#EVERY ep feels like the penultimate ep of most shows | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hawkinslibrary · 2 years

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hii!! i just wanted to come here and thank you for your positivity 💞

everybody is honestly being so negative before the season is even out, especially with the reviews. they're taking them SO seriously when they're literally just random people's opinions on vol. 1. random people who don't care about the show the way we do or know the characters like we do. but suddenly one (1) reviewer says they found this thing out of place or disconnected from the rest or anything else tbh and DONE now this whole plot is gonna suck, throw it away!!!!! a, b & c characters are acting out of character!!!! the humor is bad!!!! they're sidelining everybody's favorites!!!! and i'm just here like, chill???? we haven't seen anything yet and reviewers are gonna have takes that you do not agree with, they're gonna think things you personally wouldn't thinking watching it. personal taste matters, interpretation matters. something that makes sense to you, might not make sense to them. something they talk about as if it's this HUGE thing might be a 10 seconds scene. the casual viewer does not watch this show the same way you do, to begin with.

anyway, just, you've been very positive and calming and has helped me quite a bit sometimes with not letting what people are saying get to me so thank you so much!!!!! you're the best 🥺

oh, wow, this was a very nice message to come back to, thank you so much !!! honestly, when it all comes down to it, i just want everyone to be able to enjoy watching the show, you know? it's entertainment. it's a ridiculous, cheesy, wild, and heartfelt homage to 80s movies and underdogs, and i personally mean all of that in the best way. the people behind this show are absolute nerds. i love it

(have to put the rest of the response under a read more bc it's gonna be essay length + a little spoiler-y once again)

but s1 was so new and So Good. and i think with every season, there are those who want it to be as good as s1, or to feel and look like s1 again, you know, but it's a lot bigger in scope and story now than the show it was in s1. so there's just always a lot of high/specific expectations and a lot of room for disappointment

and i think a lot of the negativity just shows how much people do care about this show tbh. we've waited 3 years, we want it to be amazing and worth the wait, so hearing anyone say anything remotely less than positive about it has us on edge. any concerns and criticisms are absolutely valid, i just think we should wait and see for ourselves

now, i'm not really reading the reviews, but i'm seeing reactions and summaries and i have actually seen more positivity than negativity surrounding the season. and again, they've only seen through episode 7 at the most, with some only seeing 4 or 6 bc of the time screeners were sent out and effects taking a while to finish. they haven't seen everything and these certainly aren't their final thoughts on the whole season -- it's incomplete

i do, of course, have my own worries about this season, and they kinda align with the things you've mentioned above, but i'm waiting to make my own judgments on those when i've seen the season in full. i don't think any of them are worth completely discarding the season over, though, especially having not even seen the payout from the penultimate and final episodes

(i think any characterizations that might be a little off can be explained by the trauma and the suffering and the grief and the change and the etc etc etc. humor is another thing. it's really hit or miss with this show, i'll admit, and some of it really does feel out of place or ill-timed. i still say the dustin-suzie-singing thing was to break the tension in an otherwise very stressful ep, though)

and you are right, these are just the opinions of random people who haven't even seen the full picture yet, and everything does depend on their tastes and interpretations. you can tell that some of them just want to complain about the length of the episodes, too, so that's already negatively impacting how they view the season

basically, don't take what random reviewers say too seriously bc it is all only their own opinion, and it can't even be a fully-formed opinion yet bc of the two separate volumes. if you go into the season with what they think of it on your mind, it's very easy for your own enjoyment and anticipation of things to come to be impacted. go in with an open mind, form your own opinions as the story unfolds, and try to have fun watching !

#'try to have fun watching' even though this season is really dark and heavy and scary and etc etc etc #sorry if this is a lot of rambling #and if it doesn't make much sense #i only slept like... 3 hours last night and i don't do well unless i get like 6+ at least lol #also it is very loud in my house rn and i cannot focus through that #anyway thank you for this message !!! 💖#please keep calm and hold onto that positivity !!#and i hope you enjoy the season when it drops in less than 4 days !!!!!#answered #s4 #st4 spoilers #spoilers #i've stared at this for several hours now dsfkjsdfn #long post #it's under a read more but still

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mindofmaya · 1 year

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Poor Gossip Girl reboot, Poor Amaya

WOE TF IS ME!

Graduate school auditions are definitely... going. That's the best way to describe it. Every time I leave the rooms my anxiety is on ten and I feel like the most pathetic person on the planet, no matter how well I think I did.

It's hard to have faith.

I have recently been praying a lot and trying to get back on my #spiritualgirlie tingz but this is the hard part about having faith, having faith. It is so easy to set intentions, but it is another thing to just trust it is gonna happen. So that is exactly what I am gonna do, trust that whatever is meant for me will come to me.

ALSO THEY CANCELED THE GOSSIP GIRL REBOOT.

Depressing.

She's sad.

She is me.

I'm sad they canceled my show. It didn't even get a chance to fully develop, like??? I'm watching the penultimate episode right now and I'm a lil emo watching it ngl. Do I even watch the finale??

Anyways, prayers up that the CW swoops in and saves her (I wouldn't be mad if they gave it a 22 ep season as well and give her an actual chance to flush out her stories so I'm not getting effing whiplash every episode.)

#mindofmaya

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meant-to-be-a-hero · 2 years

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Season Four, Chapter Eight: Papa

You'd think the penultimate ep would be the calm before the storm, which for most of the plot threads it is, but El's big blow-out battle with the military is pretty season finale-sized.

I forgot that the Rainbow Room gate closed again, that was what confused me about the Season 1/Season 4 timeline when I was rewatching it before.

How dare you insult Eddie's music collection!

Vecna's got that slow villain walk going on, he's not in any rush.

I know it's just me being gay AF, but Nancy's laying there suffering, and all I can see are Steve's arms.

That's two false funerals Joyce has been to.

El misses her dad :(

I can't believe the Jungle Fury Rhino Ranger expected his guards to NOT shoot the Demogorgon, seriously.

Grow Your Own Demogorgon, just add water. 1986's hottest Christmas toy.

Maybe El could have practised her powers on something less expensive than the Nina tank?

Will's fucking speech, man. Every fucking time. This show has managed to make me cry again at every single point I cried the first time around. I know the last episode's going to break me.

Vecna's plan has been in front of us, right from the beginning. It's all very clever.

Ah, the Yellow Pages. Sometimes you can almost forget the 80s setting, and then you get something like that to remind you.

The whole RV heist is just perfect. It's just left enough of farce to be hilarious without being stupid.

"Big boy." Eyebrow waggle.

Brenner likes his dramatic staircase entrances, doesn't he?

Huh, Nina's two hours away from Nellis Air Force Base, which is where Area 51 is.

Real talk, Owens is probably the best non-parental adult figure I've seen in media for a while. He's reasonable, he listens, he does his best, and he's not just telling people what they want to hear so he gets what he wants. He genuinely cares about El.

Steve/Nancy is the only alternative I'll accept since Steve/Eddie isn't going to be an option.

"That's presumptuous of you." is a callback to the first time Lucas and Dustin spoke to Max in Season 2, which I didn't realise when I watched this the first time.

Lucas saying he'll "call in Kate Bush" kind of makes me want to see Kate Bush descend into the Upside Down and kick the shit out of Vecna, ngl.

Ah, The War Zone. Only in America.

I love that they brought Erica inside, because of course they did.

I can't believe they just sell this shit to minors without even blinking.

If that shotgun Nancy's buying is $121, how the hell are they paying for all this? She doesn't get paid by the school newspaper, and I doubt Robin and Steve have that much cash laying around from Blockbusters.

Shut UP Argyle lmao, this dude.

Fucking Brenner. He always has to be right, even when he's wrong.

It's kind of nice that El and Brenner get to hash all this out, now that she's able to communicate properly. It feels more even, as opposed to what we've had before, him talking down to her. It's been a long time coming. I did expect a "My name is Jane!" at some point though.

Lucas and Erica's banter is so authentic, I could see me and my sister having conversations like them.

Robin's basically a precog at this point, predicting that this isn't going to end well (Vecna wins) and they're not all going to make it out alive (Eddie :( )

Because the only thing this season was missing was a military civil war.

I do hope that's not the last we see of Owens, his fate's kind of left up in the air. I'm sure if Sullivan was going to kill him, we'd see it on camera.

Bye bye Papa. At least he does one good thing before he dies.

Jonathan and friends' arrival is very well timed, lmao.

Mike and El reuniting with Will framed in the background is just a MEAN shot, isn't it? There's no reason for that other than to hurt me.

El not giving Brenner what he wants right at the end is pretty poetic, actually.

He's definitely dead this time, right? Although I wouldn't rule out one last Season 5 appearance as like a memory or something Vecna taunts El with.

One left. Kate Bush was wrong - it does hurt me.

#Lem's Stranger Things Rewatch #Stranger Things #Beware The Liveblogging Lem

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duchezss · 2 years

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Top 10 Criminal Minds episodes imo

Heyo, so over the past two months I found myself absolutely binge watching this show, and clearly I fell in love considering the pace I was going. There were a lot of meh episodes, some were good, fewer were great, and even less were superb. My list probably won’t be anything new or groundbreaking, but idc I’m making it anyway so let’s dive in.

10. Lo-Fi S3E20

One of my favorite finales from the show, and easily my favorite two parter. Most of the time when this show did a two parter, one of the two episodes would fall flat, usually the former. This is not the case with Lo-Fi. It started off ominously, and the more it unfolded and developed the more horrifying it became. I loved the deviation from the single unsub, and perhaps it’s just me, but I really liked this two parter because it went season finale-season opener, and not season penultimate-season finale. Adds more tension that way. Just a really interesting case that started off the story great and left me excited for more.

9. The Fisher King Part 1 S1E22

These two parters am I right? Fisher King part 2 barely missed this list, but both episodes are so strong, and stick to my favorite season finale-season opener strategy. The first part is definitely slower than the second, but honestly that’s why I liked it more. I loved getting to see the personal lives of the group, and the way the fisher king slowly contacted them was very creepy. It built suspense by taking it’s sweet time, and that’s why it was so good. The more the audience learned, the more they almost sympathized with the unsub. Overall it was just a great finale for the first season, and really set the tone for the rest of the show.

8. Mosley Lane S5E16

One might argue that this episode is too low on the list, but man these top 10 were just so hard to place except for the top 3. Mosley lane needs no introduction because it’s rightfully iconic. Still can’t believe this was MGG debut as director, he truly belongs in that chair. It’s such an intriguing premise that hooks you right off the back. Pair that with the amazing acting all around and you get this work of art. This ep was also unique because of the heartbreak most of the parents feel when their children don’t return, mainly the couple of the kid that was just killed. It brings an unusual melancholy feel that really pulls on the heartstrings. Just a fantastic ep that makes one want to hold their loved ones a little closer.

7. Riding the Lightning S1E14

I really didn’t expect for season 1 to be so prominent on this list but here we are. This was the first cm ep that really made me sit back and think. It’s simply so powerful, and is one of the few eps that brought me to tears. I love the stark difference between the husband and wife and how Gideon and Hotch investigate them. There’s just something so poetic about this ep, from it starting with Gideon attending the son’s concert, to the clear illustration that a mother will do anything for her child. It also very clearly shows that good and evil aren’t as black and white as they seem, and sometimes grey is the only solution.

6. Mayhem S4E1

This episode is the second part to the previously mentioned Lo-Fi. The opening is easily one of my favorites from the whole series. It slowly paints a picture to the audience and then it takes off running. I absolutely loved Edward Allen Bernero’s direction in this ep, it was his best imo. There’s a lot happening with the team, between Hotch and directors car exploding, to Morgan helping him because of no first responders, and the rest of the team figuring out they’re part of a bigger plan with this unsub. It was just fantastic, and practically every twist had me jumping out of my seat. Simply a great opener that had as much as action as it did character moments.

5. True Genius S7E11

Probably the most underrated episode on my list. True Genius had an excellent premise and an even better execution. The use of the zodiac killer can be overused, but in this case I thought it was well done. It starts off strong, and the taunting of Reid mixed with the doubts he was already having is great. I loved how the unsub’s friend is first framed as being innocent, and at the end we learn he’s just as bad. It wasn’t a double unsub case, but it sure felt like it. Not to mention the complexity with which the unsub planned the crimes, it’s brilliant and I’m a sucker for chess metaphors. I loved the ending, seeing all the team together for Reids bday. Finally, this ep built on the real crisis of adults expectations of children effecting them later in life, and how that shapes young kids. It makes one sit back and wonder about how easy it is to become like the unsubs we watch.

4. Demons S9E24

Demons wasn’t an episode I expected to like as much as I did. While I did enjoy it’s predecessor “Angels”, it didn’t knock it out of the ball park by any means. It was very clear early on that the main suspect was a red herring, but I didn’t imagine the case would spiral as much as it did. I loved how it ended up being an inside job, and the secrecy the team had to maintain was another layer of suspense. There were a lot of settings with the characters all scattered around, and that made this ep super action packed. Not to say there weren’t slower moments though, I liked how the used the women to help frame the story, a good alternative to Garcia just spouting info (nothing against her I love her, but I liked the change of pace). I know the ‘inside job’ is common trope, but it’s so well done in this ep so it doesn’t bother me. I was simply hooked from start to finish, and this is hands down my favorite finale.

3. Mr. Scratch S10E21

Mr. Scratch has gotta be one of, if not the, scariest episodes the series ever saw. Generally had me covering my eye with my hands. MGG perfectly illustrates the horror the unsub puts both his victims through, and what their own victims go through. I love the fact that MGG was the ‘monster’ himself and it’s easily his best directed ep imo. The idea of someone making us see our own worst fears is terrifying, and one can’t help but have sympathy for the victims, even if they killed someone. Peter Lewis is one of the BAU’s most notorious unsubs, and while I feel like the stretched and ruined his story in the end, this was such a powerful debut. The case was well paced, and the final 10 minutes had me on the edge of my seat. Hotch himself getting drugged was scary, but it became heartbreaking when the audience realizes his worst fear is his team getting hurt. The ending with Peter taunting the team and Hotch in the ambulance was phenomenal, the way it cuts in the middle of the high tension situation was pure genius on MGG’s part. Couldn’t have asked for more this ep, and perhaps my love for Hotch is blinding me to put this too high, but I generally think this ep is so good regardless.

2. Entropy S11E11

These next two are probably very predictable, but they’re iconic for a reason idc. I loved how this ep started nice and slow, with Reid simply going on a date. Aubrey Plaza is fantastic as Cat, and I love how they don’t shy away from making her cynical. Her and Reid’s stand off is great, and I love how they stitched the rest of the team in there as well. Rossi and JJ were simply distractions, and I’m still in love with the shot of them leaving and Cat celebrating her win, only for the camera to zoom out to Lewis and Morgan clinking their glasses together. Heather Capiello was a phenomenal director, and I truly wish she would’ve done more eps. This ep was so different from the rest, because while there is the looming threat of a gun and a bomb, the main part of this ep is psychological. Reid and Cat are basically trying to outsmart each other. I also thought the way the weaved Reid’s emotional new discoveries in there was smart as well. Entropy managed to be high stakes and high tension, without having any weapons drawn, now that’s impressive. One also can’t help but almost feel bad for Cat. She was so convinced that she won, only for Reid to swipe her feet from under her. Just a great great ep, and nice sentimental closing as well. Reid feels like a ticking clock once again, but the group gives him comfort, and I for one, will never get tired of that.

1. 100 S5E9

You knew it was coming. Listen as the only ep in this show to have six credited writers it was bound to be great. The opening gave me so many chills, it set the stage for the rest of the ep incredibly well. Of course as Hotch centric episode it made me love it even more, but it wasn’t just because of him. I thought the interview flash forward scenes were a little too much, but it wasn’t enough to ruin the ep. The premise was bound to be interesting since Foyet was introduced the prior season, and obviously the danger Haley and Jack were in. It was abundantly clear that so much thought and passion was poured into this ep, understandably so considering it was the 100th ep of the series. I simply think the work behind it really showed. As always EAB had great direction, even the simplest scenes were stitched with tension, and it was clear that everything was leading up to a big moment. Foyet was such a clever unsub, and this ep showcased that very well. He’s just so convincing. The scene where Hotch realizes Foyet is at their old house, and he starts driving and calls Haley, quite literally broke me. Definitely one of the hardest I’ve ever cried because of a show. It was so emotional, and the following scene where he kills Foyet is just as impactful. Shemar was right when he said this ep will be remembered for showing how family-like the bau are. They were all there for Hotch through it all, and I’m still not over how this ep took my breath away. Simply the best, and cm revival or not, this ep will never be topped. It’s widely regarded as the best ep of the series, and I think it will rightfully always hold that title.

#criminal minds #cm #now someone tell me why I spent so long on this #writing essays is simply my hobby I think #love this show so much mwah <3 #this took me so long to write though wew

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lokiondisneyplus · 3 years

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A review of “Journey Into Mystery,” the penultimate Loki Season One episode on Disney+, coming up just as soon as I paper cut a giant cloud to death…

Journey Into Mystery was the title of the first Marvel comic to feature either Thor or Loki. It began as an anthology series featuring monsters and aliens, but Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Larry Lieber were so smitten with their adaptation of the characters of Norse myth that the Asgardians gradually took over the whole book, which was renamed after its hammer-wielding hero(*).

(*) The early Journey Into Mystery stories treated Thor’s alter ego, disabled Dr. Donald Blake, as the “real” character, while Thor was just someone Blake could magically transform into, while retaining his memories and personality. It wasn’t even clear whether Asgard itself was meant to exist at first, until Loki turned up on Earth in an early issue, caused trouble, and Blake/Thor somehow knew exactly how to get to Asgard to drop him off. Soon, the lines between Thor and Blake began to blur, and eventually Thor became the real guy, and Blake a fiction invented by Odin to humble his arrogant son. It’s a mark of just how instantly charismatic Loki was that the entire title quickly steered towards him and the other gods.

But once upon a time, anything was possible in Journey Into Mystery, which makes it an apt moniker for an absolutely wonderful episode of Loki where the same holds true. Our title characters are trapped in the Void, a place at the end of time where the TVA’s victims are banished to be devoured by a cloud monster named Alioth. And mostly they are surrounded by the wreckage of many dead timelines. Classic Loki insists that his group’s only goal is survival, and any kind of planning and scheming is doomed to kill the Loki who tries. But this ruined, hopeless world instead feels bursting with imagination and possibility.

There are the many Loki variants we see, with President Loki, among others, joining Classic, Kid, Boastful, and Alligator Loki. There are the metric ton of Easter Eggs just waiting to be screencapped by Marvel obsessives (I discuss a few of them down below), but which still suggest a much larger and weirder MCU even if you don’t immediately scream out “Is that… THROG?!?!?” at the appropriate moment. And all of that stuff is tons of fun, to be sure. But what makes this episode — and, increasingly, this series — feel so special is the way that it explores the untapped potential of Loki himself, in his many, many variations.

This is an episode that owes more than a small stylistic and thematic debt to Lost. It’s not just that Alioth looks and sounds so much like the Smoke Monster(*), that it makes a shared Wizard of Oz reference to “the man behind the curtain” (also the title of one of the very best Lost episodes), or even that the core group of Lokis are hiding in a bunker accessible via a hatch and a ladder that’s filled with recreational equipment (in this case, bowling alley lanes). It’s also that Loki, Sylvie, their counterparts, and Mobius have all been transported to a strange place that has disturbing echoes from their own lives, that operates according to strange new rules they have to learn while fleeing danger, and their presence there allows them to reflect on the many mistakes of their past and consider whether they want to, or can, transcend them.

(*) Yes, Alioth technically predates Smokey by a decade (see the notes below for more), but his look has been tweaked a bit here to seem more like smoke than a cloud, and the sounds he makes when he roars sound a lot like Smokey’s telltale taxi cab meter clicks. Given the other Lost hat tips in the episode, I have to believe Alioth was chosen specifically to evoke Smokey.

Classic Loki is aptly named. He wears the Sixties Jack Kirby costume, and he is a far more powerful magician than either Sylvie or our Loki have allowed themselves to be. He calls our Loki’s knives worthless compared to his sorcery, which feels like the show acknowledging that the movies depowered Loki a fair amount to make him seem cooler. But if Classic Loki can conjure up illusions bigger and more potent than his younger peers, he is a fundamentally weak and defeated man, convinced, like the others, that the only way to win the game into which he was born is not to play. “We cannot change,” he insists. “We’re broken. Every version of ourselves. Forever.” It is not only his sentiment — Kid Loki adds that any Loki who tries to improve inevitably winds up in the Void for their troubles — but it seems to have weighed on him longer and harder than most.

But Classic Loki takes inspiration from Loki and Sylvie to stand and fight rather than turn and run, magicking up a vision of their homeland to distract Alioth at a crucial moment in Sylvie’s plan, and getting eaten for his trouble. He was wrong: Lokis can change. (Though Kid Loki might once again argue that Classic Loki’s death is more evidence that the universe has no interest in any of them doing so.) And both Loki and Sylvie have been changing throughout their time together. Like most Lokis, they seem cursed to a life of loneliness. Sylvie learned as a child that a higher power believed she should not exist, and has spent a lifetime hiding out in places where any friends she might make will soon die in an apocalypse. Our Loki’s past isn’t quite so stark, but the knowledge that his birth father abandoned him, while his adoptive father never much liked him, have left permanent scars that govern a lot of his behavior. The defining element of Classic Loki’s backstory is that he spent a long time alone on a planet, and only got busted by the TVA when he attempted to reconnect with his brother and anyone else he once knew. This is a hard existence, for all of them. And while it does not forgive them their many sins(*), it helps contextualize them, and give them the knowledge to try to be better versions of themselves.

(*) Loki at one point even acknowledges that, for him, it’s probably only been a few days since he led an alien invasion of New York that left many dead, though due to TVA shenanigans, far more time may have passed.

For that matter, Mobius is not the stainless hero he once thought of himself as. While he and Sylvie are tooling around the Void in a pizza delivery car (because of course they are), he admits that he committed a lot of sins by believing that the ends justified the means, and was wrong. He doesn’t know who he is before the TVA stole and factory rebooted him, but he knows that he wants something better for himself and the universe, and takes the stolen TemPad to open up a portal to his own workplace in hopes of tearing down the TVA once and for all. Before he goes, though, he and Loki share a hug that feels a lot more poignant than it should, given that these characters have only spent parts of four episodes of TV together. It’s a testament to Hiddleston, Wilson, Waldron, and company (Tom Kauffman wrote this week’s script) that their friendship felt so alive and important in such a short amount of time.

The same can be said for Loki and Sylvie’s relationship, however we’re choosing to define it. Though they briefly cuddle together under a blanket that Loki conjures, they move no closer to romance than they were already. If anything, Mobius’ accusations of narcissism in last week’s episode seem to have made both of them pull back a bit from where they seemed to be heading back on Lamentis. But the connection between them is real, whatever exactly it is. And their ability to take down Alioth — to tap into the magic that Classic Loki always had, and to fulfill Loki’s belief that “I think we’re stronger than we realize” — by working together is inspiring and joyful. Without all this nuanced and engaging character work, Loki would still be an entertaining ride, but it’s the marriage of wild ideas with the human element that’s made it so great.

Of course, now comes the hard part. Endings have rarely been an MCU strength, give or take something like the climax of Endgame, and the finales of the two previous Disney+ shows were easily their weakest episodes. The strange, glorious, beautiful machine that Waldron and Herron have built doesn’t seem like it’s heading for another generic hero/villain slugfest, but then, neither did WandaVision before we got exactly that. This one feels different so far, though. The command of the story, the characters, and the tone are incredibly strong right now. There is a mystery to be solved about who is in the big castle beyond the Void (another Loki makes the most narrative and thematic sense to me, but we’ll see), and a lot to be resolved about what happens to the TVA and our heroes. And maybe there’s some heavy lifting that has to be done in service to the upcoming Dr. Strange or Ant-Man films.

It’s complicated, but on a show that has handled complexity well. Though even if the finale winds up keeping things simpler, that might work. As Loki notes while discussing his initial plan to take down Alioth, “Just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s bad.” Though as Kid Loki retorts, “It also doesn’t mean it’s good.”

Please be good, Loki finale. Everything up to this point deserves that.

Some other thoughts:

* Most of this week’s most interesting material happens in the Void. But the scenes back at the TVA clarify a few things. First, Ravonna is not the mastermind of all this, and she was very much suckered in by the Time-Keeper robots. But unlike Mobius or Hunter B-15, she’s so conditioned to the mission that even knowing it’s a lie hasn’t really swayed her from her mission. She has Miss Minutes (who herself is much craftier this week) looking into files about the creation of the TVA, but for the most part comes across as someone very happy with a status quo where she gets to be special and pass judgment on the rest of the multiverse.

* Alioth first appeared in 1993’s Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective, a miniseries (written by Mobius inspiration Mark Gruenwald, and with some extremely kewl Nineties art full of shoulder pads, studded collars, and the like) involving Ravonna, Kang, and the off-brand versions of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor (aka U.S. Agent, War Machine, and Thunderstrike, the latter of whom has yet to appear in the MCU). It’s a sequel to a Nineties crossover event called Citizen Kang. And no, I still don’t buy that Kang will be the one pulling the strings here, if only because it’s really bad storytelling for the big bad of the season to have never appeared or even been mentioned prior to the finale.

* Rather than try to identify every Easter egg visible in the Void’s terrain, I’ll instead highlight three of the most interesting. Right before the Lokis arrive at the hatch, we see a helicopter with Thanos’ name on it. This is a hat tip to an infamous — and often memed — out-of-continuity story where Thanos flies this chopper while trying to steal the Cosmic Cube (aka the Tesseract) from Hellcat. (A little kid gets his hands on it instead and, of course, uses the Cube to conjure up free ice cream.) James Gunn has been agitating for years for the Thanos Copter to be in the MCU. He finally got his wish.

* The other funny one: When the camera pans down the tunnel into Kid Loki’s headquarters, we see Mjolnir buried in the ground, and right below it is a jar containing a very annoyed frog in a Thor costume. This is either Thor himself — whom Loki cursed into amphibianhood in a memorable Walt Simonson storyline — or another character named Simon Walterston (note the backwards tribute to Walt) who later assumed the tiny mantle.

* Also, in one scene you can spot Yellowjacket’s helmet littering the landscape. This might support the theory that the TVA, the Void, etc., all exist in the Quantum Realm, since that’s where the MCU version of Yellowjacket probably went when his suit shorted out and he was crushed to subatomic size. Or it might be more trolling of the fanbase from the company that had WandaVision fans convinced that Mephisto, the X-Men, and/or Reed Richards would be appearing by the season finale.

* Honestly, I would have watched an entire episode that was just Loki, Mobius, and the others arguing about whether Alligator Loki was actually a Loki, or just a gator who ended up with the crown, presumably after eating a real Loki. The suggestion that the gator might be lying — and that this actually supports, rather than undermines, the case for him being a Loki — was just delightful. And hey, if Throg exists in the MCU now, why not Alligator Loki?

* Finally, the MCU films in general are not exactly known for their visual flair, though a few directors like Taika Waititi and Ryan Coogler have been able to craft distinctive images within the franchise’s usual template. Loki, though, is so often wonderful to look at, and particularly when our heroes are stuck in strange environments like Lamentis or the Void. Director Kate Herron and the VFX team work very well together to create dynamic and weird imagery like Sylvie running from Alioth, or the chaotic Loki battle in the bowling alley. Between this show and WandaVision, it appears the Disney+ corner of the MCU has a bit more room to expand its palette. (Falcon and the Winter Soldier, much less so.)

#Loki #spoilers #episode 5 #review #Rolling Stone #Alan Sepinwall

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criminalmutantsins · 3 years

Text

Top 10 Favorite Young Justice Characters

10. Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle

Starting off the list is Blue Beetle. Young Justice introduced me to him, and I was hooked. He’s probably the most mellow and calming voice. His arc and relationship with Bart (friendship or not) were my favorite aspects of S2. They bounced off each other in every scene. I was very disappointed when Jaime and Bart were sidelined so much, and hope S4 changes this (particularly with Bart).

Jaime in the number 10 spot since he doesn’t really have much of a memorable personality. Still love him to bits though.

9. Will Harper/Red Arrow

Funny enough, I did not like Will. He was an asshole in S1; S2 kind of changed my mind about him but not enough since he didn’t appear as much. What really changed my mind was the episode “Private Security” (S3 Ep.4). I started looking back into Will’s storylines and, I have to admit, his is probably one of the best character development.

The first season had him unwillingly living a lie and betraying the people he cared for. In season 2 he was so consumed into finding the original Roy for five years, not even caring or focusing about his own life. I felt really bad for Will because he was probably going through an identity crisis and thought he couldn’t live his life without finding Arsenal. Probably felt guilty.

Seeing him living his own life and being happy with his daughter was so heartwarming. I smiled every time Will appeared in the latest season (totally ignoring the Will x Artemis fiasco), especially with Lian. I’m very proud of him.

I feel bad for putting him so low, yet I adore the next characters more.

8. Garfield Logan/Beast Boy

I have been a massive Beast Boy fan since Teen Titans so you probably can imagine how excited to see him. His origin story was unique and his brother-sister bond with M’gann was very sweet. It was pretty weird seeing how much younger Gar was than Dick, but I got used to it. I was bummed that Gar wasn’t in S2 as much; however, S3 truly made up for it.

After watching Beast Boy being a great leader in S5 of Teen Titans, I wanted a leader-like and more mature version of him. Young Justice truly delivered with Gar being the leader of the Outsiders. It’s nice to see him treated with respect rather than as a joke because that was my biggest gripe with Teen Titans. Though it was weird seeing him not crack a joke at all.

Gar’s story with his mom was heartbreaking to see. I literally cried seeing his reaction to revisiting his trauma in S2 and S3; I just wanted to hug and tell him how awesome he is. My only complaint with Gar in S3 was that the Outsiders weren’t established until near the end of the season.

His voice actor being Greg Cipes also gives him extra points (He’s a chill guy and radiates BB energy).

7. Dick Grayson/Nightwing/ Robin I

Sorry to all the hardcore Nightwing fans.

I love Dick (don’t get any ideas), but he doesn’t get enough development in the spotlight. One of the things I really wanted to see from him is his growth as a main leader, and his journey to becoming Nightwing. I was really bummed when these happened between the first two seasons.

To be honest, I don’t have as much to say about him other than straightforward qualities I enjoy about him.

1.His Voice (it’s so soothing)

2.His Personality (very charismatic)

3.Very Handsome (Probably in the top 3 my most handsome YJ Men list)

I put him higher than the others since he made a lot of contribution to the story and his new words (gotta love that aster!)

6. Megan Morse/M’gann M’orzz/Miss Martian

If I made this list during S1, M’gann would have probably been in my top 3 (maybe even No. 1), but S2 didn’t give her any brownie points.

I really liked S1 Miss Martian because of her kind heart, awkward girl next door personality. Her trouble fitting in the beginning reminded me of when I was going through a time in high school; seeing her having trouble as well helped me feel not so lonely. M’gann powers were (still are) my favorite since I am a big fan of mind-like powers. I would feel so powerful. Watching her identity crisis(?) arc was great too. I’ve had trouble feeling comfortable in my own skin as well as my social anxiety (I’m a mess) and I could understand how scared Megan was of her friends’ thoughts on her true form.

Oh boy. Season 2 basically ruined her. Learning what she would do to enemies was terrifying to see and left me wondering what happened to Miss Martian that made her step this far. What she almost did to Superboy was almost unforgivable. You do not try to manipulate with your boyfriend’s mind when you guys have an argument! Shame on you M’gann. If Superboy hadn’t forgiven you then I wouldn’t have either.

Good thing S3 somewhat redeemed her. Her kind heart was noticeable again and she refused to do that mind trick again (thank god). Very excited for the Superboy and Miss Martian wedding! Please creators, I beg of you to not skip over it. I want to cry my eyes out in happiness!

5. Kaldur’ahm/Aquaman/Aqualad

Now we’re in the top 5 with Aqualad (*ahem* Aquaman) starting it off.

Creating Kaldur was the best decision the creators ever did. I love him with all my heart!

He added diversity to the original team and was a great leader. S1 was not his breakout season, though the second season definitely was.

Kladur played the villain so well that he deserves an automatic Oscar. I never doubted that he was with the heroes, but he didn’t disappoint. My favorite part about Aqualad’s performance was when he rose from the ocean slowly like a cliché villain (he made it work), and the line he said right after he “killed” Artemis; it sent me chills. Love it!

Pretty disappointed that he didn’t appear as much in S3. Very happy that he is a part of the LGBTQ+ community and is in a happy relationship. I’m a part of the community and loved that there was finally some representation in one of my favorite shows. Even so, I have to criticize how rushed and sidelined it was. I hope Kaldur and Wyynde’s relationship gets development.

4. Kon-El/Conner Kent/Superboy

Like Will, I did not like Superboy at first. Mainly angry and volatile characters were never really my cup of tea. I do understand why he was upset and felt bad for him; I just handle anger the direct opposite as him. My love for Conner started growing around the end of S1. He was very sweet towards Miss Martian (bless him for not caring about her appearance) and his anger was in control.

Season 2 pretty much switched my opinions on him and M’gann. It was awful what M’gann almost did to him. That scene with him being so sad that what she did ruined that special bond they had almost made me cry. I wanted to give him a hug. He grew so much too since I don’t think he would have handled the whole M’gann drama as well in S1. A lot of furniture would’ve been broken.

I gotta admit something. I almost put Conner near the bottom (maybe no. 7). A comment in a poll in Amino changed my mind. I wrote a poll asking other fans who did they prefer SB or MM. At that point I said SB, though I didn’t think much of it. Someone (specifically yjfangirl) responded “Superboy has the best development in the show.” This had me thinking about how far SB has gone. In the beginning, Conner was an angry guy who felt alone and rejected by the person who he was meant to emulate. Now he is happier and living for himself rather than to be the next Superman. He’s getting married people! A little detail I noticed when rewatching S3 was Superboy mentioning to new characters that they weren’t obligated to be a hero because of their abilities. I adored this! The main reason why Superboy was created to be Superman if the original ever died, and another one of Luthor’s puppets. But he strayed from that pressuring path and is doing his own thing. Conner doesn’t want other people to feel like he did. What an absolute pure soul.

Also, yjfangirl, first I want to say Hi (*waves*)! Then say thanks for writing that comment. It made me really think about the bigger picture with SB and my love for him as grown exponentially. You probably didn’t mean to do that, but I still want to thank you. 😊

3.Wally West/Kid Flash

We’re in the elites now.

I don’t know how to explain it, I just love Wally. He makes me laugh, and his character growth was great. At first, Wally was this cocky flirt who didn’t take the hero work as seriously. That changed in “Cold-hearted,” one of my favorite episodes in the series. This was when I really started seeing more of Wally than being this dumb flirt. It was great seeing him actually caring about helping people since I believed for a long time that he wanted to be a superhero to just have powers rather than actually protect others. The regret in his eyes when he thought his impulsive behavior killed Perdita helped me see who he really was- this somewhat arrogant speedster who had a kind heart. Episodes that can make me change my perspective on characters are truly special.

I was very upset that he wasn’t in S2 a lot. I understand why since he gave up the life, but I was still bummed. Seeing him being so loving and protective towards Artemis was amazing. Spitfire is my favorite ship and I will not give up on them. All I want is a happy ending! The penultimate episode of S3 was a hint that it will happen. Watching the S2 finale was heartbreaking, I cried watching him disappear, his love for Artemis being the last things he said. Artemis’ reaction did not(I just wanted to hug her).

I have more to say, though I’m leaving it for another post. 😉

2.Bart Allen/Kid Flash II/Impulse

Picking between Bart and Wally for second place was tough. Took me a while to decide; I’ll talk about it later on.

The moment Bart made his appearance, I absolutely adored him. He is amazing and I live for his hyper, fun attitude. His arc and relationship with Jaime were my favorite aspects of S2. What can I say, their chemistry is great to see.

That scene when he was meeting the Flash family was so adorable. His excitement was infectious and spoiling his dad and aunt’s births was hilarious! I watch it occasionally whenever I need a good laugh or reason to smile.

Unlike most time travelers- at least the ones I’ve seen- Bart was very involved with what was going on and befriended his biggest enemy- evil and weirdly huge future Blue Beetle. He was pretty careful about disclosing very important information and took things very seriously. You never know if disclosing everything was the thing that brought the world to chaos.

What I found interesting was his choice on how to interact with everyone. He seemed pretty gloomy in the future, but decided to portray this cheerful, devil-may-care attitude to be more likable. I understood (still kind of do). I had terrible mental health issues and I pretended to be happy in front of loved ones because I thought they wouldn’t care about me anymore. Bart got some brownie points for that.

I was dissatisfied when his role was greatly reduced. I wanted the creators to go further with Bart by revealing his past and how it affected him. He was pretty much comedy relief. You couldn’t imagine how disappointed I was, especially with it involving my second favorite character. Season 4 better change that.

I know that you shouldn’t assume a character’s sexuality, yet I really hope Bart is gay. There needs to be more clear representation and Bart can be one of them. I’m also a Bluepulse and Bartuado shipper (fine with either one as long as Bart’s bond with each of them stays strong).

Anyway, I mentioned that I would explain why I chose Bart for 2nd place over Wally. It mostly stems from wishful thinking. I really want S4 to have Bart as a main character since I believe the future will be strong plot point in the season. Development could surely happen such as Bart opening up more about what he went through. Let all those feelings go.

I’m going to write an article on my hopes for S4 when a release date is announced. Bart and Wally will most definitely be talked about.

…..

We are finally near the end!

And my No. 1 favorite character is…

Drumroll please!

…

1.Artemis Crock/Tigress/Artemis

That’s right people!

Artemis Crock, original member of the Team and daughter of villains!

She is such an inspiration to anyone who wants to go their own past without their parents’ support.

It’s hard to describe how much I love Artemis. She’s brave, strong-willed, and a kind person. It’s crazy how great of a person she is after all the terrible things that happened to her. I look up to her because I don’t have a healthy relationship with my parents (verbal and mental abuse) and there are times I don’t feel strong enough to stand on my own. I want to carry the amount of strength Artemis has as my own.

After all that happened in S2, it was amazing to see Artemis come back to the team and train the new generation. It must have been hard to walk away from a safe, comfortable life for a chaotic, dangerous life. I admire that in everyone, but I hold more respect for Artemis since “the life” “killed” Wally. I wanted to hug her so bad.

She’s also one of the kindest people in the show, the events in S3 being the best example. When Zatanna was crying about her dad, Artemis was there to comfort her. It was so sweet! Roy and her also took in Halo and Terra like they were a part of the family; the archer treated them like the best big sister. That rainstorm scene was heartwarming to the core.

Wouldn’t Artemis be an amazing mother? Lian and her have a strong bond like a mother and daughter; I loved it, and Lian is in good hands with Roy and Artemis. Though Jade deserves a chance to be a mother. Artemis also seemed to enjoy taking care of those kids in that S1 episode. Wally too. You guys know what I’m guys insinuating. 😉

Get ready for some fanfics on that someday.

My favorite Artemis-centered episode was the second to last episode of S3. I was waiting for this episode centering around Artemis missing Wally and learning to move on. It was great yet heartbreaking. Nothing bad happened. That Will and Artemis kiss never happened. Everyone makes a mistake. No matter how terrible it was.

Anyway, seeing Artemis and Wally living their lives and having a baby gave me life, even if it was fake. It was a vision of the future. I will believe this until there is confirmation that Wally will not come back.

Did anyone else cry when Artemis was so desperate to, but Wally wouldn’t let that happen (the real Wally would do that)? They are a great example of a healthy relationship with all the love and support they have for each other. I want that.

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daggerlove · 2 years

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I saw your post on twitter about Tom's IMDb episodic listing, went to check it myself and sure enough it's real. Idk how to feel about this. What is your opinion? Do you lean towards it being real or not?

Under read more because I tend to ramble a lot apparently haha

I think it's way too early to tell tbh.

Imdb is sometimes a great source of info and had during the filming of season 1 provided us with many clues or straight up leaks.

However, I haven't seen anything like this during season 1 (and I kept my eyes glued to that page). Sometimes, when actors or even agents add their client's credits they incorrectly list them for all 6 episodes (as it happened with REG and Erika Coleman for example) or just one (for example, Evan Peters' listing on Imdb for Wandavision) and their credits get updated as the show progresses.

When they announce a new season it's pretty common for the cast & crew to be majorly listed for only the first episode at first. It's what's happening with Season 2 of Loki right now. But as the preproduction and production progresses they kind of update their listing of the cast & crew and up their involvement with the show.

That's what happened with Tom for season 2. A few days ago he had still been listed to appear only in pilot episode of the second season. But that's changed now and his credits had been updated. But the funny thing is, that whoever edited his acting credits for season 2, didn't list him for the entire season. They listed him for ep.1, 3, 5, and of course, the finale.

And like...that's the oddest thing I've seen on Imdb in a while because one would assume someone would just list him for every episode since he's playing the titular character, right? But they kinda 'forgot' to list him for two episodes lol.

And the funny thing is, it kinda follows that 'skippy' pattern. Obviously he's in the pilot of S2, that's a given. But then he's not listed for episode 2. Suddenly he's listed for episode 3. And then he's being skipped again. And then of course he's listed to appear in episode 5 and the finale, because there's no way the titular character wouldn't appear in the finale.

So what I'm saying is, there's a pattern.

1. appears 2. doesn't appear 3. appears 4. doesn't appear 5. appears 6. appears

and it's the weirdest, oddest, but funniest thing. Because whoever listed him, intentionally didn't list him for two episodes. And quite smartly too since IF Tom, hypothetically, didn't appear in any of the episodes of the season, I'd say episode 2,3 and 4 would be the only and most likely candidates. Because as a lead, he's pretty much guaranteed to appear in the pilot, penultimate (this one perhaps not as necessarily but still more likely than 2-4) and final episodes of the show/season.

They recently did something very similar with Boba Fett.

So I was thinking. IF there's any truth to this, perhaps this means we will see two different stories and povs at first; maybe the season starts with the episode that focuses on Loki (mirroring S1) and how he deals with the aftermath of the finale, if he escapes the TVA, and sets off to find Sylvie. Then maybe episode 2 is happening at the same time as episode 1 and we see Sylvie's side of the story, how she deals with the aftermath of season 1's finale, and if she also sets off to find Loki, fix the multiverse. And then we return to an episode focused on Loki again, and then we're back to Sylvie.

Basically the first four episodes are spent alternating between two different stories. Loki and Sylvie's and their separate journey to find each other again. Because Tom even teased Loki won't stop searching for Sylvie. And maybe that way we get to see even more of Sylvie's backstory that the creators teased Elissa had written for her. It'd be fun!

And then perhaps they reunite at the end of episode 4, beginning of 5 when things start really heating up again, and while I love the idea of them reuniting very soon, in episode 2 for example, I think this episodes-long pining, their separate travels to find each other again would only make their reunion that more satisfying and amazing.

And I obviously love Tom and Loki and I can never get enough of him, but maybe if he steps back in a few episodes, that gives other less fleshed out characters the chance to get their fair share of screentime to be explored more. We have Ravonna who needs to be fleshed out more. We have Sylvie. We have He Who Remains, B-15, hell, even Mobius.

I don't know if this is real. Chances are, it's not, but if it is, I honestly wouldn't mind it.

That being said, on the off chance that this is actually real I'm just going to stock up on popcorn bc, oh boy will this cause a meltdown.

#let's just keep an eye on this #for the next few weeks #or months #loki series #ask

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gh0stbra1nz · 3 years

Text

my thoughts on aadsig ep 11 + overall

this episode was probably one of my favourites. the growth and the handling of emotions were done so well and everyone’s story has actually already reached a satisfying ending, even if it’s only the penultimate episode. genuinely one of the best concluded dramas － no loose ends, no character forgotten and no change too abrupt. as always the show hit very close to home, what with the father claiming that everyone looks down on him and the violent rage that follows (though when we’d told our father he’s delusional we ended up very differently from jun lol), with his reaction to being exposed (mine was only threatened once with a call to the police but the way the father in the drama handled it was so similar it struck me).

jun’s growth is possibly the most satisfying, realistic and relatable for me. it was hard for him to stand up for himself and even harder to truly cut himself off from the pain that had made home in him for years, because at that point it really is a part of you and feels as though it shaped you into who you’ve become － it’s as though without it you are less than the nothing you already were. it’s something i still struggle with regarding this particular part of my life and seeing jun going through it was emotional, to say the least.

the friendship in this show! i genuinely love how they portray relationships of all types. though the drama in itself wasn’t spectacular i do think the writing for each character’s personality and how they interact with one another was done really well.

in the end however the relationship between sobin and jun still feels incredibly dry romantically to me. their interactions just come off as friendly in my eyes and their playful flirting as awkward. i genuinely cannot see them as a couple and don’t think i ever will － and not solely because they wrote such a perfect relationship between soohyun and jun. frankly, sobin and jun just don’t click to me, at least.

on the other hand, soohyun and jun. i’ve talked a fair bit about why i love their dynamic and why i truly believe that they should have ended up together. honestly, throughout the majority of the show it felt as though the director and writer wanted to portray them as love interests for each other (or just, y’know, the usual queerbaiting stuff ig). the way scenes were cut/shot, the lingering stares, the subtle and not-so-subtle acts of affection and emphasis on their every interaction － loosely speaking, they were the two characters who interacted the most in the whole show, so obviously they would feel to have the most chemistry and sound base for a relationship; because they’ve grown accustomed to one another, they’ve grown attached to one another, they’ve become so comfortable that jun opens up to soohyun about something as personal as his abuse, whilst sobin mostly keeps her emotional (and literal, at times when the presence of both was needed even, which i found questionable on her part as jun’s supposed partner) distance from jun, both of her own volition and the latter’s.

it was so interesting to see how soohyun and jun balanced each other out and what was incredibly validating of this was in today’s episode, when they were sitting on that bench and directly saying how they couldn’t imagine not having met each other. it’s come to the point that they truly can’t be without the other and whilst jun and sobin talk about missing each other a lot etc, it’s almost never shown, which makes it harder for me as a viewer to believe it when jun and hyun actually show their need for closeness and a genuine interest in the other.

in the end, sobin felt more like a buffer of sorts to keep things heteronormative because － and i mean this objectively － her role in the story and growth of the characters was quite literally non-existent. her character brought about minimal change for that of a main which solidifies the idea in my mind that she was there to keep things straight and that’s it. if we were to imagine the show without her, honestly not much changes? there are no effects on jun or hyun who are fellow mains － actually, even just skipping her existing scenes when watching the show is enough to give base to my opinion on her writing. even if soohyun and jun wouldn’t be canonically paired up in the end in a version without her, their interactions and dynamic are so layered with romanticism that it’d be an unavoidable thought in the viewer’s mind and an inevitable conclusion that they do, at least, feel something for each other. the second official version of the show's poster wouldn't help either. sobin felt very much to be there merely to put some distance between canon and this idea.

this is not to shit on sobin but rather how she was written. initially i was interested in her story and how it would entangle with the others, but half way through or so she reached a peak and fell flat, no longer having the mystery of her full story to carry her left her character with no purpose and to serve only as a filler. if they had to write her as jun’s partner i wish they’d put more thought and effort into how the two, and particularly she, behaved with who she supposedly loved, because whilst once we learned all of hyun’s story his presence remained fundemental to the plot and jun’s character － not to mention he himself keeps changing for the better － sobin doesn’t carry any weight in the storyline, nor does she affect the characters or continue her road to growing. in all, it seemed as though her character － of the three mains － was the one that underwent the least transformation.

as for soohyun, i know nothing about the manhwa except for the fact that he’s the gay character in it. in the drama, so far, unless they decide to abruptly shove miju or youngran (?) in his face and we dismiss that brief scene of him putting his finger down when asked if he liked one of the girls, he has actually never truly shown romantic interest in anyone (besides jun but that’s my opinion lmao). even if they erased his sexuality (despite the fact that this show was going for the air of progression and being true to one’s self) they at least － so far － haven’t forced him with a woman which is something small to appreciate (the bar is low).

in the end i’m happy i was queerbaited into watching this drama because, whilst not perfect, it resonated with me a lot and both hyun and jun have come to mean a lot to me as characters. it was realistic and respectful in portraying trauma and mental health issues which i really appreciated.

#at a distance spring is green #anyway it ends tomorrow so hopefully not too much happens that invalidates this post/my opinion/feelings regarding the show/characters #i hope nobody takes my opinion about sobin and subsequently her relationship with jun personally or as from someone who wanted to see the #guys together just because theyd be gay #but rather the opinion of someone wh just couldn't grasp their two personalities/characters being together romantically given the #source media #long post #im sorry #until the end i'm being an annoying presence in this tag lmao #now imagine if i knew how to gif.... i would have driven yall mad #k.txt

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newmusickarl · 3 years

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Album & EP Recommendations

My word, the music world has well and truly spoiled us this week!

The past seven days has seen a colossal avalanche of new releases, so much so I’ve barely had chance to keep up with it all. Although this is not the full list of everything from the past seven days, here are the 16 (yes, 16!) new releases I’ve enjoyed the most this week.

As there is so much to get through the rundowns are (mostly) a bit shorter than normal and there is no single Album of the Week, instead I simply recommend checking out whichever album or track sounds most appealing depending on your preferred taste.

So without further ado then, here’s what’s good:

Californian Soil by London Grammar

It’s been four years since the release of London Grammar’s last record Truth Is A Beautiful Thing - an album that I enjoyed, but I’ll admit also left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed coming off the back of their incredible breakout debut, If You Wait. As it turns out, the band themselves were also having a tough time around that period, with front woman Hannah Reid in particular battling relentless industry sexism, as well as the persistent physical pain caused by her fibromyalgia condition. With this being the case, it is amazing that the young indie-pop trio have made it to their third album at all, let alone delivering what is their best work to date.

Opening on a grand, string-drenched Intro, the record soon morphs into the sun-soaked guitars and soaring orchestration of the album’s glorious title track. It marks an early highlight as Reid catches the audience up with the tribulations of the last few years – “I left my soul on Californian soil.” From there the album doesn’t really let up as the band move through a series of career-defining tracks – the gorgeous contemporary groove of Missing, the dance-influenced How Does It Feel, the chilled-out ambience of the dreamy Baby, It’s You and the sublime, stripped-back closer America.

However, the album’s strongest moment comes when Reid confronts music industry sexism head on with defiant anthem Lord It’s A Feeling. Beginning with some twinkly xylophone, before evolving into an atmospheric synth-laced backdrop where Reid pulls no punches:

“I saw the way you made her feel, like she should be somebody else,

I know you think the stars align for you and not for her as well,

I undеrstand, I can admit that I have felt those things mysеlf”

The cutting lyrics against some blinding quiet rave instrumentation leaves quite the impression, as does this sterling record in general. After a slight misstep, London Grammar have well and truly rediscovered themselves and they have honestly never sounded better – a truly incredible album.

If You Could Have It All Again by Low Island

Oxford electo-pop outfit Low Island are another band that have defied expectations to get to this point. This, their debut album, was not recorded in a professional music studio – in fact, the vocals were recorded in a bedroom cupboard of all places. The band themselves don’t even have a manager or a record label. In every sense of the word, they are a truly independent band. For a self-financed, self-produced effort, If You Could Have It All Again is a quite remarkable first outing.

From melodic, uplifting opener Hey Man, the record quickly jumps into spoken word electro punk banger What Do You Stand For, featuring acid-drenched synths and a dancefloor-ready groove. Fans of FIFA 21 will recall Don’t Let the Light In, with the glitchy pulse of recent single Who’s Having the Greatest Time also standing out. That said, it’s the smooth, infectious sway of I Do It For You that still pulls me in the most.

Having followed the band since their early EPs, I’ve been rooting for Low Island for a while now and this is one debut album I was highly anticipating this year. Safe to say, my expectations have been met – this is a fantastic, accomplished record, which leaves me eager to see where they go next.

The Greatest Mistake Of My Life by Holding Absence

There was a time when the difficult second album used to be a thing, but listening to the sophomore effort from Welsh rock band Holding Absence this week, I’m really not sure that exists anymore. After a dramatic and impressive self-titled debut two years ago, the band have wasted little time taking things up a notch, with this new album cinematic and masterfully produced from beginning to end.

From standout singalong anthems like Afterlife and In Circles, to the album’s epic seven-minute penultimate track Mourning Song, The Greatest Mistake of My Life shows a band pushing themselves and driving forward with ambition at every opportunity. In a year packed with outstanding rock and metal albums already, this is most definitely another one you can add onto that list. Soaring, impressive and demanding of repeat listens.

We Forgot We Were Dreaming by Saint Raymond

It’s been six long years since Nottingham-born singer-songwriter Callum Burrows, AKA Saint Raymond, released his debut album. However it seems the time away has been well spent as this long-awaited follow-up finds Burrows in fine form, with this album packed to the brim with catchy, glossily produced indie-pop anthems.

From the brilliant title track that opens the record, to the bouncy riffs of Right Way Round, Talk and Solid Gold, to more subdued and heartfelt moments like Only You, this album will have you smiling, singing your heart out and dancing your troubles away.

Flu Game by AJ Tracey

AJ Tracey may have only been three years old when Michael Jordan was winning NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, but that hasn’t stopped him making a record influenced by the legendary icon and his famous 1997 Flu Game. Like many others including myself, grime superstar AJ Tracey spent lockdown watching the brilliant The Last Dance documentary, and this record weirdly works as a fantastic unofficial companion, but also just a great summer rap record.

McCartney III Imagined by Paul McCartney

Even if like me you completely missed Sir Paul McCartney’s 2020 album McCartney III, it’s well worth checking out this reimagining, where he has called on the help of some of his famous musician pals. This is a real who’s who line up of guest features including Beck, Khurangbin, St. Vincent, Blood Orange, Phoebe Bridgers, Damon Albarn, Josh Homme, Anderson .Paak and more, making for quite a fascinating mix of sounds and styles.

Moratorium (Broadcasts from The Interruption) by Enter Shikari

And finally on the albums front this week, genre-benders Enter Shikari have released a brilliant compilation of all their lockdown live performances, headlined by an incredible string-tinged acoustic version of The Dreamer’s Hotel and a beautifully stripped-back “At Home” rendition of Live Outside.

Tracks of the Week

Introvert by Little Simz

Wow, wow and wow again. Still fairly fresh off the back of her masterful, Mercury Prize nominated third album Grey Area, this week British rapper Little Simz released the first taste of her next record in the form of this epic and triumphant opening track. At six minutes in length, this majestic and operatic political anthem aims to grab the listener by the collar and shake them awake. Without a doubt, one of the best songs of the year so far, the powerful video for which you can view above.

Smile by Wolf Alice

The second taste of their forthcoming album Blue Weekend, Smile continues Wolf Alice’s pattern for alternating Loud/Soft releases, with this one featuring buzzy guitars, punky vocals and a hypnotic chorus melody.

Beautiful Beaches by James

Although written off the back of the California wildfires that impacted front man Tim Booth’s local community, the lyrics on the band’s latest anthem purposefully offer a dual meaning, giving hope to those dreaming of a post-lockdown getaway and fresh start.

He Said She Said by CHVRCHES

The Scottish trio made their much-anticipated return this week, with Lauren Mayberry also sharing her experiences of sexism on this arena-ready synth-pop banger.

Matty Healy by Georgia Twinn

Georgia Twinn delivers an infectiously catchy break-up anthem, inspired by an ex-boyfriend, who’s most interesting feature was supposedly looking like the 1975 frontman.

Kill It by Vukovi

Underground Scottish rock outfit Vukovi’s new single is so good, they even managed to get KILL IT trending over the weekend of its release. Masterfully produced with big bold riffs and trancey synths, this one just sounds huge.

Can’t Carry On by Gruff Rhys

The latest solo single from the former Super Furry Animals frontman is a stunning, super-melodic tune with an instant chorus you’ll be singing before the track has even finished its first play.

Ceremony by Deftones

One of the highlights off their last album Ohms, the nu-metal rockers have now delivered a cinematic new video directed by horror legend Leigh Whannell. Check it out!

Chasing Birds by Foo Fighters

And finally this week, Dave Grohl and company released a trippy new animated video for this Medicine At Midnight cut to help celebrate 420 in their own unique way. Again, well worth a watch!

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steve0discusses · 4 years

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Yugioh S4 Ep 17: Just Throw em on the Murder Pile

Ah, week one of the Stay-at-Home mandate. After a week of getting so little work done, I decided to get Animal crossing so I could get away from the people I live with to our own little virtual islands. So, I spent my time, fishing so many fishes and bugs for the the museum that wasn’t open yet, placing them all over the island so I could use them later. Went to bed having done all this wonderful work, my masterpiece, my beautiful island.

The next day I woke up an hour later than my brother, who spent that time logging into Animal Crossing, not realizing he was sharing an island with me (for some reason you only get one island per switch, which was a decision they made???) and he was like “the hell are all these fish everywhere?” So he sold all of them, made himself an Oricalchos shirt and a Yami third eye in the fashion editor, and then used all my fish money to buy so many oil drums and put them all over the trash side of his island.

I was asleep one hour. One single hour. It is all trash oil drums and fire and a poorly drawn Oricalchos t-shirt.

Ah, the irony when you get a game to escape the people you live with only to realize that you share the location of the game itself--with those same people. The irony.

So anyways, we found out that our efforts were futile anyway, long story short we sort of...soft locked this children’s game, and had to restart the entire island. lol.

So while I recover from that shock, lets talk about Yugioh.

They’re still on the Caltrain and Yami is still appearing to have a lot of difficulty remembering how to use cards without Yugi. But, we find out at the end of the episode, he’s mostly just pretending to have difficulty. We’ll get to why this bluff is so mind boggling later--Yami just has a lot of weird layers to him, and most are just so...so lovingly stupid.

Anyway, Timaeus doesn’t work with him now, but honestly it wasn’t clear why Timaeus ever did in the first place since Yami is both two people and a dead person at the same time. Yami shouldn’t exist.

This doesn’t matter in the end, because Yami is good at cards when he isn’t actively trying to get cursed to give himself a handicap like he did with Raphael.

Unlike Yami, Joey decides to reflect upon the moral consequences of Hella Killing a Guy, which youknow...should mess you up a little bit.

But obvi, Rex has to die for the plot to move forward, so RIP.

(more RIP under the cut)

Yugioh made sure to give Rex a big send off that took waaaaay longer than Gurimo, just saying.

Lololololol

Just two u’s, sleeping so pleasantly.

And I’m just guessing, ps, but I feel like it’s a good guess. I feel like this wasn’t like this in the original.

Back at the train that should be crossing the ocean at this point, Weevil has pulled out some misdirection. Knowing that Yami has been misdirecting Weevil this entire time, it is just so baffling that he’d totally fall for this.

If someone did this to Seto Kaiba--that I would believe, instantly. But to Yami? OK there, Yami.

Mind you, Yami is grieving, and he’s not mentally all there in both the literal sense and in the mental sense, but wow, Yami. You fell for that.

Yami has lost his entire mind and is just kind of winging it until he gets arrested.

He has no reason to be better than this. He’s like “FML. I’m gonna go ape, I don’t freakin care”

Like, Yami has this anger problem, which the show has said out loud a few times this season, but we haven’t really seen too often in previous seasons to a great degree. So we have to give him some places where he can demonstrate getting super pissed, to make up for the fact that Yami’s character developed has mostly been about “I’m too lonely and cursed to make friends, Yugi.” and “I’m DEAD, Yugi, I don’t want to learn about my history.” and “Gods why are you always making problems for me to solve for you, Kaiba?”

Not saying he hasn’t been mad and vengeful before this moment, but he hasn’t been as explosive before this season--it’s always been a chill anger, a quietly menacing kind of crazy, youknow? But...characters change. Yami’s developed to be different now and that’s fine. Being pissed someone killed your soul bud that you share a body with, I feel, is a natural thing to be pissed about.

But, Yami is permanently in a state of anger and brooding since Yugi left, despite being pretty chill for most of the past 4 seasons. It’s like the first time we get to experience Yami be Just Yami since the beginning of Season 1 and it’s a completely different Yami anyway.

I guess this is to point out that they really did rely on the other to complete their personality. Which is weird, but that is a thing you do with people that you’re spend a ton of time with--you kind of forget how to do things solo.

Like there was this interesting study where they took married people and asked them simple grade school questions, and they answered them fine when they were together in the same room. But, when they were separated--they suddenly would blank on random stuff. They couldn't remember capitals or multiplication tables--simple stuff. But people who were single, were able to do these things fine alone or with a friend.

People who spend a hell ton of time together learn to help eachother answer the questions as a team, and the parts of the brain you use to like...memorize capitals and multiplication might decay because there’s someone else who will just always do it for you.

So anyway, the takeaway I get from this is that the part of Yami and Yugi that could read if Weevil is lying was Yugi and that’s a lot to take in. Yugi might be smarter than Yami? Weird. Low bar, but weird.

So, Yami won’t need to justify to himself like Joey, he’s just gonna kill this guy outright. Immediately. There was some card shenanigans, and I guess he had the opportunity to beat him even further after he was dead? I didn’t fully pay attention to the card logic but it was so brutal that Tea had to get involved.

She was quicker to save even S1 Seto Kaiba, just throwing that out there. Tea was like “I’ll step in between you two, but I’ll be run really slow about it.”

I think she was more worried about Yami going dark than Weevil who’s...already dead. And again, you don't have to worry about Yami going dark. I say it a lot but he’s a dark wizard. This is kind of his zone.

And then, they actually touched for the first time in like--kind of a lot of episodes. I kind of forgot about this ship.

How come when she’s wrestling him it looks more like a hug than the few times they’ve hugged? These writers, man. They’re just...so close to figuring out how to write a ship but just so, so far away.

I just want to remind y’all that the Oricalchos broke Valon’s arm but Tea and Tristan just walked away because they’re that hulk IRL.

I just love that Yugi is so short that Tea has to be on a ladder below him in order to have this pose happen.

After that awkward moment that Yami lost his entire mind and killed a guy, he had another weird moment where he just...looked down at his hands and was like “I’m the real monster?????”

He didn’t think about the moral consequences until AFTER he killed Weevil. And honestly, that feels a lot more like the Yami I know. That was maybe the most Yami thing he did this episode. Reminder, they got into this train duel while trying to stop a runaway train, and they did nothing about that.

So anyway, how’s this train going?

(San Jose has over one million residents but don’t tell Yugioh.)

And then, sadly, I had to say goodbye to my penultimate favorite character in Yugioh, second only to the storyboarder. Goodbye, forever.

At least the death sequence for the Caltrain seemed appropriately long, as it should be. Rex’s went ON but the Caltrain? Lets get that slowmo pan for it. Goodbye, first train in Yugioh (that wasn’t shaped like a dragon.)

And I just figured it was Darts who did this, but apparently Darts was just as upset as I was when he saw that train derail and then soar 500 feet above the track like a figure skater.

Y’ALL

First off congrats to Darts’ fluffy as hell lower eyelash extensions, I’m lowkey jealous.

Second off, every year on the ballot we get a measure that wants to funnel money into the Caltrain. Every single year. It almost never passes, and when it does, the money sort of vanishes into the aether. It’s really annoying.

To think that THIS ineptitude is what helped Darts loose track of Yami and I’m going to assume save the whole damn world.

I can’t believe the auto lobby and the corrupt Caltrain management just saved the world like that.

I can’t believe that’s Canon to Yugioh.

My expression when I found out that after we just mercifully cut the cast by two, they decided to stick in this new guy?

Ugh a new guy.

So Yugi and Tea do say at the end “you ok?” “yeah” so it’s nice that Tea can survive a train crash off a cliff into a ditch. Tea, and this reincarnated ghost. God tier.

Anyway if you just got here, this is a link to read these in order

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

I feel like I say every week “ah, I finally have time to catch up” but I still post at exactly the same rate anyway but...I guess we’ll see, huh?

#ygo #yugioh #Yu-Gi-Oh #Yugi Muto #Yami muto #Tea gardner #joey wheeler #rex raptor #Weevil underwood #Darts #very sorry to the Dart enthusiasts who just want to talk about the game darts #caltrain #Wow caltrain I'll miss you #This episode is Yami acting like a crazy person for like half the time and I'm all for it #S4 #Ep17

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taikanyohou · 4 years

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I kind of wish everyone could be more optimistic right now, I feel that episode 13 will make us feel better about this episode and also we can’t expect a series to have no conflict. Yes it could’ve been written better but right now tumblr just looks like a group of people who hate the show. I know it comes from the fact that we all love it in the first place but let’s try to be optimistic. Criticism is good but idk...

hiii anon!! i get you, i do, but i think the disappointment is honestly coming from a place of genuine love and care, mostly bc the majority of us all who have been here since ep 1 have dedicated 12 weeks of our life to this show, during a time when it became our only source of happiness (which obviously no one could have predicted), which it has!!! and ... had this "blip of a bad ep" come sooner in the series, i dont think the intensity of our frustrations would be this high. but bc its come at the penultimate ep, by at which point we Know sarawat and tine inside out, it just feels ... sad that it had to happen now. and like i keep saying, every show is allowed to have one bad ep! every show has one! i guess with 2gether, it happned now, just so that we can get a jam packed, hopefully-50 to 55 minute- finale.

and i Know for certain that the series is gonna end well. it is. but its also okay to be disheartened too when a bad ep happnes, just as much as we sang praises of the show when ep 9, the show's most strongest and - till now - best ep aired.

#faiza answers

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danwhobrowses · 4 years

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10 Things that would’ve Improved the Game of Thrones Final Season (For Me)

So it came to my attention that recently it was the First Anniversary of the Final Episode of HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’. I was taken back to my memory of the BinGOT thing we had at work where we all made predictions of who lived, died and ‘won’ from the last ep (I was in 2nd or 3rd place). And since my mother has started binging it during quarantine I thought in the spirit of that environment I’d discuss a little what I would’ve changed in the final season.

Spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8 Below, if you haven’t watched it then you’re better off not reading this frankly, if you haven’t been spoiled already at least.

So for starters, the final episode is not the worst tv I’ve ever seen, it just was a sloppy final season in general that really didn’t satisfy the 2 years of hype waiting for it, it’s like with the How I Met Your Mother finale, but that annoyance being more than one episode. But without further ado here are 10 things I would’ve changed about the final season Note: Most will involve the finale. The first 2 episodes were great.

10 - Ten Episodes The Long Night was 1 episode, the LONG NIGHT. A Culmination of the army of living and dead confined into one episode. One of the main problems with the final season was that the pacing was a bit rushed, it made character progression seem unnatural and dropped long-built plot points like water through a sieve. With 10 episodes, which was not a big ask given that this was the usual number and the gravitas of it being the final season would easily allow it to be green lit. D&D immediately backed themselves into a corner by giving a limit they weren’t used to and too much content to put in.

9 - Bite of the Spider Varys’ death was an upsetting start of the penultimate episode, while I would’ve loved him to have survived start to end and potentially ended on top (because he’s never shown to be as cunning or dangerous as he is in the books) there was some sense in him dying. However, Varys was shown sending a letter before his arrest and that never came back up, the finale could’ve used this by revealing to the public Jon’s true heritage, which would’ve immediately undermined Dany’s claim and set up a better conflict. Also we never knew what the voice in the flames said to him...

8 - A More Fitting Long Night While everyone probably popped hard for Arya killing the Night King, myself included, the nature of it was rather abrupt. I don’t think anyone can buy that she sneaked past that entire army. I do feel like the Night King was just a MacGuffin for the Long Night, given that he did so little in the actual fight. This is where a multi-part Long Night would’ve been key as well, going from the Night King being immune to Dragonfire to dying a bit later was not a good pace, and we lacked any conflict with Jon like we teased twice, Arya probably wasn’t the most poetic person to kill him either but GoT seldom did poetic deaths (Joffrey, Cersei, Euron). While the Long Night had exemplary deaths like Theon, Lyanna, Jorah and Beric, the Night King fell among the ranks of Melisandre and Edd in terms of meh deaths. The Long Night should’ve been a bigger bloodbath than it was, half the Dothraki somehow survived remember, we didn’t get to see Ghost fight at all either, no giant spiders, a lot of the tension was lost with the way some fight scenes were filmed; it was too easy to read between the lines and not enough characters had any true ‘oh god this person could die’ scenes.

7 - Resolution for the Characters we didn’t See and Plots unresolved With so much funding and finality in the show, there felt like there could’ve been more stuff that could’ve been resolved; what was the Quaith’s prophecy about? What really happened with the Doom of Valyria? Why does Dragonglass and Valyrian steel kill White Walkers? What is Daario doing after Dany died? Were the Faceless Men really that okay with letting Arya wander around knowing their skillset? Nobody hired them to help in the war either. What happened to the remnants of that warlock dude who stole the baby dragons, they sent one scorpion and that’s it, what happens with the Little Birds now that they’re leaderless? Who was Azor Ahai? What were the spirals about? There are a lot of questions the show kinda just, ignored.

6 - The Mad Queen So, Dany going from ‘I’ll stop if they surrender’ to ‘Burn them fucking all’ was abrupt for many, the majority of fans were not ready or willing to accept turning on their Kaleesi in just one episode. While I could see the conclusion coming from being jumped, losing another ‘child’ and her closest friend as well as her new boyfriend being her nephew and a legitimate threat to her legitimacy despite already pledging fealty, Dany’s descent could’ve used more time, and less naivety. While the death of the dragon was a huge shock, the idiocy fell on Dany in thinking that Cersei would play fair and wouldn’t try to occupy Dragonstone while she abandoned it. There also fell inconsistency when the same fleet and rows of Scorpion crossbows suddenly got Stormtrooper aim during ‘The Bells’. Euron is a renowned sailor, he ruined a Dornish fleet in a previous season, he may be an annoying bastard but you have to treat his naval tactics with a bit more respect - and make Dany less stupid with Cersei doing Cersei things. A lot of people definitely needed more time in buying the idea that Dany had lost her cool and that she blamed all of Westeros to justify burning everyone unashamedly.

5 - Proper Redemption We all know who we’re talking about. Jaime, Jaime, Jaime. In the end he just proved Olenna’s point didn’t he? And his turn away from redemption was only to serve as an example point for Tyrion to use to convince Jon to kill Dany. Jaime didn’t have to live, but he didn’t have to die rushing to Cersei’s rescue, or even due to Euron stabbing him. If anything Jaime should’ve died with some Honour, to be the inverse of Ned as he was presented in Season 1.

4 - My Lady does not have to mean M’Lady This is probably the most selfish ones of my 10 but as a shipper at my very heart and soul I wanted one, at least one, ship to survive this entire turmoil and Gendry and Arya were that couple. We almost had it as well, but then for some mad reason D&D decided that Gendry, despite literally saying that “none of it will be worthwhile if you’re not with me”, stayed in Storm’s End. Arya’s character endgame was right in her venturing off not being bound by the fact that she’s a noble, but Gendry spent a lot of time not caring that he was of Kingsblood to basically being his Father’s son. He’ll rule Storm’s End, marry some woman to have kids, but he’ll still have fallen into the same pit as King Robert did. It would’ve been much more satisfying and hopeful if Gendry abandoned the titles and land he never wanted or needed to accompany someone he loves and who loves him back on an adventure into the unknown. She’s not a ‘lady’ if she’s only marrying a blacksmith and love is the death of duty.

3 - Sansa is NOT Smart (and gets what she actually deserves) Right. So I really, really didn’t like Sansa. Like, I get it, she got held hostage by the Lannisters, watched her father get beheaded, got accused of murder, learned that her brother and mother died, watched the guy who fancied her mother and kissed her kill her aunt and then got effectively sold to an abuser in an arranged marriage. But Sansa is not the smartest player in the game, it was annoying that they tried to portray her as one, she had one idea that anyone could’ve told you ‘don’t be stupid against Ramsay Bolton’. She spent all of Season 8 mainly giving side eye like a petty bitch, completely trying to undermine Dany despite the two being very very similar (remember Dany was raped, sold off in an arranged marriage and watched family members get killed too) to the point where she was conspiring for Jon to usurp her. And in reality she took her ball and left, she was so pissy that the leaders didn’t pick her to be Queen of Westeros that she literally pointed out her own brother’s infertility, claimed that the North wouldn’t bow to a monarch, then declared herself Queen. Hide the ‘Yas Queen’ goggles for a sec, this wasn’t empowering she was throwing her own brother under the bus because she wanted to be queen, and she learned far too much from Littlefinger and Cersei’s playbook to actually be a just one. The North is allowed to be an independent nation, but Sansa’s ‘victory’ was more earned by virtue of a lot of shit happened to her than her actually demonstrating qualities to be queen.

2 - Bran Stark can’t come to the Phone right now... While we’re on the subject of Stark children not being fit rulers, Bran. What a cockamamie decision that was. I was 100% behind the destruction of the Iron Throne, but the chorus of laughter with a democratic rule was a bit of a slap in the face. Of all the choices though, Bran had to be near the bottom, it felt completely unearned that he spent literal seasons disconnecting from the world even to the point where he told Meera and Sam that Bran Stark is no longer here anymore only for Bran Stark to magically resurface when a crown is in waiting. I think it defeats the whole Three Eyed Raven thing too, the guy isn’t really one for the people, which is the problem every other ruler before him failed at. If you can’t pick a just person to lead, then why not a council instead? Just using Bran was a poor and messy decision.

1 - THE MOTHERFUCKING VALONQUAR One of the few expectations across all of Game of Thrones was the wondering over whether Cersei was gonna get what’s coming to her, the Maggy the Frog prophecy was going along quite well up until the Valonquar bit, where the younger sibling that was going to choke the life out of her was: bricks. BRICKS! Of all the long-winded prophecy foreshadowings to drop this one was the worst, Cersei (and Jaime) died in underwhelming, thoughtless fashion, the lack of fanfare on killing off one of the best and most ‘love to hate’ villains in the show only cemented the fact that the finale was not able to live up to the hype. True, most of these are small changes, but it’s worth remembering that there was some good coming out of the final season and it was the lack of those little things and attention to detail that led to the season ending on an underwhelming note.

We did however get a good ton of memes out of it, and at work a long-winded discussion on who should get the ‘winner’ 5-points (compared to the 1 correct points) since we had technically agreed that the 5 points goes to “whoever correctly guesses who sits on the Iron Throne” XD I still can’t believe I was right in Drogon melting the throne though that was one in a million

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multimetaverse · 5 years

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Andi Mack 3x19 Review

A Moving Day was a lovely episode though one that had too much filler for such a late episode. Let’s dig in!

Positives:

Despite the cut ep and the re-shoots they were able to give Bex and Bowie a lovely wedding. Bex and Bowie have really been one of the core story lines for the show and it’s nice to see them get such a happy ending. There was a lot of history packed into Bex thanking Bowie for sticking it out and boy was the pay off ever worth it.

This smaller wedding works much better for their dynamic than the big farm wedding did and having it just be a main character affair makes the show more equal. And the snow and the trees and mountains and gazebo made for one of the most visually stunning eps of the show. Almost like a farewell to filming on location in Utah.

Asher’s performance of You Girl was awesome, glad they played what seemed like the whole song.

Like Celia, I’m also glad no one said ‘um’!

It was nice to see Celia again. I’m glad they were able to give her ample screen time this ep to somewhat make up for what she’s lost. It makes so much sense that she’d be so into puzzles. And really showcases her personality that she climbs a mountain in heels.

This really was a nice send off for the whole Mack family. Andi gets the nuclear family she’s always wanted, Bex and Bowie get the happy ending they’ve waited 14 years for, and Celia gets to see her wayward daughter take charge of her life.

It took until the penultimate episode but we finally met Jonah’s mom, Judy Beck née Bartholomew (Terri really does like her Biblical names). That she ended up marrying one of her background helpers is a love story for the ages.

I’m glad they gave Jonah a happy ending and we can end the series knowing that his family is in a better place and on track to recover from bankruptcy.

I’ll have more to say about the filler in the negatives section but I did like Buffy’s deconstructed toast line, Cyrus not being self deprecating about his strength, and Asher almost breaking character while doing his mom’s dance.

Nice that they snuck in one more Buffy picking up Cyrus moment. Truly those two have the best friendship on this show.

I’m almost certain that Bowie scaring Celia was a nod to Trent scaring people on set, he has a whole instagram story dedicated to him spooking his co-workers.

They brought in one of their casting directors, Steven O’Connor, to play the officiant which was a nice gesture and of course we got one last family cameo with Coco Angel playing Judy.

Re-Shoots:

Bringing in this section since most of this ep were re-shoots. I’m not going to nit pick the plot holes that arose because of them: like how did Jonah learn You Girl without Bowie teaching him, how did he write the extended version, how Jonah and Cyrus and Buffy got to the Gazebo, why Cyrus and Buffy were dressed as waiters and didn’t actually do any waitering. Obviously whatever the original Gazebo event was would have had differences and production had limited time and budget to turn it into a new wedding as smoothly as possible.

Not much actually happened in this ep and that was a sad side effect of the re-shoots. Scenes like the Macks in the car and the Macks hiking dragged on so long because they were easy to film fairly quickly, just like the party scenes in A Good Hair Day were quite long.

I’m actually glad that they didn’t bother giving a reason for Bex suddenly deciding to get married. I don’t think it would have made all that much sense in otl anyway but without Ham I don’t think they could have come up with a good enough justification. At least with Ham it would have made some sense that he could have mended the rifts between Bex and Bowie and Bex and Celia since he was always the peacemaker and reasonable authority figure as well as a surrogate father and best man for Bowie.

It seems that every story line except for Tyrus was damaged in some way by the cuts and re-shoots but definitely Celia suffered the most, which is such a shame.

Negatives:

I can’t believe the show decided to waste precious time on a toast making competition in the second to last ep of the entire series. It might have been fine in 3a but to have that filler for a cold open so late in the game is awful.

I gasped when Judy asked Jonah if she could finally meet his friends. He’s been friends with the GHC for like 14 months at this point and they still know nothing about his family? They’ve always kept Jonah apart from the GHC in a lot of ways which hasn’t been to the show’s credit. And while I’m glad that we finally met Jonah’s mom, it shouldn’t have taken this long.

I’m not surprised but I was disappointed that we never heard that Jonah told his parents about his panic attacks. I get that in America’s horrifying healthcare system that they probably wouldn’t have been able to afford treatment but at least if they knew they could support him and try to help.

Looking Ahead:

Terri must love Winnie the Pooh if she’s having Cyrus quote him as shown in the most recent finale promo. The way Disney cuts the quote with clips from the ep is very clever: we have Tyrus being brave enough to confess their feelings, Muffy strong enough to be vulnerable and get together, and Jandi smart enough to know that now is not a good time for them go get back together.

Looks like Terri was able to get ample screen time for TJ and Marty so Tyrus and Muffy won’t feel rushed.

Very glad that Cyrus is the one who approaches TJ at the bench. I’m very interested to see how we go from delusion to confession on Cyrus’ part. Certainly they look happy when Cyrus asks if he can sit and Cyrus is obviously there because he wants to confess.

I assume the bench scene will come late in the ep. Cyrus seeing TJ talk to Kira must be what causes him to feel like he was deluding himself but what spurs him to decide it’s worth the risk to confess to TJ I don’t know. If the music performance is after Kira’s appearance than maybe Cyrus is feeling forlorn and then TJ appears to perform with him, in a way making up for costume day, and that gives Cyrus hope. Or if the performance is before Kira than maybe it’s what gets Cyrus’ hopes up only to have them crushed before someone or something gives him hope. Regardless of which scene is when, I do think that Cyrus and Buffy both give each other the final push to go seek out TJ and Marty and lay it all on the line.

I’m trying to keep my expectations low since it’s still Disney but I do think we get hand holding based on their bench scene positioning and the fact that Ciris got to hold hands. I think it’s likely they’ll use the word boyfriend and I do think they have some brief post canon scene inside before the party clears out and that’s likely where Tyrus and Muffy have an interaction. I would also like Andi at least to congratulate them but I’m not holding my breath. Having TJ use the word gay would be amazing but seems unlikely and Luke will be able to confirm it on social media anyways. Having Cyrus compliment TJ’s outfit and say it brings out his eyes would be a nice little moment if Terri could swing it. Josh has heavily hinted that we’d see some pay off to Cyrus calling TJ oblivious back in 3x07 and it would be great if we could see Cyrus using a mashup name for him and TJ like was able to with Iris.

Nice to see them make use of Luke’s piano skills and that means we’ll learn something new about TJ as well as learning his name and of course for most of the audience, the reveal that TJ is gay and likes Cyrus.

Seems like Cyrus, TJ, Buffy, Bex, Bowie, Amber, Jonah, and Andi are involved in the song, not sure where Marty is. Buffy compliments Marty and says he was funny and I wonder if he did some solo performance beforehand or after.

If they sing the theme song that’s cheesy af but I can’t see what else they’d have the rights to.

Muffy confession is outside which makes sense since they’d want some privacy for the Muffy kiss. Very smart to have them canon in the place they first met and once again I’m so glad they got Marty back, a Wuffy endgame just wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good.

I think the scene of Cyrus and Buffy standing inside in their jackets watching Bex and Bowie dance in their dress and tux is likely after they come in from confessing to their boyfriends and near the very end of the ep. I think Andi showing the mains that she’s cleared out Andi Shack because she got into SAVA is probably at the very end and one of the last scenes. I don’t know if the show is gonna pretend she’s starting at SAVA immediately because the finale is in December and she would’t be starting high school for 9 months which takes away a lot of the emotional impact of her moving. Or maybe she gets to start early or has to transfer to some new art middle school to finish up 8th grade in order to beef up her skills before starting at SAVA.

No sign of Kira in any of the promo clips and TJ arrives at the party alone which fits with her appearance meant to be a surprise twist as well as brief since Raquel was only on set for one day and that was the day all the other main and recurring kids were on set and her screen time comes out of TJ’s screen time. I think her 30-60 seconds of screen time will be by far the worst part of the finale. She’s been the most poorly written character on the show; her motvation going from trying to hurt Buffy to trying to date a guy she knows is gay and I’m sure her apology will probably introduce a new motivation, she just wanted a friend or some crap like that. On the plus side it doesn’t look like she sticks around so we don’t have to see TJ befriend her for no justifiable reason though I do think that ‘’sometimes there’s a nice person inside trying to get out’’ line is said to her by TJ or about her by TJ which is awful. I do think that she encourages TJ to talk to or hang out with Cyrus or something and that begins the ‘redemption’ we’ll luckily never have to see.

We’ll see such growth on Amber’s part from her behaviour at the first party to now.

Jonah gives Andi the bracelet maybe? I don’t think they canon but I do think they leave the door open to get back together in the future.

I wonder if Celia is coming back to Shadyside or if she’s leaving for good and I wonder if we’ll get a hint for a Bexie baby.

I’ve been hard on Terri but I do trust that the vast majority of the finale will be great and that she got the best ending possible for the show and I’m glad she fought as hard as I’m sure she did for the wonderful Tyrus ending we’re getting.

It’s going to be bittersweet getting that payoff while also saying goodbye to the show but at least with the longer length we’ll get to see pretty much all of what they filmed.

We’re on the cusp of watching history being made as Tyrus becomes the first gay couple on Disney Channel. With that in mind, I’d like to remind everyone that Tyrus week starts Monday July 22nd at 4pm eastern standard time and I hope everyone reading this will participate in whatever way they can so we can get Tyrus to number 1 on fandometrics.

Can’t believe I only have one more review to write. It’s gonna be a great week and a great ep and I can’t wait for us all to see it!

#Andi Mack #Tyrus #Bexie #Cyrus Goodman #TJ Kippen #Bex Mack #Bowie Quinn #Jonah Beck #Buffy Driscoll #Muffy #Andi Mack Reviews #Andi Mack Meta #Andi Mack Season 3

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smallcomebacknowyhear · 4 years

Text

unforgivable SV sins

(not an exhaustive list) (includes s6 spoilers)

-I feel like im not equipped to list every sin the writers committed against jared but there are Many (and please feel free to reblog with examples if you are so inclined)

-the STARK difference between Dinesh and gilfoyle’s friendship at the end of s4 (they were really vibing!! Gilfoyle was actually being hospitable towards Dinesh!! they were getting celebratory churros together and abandoning richard together!!!!) and the beginning of s5. I think the writers decided their best frenemies dynamic had run out of material which is ofc bullshit because it has infinite potential

-Gilfoyle’s degradation of personality/lack of development- they made him too untouchable to be relatable and too mean to be sympathetic. Plus the only real thing we know about him is that hes a satanist and its just kinda lazy that they tell us at every opportunity that he is one (goat plush AND baphomet plush on his desk, inverted cross tattoo AND baphomet tattoo!! give him another trait or interest besides being racist please!!!)

-setups with no payoffs: they introduce Jeff as a mole, then show that the guys know there is a mole but they dont know who it is, setting up a plotline that could have lasted the entire rest of the season, but instead the next episode they explain how jared and gilf found the mole offscreen in the most boring way possible (Jeff is STALLION coder. how could he be dumb enough to use his PP email to talk to Gavin? Jeff use ANY OTHER ACCOUNT its not hard.... also encrypting all your emails takes more effort than just using a different account to send normal emails)

(-plus the entire “jeff has to spend time with Dinesh as punishment” thing- not only is Dinesh someone jeff should enjoy spending time with bc jeff is at least the same level of dork as Dinesh, but dinesh’s personality seriously deteriorated in season 5 from someone who was a little awkward but would still be nice to hang out with, to a guy who tries way too hard to be cool and has absolutely no self awareness. Plus the jokes surrounding this whole arc just seemed “big bang theory” level lazy to me- Dinesh wants to go to battlebots with jeff and thats the entire joke, etc)

-and ofc the setup with no payoff that was “gwart dumped jared, how will jared get back in with PP?? - oh we’re not going to show or tell you he’s just back in the next ep like he was never gone”

-I dont think any human being would act the way Dinesh does in the episode where Danny tells him his code had less errors than gilfoyle’s. And honestly when you rewatch season one it’s like Dinesh is a completely different guy, they completely flanderized him but its not really flanderization because they kinda added in the characteristic “unjustly inflated ego” in like season 4??

-they took the concept of an engineer who builds a robot and falls in love with her and just.... didnt do anything to make it interesting or different from the current well of narratives surrounding that topic. Honestly making one change to the episode would vastly improve it- if they’d cast someone who looked more like the Blood Boy to play the engineer, and given him a charming and charismatic personality, it would have been way more interesting. First of all you would have never seen it coming, whereas I saw the reveal coming a mile away because it was so obvious, but it would also actually say something about a guy who has absolutely no problem forming bonds with human beings who CHOOSES to interact on an intimate level with a robot instead of putting that energy into relationships with other humans.

-I’m willing to suspend disbelief wrt plotholes when the episode was actually funny or had some overarching theme that was satisfying, etc. But Russfest had two plotholes (how exactly did entering Yaonet through the backdoor result in kicking laurie’s devices off Pied Piper networks? if this made sense they did not explain it well enough - and the whole thing with the lights turning off suddenly but then magically turning back on when Russ “voice command”ed them to) and its the friggin penultimate episode, it’s supposed to make sense and be funny and be narratively satisfying and although it did have some good moments (gwart betraying laurie and richard stomping on his laptop) those plotholes are just not excusable

-this is more the HBO marketing teams fault but I’m really mad that they put Dinesh saying “you turned down a billion dollars” in the promo material. not only did it completely ruin the suspense of whether richard was going to agree to maximo’s offer, but it also ruined the reveal that he wasn’t offering a few million but a billion dollars. maybe its just my fault for watching promos?

-speaking of maximo the fact that he was a big focus of the beginning of the season and then he just kinda dropped off the face of the earth. I’m sorry but when season 2 sets up the standard that “plotlines that get introduced in the first episode of the series will remain intact and be resolved in a climactic manner in the final ep of the season” I’m disappointed when plotlines just kinda fizzle out after two episodes. especially in a SEVEN EPISODE SEASON

-just generally not enough boyfamily bonding/interpersonal bonding in general. Its very unrealistic that they never so much as MENTIONED any of the guys birthdays or the bashes jared would obviously throw for them. its also very unrealistic that........ Dinesh and jared werent friends and its absolutely a sin that Dinesh picked on jared so much :c

#sv spoilers #silicon valley hbo #sv squad #thinky thoughts

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