#rewatching the bad batch and yeah it’s still relevant

[flutishly]

GGF rewatch, part 1

Confession: I actually started the next rewatch in my Great Webseries Rewatch series a few weeks ago. And then I paused, not because I wasn't enjoying it but because I was traveling. And now that I'm back home, I intend to continue and so it seemed like the right time to start writing up my impressions from the first batch of episodes that I saw.

Let's start with the fact that I even chose to rewatch Green Gables Fables next, after LBD. When I was imagining which show would be second, I kept asking myself whether I'd go with my personal successor to LBD, the show that got me into Tumblr in the first place, or whether I should just continue with the Pemberley Digital set of shows. And then... I ended up going for something else entirely. I picked GGF almost intuitively, thoughtless, just because.

It was a pretty great choice, honestly.

GGF is one of those shows that I watched consistently as it was airing. I reblogged posts about it and I followed all the creators and I got excited over it and I loved it and felt so much from it. But I didn't write all that much about it. It's not that I didn't write about it at all, of course I did. (I wrote and rambled quite a lot in those days, after all...) But it was never the dominant show in my orbit and in a way I felt like I always sort of forgot about it. Every time I watched it, I'd be like "oh right, this is great!" and then it would again just sort of... fade into the background. Part of this has to do with the fact that it originally aired alongside shows that would become among my all-time favorites. Part even has to do with the fact that its second season aired alongside another excellent Anne of Green Gables adaptation (Project Green Gables), which I found somewhat easier to write about.

Anyways. It's time to give GGF its due, because... yeah, this was and remains a good show. And yes, I do love it.

Right from the onset, Mandy Harmon is excellent in how she presents Anne. The filming style is youthful, quippy, a little messy, imperfect, and so utterly Anne. I thought this when the show was airing, that something about GGF's flaws consistently made it better as an adaptation. In a lot of regards, GGF was one of the best in having realism in webseries literary adaptations. Not only did the story easily lend itself to bite-sized episodes (Anne of Green Gables itself being very episodic), but there was a concious effort to make Anne's world fully populated. Anne is thoroughly present online as an aesthetics blogger (excellent adaptation choice), befriending Diana through Tumblr (a nice wink to much of the fanbase itself, and a bit to the way the show developed), and there is a rich and real transmedia experience that I think ended up blowing pretty much every other show out of the water. All these years later, I still marvel over how characters were introduced to the story seamlessly through their online personas, without it necessarily being "plot relevant" for Anne's videos. They simply existed and as such they also occasionally existed in Anne's immediate (filmed) orbit.

But since I'm not reviewing the transmedia (and never really tracked it much when it was live either), let's get back to the show itself: Dang, it's good.

The pacing is great. The acting is great (if a little uneven when Diana is onscreen, though this isn't so much because of bad acting as much as a reflection of the character's relative discomfort/unease onscreen). Most of the adaptational choices are great (I still don't much love the Diana-getting-drunk plotline, which was the last episode I watched, but it was a lot less painful this time around than the first, and better than I remembered). The sense that Anne lives in this fascinating little town is beautifully conveyed in-story and I love how open everything is. Anne doesn't hide her videos and she addresses her mistakes on camera (particularly as relates to being mean or snarky about individuals) and there's none of the awkward work-arounds to explain why some people know certain things. The story just... is.

I'm still at the very beginning, of course, but I find myself wanting to write about the show in a lot more depth than I ever did while it was running. I find myself wanting to talk about how Anne's dramatic filming style feels less like old vlogs and less like new TikToks/Reels and more like the transition from the old world to the new, in how they're so fluid yet dramatic. I find myself thinking about how Anne's loneliness comes across so beautifully in the first few episodes and how she takes a little while to settle into her Avonlea life. I find myself loving how Anne's anger with Gilbert is so freshly realistic, that it's easy to forget that the story is over 100 years old.

I don't know how much I'll actually end up writing as I go through. I meant to pause and write up my thoughts as I was watching the first batch of videos, but I just got wrapped up in it and couldn't stop; the episodes flow seamlessly and warmly and the show feels like I really am just catching up with some teen vlogger from a decade ago. But again: I'd like to make the effort. I hope to pick up my rewatch next week, so let's see how that goes...

#webseries #green gables fables #ggf #The Great Webseries Rewatch #Longer Thoughts #rewatching projects #Anne of Green Gables

[owlssin]

they’re gossiping about their families

#rewatching the bad batch and yeah it’s still relevant #omega and hera are besties and they’re adorable #omega the bad batch #hera syndulla #omega and hera #digital art #fanart #star wars #the bad batch #the bad batch fanart #omega the bad batch fanart #omega fanart #hera syndulla fanart

[howaboutalittlehelpneos]

YGO! Questionnaire

Tagged by @cipher-wise

Pleasantly surprised to be in one of these, so let’s go

Favorite series: *Gestures to icon* Is it any surprise I’ll be picking GX? I love GX with all my heart and soul. The story’s pacing is very good and never feels like it’s dragging its feet to get to where it’s going, most duels are over in less than a full episode with the longest one being three, there are so many good characters to get invested in, and this boy right here is your protagonist.

Look at him blow kisses to the audience after beating Crowler, how could anyone not love Jaden Yuki? I care him so much. Even the filler episodes in GX are pretty fun to watch most of the time, and it’s the good kind of filler that may not advance the plot much or at all, but it’ll give you plenty of good memories to take with you. Who could possibly forget the eggwich thief? Not to mention the soundtrack fucking slaps.

Favorite protagonist: I mean...

Yeah it’s Jaden. GX hooked me immediately when I started watching it because of how much I loved this boy. He’s that perfect mix of cocky and sweet when it comes to dueling because he’s confident in his own abilities, but he never stops having fun and being amazed at what his opponent can do, he cares about all of his friends and does his best to help them with their problems, he’s kind to strangers, and he has exactly half a brain cell. 

I feel the gif speaks for itself, but Jaden’s dialogue when he turns around here is “I’m such a sucker for things like this! I’ll help you, ma’am!” Dorothy says “No, you’ll be late... Don’t you have a test today?” And Jaden replies with “Who cares if I’m late? I couldn’t leave a lady in trouble!” Jaden Yuki is my absolute favorite protagonist.

Favorite rival: Oh man is that a tough one. Am I allowed to pick two? It’s a hard call to make between this dumb edgy bitch-

And this dumb gay bitch

Honestly they’re tied for favorite rival in my book. I absolutely loved Chazz when I watched GX, and I thought his arc about breaking through his inferiority/superiority complex and learning to accept loss as a part of life without letting it define him was wonderfully written, and seeing him grow as a person throughout the show just made me feel happy for him. Shark... I really thought I wasn’t going to end up liking Shark at first, but god he just gets so much better as Zexal goes on, starting out as this mean spirited middle school bully in episode one, and slowly ending up as Yuma’s boyfriend closest friend. It’s incredible to look back at how Shark acts when he’s first introduced and compare it to... season 3, I think it was, where just hearing the words “Yuma’s in danger” is enough to send him running to his rival’s side. Chazz and Shark. They are my favorites.

Favorite BFF: Him

Crow Hogan is an absolute treasure and he was my favorite part about watching 5Ds. This little bird man first gets introduced by stealing cards for his kids and clowning on Sector Security, and he’s a source of so much good throughout the show. Excellent best friend (technically brother but I’m counting him), wonderful father, 10/10 person all around. Plus the fact that the only thing stopping him from berating his bitchass brother even more was Yusei having to literally pick him up and pull him away is definitely extra points in my book. What a powerful little bird. His only weakness is people that are taller than him, which is unfortunately most people.

Favorite GFF:

Yuzu. Have I actually watched Arc V yet? No, but I’m still picking Yuzu for my number one here. Tea and Tori are just awful characters, I’m neutral towards Alexis, and Akiza... Did have potential to be something interesting on her own, despite how uncomfortable she made me in seasons 1-2 of 5Ds, but her relevance is alllll downhill from there. I’ve seen one clip of Yuzu yelling at a man eating pie and calling him a 100th rate duelist, and that was all I needed to know she would be my favorite. (Clip here) 

Favorite villain: Oh boy

The fuckin carrot is my favorite villain, and I say this as someone who fully believes he didn’t deserve to be in the last episode. Vector did some fucked up shit in his day, and he only continued to do fucked up shit in Yuma’s day, but I have to say he was pretty effective when it came down to his goals. He got things done and went right for what he wanted by taking direct action to seize Don Thousand’s power, and he manipulated Yuma perfectly by preying on his kind nature and love for Astral to use him to further his goals. 

...Plus I mean just look at his subbed dialogue God he’s such a slut. Evil slutty alien.

Tl;dr Vector was a horrible horrible person, but he was a good villain, and he was so entertaining whenever he was on screen that it was impossible not to like him. Still kinda wish he got what he deserved though, and what he deserved definitely wasn’t another chance.

Speaking of Don Thousand though, can we talk about how unfairly pretty he is? If I had to pick a runner up villain in terms of looks alone, it would definitely be him.

God it was not fair how pretty the big bad of Zexal was. He’s fucking gorgeous, and in my opinion, the best looking villain at the very least.

Favorite card: *Sweats in Duel Links* Favorite? There’s so many cards out there to pick from, but since I’ve already broken the rules with my two favorite rivals, I’ll be picking two of each card type: Spells, traps, and monsters. One for the aesthetic, and one for how often I make use of it.

First up, the Aesthetics group

What can I say, Vampiric Koala is such a cutie, Dwimmered Path has some really pretty card art, and Rainbow Life is an eternal flex on any heteros I may encounter while playing Duel Links. Nothing better than a gay trap card.

Now for usability

Dragon Knight of Creation is suuuper helpful in any dragon themed deck and has a permanent slot in my decks for Mokuba and Kaiba, PoG is always a fun way to boost up weak monsters to ridiculous heights, and Dark Bribe just lets you block your opponent like “Okay I know you wanna hurt me but I will let you draw another card if you do not do that thing”, and they can’t refuse you.

Favorite episode: I’ll be copying cipher’s format here and picking one for each series, but this will still only total out to five for me since I’ve yet to watch past Zexal ^^; Soon I’ll get to Arc V! One day...

Season 0: Episode 16:  Turnabout by a Hair's Breadth - The White-Robed Crisis I’m a sucker for my son Joey, and this was a good Joey episode about him and his sister, plus it was nice seeing that doctor get what he deserved :) Duel Monsters: Season 5, episode 12-14:  The Deciding Match for Duel King - Yugi vs. Leon/Golden Castle of Stromberg/KC Grand Prix Ends  Probably a weird batch of episodes to pick, I know, but a lot of DM was kinda forgettable to me, and these are some of the few episodes I do recall. I just... really felt for Leon’s situation, and I wanted good things for that boy. I care him. GX: Season 3, episode 34: Dark Fusion! Inferno Wing!! Jim. Jim Jim Jimmmmm. This was the episode that finally made me understand why saviorshipping was a thing because it hits you with all these memories Jim has of Jaden and shows how they bonded before all this Dark World shit happened, and the whole thing was very emotional. 5Ds: Season 4, episode 2-3:  Recollections, Entrusted with a Friend's Dying Wish God Crow, my precious bird son. I really liked the backstory they gave him, despite how much it hurt. It was probably the best character development he got in the whole of 5Ds, and let you see a side to him you probably wouldn’t expect. I loved watching him get his justice. Zexal II: Season 2, episode 5-6:  Alito the Silent Fighter - Reunion of the Passionate Duelists!/ Be Revived! The Duelist Soul That Transcends Life!! I picked these episodes for Nistro and Nistro alone. He was one of my absolute favorites in Zexal, and seeing how well he and Dextra were doing was good for the soul. Just look at this good lion man right here.

Look at him!!!

Favorite decks to use: Elemental Heroes, Aromages, Red Eyes, Six Samurai, and Crystal Beasts.

Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link: I’m a simple girl, I love fusion/tributes for how easy they are, but synchro can be pretty fun, too

Years in fandom: ??? Even I don’t know the answer to this one, friends. I used to be in the fandom when I was in middle school, wrote/read a few fanfics here and there, but then I fell out of it for... Well I’m 22 now and only got back into things 6 months ago? I started rewatching the abridged series of Duel Monsters in March, and from there I just wanted to consume actual Yugioh content and never went back.

Who am I tagging: @finding-fallen-petals @dizziedaikonn​ @chazzaroo​ Go wild y’all

#ygo tag meme #ygo dm #ygo gx #ygo 5ds #ygo zexal #jaden yuki #judai yuki #chazz princeton #jun manjoume #shark kastle #ryoga kamishiro #crow hogan #yuzu hiiragi #ygo zexal vector #ygo zexal nistro #gauche #probably the longest post ive ever made on this blog jesus christ

[mlmanakin]

YEAH the fights not matching up...why would they put in the scream and then be like :) actually jk :) I’m also sad they arguably retconned rebels a little (I thought rex’s chip would already be gone before order 66!) and also tbh suddenly bringing up fives made the fact that he wasn’t mentioned ONCE during the bad batch arc even more annoying ... like why wasn’t he mentioned at all before? also this is so minor but why is ahsoka already fulcrum? Like I HATE the retconning 😤😔 sorry for venting

vent away anon! putting this under a read more bc when given the chance to vent i go OFF and pretty much no one wants to hear it dsfkjsfdkjsfjkd (tl;dr: i pretty much entirely agree): 

the fulcrum thing isn’t as big a deal to me as it is to some other people, bc i can see an explanation for both 1) why ahsoka continues to use that title and 2) why that title doesn’t raise alarms for the empire or vader beyond, y’know, “oh, that’s a rebel communication.” at the same time, i do think it could be a stretch & maybe i’m just biased bc i like all the headcanons that come from “fulcrum” being a clone wars era thing that both ahsoka and anakin know about.

but the rest... almost exactly my thoughts. the fights really bother me bc like... they could’ve done some parallels just by having those similar shots (offers to join the sith, ahsoka looking up & anakin looking down, etc.) exist, not necessarily lined up like they were. but they were lined up... for what.

and with some mental gymnastics, you can say that rex’s rebels dialogue isn’t retconned and is just like a lie of omission or stretching the truth on rex’s part but... i think 1) rex wouldn’t do that and 2) the original intent was almost certainly to have the chip removed beforehand, and this was either something they had to change bc the series got cut short or just to change things up. and this is in addition to retcons to the ahsoka novel, which i’m pretty sure still aren’t over. 

to be clear, i don’t care about retcons when they are some combination of 1) minor, 2) an improvement over canon, and/or 3) otherwise serving a purpose or having a justification. (“star wars is a messy story told out of order and sometimes it’s hard to make everything line up” can be a justification... but not in this case. filoni & friends are not conflicting with like, pre-clone wars media, they’re conflicting with their own post-clone wars media. which gives me flashbacks to disney retconning its own “road to the sequel trilogy” media with... the sequel trilogy. ridiculous.) retconning ahsoka’s siege of mandalore lightsabers to be blue rather than green bc anakin changed them was a Big Brain retcon that i fully accept and don’t care about at all. some of the retcons to ahsoka & maul’s dialogue on mandalore were also fine. but for these other retcons/truth-stretches/suspensions-of-disbelief, i’m just like... why. (i might talk about specific examples at length after the finale airs, but for now if you have no idea what i’m talking about... 🤷 i just read the ahsoka novel & rewatched relevant episodes of tcw & rebels in the last like week and a half and some stuff is not adding up to me.)

and the fives thing..... EXACTLY. if fives was never brought up this season, yeah it would be dumb & suck, but like... okay, the clone wars is not known for referencing its own events very often. but they did bring fives into the siege of mandalore, so why not bring him into the bad batch arc? if they had brought fives into the bad batch arc it 1) would’ve made the bad batch arc better and 2) would’ve made the siege of mandalore even better. idgi. i don’t get any of it.

thank you for reading this far if you have. vents are always welcome (i won’t reply to every anon vent, but if you ask off anon or message me, i’ll almost definitely get back to you!)

#ask #anonymous #tcw s7 #tcw spoilers #long post #if my STUPID HARD DRIVE wasn't TRASH i probably wouldn't be this annoyed kjdsfjkdskf but i'm taking my anger out on star wars bc i can #sw negativity

[originaljediinjeans]

MCU Rewatch: “Doctor Strange” (2016)

This is probably stating the obvious, but I’m convinced that the order of the Mystic Arts(TM) or whatever it’s called has a secret worldwide following outside of Khamar-taj and the sanctums. 

I don’t think Stephen Strange cares about Christine Palmer the way Christine cares about him. And I don’t really think they’re going to end up together--their lives are going in completely different directions. But I don’t care, and I don’t care who else comes into Doc’s life. I ship them. 

As a surgeon, Strange loved the challenge and risk of his profession, and he also loved to inspire envy in others. 

Yeah, being able to have full use of your hands without pain is so nice

Rather than being a cautionary tale about safe driving, this movie is about how to deal with a life transition and finding meaning after everything changes

But seriously, NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER take your eyes off the road

The “Sad Montage”

The first time I watched this movie, the scene that sold me on Cumberbatch’s acting was his argument/rant with Christine. Also his sarcastic American accent is so perfect. 

Another fun fact: I wasn’t an actual Benedict Cumberbatch fan until I saw him in full costume in Doctor Strange. I took one look and I was like, “That’s it, call me a Cumbercookie and put me in the batch.”

I mean his outfit, his powers, his problem-solving genius--Doctor Strange is just SO COOOOOOL

So where did those surgical/medical trophies of his end up? Who bought them?

This time watching the film, I was reminded with my own impatience with my own disabilities. Sometimes I’m like, “Can I do it by myself? Can I be normal? Can I not be limited? Truly?”

One of the greatest themes in this film is the consequences of selfish desire. You can have things your way and ruin the multiverse for everyone else, or you can care about what other people want/need (esp basic things like the right to Life and respect) and actually make more of yourself by giving to them

Jason Pangborn had every right to turn Strange away. Strange had turned him away. Now the same doctor had come to him begging for help, asking him how he had recovered. It would have been totally fair to turn him away and give him a taste of his own medicine. Except that it wouldn’t have been fair at all. Not to mention, other surgeons had turned Strange away to save their own selfish careers. One ordinary person decided to not be a jerk and that made all the difference.

Gosh, Mordo in the post-credit scene is such a piece of crap

“Good luck.” Pangborn knew Strange was in for a struggle. Khamar-taj doesn’t take just anybody, and he probably guessed it would be less than welcoming to someone with Strange’s ego

Interesting artistic note in the whole scene with Pangborn: he and Strange start talking on opposite sides of a fence, but when Pangborn decides to confide in Strange, they move to a gap in the fence so he can stand closer and talk more quietly.

Another artistic note: it’s almost always cloudy/partly cloudy or raining in the NYC scenes but sunny in Nepal

Another thing: the guy that Strange talked to in physical therapy. This whole thing happened because he wanted to prove a point to Strange. Wow. Goals.

So does Strange ever actually learn the power to heal/repair his hands? You could argue that when he’s studying the time stone that that is what he’s investigating. There’s also the “It’s not about your hands” scene. Once he unlocks the sling ring, he has the confidence enough to give himself a shave/haircut. By the time Kaecilius attacks, he still complains about his hands shaking, but he still has pretty basic use of his hands and he can do whatever magic he wants. IDK I feel like the hands were never relevant to the plot after a certain point.

I’m convinced that Strange has his accident at least 3 years before the film actually takes place, depending on when they got the A up on Avengers tower. If Strange was recovering from the accident/trying to fix his hands for about 6 months, then maybe he was at Khamar-taj for a little over two years.

The scene with the Ancient One in the corridor between sanctums. She’s doing something with the Eye and the stand its on and the globe above her. What is she doing?

Tilda Swinton looks great bald but her head is really small. like really. But having no hair brings out her beautiful face. Her nose is actually perfect. Just an observation.

“TEACH ME.” Discovering the Multiverse and the Mystic Arts actually opens a whole new world to Strange. A whole new way of thinking. And he’s amazed by it. He wants to learn more, not just to fix his hands. He advances so quickly in his studies because he wants to learn everything he can. He is so curious. (and it’s something he can be good at without full function of his hands, he finds out). This dude is such a Ravenclaw, wow.

But of course he also isn’t doing anything else with his time right then.

I hope Christine got paid overtime the day Strange showed up twice.

I think the reason I respect Christine Palmer so much is because my mom is a nurse and she used to work in the ER and we really get to see her doing her job.

My favorite scene has to be “Try me, Beyonce!”

“It’s not about your hands.” It’s not about what is physical and right in front of you. “It’s not about you.” It’s not about what you want for yourself or what you can do. Or can’t do.

Strange pays attention to the hints about Kaecilius going AWOL and the ritual he stole. There were probably other people talking about what happened, rumors and whispers from the other students, dark hints from the other instructors. Also, the Ancient One isn’t shy about showing him the Dark Dimension and what it’s capable of. 

I get the impression that some Mystic Relics don’t like people or even want to work with them. The Cloak of Levitation, on the other hand...

The whole time at the fight at the New York sanctum Strange is probably like “What is happening??????” the whole time

I was actually kind of disappointed when the whole spinning/revolving/altering architecture effects turned out to be just the power from the Dark Dimension. Like I thought that was how all of the “magic” worked. 

The Ancient One is a great teacher. Her methods are kind of problematic (the whole Everest thing) sometimes but she knows how to push the people who need it. She’s really patient but kind of strict. I think her whole thing is just Tough Love. 

Doctor Strange is a match for Kaecilius as far as powers but just barely. The Cloak really gives him an advantage.

I think the Ancient One lengthened her life the way she did partly because she wanted to serve as Sorcerer Supreme. Maybe no one else for a long time was a good fit for the job.

Wow, she calls him out about still wanting to control life and death just as he’s mastering the Mystic Arts. Smart.

We get enough Mordo backstory in the film to make him an interesting character, and we get it mainly through him reacting to Strange and to the events he witnesses.

Mordo was actually ready to CRY when Strange flew into the Dark Dimenson, he was like “no, how could you? are you serious?” and Kaecilius wanted him to think that Strange couldn’t resist Dormmamu’s promise of “eternal life”

The Ancient One’s fall out of the Mirror Dimension onto the streets of NYC is really scary

The Ancient One has been drawing power from the Dark Dimension to lengthen her life, yes. But she knows Dormmamu is a liar. He has tempted her but she has resisted. What a trooper.

The longer the fight in the Mirror dimension goes the more it starts to look and feel like a bad dream

The Ancient One tells Strange that one of his motivations in his past life was his fear of failure. And then Strange flies into the Dark Dimension and confronts Dormmamu in a time loop, he lets Dormmamu kill him painfully over and over again, he fails until he succeeds. He allows himself to fail because he knows that failure is part of the process. This speaks volumes about what he did in Infinity War. 

Post-credit scene: Pangborn suspected Mordo right away. Makes me wonder about their relationship at Khamar-taj.

Kaecilius is really warped. Reeeeaaally warped.

The Ancient One in that first scene with Strange: she understands medical terminology, she understands ways of thinking in different science and philosophy fields. That scene does so much to introduce the concept of the sciences and other fields being different ways of looking at the same thing and I love it

#doctor strange #mcu rewatch #we're in the endgame now