he was quite as insouciant or uncaring with his partners as he definitely seemed to be in Season 3. I understand why the show wanted to portray him that way—he was hurting—but it just seemed out of character to me that he would jump from partner to partner, so easily make intense commitments, and somehow be obsessed with creating a family life when that never really seemed to be his focus before… His focus on the baby in Season 2 seemed to be confined to Adelita. Coco, on the other hand, seemed to be very interested in his romantic relationship with Hope this season which really baffled me. Coco in previous seasons was almost the spiritual or kind of mystic element of the show – – his “Church of Coco” musings were, as I previously said, sort of a vehicle to highlight the element of fate as a theme in the show. For me, this made perfect sense as a place for him to be, partially because Richy himself is sort of woo woo (I mean this as the highest of compliments). To see him thrust into a somewhat arbitrary (for me) romantic relationship felt so forced, not only because their sex scene was incredibly dry and uncomfortable to watch (LOL), but also because it just didn’t make sense that Coco would risk everything for this woman he knew nothing about… And even at the expense of his relationship with Letty. As @drabbles-mc mentioned, why spend all this time developing Coco’s relationship with Letty when you’re just gonna destroy it? It feels disrespectful to the writing that has gone before… Speaking of, I want to address the EZ equals psychopath road that we now seem to be going down. As I mentioned earlier, I’m glad that they addressed that his scholarliness and the encouragement of that by his parents was a tactic to distract him from the “darkness” inside of him, however, it feels strange that all of a sudden they are intimating that he has a very very deep darkness inside of him that we didn’t really see in previous seasons. I suppose you could make the argument that it was there before, however I would’ve liked it to be revealed a little bit slower and perhaps have more references to it in previous seasons if you’re going to make this case now. It just feels a little incongruous to what we know about EZ that he is a psycho on the inside… Because that’s what they seem to be suggesting — that he’s dark and can’t be anything but dark. I guess I just would’ve liked to see a more gradual reveal of that versus him saying that he’s always been dark and he knows because of a Goya painting? Seems weird. Like, how is he Dexter all of a sudden? Finally, the Nestor/Álvarez situation at the end: are you telling me that Alvarez really would give a fuck about the Mayans after Bishop betrayed him, especially at the expense of his own life if Miguel figured out that he didn’t do what was asked of him? And how is Nestor, who has always been undyingly faithful to Miguel, all of a sudden going to flake out on his duties, especially when he knows how important this is to Miguel???

Writing/storylines: So, to the extent that this is a separate issue than just simple characterization, I would say that this was the biggest problem for me this season. Lazy writing was a real issue for me and that it took me out of the plot and the moment many times. As I mentioned before, there were some scenes with Gaby and EZ that just felt so stilted that I really couldn’t take them seriously – – the scene in the church comes to mind. In addition to this, there were some plotlines that just felt tired or unnecessary, or didn’t link up. The Angel/Hank/Nails storyline, for example, just seems so boring… We just did a unexpected pregnancy storyline last season with Angel – – why did we need one again? Have they just run out of ideas for him? And to put Nails into the position of baby mama just feels kind of disrespectful to her character. Does every woman in this show need to have her uterus or sex life be a plot line? Bishop is another character that I feel like was done a little bit dirty the season. While I previously mentioned that I adored the scene with him in the diner, I was confused by the purpose of his dead son storyline. As emotional as it was and as great as the performances that it produced were, it didn’t really tie into anything else in the season. I understand that they were trying to give some background to Bishop’s character, but it just seemed like kind of a one-off considering it lasted for a few episodes and then was never brought up again. Perhaps they were trying to show us that everyone lost family or had to compromise something to be part of the MC, but if that was the case, then I would’ve liked to see it be tied to his decisions or his story later on. Maybe they could’ve done something like show that his dedication to the club was because they are the only family he has now that he lost his son? Or that he is wildin’ out now and tryna be the one king because he has nothing left to lose? Idk, maybe that was implied but I certainly didnt catch it — it would’ve been nice to have a more explicit connection there, because to me it just kinda felt like they showed us his pain and then forgot about it and just made him this crazed bloodthirsty madman. I also want to talk a little bit about undelivered upon promises – – Elgin said in a review before the season came out that we would get to see a little bit more into the backstory of each character and why they joined the MC – as I mentioned before, we got a little more about different characters lives but we didn’t necessarily see the why, which is something I really would’ve liked to know. I also was hoping for more social commentary than in fact happened this season – – the new intro seemed to suggest that we would get more of an emphasis on Latinx history or culture or social clashes, but in fact, such references were few and far between, as far as I could tell (although totally possible I missed some stuff). One scene, or rather, one line, that I really really enjoyed was when Gaby said “I risked my life to come here and I try to survive every day and you choose to flirt with death. That’s the privilege of being an American.” I found this line SO powerful, but it was almost a throw-away, and I really wish it had been touched upon more. I was looking forward to learning more about this and having it portrayed in such a Latinx-centered way would’ve been cool to see.

Ok, this is likely to be the most unpopular section of this post (for those of you who are even still around LOL), but I’m including a list of all the plotholes, inconsistencies, or unexplained events from this season, of which there were many. If anyone has an answer to these, please let me know:

Taza and Riz: I’m supposed to believe that he killed Riz just because he wanted to start a war with Palo? Because palo killed his lover over 20 years ago?? Like, could he not have started a war with Palo without involving Riz? And when he said “I didn’t know how many people would get hurt?” What??? How could you possibly have thought that a. Murdering your brother and b. Starting a war with the VM over a personal issue wouldn’t result in carnage?

Dead SOA ppl: why did Chibs never come calling to find out who killed Thomas (?) last season? Or Montez? I know that Montez wasn’t actually killed by the Mayans but he was placed in the Mayans parking lot or whatever so wouldn’t that raise some suspicions??? All that they said about Thomas was that he disappeared and the Sons didn’t know what happened? @starrynite7114

What was the point of the whole Lobos Sonora thing? Why did Palo need to talk to them to get involved with the Tucson mayans? Could he not have just gone to Canche himself? Was this something that they were doing to set up next season? If so, it seems like a long walk to get there…

Speaking of Canche, how the fuck did that cockroach survive a bomb?

Who tipped off border patrol on the night that they tried to move the drugs from the tunnel? Was it the girl in jail? And how come we never heard from her again? Just one of many plotlines that was started and then never revisited.

The Miguel/Felipe thing: We got so close but never actually got there. Are we gonna have to wait a whole other season for this?

Speaking of paternity, who is actually the father of Adelitas baby? I’m kind of OK with not knowing if the baby is alive or dead but I’m ready to know who the father was… Again, I don’t wanna wait another season to wrap this up.

Additionally, did Adelita actually hurt Potter’s family? Did she kill them? It was very unclear.

They essentially said that Potter shut down the border out of spite after the Adelita thing happened… What the fuck does that mean? Are you trying to tell me that a government official can just randomly shut down the border whenever he wants? And what was it about the Adelita thing that pissed him off? That he captured her? That EZ and Angel got one over on him? I really don’t understand… Angel said in the first episode that “the shutdown affected me more than anyone,” ostensibly because he lost his partner and child, but I just don’t see how Adelita and the shut down were related??

CHUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!!! GTFOH with that weak-ass excuse.

Coco storyline:

Was he never gonna find out that Hope was the one who took the picture of him and set him up?

What about the fact that Letty essentially conned him into killing his mom?

Also, did Isaac really die? And what about the reaper tattoo on his side? Was he part of SOA? Was that ever going to be addressed? The story just wasn’t wrapped up at all and I cannot HANDLE any more Meth Mountain next season.

I guess my point in all of this is that I don’t have a problem with the cliffhangers per say – – but there’s a difference between “oh this is an exciting unknown that we can speculate about until next season” and “this is just messy writing where many story threads were begun this year and then never finished” or “we were supposed to wrap up storylines from two seasons ago and we just didn’t.” The latter two just feel sloppy to me, and I feel like that’s a lot of what went on this season. The whole show this year felt both slow and overstuffed, both uneventful and packed at the end. Perhaps it was a pacing issue, a problem of Elgin wanting to distinguish himself and pack so much in and make it so different from previous seasons that he bit off more than he could chew and it all became unfocused. As I read somewhere else, the problem when you have this many unfinished storylines is that they weigh you down for the next season �� the writers now have to either spend the majority of next season addressing these questions or just forget about them and pretend they never happened, which feels disrespectful to the audience. I guess my hope is just that Elgin will find his footing and be able to deliver us a more cohesive, well-paced season next year. I fully believe he is capable of this, and if he continues to deliver on the things that did work about this season, we should be in good shape.

Tagging some ppl who have expressed interest in my thoughts: @yourwonkywriter @angelreyesgirl @megapeacelovemusic-blog @starrynite7114 @joannasteez @brattyfics @mareethequeen

#mayans mc season 3 #Mayans mc #mayans mc spoilers #Mayans mc season 3 spoilers #jd pardo #Clayton Cardenas #Danny pino #carla baratta #angel reyes #ez reyes #miguel galindo #Felipe reyes #edward james olmos #coco cruz #richard cabral #bishop losa #michael irby #chucky marstein #I love you chucky

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skoomroom · 3 years

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Actual Play Podcast Rating: Rusty Quill Gaming

Hi! I listen to absurd amounts of Actual Play podcasts and I’ve decided that I want to do in depth ratings of them. This is my first since I recently finished S1 of RQG, and I have some thots. I’ll be doing these for every podcast season I’ve listened to. There won’t be any spoilers for the story but obviously if you want to go into these podcasts completely blind, don’t read this review.

So I’m gonna break it down into categories. DM, Players, Misc, and Total. Each category will have multiple sections, and I hope to keep it consistent for any podcast I review. Obviously this is just my opinion, but since I’m always looking for podcasts I thought this might help people who are picky like me:

Dungeon Master: Alex Newell

Setting: 9/10 The campaign is set in the real world, kind of. It is a steampunk version of 1800 Europe. Cities are not exactly the same in the campaign as in the real world, but it is familiar. The first season is almost entirely in London and Paris. I like this a lot more than I thought I would. Usually, real world based games turn me off but the familiarity in this story actually makes it better in my opinion.

NPCs: 5/10 The NPCs are just okay. There are a couple interesting ones that are worth remembering but they all have similar personalities. Voices are somewhat limited. I wouldn’t really care if any of them died.

Gameplay: 7/10 The combat/puzzles are interesting most of the time, but not exceedingly memorable. This is pathfinder 1E so combat is definitely a sludge if you are used to DND 5e or pathfinder 2E. Combat and puzzle creativity is definitely better than an average home game and there have been a couple of memorable scenes, but I’m not jotting down notes for when I DM.

Pacing: 5/10 It is a sludge for the first 30 episodes. Sometimes the same combat will take 2 or 3 full weeks (again, this is pathfinder which is SLOW). There have been 60 episodes and they are barely level 4. The story doesn’t really pick up much until the last 20 or so episodes of the season and things only really get exciting in the final 10. Luckily, episodes are only 45 mins or so without commercials and you don’t have to wait for any to come out so you can power through them.

How they treat the players: 6/10 Alex treats his players harshly. Combat is often unforgiving and bad things happen that maybe aren’t best for audience retention. Nat 20′s are not as exciting as they are in other games. That being said, it makes for higher stakes situations and it feels like characters don’t have plot armor. I personally don’t really like this but I definitely understand why some people do.

Overall: 6.4/10

Players/Party: Sasha Racket (Lydia Nicholas), Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan (Bryn Monroe), Bertrand MacGuffingham (James Ross), Zolf Smith (Ben Meredith)

Sasha: 6/10 Sasha is a rogue, and she reminds me of rogues that I’ve had at my table. Sneaky, awkward, shy, materialistic. I do like her, I think she is one of the characters that holds the party together, but she does feel like a character one of my friends or I could have created.

Hamid: 7/10 Hamid is a sorcerer who thinks he is a wizard, but is slowly discovering his powers come naturally. It is an interesting concept. He is very polite, grew up very rich, and is well connected. Hamid is the other person who holds the party together. Sometimes his speeches are too melodramatic.

Bertrand: 8/10 Bertrand is a human fighter who is an asshole. James, his player, aims to make him be viewed as a horrible person to the audience because Bertie is loud, classist, and just generally a bad dude. That being said, he’s probably the character least like a PC that I would see at my table and is very entertaining. He is not a very realistic person and doesn’t feel real. I am actively rooting against him in season 2 and I hope he dies.

Zolf: 6/10 Zolf (who is a dwarven cleric) also reminds me of a character that you’d just see at your table. It takes a hot minute for him to blend into the group. He seems to be constantly on the edge of a breakdown which is kind of fun. The relationship with his God seems to be on the rocks for no real reason.

Party Cohesion: 7/10 When this podcast started, the charisma between the group was not fantastic. I had a hard time figuring out the group dynamic. Now, I can see why they are all friends and they riff off each other more easily but I don’t feel there are major stakes in their relationships. They don’t seem super bonded together in the same way parties from other podcasts are but their relationships feel more in depth than most tables I’ve been to.

Combat Ability: 5/10 I blame the combat issues on the system more than the players, but my god low level pathfinder characters truly cannot do shit. On top of that, the characters don’t seem all that optimized. Sasha hits with a -1 and gets -1 damage on a d4. Hamid uses magic missile and consistently does 1 or 2 d4 damage. It hurts me physically. That being said, the players have personality in combat and make decisions based on what their characters would do and not necessarily what is best, which I think is a good thing in a podcast.

Overall: 6.5/10

Miscellaneous

System: 3/10 I hate listening to pathfinder 1e podcasts. You might not hate it if you’re into the crunch, but my god. 1e was my first system and honestly I still don’t completely get the rules. It is anticlimatic (for example, you don’t always crit on a nat 20, you have to roll to confirm), slow to level, slow in combat because there is just so much calculating to be done. Combats will take multiple hours in this podcast and to me that is entirely because of the system. Crunchy can be fun to play but it is not fun to listen to.

Music: 9/10 I enjoy the soundtrack a lot. They add in things like footsteps or cave noises as ambient sound which is not something I see a lot of podcasts do. It makes you feel more involved and gives a completely different vibe from other shows. I also like the theme, it is extremely British sounding in a fun way.

Sound Quality: 6/10 The sound quality is not great, just on a volume and noise level. I think they just need better microphones and that’s fine. It’s not impossible to listen to but sometimes certain players are much quieter than others especially for the first half of the season and that makes it difficult to listen to out loud. Headphones are usually fine as long as you have decent quality headphones. The editing is good though and you don’t hear background noises.

Humor: 7/10 It is a funny show but not a hilarious show. I don’t think I’ve laughed out loud ever but the jokes are creative and typically broad enough for me to get and I literally know nothing about pop culture. Everyone is pretty witty and group dynamic gets better as time goes on.

Story: 8/10 I would give this a lower rating for the first half and a higher rating for the second half of the first season. My least favorite part is that the character backstory involvement seems a bit forced sometimes, and comes out of left field. I think when you are doing a podcast the story should be completely focused around your characters, and this feels like the characters were placed into the story a bit. But, the story itself is super interesting. I love the setting, the plot is maybe the most original out of any podcast I’ve listened to. It’s a good mix of sci-fi and fantasy in a way that I think both groups of fans would enjoy. It does take a hot minute to get interesting but once it does it REALLY does.

Overall: 6.6 (but should be higher, pathfinder 1e just sucks bad nuts)

Overall Rating (Averaged) and Final Thots:

Overall rating: 6.5/10

I like RQG, I like the story and setting in particular. I think the characters are fun but not endearing. I don’t like the system. It is not the best for character development or interactions but if you need something to listen to and can get through like 45 episodes of meh, the end of the season is really interesting plot-wise.

#Rusty Quill #Podcast Review #Actual Play #dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #Rusty Quill gaming #RQG #podcast #dungeons and dragons podcast #dnd podcast #actual play podcast #review #sasha racket #zolf smith #Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan #Bertrand MacGuffingham #anyway thats all hope i dont' make anyone mad

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grendelsmilf · 3 years

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I finished s1 of Amphibia and was wondering your thoughts on how controlling of a friend Sasha is to Anne? Like, she didn’t even seem like a good friend before she, you know, with the toads…

disclaimer: this response has spoilers for s2 bc idk how to discuss this show without doing so as holistically as possible. but I think this ask is kinda old so hopefully you’re caught up by now?? if not, wait to finish s2 before reading this!!

ooooh okay so this is interesting bc sasha is obviously not a Good Friend and anne realizing that she needs to stand up to her for the sake of their friendship and for anne’s own well-being is super important!! but also, I think a real strength of the show is that sasha’s controlling behavior is explored with nuance and she’s not just an antagonist in anne’s life. she is a 13 year old girl with a very obviously unstable (and probably abusive) home life, and she doesn’t yet know how to cope with her fears of abandonment and being discarded (by anne and marcy) in a healthy way. she wants her friends to love her as much as she loves them, and she’s scared that if anne has other friends, or — g-d forbid — an actually loving, healthy, supportive family, she won’t “need” sasha anymore.

sasha’s friendship with anne and marcy started with her “defending” them from bullies, and while anne and marcy were in awe of her for her bravery and selflessness, from that interaction, sasha internalized that she needs to be anne and marcy’s protector and needs to be seen as some archetypal romantic hero to be allowed into their friendship. she defends anne from racist bullies. she goes berserk at the notion that anne and marcy are “getting by without her.” she leaves their battle of the bands because she assumes they would have more fun without her, but she ultimately realizes that relinquishing some of her control and just having fun with her friends is actually more fun for all them, because they do want her around, even when she’s not the one “leading” them. she thinks she wants control, but what she really wants is security. she wants the reassurance that her friends love her as much as she loves and is obsessed with them.

in marcy’s case, she also has an unstable home life, and therefore also considers her friends her only stable source of support and love in her life. she would gladly spend her entire life in amphibia with anne and sasha, away from her family and her unsatisfying life back home. but for anne, she loves her family, and she is able to make friends wherever she goes. while she loves marcy and sasha a whole fucking lot, she isn’t afraid to cut ties with them once they’ve crossed the line. after all, by that point, she has the plantars. sprig is her best friend now, not marcy, not sasha. both sasha and marcy struggle with the fact that while anne loves them deeply, she doesn’t consider them her lifeline in the same way, because she doesn’t actually need a lifeline. she loves her mom (and presumably her dad?? lol), she loves her cat, she can make friends with just about anyone (she even wins over the people of wartwood!). while marcy deals with her desperation and fear of abandonment in other unhealthy ways, sasha copes by asserting control when she feels insecure. and note that said insecurity is triggered when anne shows respect and affection towards her family.

while anne is definitely right for standing up to sasha and forcing her to work through her control issues if she wants to continue being anne’s friend, it is also important to consider that sasha isn’t just controlling because she’s a “bad person.” she genuinely wants to do good, wants to be a hero, even (and isn’t afraid to put herself in mortal danger to prove that she’s “needed”) but she’s still just a desperate 13 year old girl in a bad situation and she has never been presented with healthy models of coping. yes, she’s a “bad friend,” and she absolutely needs to work through her issues if she wants to earn the forgiveness of her friends, but it’s not because she doesn’t love them. in fact, she idolizes them, she would do anything for them, and she just doesn’t know how to express her overwhelming depth of feeling. so yeah, she’s a bit toxic. she’s a middle school girl with an abusive family. sue her!

#ask #anon #frogshowposting #sasha waybright my beloved......#I cannot fucking wait for s3

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eddiemunsonssoulmate · 3 years

Text

OBX Season 2 Review

I just finished and I have too many feelings so y’all gotta have to put up with me hehe.

I’m gonna talk about the main plot in general and then gonna talk about the most interesting characters and some other stuff.

I’m not putting a spoiler tag on this so it’s more accessible for the people that don’t mind reading spoilers but it should be obvious that this review isn’t spoiler free.

Main plotline

It was okay. Nothing too crazy but also not very realistic but it’s fiction afterall, so I don’t mind. I loved that they kept the treasure hunt theme going even after the gold was lost. Also loved that it was Pope’s plotline and he got more to his character thanks to it but it was also pretty obvious that every other character suffered because of that. So I’m hoping they’re gonna stick with that, S1 was John B, S2 was Pope, hoping for S3 to be JJ but from how the season ended, it looks like it’s gonna be John B again but who knows, I have hope.

There were some things that I didn’t like for sure, timeline issues, continuity problems but it’s fine, I can overlook it for the sake of the story. I was just missing some real Pogue action, they kept them apart quite often or just split up in smaller teams. I’m also a little meh about the whole fact that they’re okay with being on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere where they could potentially die? Idk that was weird but they hopefully can just get off the island whenever they want.

My boy first, of course. He was as beautiful as always but I lowkey hate how they treated him this season. He was more of a comedic relief character than he was already in the first season with less iconic lines and even his friends treated him like a stupid child even though he had some great input. Yes of course he is a reckless character that fucks shit up quite some time but he is still the most loyal of them all. He would willingly go to jail and die for them and yet, I feel like they don’t appreciate him enough. Now that Luke is gone too, he’s basically homeless without a legal guardian and he only has his found family. Please treat him better and please give him some actual character development next season, thanks.

John B

I’m really conflicted about him. He is fucking stupid sometimes but then again he is a good guy. He can be such a good but also such a shitty (boy)friend. Idk man, I like watching him but sometimes someone needs to slap some sense into him. I’m glad he is doing okay and I’m really curious to see what Season 3 has in store for him.

Pope

I’m so happy he got more storyline this season. Who would have thought he would have such a great family tree? He for sure didn’t haha. I’m glad he wasn’t just a full nerd all the time and actually got into a few fights. He deserved the screen time and Jonathan did a wonderful job portraying him. I feel really bad that he didn’t get a single thing this season. No gold, no cross, no Kie.

Kiara

Eh, I can't get to vibe with her this season. Most of the time she was just stupid, running around yelling dumb stuff, treating her parents and especially Pope like shit. We all knew that Pope and Kiara wouldn’t be together for long but honestly girl, what was that? Flirting with him but never reacting when he tried stuff, then having sex with him, knowing full well he has feelings for you and then just dumping him? Nah girl, that’s not it. You’re better off at boarding school.

Sarah

Poor baby girl. You deserve better, why are they putting you in so much pain? Honestly, first she’s getting kidnapped, then she’s a fugitive at the brink of death multiple times, she watches her father explode into pieces in front of her only to get kidnapped again to find out that he’s alive and still wants to take her with him AND THEN HE TRIES TO KILL HIS OWN DAUGHTER? Girl needs therapy, I’m telling you. She had already been so conflicted in season one and season two didn’t make it any better. Give her a break, please.

Rafe

He can still go choke. For real. Like, we know that he’s apparently been turning into a psychopath since he was ten and Ward only pushed him further to the brink. Don’t get me wrong, it was amazing to see how he was spiraling during the season, how he was losing his mind more and more and Drew did that so well but god, he did it so well that I just want Rafe to die.

Topper

This is a quick one. I was really hoping for a good redemption arc and he kind of started to get one but then his unhealthy Sarah obsession kicked and I was like nah boy, get the fuck away from the Pogues, thanks. Let’s see how it goes in the next season.

Side Characters

I’m too lazy to list more in detail. Ward is a shit but too smart for his own good. Rose is such a gold digger but she really loves her family. Wheezie is the MVP and she deserves to be with her sister in peace. Kiara’s parents...I feel bad for them, they just want the best for her kid but get treated like shit. I also feel bad for Mr. Heyward who is so worried about Pope without really knowing anything. I’m glad Shoupe came around in the end, there’s some good cop in him. Luke is still a shit father and I’m glad he’s gone but for some reason I doubt this was the last time we’ve seen him.

Overall

The season started off quite slow but as soon as the Pogues were united again I started to get the vibe back. My favourite was probably the middle part of part 4,5,6. The ending was a little too crazy for my taste but it wasn’t bad in general.

I’d give this season a 7/10. There’s a lot of things to improve and things I’m looking forward the next season, hopefully with more development for JJ and some therapy for Sarah.

#obx #outer banks #obx netflix #outer banks netflix #outer banks season 2 #obx s2 #review

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goosewithasaxophone · 3 years

Text

Attack On Titan seasons 3+4 Spoilers (and 1 if you haven’t started it or gotten halfway thru it yet)

EVERYONE LISTEN UP OR DONT IDC BUT I JUST FINISHED EPISODE 8 OF AOT AND I HAVE AN IRRELEVANT HEADCANON THAT HELPS ME FALL ASLEEP AT NIGHT

Levi says to the kids (i guess they’re not kids anymore 😭😭😭😭) “Don’t die on me” and i just AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA it got me thinking how fuckin TIRED THIS POOR MAN IS of LOSING HIS FRIENDS

he lost his mom as a young child, his squad in s1, Kenny, Erwin and almost Hange (TOO CLOSE MOM TOO CLOSE) in s3, now Sasha in s4 ??? he needs a BREAK !!!!!!!!!!!!

so here’s my headcanon that i think about nonstop ☺��☺️

Levi is alone in his office after they return from the fight between Eren and the other titans. Sasha is put to rest with her things gathered and folded nicely on Levi’s desk to return to her family (are they alive ?? whatever i don’t remember).

He’s sitting at his desk writing a letter to go with Sasha’s things when they’re given back to whomever. Hange walks in, she’s exhausted. They both are. She stands in his doorway watching him. He tells her to come in, his tone gruff and assertive and his voice low and tired. His eyes are dark, even under the light of the lantern on his desk, shedding a low warm glow around the little room.

Hange steps closer and stands behind him where he sits, reading over his shoulder at the letter he’s writing. Beside it, she sees another letter, in fact, it’s a small pile of letters. Each paper has his scribbly writing inked and smudged and aged. She glided her fingers across the sides of the top page in the pile, trying to read them under the dull light. She sees the name “Erwin Smith” appear several times in several variances throughout the letter. Her heart twinges at the heartfelt words in the letter. Underneath that one she searches for other names in the other letters. She sees Petra, Oluo, Eld, and Gunther throughout the other pages.

By the time she finishes reading final letter in the pile she snaps back into the moment and notices Levi writing more aggressively on Sasha’s letter. His pen is taking the pressure from his hands and almost tearing through the paper. Hange has to place her hand on his wrist before he goes too far. He resists and tears a hole in the paper.

“Fuck,” he curses aggressively under his breath. Hange is about to say something, she opens her mouth to try to say something, anything that will reassure Levi that the tear in the page is nothing to fret, he can write another copy. But she knows she can’t say that because his words are authentic and to write another copy would be replicating a feeling already felt. That’s dwelling in the past and Levi doesn’t do that.

So she says nothing, and instead places her hand on his back. If she presses her palm flat against him she can feel his breath grow shallow and rigid. His breathing becomes audible.

Levi does not show emotion. He stares straight ahead and speaks monotonously no matter the situation. He uses his actions as expression and displays loyalty through his behavior.

Unless he’s alone with Hange.

Moments pass and Hange thinks he’s pulled himself together, so she takes a step back. Just as her fingertips lift from the man’s back he slams his fist on the desk and drops his face into his hands. Hange swoops down and throws herself over him like a protective blanket. She snakes her arms around him as far as they’ll go and squeezes tightly.

Levi curls forward from within her embrace and continues to try to control his breathing. He’s failing, they’re both aware, and neither say a word. It’s not until Hange realizes he isn’t going to immediately pull himself together that she takes another action. Shuffling her feet until she’s directly in front of him she brings her arms underneath his and raises him so he’s standing. She can hold him much closer this way.

“Fucking shit,” he sobs. Despite the lack of context Hange knows exactly what he’s talking about. It translated to “Why do I keep losing people?” She says the only thing she can think to say in the moment.

“Not me,” she whispers, feeling her own tears begin to sting her eyes. “Never me.”

“You were too close,” he mumbles. “Don’t ever fucking pull some shit like that again, he growled, remembering back to the sight of her being slammed against the trees, the sound of her voice shouting in pain as she hit the hard surfaces on her way down after her gear failed to suspend her. “That was too fucking close.”

Hange chuckles weakly. “I’ll do my best.”

“No you won’t. Your wreckless ass can’t stand not being at the center of danger.”

“What do you expect, that’s how we learn about things. From the center of them.”

“You’re fucking stupid.”

“I know.”

He brings his arms around her waist and pulls tightly. She knows he doesn’t mean the things he says. She knows he doesn’t think she’s intellectually stupid. He just doesn’t want to lose her too.

“You’re not gonna lose me, but I can’t lose you either, okay?” she said, trying to take a more encouraging turn. “I can’t handle those stupid kids on my own. Someone’s gotta be around to kick the shit outta them and keep ‘em in line, okay?” He nods against her chest and keeps his face buried in her.

It’s late evenings like these, when they return from some sort of mission, after Levi has changed out of his bloodstained clothes and Hange has restored her messy ponytail and everyone else has settled in for a long awaited rest, that Levi finds himself emotionally more vulnerable. It’s late evenings like these that when Hange is around and they’re alone, he can let himself be vulnerable. She’s his closest remaining partner.

It’s the pile of letters on his desk, never sent out, only ever growing with every additional squad member’s death, that Hange sees Levi’s true colors in. He’s not the cold, distant, abusive caption that everyone fears to anger lest they experience his wrath. He’s the damaged, healing, fragile captain that is so goddamn determined to keep his squads alive because every single time a member dies, another small piece of him dies with them. When the kids came into the picture he had never felt a greater weight on his shoulders. Every boy containing Farlan’s eyes and every girl containing Isabel’s, though no one saw it but him. He had to keep these stupid, wreckless, impulsive kids alive, because if he didn’t, who would?

But now the kids weren’t kids anymore. They were growing up. They were maturing. They were seeing things that toughened their skin and their hearts. They were taking control of their lives and realizing the real important things in life.

Levi was glad he could see them grow up and become wreckless adults instead of their old wreckless selves. But it also scared him, because he used to be that fresh new wreckless adult. And now he was the only one left. Him and Hange.

And that’s why he puts up an emotionless front. Because he and Hange are the last two left. The kids may think they are on their own, but Levi keeps an eye out. He watches and observes and takes pride in their enthusiasm on the good days and stays quietly sympathetic in the defeated hope on the bad ones. He’s watching because he cares so much. And that is what makes him so afraid.

Anyway that took me a half hour to type out because the more i thought about it while writing it the more developed it got. So there’s my big detailed headcanon, probably some misinformation in there but that’s because i don’t always understand what’s going on in the show and i’m far too behind to start the manga now. hope y’all enjoy and can suffer through the rest of the season along with me <3

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antihero-writings · 3 years

Text

Map to Nowhere

Fandom: The Promised Neverland (Anime)

Character Focus: Ray (and Emma)

Summary: Emma and Ray stargaze outside the base, and think about many things.

Notes: I couple weeks ago Tale Foundry's prompt of the week was "Map to Nowhere." I started thinking then that that would be a great prompt for Promised Neverland.

After watching S2 ep3--(and, if it isn't already clear, there's some minor spoilers for that here! And major spoilers if you haven't finished S1!)--when I saw the stars outside the base I thought they were absolutely gorgeous, and I was like "Oh I am absolutely writing a stargazing fic for that prompt" haha!

Also just wanted to quick say that I know nothing about the manga, and I wrote this with the current-anime-knowledge I have!

I've been wanting to write a fic for the Promised Neverland for a while, so I had a lot of fun with this! If you're interested in reading more tpn fics from me, don't hesitate to send me prompts!

If you enjoy this fic, please please consider reblogging and/or leaving a comment!!

Map to Nowhere

Emma, Ray, and Norman lay in a circle—(well more like a triangle)—on their roof. Today they enacted their plan: they had snuck out at midnight, (shushing each other all the way), to watch the stars. And, well, if they were already sneaking around, might as well pick the roof as their location. It was closer, after all.

“Ooh, I know this one!” Emma pointed to a collection of stars. “It’s a house!” She said with utmost confidence.

“That’s Cephus!” Norman corrected her.

“It can’t see us, silly!”

“No, Cephus.”

“He was a Greek king,” Ray explained.

“A Greek king?”

“Yes.” Norman said. “He was the wife of Cassiopiea.”

“Cassi-who-peea?”

“Spare her the details.” Ray glanced at Norman. “That story’s a…little sad for her liking.”

“You’re probably right.”

She pouted, but quickly recovered. “You guys sure know a lot about stars!”

“Not really.” Norman smiled. “We just read a lot.”

“You sayin’ I don’t read?!”

“Not as much,” Ray replied flatly.

Another pause. Apparently she couldn’t deny that.

“Do you think we could ever go there some day?”

“Well…it’d take a lot of hard work and luck…but potentially!” Norman replied.

“Do you think we’d need some sort of...map?”

Norman laughed. “A map would be good, yeah.”

Ray said nothing, returning his gaze to the sky. They were always undeniably far, but, as Emma and Norman puzzled out how to reach them, to him, they seemed to slink away as they spoke.

******

The stars unfurled above Ray. And endless expanse of spackled blue.

He’d stargazed before. He, Norman, and Emma had snuck out of bed to lie on their backs in the grass, or even on the roof to watch the sunrise, asking each other what games they’d like to play, and if they could go there one day. All the while Ray knew they wouldn’t so much as leave the farm; the stars as real as glow-in-the-dark stickers on the ceiling, as untouchable as freedom itself.

Now, laying on the dirt above the base, reaching out his hand, he swore he felt his fingers graze them.

No fences, or trees, or walls to block his view. No imprisonment, or impending promise of death. Well, death was still both inevitable and probable, but it was nice there wasn’t an exact date, at least. Or maybe…well, he spent so much of his life planning and, in a way, hoping for his own death…the idea that he ought to live for the future, without a deadline in mind was…oddly foreign.

The world was open, and inviting. There was beauty in that, yes, but freedom, the expansive Earth, was as alien as another planet. The instability of numberless days was, well...unstable. Not insurmountable, but certainly unpredictable.

His mind drifted back to Mom and the others back at the farm. He wondered briefly how and what they were doing. It was likely their escape had made life worse for those that remained, and/or for themselves. Scratch that, he knew they’d made life for themselves worse, because Emma was determined to return and save everyone.

Ray had never had much difficulty valuing his own self preservation above everything else. The thought of everyone else in the orphanage didn’t plague him too often. His own survival was enough of a burden to trouble himself with the woes of everyone else. He didn’t know how Emma did it. It was almost impressive just how many people she was able to worry about at any single given time.

Still when he thought of mom…She wasn’t particularly kind, or lovable. He’d known from the very beginning this was nothing but a game, and she was nothing but a player. But he remembered perfectly the look in her eyes as she watched them leaving—(like he remembered everything else). He expected anger, betrayal…but that sadness was unexpected. He didn’t make the mistake of thinking it real yet…if he knew it wasn’t, why did it haunt him?

Today, was she taking it out on the kids that remained? Did any of that sadness stay within her? Or was it replaced with scorn for even the innocents left?

Or else was she herself punished for their transgressions? Imprisoned, tortured, or staked in the heart with a flower?

And if she was, what would that mean for the kids at the farm?

“Ray? How do you know that song?”

She wasn’t kind or lovable…but she was his mother. Something none of the other kids could say: his mother. His real one.

Did he actually—?

“There you are!” A voice broke through his musings. The hatch opened to reveal a head of red hair. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“Well you can either sit there crying about it, or you can join me!” Ray threw to her casually.

“Maybe I will!” She harrumphed.

Emma scooched out of the hatch, closing it, but, instead of laying down to watch the stars, she knelt over his head so her face was blocking his view.

“Whaatcha thinkin’ about?” She sang.

Ray flicked her forehead.

“Hey!” She rubbed her forehead, pouting as he smirked.

After she had sufficiently stared him down, (or else knew she was fighting a losing battle), she flopped on the ground with her head on the opposite side of his.

For a moment they just stared up at the stars in silence, basking in their glow.

“They seem so much closer out here!” Emma reached out her hand and made a grabbing motion.

“Mm.”

“What do you think’s up there?”

“A lot of hydrogen gas and—”

“You know that's not what I meant! Would it kill you to have an imagination?!”

Ray scoffed.

“Aliens?” Emma offered.

He was about to shoot down the idea, but paused and replied instead, “I suppose that isn’t too far off from demons.”

“How do you think we’d get there? A starship maybe? Ooh! Like a literal pirate ship in space! That'd be so cool!" She held up her arms, then let them fall out to her sides.

He laughed. “And you have the wildest imagination.”

“It’s not my fault yours just doesn’t work properly.”

“I have an imagination; it’s just grounded in reality.”

“But reality’s so boooring. I mean…” She paused, saying more seriously, “Do you think it’d be better up there? Than here, I mean?”

“If ‘better’ means easier to survive in, then no.”

She groaned, and seemed to decide he wasn’t the best stargazing buddy, because for a minute or two, she actually stayed silent—(shocking indeed).

”Reality’s not so bad, you know." Ray spoke after a bit. "I mean...it’s just a lot of hydrogen gas, yeah, but have you seen pictures of nebulas? Or supernovas? I've seen them in books. They’re some of the most beautiful sights in the universe. To me, that’s much cooler than fantasizing about unicorns in the sky.”

“Hey! I didn’t say anything about unicorns!”

He laughed.

“But... yeah! I guess you’re right!”

The next question was a murmur, soft and serious as ever:

“…Do you think Norman’s up there?”

Breath was cold and sharp on the back of Ray’s throat, eyes widening in shock.

“I…I don’t know.” He exhaled the breath.

“Wherever he is…I hope he’s doing alright. You know, having fun and all,” she said with the air of a lover saying they hoped their ex was happy, when really they wished to get back together.

The wind blew past them, and they had to shut their eyes against the dust. Once it passed she murmured:

“I miss him…A lot. It’d be so much more fun if he was here with us.”

“You sayin’ I’m not fun?” Ray tried to joke.

Emma’s laugh was taut. He wondered if she was trying not to cry.

Ray looked back at the stars. They were so close a second ago, but in that moment they began to drift away.

“I miss him too.”

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iheartkikixo · 4 years

Text

Thoughts on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series finale

********AOS SERIES FINALE SPOILERS AHEAD*********

********AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D SERIES FINALE SPOILERS AHEAD*********

*******SERIOUSLY. IF YOU DON’T WANNA BE SPOILED STOP READING NOW********

You were warned.

Okay. So Agents of Shield is finished.

On the first watch I won’t lie, I was REALLY conflicted and bothered by the ending. I really couldn’t understand why they chose to go that route and I ended up pacing my house for like 30mins. However, after a couple hours of mulling it over, a rewatch and a nap. I understand why they ended it the way they did and actually have a newfound respect and maybe even love for the ending.

I know on first watch seeing everyone (especially May and Daisy) separated and alone initially feels depressing and possibly like the last 7 years of building this family was redundant, but if you look closer, it wasn’t...at all.

When we first met May, she wasn’t just alone, she was broken and self-isolated from everyone that she cared about and who cared about her. After the events of Bahrain, she closed herself down and became a shell of herself while her guilt and self-loathing threatened to eat her alive. The May we see in the final 3 episodes is so incredibly far from that. When Daisy throws Bahrain in her face in s2, the self loathing is still very present and she still can barely speak on it, she still feels like a monster for what happened and she retreats away from the team (to a degree) and back into herself. This reaction is so different to when Kora throws Bahrain in her face in 7x11. May is at a point where she fully realizes she wasn’t the monster in that story, she did what she did to save the innocent, and that at her very core is who she is, a protector of the innocent and those who can't protect themselves. And like she tells Kora, she’s “made peace with it”. In the last scene with May, yes there is a sadness that the team isn’t all together, but she’s not broken, unhappy or even alone. She’s found a new calling teaching at an Academy named after Coulson which upholds his legacy. She’s jovial when Flint comes and she laughs and jokes. It's so far removed from s1 May. Before Bahrain, May wanted kids and even when she was trying to save Katya, you could tell that she cared about kids a lot, this echoes to her protectiveness over the bus kids, and also extends into the Framework where kids being in danger was the thing that kinda brought her back to herself, and then also Robin, who she becomes a mother to. This is where the best of May comes out, she’s a mentor and a protector and in her last scene we see her happily being that to Flint and other students. So it’s full circle, she’s physically away from the team but not holed up alone in a cubicle in pain. She’s healed over these past several years and found a new purpose for her life, and her Shield family and time with them gave her that and made that possible.

The same with Daisy. When we meet her she is truly alone, she’s grown up alone, has nobody, she’s living in a van, she doesn’t even know her real name or date of birth, she’s searching for her family and searching for an identity and purpose. Throughout the last 7 seasons she’s found all of that and more. In this ending, like May, she’s not with the team, but she’s not truly without it either. She’s still in Shield, still doing missions, still in contact with the team, she still has them. If something goes wrong, there isn’t a doubt in my mind that they will come running as they always have, but after several years of fighting Hydra, Inhumans, ghosts, demons, LMDs, aliens, Chronicoms, being stranded on alien planets or at the bottom of the sea, being thrown into the future and then into the past, being mutilated or killed and resurrected or not, they all deserve some reprieve. They also can’t live under each other forever and they all deserve to actually live their lives. At the beginning of the series Daisy was lost and she didn’t know who she was, by the end neither of those are true anymore. She’s found her calling, she’s found family, she’s found relatives, she’s even found love. And now It’s like she’s paying it forward. Someone found her and gave her love, home, family and solid ground and now she’s doing the same for others (namely Daniel and Kora). Everything really goes back to the conversation her and Mack had where he tells her that even if the team dynamic shifts, it's okay and she’ll be okay. In real families we don’t all stay under the same roof forever, we branch out, take jobs in other cities or countries and start families of our own, but it doesn’t negate our original family and I don't think this ending does either. It doesn’t mean found families hold less weight than blood families, because with family (the people you’ve chosen to love and have chosen to love you back, blood or not), even when you’re not around them 24/7, distance and time change nothing. Based on the group conversation, they clearly have been in contact and will continue to be, Jemma saying she’ll email Daisy later about something they had earlier discussed, Mack and Yoyo still being together even though they’re on mission in different places at the moment, May telling Mack she has some names of recruits to send him, Coulson telling Daisy to give him a call once she gets back to Earth etc. It's not that they’re not family anymore or that they’re only gonna contact or see each other once a year, their life choices just have them spread out and busy, but they’re still family. Jemma saying they need to do the group meeting annually doesn’t mean it has to only happen once a year, nor does it mean they won’t interact individually whenever they can, it just means that despite how busy life gets they need to make sure they as a whole group isolate some time to be together however they can. That is the most family thing ever. Throughout the year ppl are busy and you see each other but not everyone together at the same time, but then you have something like Thanksgiving or Christmas where everyone makes it their business to find themselves under the same roof for a day. It feels like the same concept applies here. It only feels sad right now because it's new, but after a while it will be normal. They’ve spent the better part of a decade living under the same roof and now they’re not even on the same planet all the time, it's a weird adjustment, but they will adjust.

As far as Philinda goes. Philinda has been my AoS OTP since season 1 and while I was kinda sad initially that they didn’t end together, I get it. Phil is dead and PhilLMD is just that, an LMD. A robot. He’s not real and as such, while still having Philinda scenes makes me happy, I don’t think I want May to have to settle for a robot no matter how advanced. It’s not fair. Especially with her being an empath now, every time she touches Phil it's a reminder that he’s not real. He can’t grow old with her or be truly intimate because everything about him is coded into him. She deserves the chance and the space to move on and find something real with someone real and him being around her all the time would prevent that because she loves Phil, even though he’s not really here anymore. Phil was ready to go in season 5 as he felt like he had already been given a second chance and didn’t want to be greedy, which is why he didn’t seek out the cure in space. LMD!Phil who works solely off of Phil’s memories and feelings is echoing the same sentiments by contemplating shutting down. It's not fair for May to let herself explore this any deeper (especially now being an empath as she feels things more deeply), only for him to decide to shut down leaving her again, and it's not fair for them to explore this and him to force himself to stay operative until she dies as to not hurt her again, even though his Phil coding is telling him it's time to go. I feel like once everyone is comfortably settled into their new lives and he knows they’re all truly okay, he’ll shut down for good, until then he’s just around in case they need him.

I don’t think I need to speak too much on Fitzsimmons or Mackelena. With everything Fitz and Simmons have endured over the last 7 seasons, retirement (not sure if Simmons is fully retired too) seems beyond reasonable. We’ve watched them lose each other or themselves in one way or another every season, and like everyone else on the team they kept coming back for more when it would’ve been easier to walk away and most probably would have. But they're not most people, they are a family and refused to abandon the team while it was in need. So this ending with their super cute kid is just very deserved and great to see. Mackelena. I love that they’re still agents. I was also initially surprised Mack was still an agent as he seemed like the most likely to leave a couple seasons ago. Maybe the Adventures of Mack and The D gave him a new outlook, realizing that there are so many out there who want to and will do good if given the space and opportunity to. I also love that Piper asked for a Davis LMD and that he and Piper can argue like old times. I thought that was kinda cute.

Overall, I feel like this moment was necessary. Change sucks, but it's necessary for growth. I also think the messaging is great and applies to the cast, the fans and just the world in general. Change isn’t bad, people come into our lives for seasons and they teach us, love us, heal us and sometimes leave us, but that’s not the end. There are new people and new adventures waiting, and the same way people come into your lives for a reason, we also are destined to go into other people's lives and be that person who teaches, loves and heals them the way someone did for us. It’s a cycle. And that's one of the ways the world moves forward and gets better. Good people bringing out the best in other people, who move on to bring out the best in other people, creating more and more good people. Philindaisy will always hold the most special place in my heart in this show. Phil found May in her cubicle and Daisy in her van, and the three of them saved each other in so many ways and gave each other everything they needed as well unconditional, unwavering love and support which helped them move beyond their past traumas to the point where they were mentally healthy and strong enough to not just have the family they formed with each other, but also form their own families outside of the original family unit and do the same for others. That in itself is beautiful. This is the end of this particular part of their journey, but in no way do I think it's the end of the family that they all formed over the last 7 years, because you don’t go through all they went through and then just feel nothing. They will forever be a part of each other and they will forever pull from the lessons, experiences and love they have for and gave each other. And that’s life, and also what I’m taking away from this show.

#agents of shield #aos finale #aos spoilers #philinda #philindaisy #melinda may #phil coulson #daisy johnson

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