#adds a lot of depth that wasn’t there in the episode
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the thing about doctor/river is that the blatant romance is a defense mechanism. it’s playacting it’s how they sketch out the boundaries of their relationship because they can never be sure of how the scales of intimacy are balanced - they love each other, sure, but they are so rarely in a place where they both know enough about each other for mutual trust. so you get these really interesting juxtapositions like how eleven is in full flirty mode for impossible astronaut/day of the moon to the point where it feels like they’re about to make out every time they’re in the same frame but at the same time he dismisses her with “trust you? seriously?” and is shocked when she actually kisses him goodbye. in let’s kill hitler they flirt like hell when she is literally trying to murder him but not at all when they save each others’ lives. in the wedding of river song kovarian complains about them being lovey-dovey in front of her but right after that the doctor attempts to reset the timeline and river has to drag him kicking and screaming into respecting her enough to tell her the truth. in angels take manhattan we get both “just you wait till my husband gets home” (flaunting their relationship to grayle) and “never let him see the damage” (she doesn’t trust him to love her as a flawed, mortal person). they’re out of sync all the time, so sincerity is off the table except when it’s a necessary shortcut to trust that doesn’t exist yet - river whispering his name to him in the library when he doesn’t know her yet, their literal wedding being a tool the doctor uses to convince her to let him “die.”
the thing about “hide the damage” in particular is that river was responding to the doctor’s own fear of seeing the damage. she lied to him because she was trying to give him what he wanted, even if he couldn’t admit it. and it applies both to the broken wrist and to their relationship in general. every time he looks at her all he can see is the pain of her death, and she can see that he’s holding back even if she doesn’t exactly know why. this was always going to be a barrier to true intimacy between them unless they could be linear for long enough to know and see each other as they are, not as they’re going to be or as they were.
that’s why husbands of river song is such a perfect resolution for them. the only way river would ever be honest enough to let him see her insecurities is if she didn’t know who he was, so it had to be twelve and not eleven. and it specifically had to be twelve fresh from losing his memories of clara, so that he’d stop running away from confronting her death and just give them those 24 years together on darillium to really get to know each other, to see the ugliness and the imperfections and stay together anyway. it makes perfect sense that after that they could reach the level of love and trust river has for “her doctor” in the library, in a way that just isn’t possible with a relationship built on whirlwind dates done out of order and nothing else.
#there's a scene where ten is thinking about how every time he meets river the memory of her death hurts more#so he decides to avoid her because he thinks somehow if he can change their future she won't die for him#(of course she didn't only die for him but he's too arrogant to see that)#and i think though eleven kind of gives up on avoiding her#he still flinches away from loving her because he knows it'll hurt (name of the doctor my beloved <3)#river song#doctor who#dw meta#dw rewatch#dw#my meta#oh the ten thing is in the day of the doctor novelization. forgot to mention that lmao.#highly recommend reading it#adds a lot of depth that wasn’t there in the episode#meta#mine
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okay first three episodes thoughts
good
bending is cool as fuck
sozin’s actor does an amazing job at full crazy but calculated
scenery is STUNNING
monk gyatso made me cry. idk why i just saw him and wanted him to give me a hug so bad
APPA ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD AND NOT LIKE A LITERAL MONSTER
i wasn’t sure how id feel about them showing the air nomad massacre but i think the importsnt thing is that they showed it was a massacre - and that although they can defend themselves, they don’t have the ability to fight back like an organised army would bc they’re pacifists! they attacked a peaceful group
the abandoned fire nation ship in the southern water tribe looks so fucking cool
ARTIST ZUKO???!!! LETS GOOO
Dallas does an amazing job at getting across Zuko’s intense desperation
I actually ended up loving all the Sokka and Suki interactions sm it was so cute and wholesome
Katara is perfect i will kill and die for her
Azula’s opening scene being her manipulating those people trying kill ozai ultimately leading them to getting burned alive by him and smiling - literally so fucking good. she is the best villain in history of forever
really good move having the mechanist (Sai!) and Teo be in Omashu imo. having them destroy the northern Air Temple so carelessly always pissed me off
THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE LITERALLY PERFECT I AM SCREAMINGGGG
I was wondering how they were going to introduce the Mechanist and Jet in a limited amount of episodes but I like how they combined the two stories
Also Sokka absolutely nerding out in the Mechanist’s home is so important to me
Zuko getting has ass beat by that lady for fighting Aang is literally so funny and reminiscent of the goofy aang vs zuko fights we see in season 1 (to be clear: i adore zuko. this is NOT hate on him)
Zuko losing shit about his notebook and trashing his room and then outing himself as a fire bender in Omashu is so perfect. god i love him so much. it’s very season 1 zuko. it’s giving I DONT NEED ANY CALMING TEA!!!
things i was not a fan of: (some of these are a little pedantic i’ll admit)
Exposition is a little is a little janky but i’ll forgive it i guess bc at least it isn’t egregious as The Movie That Shall Not Be Named
Aang leaving just to get fresh air/clear his head and intending to come back is a silly change to me. all i keep thinking about is the storm where we got those epic Zuko and Aang parallels which now doesn’t really work and also takes away a lot of Aang’s depth. A good change adds to the story, but personally this seems to take it away
WHY would they not make Katara the one to bring him back from the avatar state? just seems like a strange choice to me? not saying this from a shipping point at all but that moment is a big step to their bond/friendship especially since they have only just met
Still don’t understand why they made the head of the village Suki’s mum. like i don’t think it’s a terrible choice but they still could have let them have a mother/daughter bond but still let Suki be the leader without any implications of nepotism. it mostly seeems silly
tl;dr - really enjoying it so far!
#avatar the last airbender#netflix atla#netflix avatar#zuko#katara#sokka#aang#suki#iroh#ozai#jack talks#live action series
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Look don’t get me wrong I love the PJO TV show. The cast is perfect and some moments that were added I absolutely loved. But… there are some things I felt were so well done in the book there was no need to change it and I’m a little disappointed by the adaptation’s version.
Some of these takes I saw from other people and it put into words what I was feeling so I’m just expanding on what they said.
1. Gabe could’ve been worse. We are supposed to get mean Smelly Gabe vibes and Sally isn’t supposed to feel comfortable standing up to him. I understand “girl boss” and disneys restrictions but it still wasn’t great. I’m hoping they add something towards the end so his murder feels deserved.
Edit: upon a rewatch I take this back and believe Gabe was still abusive, if not physically as in the book, but as manipulative and demanding which is still abuse so I actually appreciate the changes they made now.
2. Sally felt off. Like they read her plot points but didn’t understand her character. She is wholesome and kind and devoted to Percy. The Sally we know never would’ve put that much pressure on Grover, plus him putting the pressure on himself is vital to his character. They also made her seemingly pine for Poseidon. They shouldn’t have changed the way she described her relationship with him and the choices she made to keep Percy safe. (I will say though that the Jesus joke was perfect and hilarious)
Edit: upon rewatch I still believe the wholesomeness was lost a little but I have come to like her character more and think these changes allow for greater depth into Sally’s story which I’m excited for.
3. We should’ve gotten Percy remembering the warm glow of Poseidon. I thought it was important that Poseidon broke the rules and came to see Percy when he was a baby and had that memory.
4. Percy thinking that Annabeth looked like a goddess when he first saw her was so cute and said a lot about how he viewed her. I think they should’ve kept it.
5. I think Luke being the one to guide Percy around the camp was a great choice, but Annabeth should’ve been part of welcoming scenes. And Grover should’ve been the one to tell the story of Thalia.
Edit: Episode 3’s reveal of Grover’s story was genius I take this back!
6. The claiming in the book was perfect! There was no reason to change the dialogue or have the trident not be the way it’s originally described. And seeing the campers reactions/having them bow down was important. I was underwhelmed tbh.
7. Percy is SMART! He was the one to put together that Sally was alive and agree to the quest in order to get her back. There was no reason for Grover to be the one to do it.
Otherwise it was wonderful. I still love it immensely and the care into the heart of the show I feel is still there. I can’t wait for next week!
And yes, I know Rick wrote the episodes and was a part of every single choice that was made so if he wants to leave something out obviously he knows his story the best this is just my opinion.
#pjo#pjo tv show#pjo tv series#pjo adaptation#percy jackson#percy jackon and the olympians#Annabeth chase#Grover underwood#Sally Jackson#percy jackson and the olympians
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I’ve seen a few takes on the whole “Is the writing actually bad or are you trying to order a milkshake from the hardware store?” genre expectations thing for OFMD s2 and I’m gonna add my own.
Yes, I know it’s billed as a lighthearted pirate romcom. And s1 was just that. But s1 also had some incredibly solid character arcs and thematic elements and layers and so much depth that were shaped by some more serious dramatic bits here and there.
I wasn’t expecting that going into it. In s1, I was expecting to go into the hardware store for hardware, as anyone would, because it’s advertised as a hardware store. But then I got there and discovered that this particular hardware store also happened to sell milkshakes. I didn’t expect milkshakes from a hardware store, especially not really good milkshakes since that seems like it might be a tough thing to sell together, but they were able to keep the hardware out of the milkshakes and vice versa, so it was great. You didn’t have to order a milkshake if milkshakes weren’t your thing and you never planned on ordering one since it’s ultimately a hardware store. You could just come for hardware. You could also really just come for the milkshakes if you wanted to, but it was still really clear that we were getting that milkshake from a hardware store.
And then s2 started and the hardware store spent three episodes really expanding on the milkshake sales. To the point it was like wow, if I hadn’t been told this was a hardware store, I’d almost think it was a milkshake shop. And since it was ultimately meant to be a hardware store, they clearly had to try and sell some hardware, but that seemed like it ended up being a little hard to make room for with how much of the store had been filled with milkshakes, so suddenly there are some milkshakes made with nails and screws, and there are toolboxes and lumber with milkshakes spilled on them. And idk maybe they should’ve served fewer milkshakes if they still were gonna try and sell that much hardware, because these things really don’t always mix and now we can’t really use either of them like that. But still, they just kept making more and more and more milkshakes until the blenders just exploded and there’s just this gigantic milkshake mess everywhere.
So at the onset of e4 it’s like okay, yeah, I have faith that this hardware store will definitely clean up the milkshakes because they’re clearly all over this place; it can hardly even be a hardware store til the milkshakes are cleaned up. But then besides a handful of paper towels that are used to clean up a little tiny puddle of milkshake, everyone just… resumes work selling hardware? Despite the fact that they’re still just walking around in the gigantic milkshake mess??
And that just keeps going til there’s only one episode left and it’s like geez idk why they still haven’t cleaned up the milkshakes I hope they can somehow. That seems tough with so little time left, but this place started as really great hardware store that sold quality milkshakes, so maybe they can pull it off.
But then instead, the CEO of the hardware store decides to unexpectedly murder one of the hardware store employees and says it was a kindness because said employee was just so sticky from the milkshakes that never got cleaned up. Which doesn’t seem like a valid reason AT ALL? and even in a messy, milkshake-covered hardware store, that WASN’T something anyone would typically expect to see?? Plus it still did NOTHING to clean up the milkshakes??
And a lot of us are left just asking “i don’t understand, why did no one clean up the milkshakes???” and for some reason, the response to that often seems to be “hardware stores don’t sell milkshakes”. No, they usually don’t, but this one did. None of us would have ever tried to order a milkshake if it hadn’t been established that this specific hardware store has always sold them, and we’re a little concerned that it’s still just covered in them.
It was also super confusing that the hardware store locked its doors and stuck an “out of business forever” sign up while also still planning to open again like usual but said that if they don’t, at least everyone got a happy ending.
Like… um I really don’t think they did and either way I’m a little wary about shopping at this hardware store again.
#I probably took the metaphor too far#ofmd spoilers#ofmd#ofmd season 2#izzy hands#ofmd season 2 spoilers#ofmd critique#ofmd critical#media literacy#media analysis
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I like the show version of Chishiya, and here’s why.
I love manga!Chishiya, but he always felt pretty one-dimensional to me. His backstory is one of parental neglect, similar to Arisu. Chishiya basically fails to develop a sense of empathy (unlike Arisu, who just has ye olde Main Character Syndrome). He decides to enter med school because he thinks that a profession where he saves lives might actually help him grow a Give-a-Shitter. Spoiler: it doesn’t.
Manga!Chishiya is an emotional flat line. He doesn’t care about other characters because he can’t. I remember thinking that he had a lot of the same traits as a serial killer. He viewed the world through nothing but intellect, and other people were either nonexistent or pawns to be used to further his own ends. Even the idea that maybe being responsible for the lives of others will help him grow some empathy is a chilling one.
That’s cool. I actually really like those kinds of characters. I also think there are enough characters like that in the story. Characters who you look at and think, “Okay, yes, you are terrible.” The big problem is that it makes his weird self-sacrifice with Usagi absolutely senseless. Like, it came out of nowhere. There wasn't any sort of satisfying build-up where I felt like, "Okay, yeah, this makes sense."
His updated backstory adds a dimension that wasn’t present in the manga version. Rather than simply lacking empathy for other people, you can actually see the moment in which he makes the conscious decision to turn it off. He has this light bulb moment where he realizes that the world is a cruel and unfair place. He realizes that allowing himself to feel for other people is only going to hurt him in the end because he’s powerless to change the systems that are actively harming them. It's better to protect himself and survive.
Chishiya is a selfish character, but the idea that his selfishness stems out of a desire to protect himself from pain gives his character some actual depth that was always missing for me. It also makes the King of Diamonds game a lot more meaningful. Kuzuryu went through the same exact thing, but instead of turning off his feelings, he paralyzed himself with a moral dilemma. Where Chishiya chose to treat all human life as equally worthless, Kuzuryu couldn’t stop looking for some value to assign, whether that was to ease his conscience or to inform a sense of justice he was desperately trying to find.
I really, really like how that dichotomy played out.
I also think it's interesting that Chishiya feels a lot more psychological in the show. He's clearly highly intelligent in both the manga and the show, and maybe it's just Murakami's performance, but there's something more sinister to him. He's clearly developed some sort of friendly relationship with Kuina. He displays an ability to be playful and seems to genuinely be extending an offer of friendship to Arisu (up until he sells him out for one corn chip). Seeing how he can make these connections that feel genuine to the people involved (unlike his manga self who is pretty universally despised) and still be willing to fuck those people over for his own survival makes him feel a lot more menacing to me.
This ability to flawlessly manipulate and betray also means he has a deep understanding of human emotion, which is illogical by nature. In the manga, Chishiya says outright that he isn't suited for Hearts games, but show!Chishiya feels tailor-made for them.
It's also interesting that in the manga, he seems to get harsher and more isolated. By contrast, in the show, he feels to me like he softens episode by episode. It really struck me in the Jack of Hearts game when he said something about his partner dying because he was too kind. On the surface, you could take it as a typical judgy Chishiya comment, but there actually appeared to be a glimmer of sadness, or envy, or regret. Or all of the above. Or maybe it's just Murakami Nijiro's face that made me think that. Either way, I think it was smart of the showrunners to throw him in that game.
In the end, the King of Diamonds game pushes him to the realization that he really is envious of people who have the ability to be kind. He's envious of people who can make the selfless choice. And it's not because he can't be. It's because he's closed himself off to the vulnerability that allows a person to make that kind of decision. You can't truly save others if you're always protecting yourself.
So, he saves Usagi to try to become that person. And I don't feel it was out of character at all.
#alice in borderland#sky in the borderland#chishiya shuntaro#you all can take this with a grain of salt#i spend too much time thinking about him lmfao
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Fionna and Cake Final Episode Thoughts
Or Alternatively, How A Series Full of Women Managed To Fumble A Story In a Misogynistic Way
Hello everyone, I just got done watching the last few episodes of Fionna and Cake. I haven’t had a chance to rewatch the final 2 episodes out of pure shock, but I have reanalyzed every other episode and have discussed + concluded how/why the finale flopped in the way it did.
Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed a bits and pieces of Fionna and Cake and this is by no means a hate post. But as someone who grew up as an avid fan of both Betty and Simon’s story, I was left unsatisfied by their conclusion. It wasn’t necessarily because they went their separate ways in the end or anything of that nature.
Instead this post will attempt to address the contrasting facets of their relationship in the original series v. Fionna and Cake, the implications of their writing, and how narratively it does not fit in with the rest of the characters or the narrative as a whole. I ask that this is read with nuance + through the perspective as someone who has presented as feminine throughout their life and consider why this story misinterpreted woman characters as a whole.
In addition, I also want to articulate how this series misrepresented Simon as both a character, and how this misinterpretation perpetuates toxic behavior in men across society.
Also, it’s 5 am and I am extremely tired, so I apologize if I gloss over some other things! Feel free to add your own thoughts.
Foremost, the first thing I want to address is how Fionna acts in relation to Simon throughout the beginning of Fionna and Cake.
In many instances, she is shown to be quite apathetic towards Simon’s situation.
Granted, she doesn’t know him. Her first impressions of him are…do not showcase his best qualities either.
Which is fine! It’s quite obvious that it would make narratively more sense for Fionna to feel more empathetic towards Simon as they proceed on their journey together.
Most notably, this line right here foreshadowns the most character growth.
Except…the contrast of this point falls flat in comparison to the tons of other terrible things that Ice King has done as a character.
He
1. Has comparatively more depressive/manic episodes than this
2. Acts comparatively more selfish AND dangerous at other points throughout the series
3. Was a genuine threat to others at one point, especially women
Although the attempt to frame Ice King’s delirious breakdown as the catalyst to Fionna’s sympathy tried to play…
the writers missed an incredible opportunity to showcase just how bad Simon could be as Ice King. Instead.
Instead, it frames him as embarrassing at most.
I’m not a huge Fionna fan by any means, but I think she would have had way more emotional depth if she had been showcased really empathizing with Simon when he was at his worst. It would have made 1. Their relationship more meaningful 2. It would have been nice to see her reflect on how poorly she treated Simon at the beginning of the series. There was a lot of room for emotional growth there.
Which brings me to another point.
I know that as a fandom the general consensus is that Simon is a sad wet cat, and many people hc him as anything other than cishet. But ultimately at the end of the day the writers are trying to portray him as a cisgender heterosexual male.
Which is a big issue when it comes to both him and Betty’s relationship throughout the series.
It’s important to note here: Within the original series, it is well established that Simon is an incredibly selfless man who is equally passionate and obsessed with Betty. Enough to create a time portal see her again, enough to capture princesses as a manifestation of his love for her.
Yet…
Their relationship is framed in such a way that contradicts any of these established traits of their characters.
Simon is incredibly selfish towards Betty. Not only in his actions, but in his words. Which is INCREDIBLY contradicting to his character, as he is shown to be quite selfless throughout the series.
Not only this, but they are BOTH incredibly dismissive throughout the finale!
Why isn’t Betty allowed to get angry at Simon? She not only gave up her life for him, but her agency as well. Not only this! But she infantilized the fuck out of him! She had to literally place him in the shoes of a child for him to understand how much she devoted herself for him.
And this is not her fault as a character! This is a deliberate choice by writers! They chose to write her character this way.
Also despite the fact that Simon is just as passionate as Betty throughout the original series, she is somehow framed as the obsessive one. Even though Simon’s obsession with Betty LITERALLY MANIFESTED IN HIM CAPTURING AND TRYING TO MARRY WOMEN.
And of course the implications of these scenes also makes the exchange between Winter King and Simon about Betty even more fucked up!
The fact that that line about Betty being the “dead one” was never fleshed out sort of implies that the writers only seen Betty as a way to propel Simon’s character development forward.
And it’s done in the most lukewarm way possible. The way that this series was building up, the fact that Betty sacrificed everything, it would have made sense for her to be pissed.
Instead she just lets him go.
And this wouldn’t make me so angry. Except….
Gary sacrificed his entire career to support Marshall. And this is framed in a positive light.
But when a woman does the same exact thing she is punished for it…
It’s not fair.
Now that we’ve established this can we stop pretending that it’s okay for male characters in fiction to get away with acting like children? I’ve said this before, but Simon’s development throughout Fionna and Cake feels on par with Adam Sandler’s Click. Except, to quote @tezzaa “Click actually made me cry”.
Which is incredibly sad, because I love Simon as a character. But it’s clear to me that Simon was not written with an ounce of nuance towards women, even though the majority of the cast is largely female.
It’s sad to see what has been done to this character.
Anyways. Those are my thoughts. I’m sorry if you disagree. I don’t want to debate this, I just wanted to point out how these characters are treated from a feminist’s standpoint. Thank you.
edit: i want to note that i do realize that betty and simon are toxic as a couple, i just don’t think that their writing reflected their toxic tendencies in an accurate way in accordance with their characters
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A zutara rant about Aunt Wu’s prediction.
As a proud Zutarian I personally love the idea about aunt Wu’s prediction that she gave Katara about marrying a powerful bender is actually hinting at Zuko being the guy.
But I did see some antics mention “Zuko isn’t a powerful bender and it’s mentioned a lot that he’s not that good, they didn’t even think he was a fire bender bah bah”
First off that’s very rude!
So let’s over, analyze the fortune teller episode. Looking back on that episode we noticed that Aunt Wu’s predictions are technically accurate, but not always as they seem. this gets confirmed by the end of the episode and how that one man smugly tells Sokka that the prediction, said the village wouldn’t be destroyed and it wasn’t. Or that one guy having a safe trip and almost getting attacked by a platypus Bear but the gang saves him, technically, he still had a safe trip.
So the whole prediction is “ I see great romance for you the man you’re going to marry, he is a very powerful bender.” 
(technically that wasn’t actually the whole prediction, considering A.ang was eavesdropping  and well Kat@ang is all about A.ang and his feelings but I digress)
So the first half I guess is more about your taste in romance. I don’t think or feel like the canon kat@ang is this great epic romantic personality. But hey i’m willing to admit it could just be my taste. However the show does give us an example of a really powerful romances between Oma and Shu. In story lore of a romance that is so great it has been remembered for centuries and has a city named after them and ironically it has the famous enemies to lovers trope. hmm Interesting.
What I can defend though is the part that mentions “the man you will marry is a very powerful bender” you see A.ang it is a very powerful bender and once he is a fully realized avatar, he will probably be considered the most powerful bender. but like I pointed out Aunt Wu’s  predictions have a catch or they’re not always as you expect. And she said, A (not most) very powerful bender that could technically be anyone right? considering there are masters for all the different elements and being considered a master is still very impressive and seen as an accomplishment Even if you are not the avatar. So her future husband could be a possible Master. Adding the fact that most of the masters are old so this person could not even be fully realized yet, Insert Zuko.
So people mention that he isn’t that great of a bender or he’s not that powerful and yes, the show does mention that, but also who tells us that? Oh right. His dad the literal villain. The people that try to put him down tell him that he isn’t good enough. personally, I also think the show try to contradict that by showing us moments. for example in book one he did take down Zhao and showed him mercy. (when I watch the show, I think Zuko is actually holding back a lot of the time because he does have a consciences. his whole arc was kick started by him, having a conscience  and being empathetic so I don’t think it’s crazy to imagine him holding back a little). so when Ozai calls Zuko weak it’s kind of similar to how he calls A.ang weak in the finale. But no one questions A.ang not being a powerful bender. Hmmm weird.
Also, the other reason why I think Zuko being the one in the prediction is just better for the story is because the idea that you can become a powerful bender just feels so satisfying to me. In the show people still need to find masters and grow their skills. we are shown that people get better at things over time if they apply themselves. I think that’s a really good lesson. A similar lesson is already applied with Katara I may add, so it’s pretty fitting in a way.
Also the fact that he learns the true meaning of fire bending adds a nice layer of depth. it isn’t just about the skill of fire bending It’s also about the mindset. It really goes to show how he really has become a better and powerful bender in the end.
#zutara#katara#anti kataang#zuko#zutarian#basically i smell cap whenever someone says omashu was not a parallel to zutara#the fortune teller episode was a zutara episode#Zuko is a powerful bender
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[Updated as of 07/11/23] Reasons why I think Sid is the father
I don’t think other viewers can call fellow Sid-is-the-father theorists delusional anymore. The show is already building up the final contenders and I know in my gut they’re gonna be Sid, Jesse, and Ian. Hopefully we get S4 because I will update this whenever there’s a season break or a season ends.
Possible hints from the show (not the obvious and usually stated ones + not hints that could also apply to other contenders):
- When Sophie enters Pemberton’s to switch phones back with Sid, the engagement party crowd thought she was Hannah
- Sid remembered how much Tinder dates Sophie went on; he paid attention to her well (more on this later)
- Sophie and Sid both experienced relationship problems then found each other at the same time and same place. Sid later gave Sophie advice about finding the right person (funny enough, the advice parallels the situation because Sophie and Sid found each other at the right time to give each other advice)
- Two of Sophie’s by far most important love interests are connected to Sid—Jesse who is Sid’s best friend, and Drew who is a close friend of Sid’s wife
- Sophie remembers the Electric Slide; this time she is proven to pay attention to him
- Sid tells Sophie that he hopes the man she’ll marry will give her a better reception that what he and Hannah have
- If the father isn’t Jesse and Sophie is still married to the father, only Sid would be the perfect candidate to be understanding on why Jesse’s photo is on Sophie’s wall since he is Sid’s best friend
- The father is hinted to have loved Valentine’s Day even before he and Sophie even got together. Unlike the other guys, Sid’s memory for Valentine’s Day was always consistently good. Additionally, when Hannah walked in Pemberton’s to surprise Sid, only Sophie’s reaction was the focus
- Sophie and Sid both remember random facts they found out about each other offscreen; once again solidifying that they do pay attention to each other
- Sid somehow is the only character who has profound or notable interactions with both of Sophie’s parents
- In the episode where Sophie and her father made a popup, she tells her son it’s a story of how she met her father; in this episode, Sid is the only father optioj to interact with Sophie and her father
- Since we know that Sophie narrates the story, it’s important to note that she often emphasizes Sid’s stories by giving us in-depth insight despite their minimal interactions in episodes before 02x13. While she also does this for her other friends, it’s only Sid’s stories that we actually see play out long. To add, Sophie always paints Sid in a positive light in her stories
- In the disengagement episode, Sid and Sophie are implied to know a lot about each other (Sid knowing Sophie’s lock screen, Sophie knowing the password to Sid’s iPad); this isn’t really a hint but again, recurring theme that they pay attention to each other
- Both Sid and Sophie have this storyline where they are judged for their jobs/careers (and in the same episode)
- By 2x18 we see Sophie’s parents again and it’s Sid who primarily consoles them when they (along with Valentina) follow Sophie into Sid and Jesse’s apartment
- Sophie slowly bonds with Sid as each episode progresses and have more significant plots with him more than with Jesse
- Hannah assumed that Sid emotionally cheated on her with Sophie, and it was without reason. After this scene, we then cut to Sophie
- EDIT: Season 1 also had another cheating conversation between Sid and Hannah where Sophie’s situation with Jesse and Drew was the trigger
- Sophie’s son says that he thought it was a happy story to which Sophie replies it was, but we immediately get Sid crying over Hannah—setting the mood that it wasn’t really a happy night for everyone
- By 2x20 we have finally taken Charlie out as a candidate to be the father of Sophie’s child because it’s been confirmed that he ends up with Valentina (Side note: love this revelation. I was on a fifty-fifty with them but they fit well and love each other); Drew can also be taken out of the equation because of how future Sophie talks about him as a mere catalyst, but since there’s not an official confirmation we can just put him down the list for now
- Once again, it needs to be mentioned that the way Sophie talks about Sid in her story is always in a good light. She talks about the father so fondly and only Sid is the male character who is presented with so much emphasis about his personal life, his goodness, and his ability to have someone stir up their fondness for him
Parallels & Connections with HIMYM/Ted and Tracy:
- Alliteration names (Ted Mosby and Tracy McConnell, Sophie and Sid—if Sid’s last name also starts with a letter “T” like Tompkins then that would be interesting)
- Both are romantics. Sophie is a hopeless romantic who can’t find “the one” like Ted, while Sid is a committed romantic who is (and possibly going to be was) in a longterm relationship like Tracy
- Sophie and Sid swap phones, paralleling the yellow umbrella swap
- Sophie and Sid’s banters are very similar to that of Ted and Tracy’s
- Sid has Ted’s old room
- In connection to a point from the previous section, Sophie painting Sid in a picture that’s so positive and feeling untainted is very similar to how Ted paints Tracy in his stories—perfect, an angel, someone who no one could say something bad about, with great fondness
- Not directly related to HIMYM, but in the original HIMYM spin-off (How I Met Your Dad), the lead character Sally met the dad as she was preparing to get divorced. The script of this scrapped spin-off was reworked into HIMYF. I’m not saying it’s a direct answer, but what if the divorce storyline is gonna go to HIMYF’s only married main character father option?
- Sophie and Sid both play detective in 2x19. In HIMYM, Ted and Tracy have this running gag that they loved sleuthing
- Both Sophie and Ted went through all the lengths to get with Jesse and Robin, respectively. When Ted met Tracy he didn’t have to work so much, he just let it happen. Both shows work with a philosophy on how love is hard but loving is supposed to be easy. Both Robin and Jesse have complicated love lines with Ted and Sophie, respectively
Also if it’s any consolation, I previously took a film course for my major. So while I do acknowledge that I could be reading into things too much, I did have backing since I tried to incorporate the concepts to pick these things up.
#THE WRITERS ARE MAKING IT MORE OBVIOUS NOW#because why on earth would hannah assume it’s sophie#but that assumption aside#there’s just so many hints on why it’s gonna be sid#sid is the father#how i met your father#himyf#sid and sophie#sid x sophie#sidsophie
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Stefonnie deleted scene
I’ll never get over the deleted Bonnie and Stefan scenes from season 1 episode 11. This was such a sweet moment that really highlighted Bonnie emotions about her new reality. For some reason some Stan’s act as if they can’t read between the lines with certain characters in certain situations in regard to their feelings and Bonnie’s the main example of that. The show never gave Bonnie a moment to truly express her feelings in most situations in a vulnerable way but THIS WAS THIS WAS THEIR MOMENT!!!
This scene was their moment to give insight to Bonnie’s inner emotions that she hid Instead of giving her the “I’ll be strong” attitude that was so single noted. Although I don’t think this scene would of changed a lot of fans feelings towards Bonnie’s since she was still on guard and judgment to vampires/their faves it still would of been nice to see a more vulnerable side to Bonnie to add more depth to her character. Bonnie wasn’t just scared of vampires she was scared of being a witch and it’s not bc she hated it all it’s because she needed time to understand what was going on around her.
I DONT KNOW WHY STANS ACT LIKE THATS AN ABNORMAL FEELING TO HAVE (besides the obvious her hating on their faves).
Side note: this was such a good Stefonnie scene as well and I hate that the writers ruined the potential friendship that could have been them.
This Scene:
#vampire diaries#bonnie bennett#kat graham#stefan salvatore#paul wesley#stefonnie#Bonnie x Stefan#Stefan x Bonnie#anti julie plec#anti tvd writers#anti tvd stan’s#anti tvd stans who act like Bonnie was being extra for being guarded with vampires who were ruining her life#tvdu#tvd fandom#tvd universe
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PJO Series Overall Thoughts + Pros and Cons
Disclaimer! First of all, there are a lot more cons than pros here, and if you loved the show and don’t want to hear my criticism just keep scrolling. Second, I’m not someone to complain just because it isn’t exactly how it was in the book! I have quite a range of feelings about story changes. In regard to the ones I’ve listed as cons, i’m just irritated that they haven’t been able to match the book in frankly any capacity. I believe that if you’re making changes, it should be a) out of necessity, b) to improve upon the material, or c) taking positive creative license to try a new spin on an element from the source material. But the changes I’m complaining about, for the most part, haven’t met any of those requirements.
Pros:
Sets and Visuals
It was so magical seeing camp come to life!
The Underworld looks fantastic, the visuals are super cool, especially the Fields of Asphodel. That was a really cool spin on the books- the CGI was pretty good, and the concept there was really interesting.
Olympus was very cool looking too! It reminded me of Asgard.
Overall I Just Think There’s Lots of Potential!
Since the leads are fairly inexperienced (and kids), you can’t expect them to be incredible. They’re doing just fine, but I think they have a lot of potential, and I’m excited to see them grow over the course of the series!
Generally I still really like the casting and have high hopes for these actors, I just wish (for our sake and theirs) that they had better material to work with.
Plot Changes
This ones kind of a pro AND a con: Generally, I really like the flashbacks! They add a lot more depth to Sally, and her relationships with Percy and Poseidon. That being said, the episodes typically feel far too short to be adding material that wasn’t in the books. I thought it was fantastic in episode 7, but in other episodes it didn’t quite work when so much else was cut, or there were opportunities left untaken as a result.
I also liked that they included a few flashbacks with Luke in the finale- there was so much training and time at camp that didn’t fit into the first two episodes.
They got rid of the “names have power” stuff which is great (never made sense in the books).
They did a really nice job humanizing Medusa, but still creating conflict with her, and simultaneously setting up further issues with the gods.
I also agreed with their decision to move the fight from Santa Monica to Montauk, to save time.
Cons:
Dialogue and Writing
The dialogue is definitely less charming than in the books. It’s a huge part of what makes them fun, and the dialogue here is honestly pretty bland. The characters don’t totally feel like themselves, but it isn’t only the acting. Forcing the characters to be explaining stuff to each other nearly every time they have a conversation makes them a lot less personable.
Honestly, this series feels kind of elementary in comparison to the middle grade books. I’d imagine that, like the books, they were aiming to create something that could be enjoyed by young kids and adults alike. But I didn’t find it as successful as the book in this regard.
And the dialogue is consistently so surface level! Stiff, boring, and above all, CONSTANTLY telling over showing. This affects the likability of the characters, and the ability of the actors. Both parties are deterred by the info dumping, as they aren’t really given as many genuine lines or interactions as they should have.
Honestly, it kind of feels a bit like they gave some of Percy’s personality to Annabeth in parts of the show? I saw someone else point out that they’re kind of giving Annabeth the Hermione treatment (ie giving her some of the other characters good moments), which I kind of agree with. However, a lot of that was towards the beginning and middle of the season and has somewhat improved since.
I posted a whole rant earlier about the Lotus Casino episode, which I’ll just summarize: theres a consistent pattern in the show of having the characters figure out what’s going on immediately, removing the danger, and more importantly, not allowing the characters to make mistakes, which weakens both them and the plot. In addition, I didn’t like that they brought up May Castellan already, primarily because it was just another info dump, which (in my mind) gets lost amongst all the other info dumps and removes the poignancy from the reveal. Now, there’s absolutely time to fix the May Castellan situation and ensure that it still packs a punch later on, but for this season it wasn’t great. Go check out my last post if you’d like to hear the rest of my argument on that episode!
Some additional examples of the ‘not letting the characters experience danger’ thing: Procrustes (obviously), and Kronos- forget whether or not Percy should know who Kronos is, the biggest issue is that there’s very little evidence or buildup, so (again) there’s no tension or shock at the reveal. And finally, with Luke. I was so annoyed when Percy figured it out! I could’ve believe that they were doing it AGAIN. I still enjoyed that scene because Walker and Charlie were great, but that was disappointing for sure.
The thing with the pearls honestly amounted to nothing, and there was no reason for Annabeth to not be present in the underworld: that was just a tearjerker for the sake of being a tearjerker (manufactured drama).
Lowering the Stakes
I just wish they’d made it SLIGHTLY more mature- don’t get me wrong, it’s a kids show! I’m very well aware of that! But this feels a lot tamer than a lot of kids (PG) movies involving monsters and stuff.
Gabe was a real piece of shit in the books, but in the show they just kinda made him look lazy and turned him into comic relief. And I don’t believe in the argument that they had to make this change to benefit a younger audience- they didn’t really need to change anything there.
Throughout the majority of the season, I felt like they weren’t allowing the gods to be truly intimidating, or powerful. First with Ares, who wasn’t BAD but generally didn’t have that kind of dramatic presence that he had in the books. Again with Hades, who wasn’t shown as being REMOTELY intimidating, and perhaps the biggest offense of all- Zeus. Having the deadline pass with seemingly zero consequence or threat of consequence does absolutely nothing (and certainly doesn’t increase tension like I’m pretty sure Rick Riordan said was their reason for changing it). Up until the finale, viewers had very few reasons to fear the Gods. Even Dionysus and Hephaestus! In the books there’s a clear line- you can interact with them, but you DONT want to offend them. There’s a clear threat of power, and that just wasn’t remotely present for a while.
And again, I just want to clarify- this is an overall writing problem! It’s not that Ares, or any other one of the gods I just mentioned has a different personality than in the books, it’s that a show like this (KIDS OR NOT) should still be compelling, and part of that includes having real danger and clear stakes.
I would add that they did a much better job with this in the finale! Lance Reddick gave such an amazing performance, and truly made Zeus an intimidating figure. The fight on the beach with Ares was great as well. So I’m optimistic about this criticism moving into season 2, but I stand by the idea that this was an issue for the majority of the series.
Overall, it felt like they weren’t taking the serious parts seriously, AND they didn’t take the comedy as seriously either? So it isn’t as lighthearted OR as impactful as the books. It feels so much more bland and watered down by comparison.
Episodes Were Too Short
Everything just flowed really well in the books, here the pacing is off and the dialogue isn’t as natural (again, they’re forced to rely on a lot of telling instead of showing which takes away from genuine moments). Many character details and personality traits were cut for the sake of additional verbal explanation
As many others have pointed out, the fight scenes also feel pretty rushed, and haven’t quite conveyed the sense of urgency that they should. It all just lowers the stakes.
This Ones Kind of a Joke, but the Casting for Hephaestus
It’s mostly my book bias. This guy was NOT giving Hephaestus. Mainly because Hephaestus is the god of the forge, and I can’t picture this guy anywhere near one of those. He kind of looked like one of Santa’s elves, he’s giving tinkerer not GOD of the FORGE. This is also something they can absolutely fix/win me over in time lmao
Changes
I already mentioned most of the changes (good and bad) already, but there’s one more. I kind of wish they had kept Percy’s dream about Tartarus, especially given that they decided to have Percy figure out Kronos is behind it all earlier- it just would’ve clicked a little easier.
Finishing Thoughts
I don’t want to totally sound like a hater! I’m still enjoying the series, and I really hope it gets renewed for season 2! I was just disappointed in the weak writing. I hope that the writers will be able to recognize these flaws and improve for season 2.
Alright, I don’t really expect anyone to read this whole thing, but if you made it: thanks for reading! I’m curious to hear your thoughts, so I’d really appreciate comments, just keep it civil!
#percy jackson disney+#percy jackson#percy jackson and the olympians#pjo#pjo show#percy jackson show#pjo tv show#pjo finale#percy jackson finale#percy jackson and the olympians review#pjo series#pjo spoilers#pjo episode 8
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Ryo’s Gun & Jane Austen
It’s hard to see, but in the OP Ryo’s gun (and it is Ryo’s gun, I made the mistake in a previous post of thinking it was Kazuki’s, whoops! But I have noted that correction in a reblog, so definitely check that out - I’ll link it below) has a quote on it from, what Google is telling me, is Jane Austen. The quote is:
I want nothing but death.
Those were her last words.
Seeing those last words on Ryo’s gun in the OP with the current situation and the Episode 11 preview and everything - it can certainly seem scary.
But, I’m going to focus a bit on Jane Austen as a writer, what her styles and themes are, and what that might mean for Buddy Daddies or how it might be reflected in Buddy Daddies. Since Kazuki’s VA did mention that we should think about what message the director is sending in this last act.
So, let’s take a look. I think the main two ways that Jane Austen’s style and themes can be seen in Buddy Daddies, is how her writing was considered realism and with a lot of emphasis being placed on “the everyday” that was accompanied by comedy:
Text: Jane Austen's (1775–1817) distinctive literary style relies on a combination of parody, burlesque, irony, free indirect speech and a degree of realism. She uses parody and burlesque for comic effect and to critique the portrayal of women in 18th-century sentimental and Gothic novels. Austen extends her critique by highlighting social hypocrisy through irony; she often creates an ironic tone through free indirect speech in which the thoughts and words of the characters mix with the voice of the narrator. The degree to which critics believe Austen's characters have psychological depth informs their views regarding her realism. While some scholars argue that Austen falls into a tradition of realism because of her finely executed portrayal of individual characters and her emphasis on "the everyday", others contend that her characters lack a depth of feeling compared with earlier works, and that this, combined with Austen's polemical tone, places her outside the realist tradition.
(From the Wikipedia Article on her style, which will be linked to below).
We see aspects of this with Buddy Daddies. In Episode 4 we have a critique being made about the ridiculous levels of paperwork and prep work that needs to go into sending a kid to daycare.
While we get depictions of everyday aspects like Kazuki cleaning or Rei and Miri playing games together.
Another aspect of Jane Austen’s writing style is about character’s growing to become “better” and more moral versions of themselves.
Text: Her plots are fundamentally about education; her heroines come to see themselves and their conduct more clearly, and become better, more moral people. While Austen steers clear of the formal moralizing common in early-19th-century literature, morality—characterized by manners, duty to society and religious seriousness—is a central theme of her works. Throughout her novels, serious reading is associated with intellectual and moral development.
We see that happening in Buddy Daddies as well, through scenes like Rei’s thoughts on how he just mindlessly killed in the past:
Or with the discussion and prevalence on change:
There are other elements and themes to her writing as well, like the focus on women, of course. But I don’t think we can really speak on that aspect too much until the series is said and done.
Of course, the quote is likely also there due to Ryo’s curiosity with death, final words, and the reason for why humans exist. But, I would like to think that this quote wasn’t picked solely for that reason either.
Also, I’m not super well versed in Jane Austen stuff (I know some of my moots are though! Though I don’t know how versed they might be with Buddy Daddies), but if anyone who is more versed with her as a person and her works wants to chime in or add to this (or correct me on anything I may have gotten wrong!) please feel free to do so in a reblog, comment or even in the tags. I always love to see what others write or contribute to the conversation! <3
#Buddy Daddies#BD#Jane Austen#KazuRei#Kazuki Kurusu#Rei Suwa#Ryo Ogino#BD spoilers#Buddy Daddies spoilers#long post#image heavy post#meta post#analysis#themes
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reply to this post from @silverknight338 that i wanted to respond to more thoroughly:
To go into sokka’s retreat, it’s because he tried to mold himself into the man/warrior of the village. He didn’t have any mentor there, so he based it on myths and idealizations, putting up a front in order to project safety, even if it’s not much of a disguise. I doubt the older women of the south believed he could save them, but they were still grateful he would try, and would never tell him it wasn’t helpful because it was a way for him to redirect his mourning. He can push the mourning back if he has enough to do, and worry about, and protect. He was just a scared kid, but he tried. And now he’s still on this incredibly exhausting journey, there’s barely any time to truly process what’s going on past the bare minimum let alone old memories and scars. Katara throwing it in his face that he doesn’t love Kya the way she did, because he maybe never showed his mourning, never openly spoke or wielded it the way she did, because if he did, it wasn’t how the warrior he wanted, needed to be, acted. So maybe even in that episode, he still pushes aside that old grief, that he wasn’t smart enough to see around the fire nation’s goal, wasn’t fast enough to get there in time, but he knows on a deeper level how seeking revenge won’t help him. It’s been a really long time since i’ve watched the series in whole, but i think he blames himself.
For katara’s anger, i think it’s because she doesn’t busy herself the way sokka did. She reflects and has seen the cause and effect of her father’s absence. Because her father left, her brother became annoying, uptight, and could barely see past his nose (sokka grew up to try to take responsibility, but to katara this is her brother playing, he can’t fill that role). Because of the fire nation, her father left to fight. Because of the fire nation, her mother died. She emotionally connects with people, and empathizes with them, she’s been through a lot, losing her parents in one way or another to the fire nation, and seeing the devastating effects it has on everyone. She has a strong sense of morals, and add in the emotional aspect, that’s a dam waiting to burst. Whereas sokka has a more detached take on it, he empathizes with people, but he has a “mine first” mentality that katara doesn’t. Because we the viewers have seen Katara be the empathetic and caring one, it is quite the contrast to see her lash out, especially with loved ones. because she is so empathetic, she typically calls people out, but this word whipping, it hurts and it is true, is rare as she usually tries to understand. this is such an old deep hurt, something she has had time to stew about. This isnt the first time she’s thought this.
right. what's important to understand is that sokka was told that "being a man is knowing where [he's] needed the most, and that's protecting [his] sister." he also knows his mother died to protect her. he knows she's special in a way no one else is. he knows that the raids will never truly end as long as the fire nation has power, as they have had for a century. to sokka, being a man isn't just fighting for a cause, it's dying for one. in his mind, he was all but told in explicit terms that it is his destiny to lay down his life to protect katara. and the only person who would ever try to dispel that notion is katara herself, but being her protector also means being unable to confide in her (that's not what men do, plus she's his little sister, he doesn't want to upset her in a real way, only in a teasing older brother way) so he's just... distant. distant where it counts, at least. i think if he actually ever spilled forth the contents, the truly hideous depths of his psyche to his sister she would never accuse him of being heartless or arrogant or delusional again. but he never will. he will take those feelings to the grave. perhaps when they're much, much older, or if she gets him really drunk. but even then, i doubt it. i don't think he's self-aware enough to know what exactly he would even say if it came down to it.
i do think there is a part of him that blames himself for what happened that day, because he just always blames himself. although i think he's smart enough to realize that no matter what, he couldn't have killed yon rha, or have gotten to hakoda in time, i think he probably feels like if he had gone to his house instead of trying to fight, he could've done what kya did instead. which is obviously crazy, because kya would not have let him, but he also thinks that it's his fault that yue became the moon, so like. he's not exactly rational when it comes to his guilt complex. but he also doesn't want revenge. sokka is always thinking big picture, not to mention that his mother died at the hands of the fire nation, but she didn't die for him. so to him, kya's killer is just a faceless cog in the imperialist machine. he never saw yon rha's face, looked into his eyes, like katara did. his mother's death wasn't personal the way it is for katara. and he knows that, so he doesn't say anything. yes, she was his mother too, but he didn't grieve her like katara did. he's probably never wondered what yon rha was like the way katara has, he only knows that the flag of the raiders was sea ravens because he has an incredible memory (which makes it even more tragic that he can't remember kya's face, a deliberate act of repression to cope that he now seemingly regrets), it's not like he ever contemplated revenge. clearly katara has. i definitely think she's had fantasies of avenging her mother's death in a heroic fashion long before zuko offered her the opportunity. which is why the banality of the moment when she stares into yon rha's eyes once more and sees his humanity and the futility of what she is about to do is so important. she was always too caught up in trying to be a hero that she neglected her personhood. sokka also neglected his personhood, but in a far less valorizing way. "the boiling rock" and "the southern raiders" is about both of them accepting nuance and humanity into their perceptions of themselves and their respective roles, but in different ways to suit their different needs. but i digress.
i think the fact that katara considers what sokka is doing "playing soldier" to be super interesting. when you hear that line in the pilot, you assume that she's right because she's the narrator and the hero and she's special and immediately likable, so of course she's right about sokka, who so far has only complained and been a dick. but he isn't playing. by the next episode we begin to see that. to him this is a matter of life or death. he was told by his father, by his mother's sacrifice, by his family and his village that it is his duty to protect katara by whatever means necessary. so he's preparing for that day and is trying to use his extremely limited resources to be strong enough to protect her and their village or die trying. i think katara considers it playing because she's in total denial of sokka's worldview. like she just doesn't accept that sokka is okay with sacrificing himself, so to her he's like this because of ego and not because everyone in the village and their father is somehow fine with the idea that he is just a sacrificial lamb in her honor. like that must be so horrifying for her to consider that she just refuses to think about it. it's way easier to rationalize sokka's behavior as annoying useless sexist brother who can't even wash his own socks. don't interrogate why he's depressed and paranoid and hopeless if he's obnoxious. focus on the little things, the small antagonisms and petty arguments, and you don't have to think about how concerning your relationship is! i love when katara says "from now on, you're on your own!" because it's such a ridiculous thing to say. katara, honey, he would follow you to the ends of the earth. (and he does.)
katara's righteous anger thrums through her at the very core of who she is. her inability to tolerate even the slightest injustice (both real and perceived) is why she is so compassionate and kind and helpful but also so quick to snap. sokka doesn't have that. he's also kind and helpful and brave, of course, but he doesn't have this optimistic view of the world where he sees the best in the people and has a beautiful vision for what the world can be. his worldview is very bleak, very cynical. i wouldn't necessarily call it a "mine first" mentality so much as he just tries to approach every situation logically. and in episodes such as "the painted lady," it's not that he doesn't care about jang hui, it's not that he thinks the pollution and oppression and poverty is fine, but he's focused on defeating the firelord, and to him, once that happens, they can work on helping all the people who have been oppressed by the fire nation, not just one village. katara sees someone in need directly in front of her and immediately goes to help them, whereas sokka considers the bigger picture and how to best improve lives overall. it can seem like a callous approach to someone like katara, but they do have the same end goal, which is to help others. (and if she thinks he's callous, he thinks she's myopic. and they're both kind of right, to an extent, but they also both want the same thing, and are both extremely brilliant, so there's also that.) and of course his "logical" priorities also fly out the window when it comes to katara. like he does want to be practical but he cares about katara and his loved ones more. in moments when he is truly challenged it's clear that he feels and loves far more deeply than he lets on.
katara does lash out quite often, not only at sokka but also at toph, zuko, even aang once (although she immediately apologizes, which is unique to aang. she does not apologize to anyone else when she yells at them, not even to toph after mocking her blindness on like the second day of knowing her!) but in "the southern raiders" it's clear that her feelings, coming from a place of grief and rage and buried guilt, are even more volatile than usual (and she's already quite an emotionally volatile person). i think what she says to aang, that she knew he wouldn't understand, comes off very tone deaf because he obviously can empathize with her grief and guilt and rage, but because she's always placed him on a pedestal, she can't imagine him having these dark and messy emotions that she is contending with. even though he does, and she should know that better than anyone considering that she is his primary confidante and best friend, but i think she's too caught up in her own rage to realize in the moment that other people know her pain and yet can choose to react differently. she and zuko process things very similarly and they're really enabling each other in this episode, but their grief also comes from a place of guilt because their mothers sacrificed themselves for them, and they feel like they need to honor their memories and no one else understands that burden. but of course, aang and sokka do understand, aang is plagued by guilt for "abandoning" his people, and sokka feels guilt over... everything basically. but katara and zuko lash out because they're saying things they don't want to hear, and yeah, they've had a lot of time to stew in those feelings.
sokka doesn't resent hakoda at all, because he is simply too insecure for that, but katara feels like hakoda abandoned her, and that's a really complicated well of deep resentment that adds another really fascinating layer to her character (in terms of recontextualization, it really reframes why katara was so willing to let sokka go see their father while she stayed behind in ba sing se. katara is very compassionate and helpful and empathetic, but she is not selfless). katara also feels like sokka abandoned her, at least emotionally. like obviously sokka is physically present for her at all times, but he does not communicate with her, he isn't actually honest about his feelings with her. katara craves people with whom she can have honest discussions about their emotions, and sokka just can't do that. it runs counter to his entire modus operandi of repression and masking his true feelings and being the brother katara needs but not the brother she wants. and she resents him for that. she implies he acts heartless in "the painted lady" because he is admittedly quite callous upon witnessing suffering (although he obviously can empathize with the jang hui villagers in the same way katara can, they grew up in the same tiny, decimated village; his dismissiveness is a combination of "logical detachment" and being nervous about staying on schedule for the upcoming invasion). and i understand where katara is coming from, because if he was my older brother, his condescension would also get on my nerves and i would also point out every single one of his flaws, however minor, to "knock him down a peg" (of course, his ego/self esteem is already underground, he's not condescending because he thinks he's better than anyone, so her tactic is ultimately futile lmfao). but she hears him open up to toph, confide something about his true feelings regarding katara and their mother that he's never actually told katara. the fact that he won't communicate with her must be infuriating. and then again, she's also right. they do see kya differently. and they both know it.
this conflict between them – the mother gap, if you will – is not one that i think could ever be fully resolved, unless somehow sokka learned how to be truly honest and vulnerable with katara, and katara learned how to apologize to sokka. but those are things neither of them will ever actually do, in all likelihood. so they will continue to be codependent as fuck, two halves of the same whole, while simultaneously letting this rift exist between them, perpetually unbridged due to a fundamental lack of communication. but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. their love for each other transcends their unspoken gaps in understanding.
#considered putting this under a readmore but fuck it#katara&sokka#katara#sokka#not tagging anyone else Its All About THEM Babeyyy#analysis#silverknight338#hey did u know. that they are so important. and their relationship makes me insane. did u know that. did u
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Last Twilight - Music
I wanted to do a music analysis of Last Twilight for a long time and I thought about it quite a lot. Every week I was blown away by the music and every week I thought, “I need to talk about the music or I’ll explode.” The problem is that I do not have time, nor do I really have the skill, to talk in depth about the music in this show. The show’s soundtrack is so good that I genuinely do not think I can do it justice. Maybe one day I will have time to go back and go episode by episode, scene by scene, and do the research and everything that I would need to do in order to fully analyze what the show has done. So I will not do a full music analysis (also my mental health right now isn’t really in a space to do all of that but catch me probably months from now down some rabbit hole to do it properly), but I did say I will explode if I don’t at least talk about the music so this is going to be just a rambly mess of my thoughts about the soundtrack in this show.
I will say that this is the same team of composers that did A Tale of A Thousand Stars and truly they do good work together and I hope we get more from them. They’ve both worked separately and done good work, but both times (that I am aware of) that they’ve worked together has been truly phenomenal. I think the choices they made really tie the story together and enhance the feeling we are supposed to be feeling in each. and. every. scene. Would each scene still have the emotional impact it does without the music? Maybe, these actors are all absolutely killing it. But the music is just bringing home what they’re doing.
The music is setting the tone so beautifully. And it’s not the kind of soundtrack that hides in the background and does its work subtly behind the scenes. There are moments when the music is loud and in your face. But never, not once, is it overpowering. It never distracts from the scene or the story or the actors or the visual elements. It works cohesively with everything there. Every element is working in harmony (ha) with each other and that’s part of the magic of this show.
But there is something else that this show is doing beautifully that a lot of other shows fail to do and that is utilize silence. It’s never a silence that takes you out of the show. It’s never a silence that’s so loud that you’re left wondering what happened to the background noise. The silence is there and it is purposeful. It typically reflects pauses. Pauses in conversation. Pauses in thoughts. Pauses in feelings. But it’s always brought back and we’re eased into the sound once more. Never once has a musical transition not worked. I said I wasn’t going to get specific but this is still on my mind from episode 10, so I’ll mention it, in part one when Day’s mother (do NOT get me started) is confronting Mhok with Day, the music seamlessly transitions throughout the scene. As the charged emotions ebb and flow throughout the scene, so does the music. A lot of shows struggle with this (thinking of a recent show that had so many soundtrack choices, all strange, in one scene that my soul yeeted itself into the stratosphere but I shall not name names). But Last Twilight transitions. It doesn’t just plop a song down and go “that’s it time for the next song in the next scene.” There is thought there. There is intent. How are we supposed to feel when watching this scene? Does the music add to that feeling? Does it take that feeling away? Does it do nothing? What should the music be doing? Should there even be music here? These emotions changed during the scene, how should the music reflect that? Those are all questions that I ask myself when I’m doing any sort of analysis of a scene, music or otherwise. Because all of those questions are important to figure out what the scene is telling us. They’re all important to what the show is telling us.
The last thing I want to mention is the theme song. I love it first of all. Now, it’s not my favorite opening and there are definitely other theme songs that I think are better BUT and this is a huge: in ten episodes, not once have I felt like I was slammed in the face by a sudden theme song. The music has transitions smoothly into the opening in every single episode. Like it’s a natural progression to the story. Like “of course it’s opening time. Take a breather before we settle in.” I can think of one show specifically that was the worst at that and I felt slapped in the face by the opening each week because it was such a sudden and sharp turn in the music. But not Last Twilight.
The soundtrack here takes you by the hand and gently leads you to where the show wants to take us. It will hold you carefully and safely in its arms and keep you warm while your heart is being torn to pieces by Mhok and Day and Day and Night and Night and Porjai and all of the love between all of these people. It will even hold your hand as Day’s mother refuses to accept the reality in front of her. I’m not sure where this story is going. I’m not sure how I feel about that ending and preview. But one thing I do know: no matter how the story turns out, the music will carry us there as gently as it can.
Bonus thought: I would like to thank Last Twilight for being the only BL show to use Christmas background Christmas music appropriately. During their little date. On Christmas. Praise bless.
#last twilight#last twilight the series#last twilight series#last twilight bl#hello hi i am back for a little bit and i come back with the gift of talking about music#pretty on brand for me tbh#feel free to agree or disagree#feel free to discuss the music here i would love that#or feel free to just completely ignore me that's also fair#but if you discuss the music and you disagree you gotta be nice i'm just a silly little goober
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Ok, let’s get this over with here’s everything that was wrong with this ATLA adaptation. I’m gonna try to start from the beginning there’s a lot lmao:
I didn’t care for them showing the genocide of the air nomads. This is what i feel like what they meant by wanting to “appeal to GOT fans” it felt like it was trying to be edgy. Changing Aang to “needing to clear his head” instead of literally running away from his responsibilities because he’s a scared goddamn child was pure stupidity. And takes so much away from him. Even the scenes going back and showing Aang “being so much more special” than the other kids was so stupid. He wasn’t “so much more special” that’s the point. Up until Aang discovered he was the Avatar he was normal! He lived a normal life his friends treated him like everyone else! that’s literally WHY he ran away! Because they instantly started treating him differently after it became known he was the Avatar!!
Holy shit all the shit they tried to shove together in the arcs. From omashu to the southern air temple to sokka’s fucking ice berg trials. It was clunky, cheap, and downright disrespectful to the source material and I 100% support the creators leaving lmfao cuz this shit is a joke.
So much happens with so little explanation but at the same time core character traits are overexplained. They’re constantly saying “oh you’re so kind, you’re so fierce, etc” having characters verbally DESCRIBE other characters charter traits, instead of fucking showing it. Katara for example (just one of the many characters they fucking butchered but i digress) in the opening scene when Katara screams at Sokka for his sexist remarks and breaks the ice that showed just how unconsciously powerful she is at water bending. She is a prodigy. This is shown to you literally in the opening moments of the show. After discovering Aang in the iceberg Katara runs head first at the iceberg with Sokka’s boomerang to bust it open. This shows that Katara is impulsive and rash but kind and caring. She is literally breaking open the ice having no idea what it will do in the name of helping someone who clearly needs help (who realistically would most likely be dead) but she tried. Like that whole opening of ATLA told you so much about her character WITHOUT LITERALLY HOLDING YOUR HAND AND TELLING YOU. Then taking out Sokka’s sexism and letting him unlearn it was pure fucking lazy. Reducing Katara to “younger sister who needs to grow up” was a bad joke.
Like listen i’m not a “oh my god it should’ve been frame for frame like the cartoon” like there’s room for acceptable changes and space to add to the narrative. The way they got into Omashu was an acceptable change (not the jet part but hitching a ride was fine), adding Lu Tan’s funeral was GREAT it ADDED to the overall story and added depth to Iroh, even the bit with the Earth Kingdom soldier was good. Adding in Ozai’s little dogs at Azusa showing him pushing her behind the scenes and pitting her against Zuko was also nice imo. Like these are things they could’ve added and worked with the original creators on. Even the part where in the bar they’re like in the background easter-egging about the canyon episode like that was fine anything that was pure filler could’ve been mentioned in that way. But that’s the thing with ATLA few things are PURE filler. Almost every ep arc serves a genuine purpose, which is why shoving it all in a blender and hoping for the best was really not it.
Even Appa and Momo were reduced to like a mode of transportation (i also didn’t like this in legend of Korra bison became more like cars had less personality and purpose and were just A Way To Get Around i get why bc there were so many etc etc but still) and like a pet. When they’re not! they’re genuine characters! ESPECIALLY APPA! They play crucial roles in the plot they have a purpose and agency they’re not just “funky animal side kicks” which is what they feel reduced to, to me. Appa is so vital to the group and episode that is 90% silence and is just about his time away from aang is literally one of the best episodes in atla.
I haven’t even finished the whole thing yet this is just my thoughts so far based on what i remember rn through my disappointed rage lmao so ✨i’ll be back✨
#lemme take my ass to bed#i’ll be back tomorrow with more rage#lyriumsings txt#god this is so disappointing#they took out bato and everything like jfc#this is so bad#hurting my brothers feelings with my takes on this one lmaooo#cuz they’re liek ‘bUt iT lOOkS deCeNt’#it’s still ass#spoilers#ig#but who gives a shit
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I remember when this series was announced and I was pretty sceptical about it. Then I thought “all right, let’s give it a possibility, however it can’t be worse than the old series”. Then I watched the trailer and, in the end, I saw this small scene. I was like “😳this... this is Deep Blue speaking through him...”. From these few seconds in the trailer I understood it was going to be a great anime and my boy Masaya this time was going to be treated so well this time. I had to give this anime a possibility. In the end I was 100% right, but, until the last episode, I thought this “sinful man” scene was only to hint Deep Blue’s influence on him, and this particular line wasn’t going to be touched again. But then, in episode 22 Deep Blue said, in his speech, “sinful man” again, and I was happy and thought “you see, the hints!”. But again, then, in the last episode...
They didn’t simply want to hint at it, they actually shoved his influence on Masaya right in your face! They characterised him in a gorgeous way, and I’m happy I was right from the beginning about this scene!
Same for this scene:
his monoluge. I admit I was a little disappointed of this scene, because it was simply a copy and paste from the manga. I mean, it was clear from most of the episodes that Masaya has got much deeper reasons to love her so much. And I thought “why didn’t you authors make him explain better? You added a lot of scenes and depth about him, why this time you didn’t?” But again, I know that, when it comes to Masaya, you have just to sit down, wait and trust New’s authors. Sooner or later, everything arrives. Like when they cut the aquarium scene, to add it in the last episode in a much more impactful way. And in fact...
...they added the deeper reasons later, during his speech with Deep Blue!
And it isn’t finished yet. In the manga, his monologue began and ended there, it all happened inside his head, and nothing makes me think he revealed his past and his problems to Ichigo after the final battle. He was keeping his secret, he didn’t completely open with her. But in New...
...it wasn’t only a monologue inside his head. He repeated everything directly to Ichigo, so she comes to learn about his past and problems he had before he met her. So, I have every right to think after the series ending they talked calmly about his past, problems and feelings and now he really doesn’t keep any secrets to her. And knowing his angst past, the real reasons about it and how he overcomed it, now Ichigo can understand him better and their relationship is even stronger than before.
What did I say in the beginning of S2? They’ll feed us with Masaya and Ichisaya a lot, and they’ll feed us well. And I wasn’t wrong.
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not sure how you feel about beard but i liked how beard after hours explored a bit more of his character. however, it’s funny that the finale provided more depth into his character as a drug addict/dealer(?) than the beard-centric ep. it feels wrong to parallel beard and jamie’s dad, but i dunno, maybe in a hypothetical season 4, jamie and beard have a genuine conversation about forgiveness and abuse. because there’s no way beard wasn’t triggered by the violence in man city imo.
I am a beard enjoyer! I actually think Beard After Hours did add depth to his character, and while none of it has to do with his history as an addict, when its taken alongside what we learn about his past in s3 it gives a pretty well-rounded image of him. BaH gives a lot of insight into his mindset in his relationship with Jane and what drives him to keep going back to her despite acknowledging that she's not giving him what he needs in a partner. Also, there's the stuff about how he views his role at Richmond and as assistant Coach to Ted's Head Coach. So I do like the stuff we get in that episode a lot.
I definitely agree that Beard was triggered by Jamie and his Dad - it's clearly more than just badly losing a match that has Beard saying he needs to remove himself from the team and walk it off alone. It very could well because him recognizing James as a violent addict and being triggered because of his own history with addiction, although personally I think the headcanon that Beard was also abused (prior to Jane, when he was younger) makes a lot of sense.
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