#for whatever reason i didn't like the last arc of s2 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

amuseoffyre · 6 months

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Have had a couple of days and a rewatch and some mulling to put together my thoughts:

The good:

the writing - I've talked at length about the use of metaphor, symbolism, allegory and the like to add meat and substance to the narrative

the continuity tied in to S1 and the foreshadowing coming full circle, plus running themes continuing

the music is flawless throughout - both the soundtrack with songs and the original score and the way old motifs are used to add parallels and depth to scenes

the acting across the board has been staggeringly good. Especially for Taika, Rhys and Con. I can see why so many reviews had been raving about it.

the bits of set-up for S3 that have been planted if/when they get it

new characters who are an absolute delight

Family Trauma the TV show - intense to watch but cathartic af

Badass ladies and the soft boys who love them

Auntie.

The bad:

too much story and not enough time to tell it

sacrificing a lot of crew-related stuff - I know this is primarily the Ed and Stede story, but we're told that Olu was always talking about Zheng, but we never even got a single line of it. Buttons' disappearance gets one sus line. We gloss over the probation and why Ed is back in his leathers literally the next day. Again, I know, time constraints, but it does feel weaker for it.

speedrunning so much that it's taken several rewatches to catch everything that's going on - yes, it can work as a narrative device, but not all the time

still not over Zheng falling for Ricky's gift. Do not trust the aristocratic white dude, especially not when you've been blackmailing him. And I know there's some logical sense to her being so used to being able to manipulate desperate people on the fringes with both carrot and stick, but it feels like severe underestimation on her part about how ruthless and cruel and petty Ricky could be. He's not like the pirates - he has the power and privilege and it feels like she ignored that.

whatever that Teal Oranges pivot was so Jim could have a girlfriend, especially since they didn't have time/space to actually develop the Olu/Zheng and Jim/Archie stuff. Archie was barely a scrape of characterisation because of time constraints.

The ... Forbs Boding

Izzy - it falls under the typical archetype of Loss of a Role Model especially given all Ed's dad issues, which I thought we were beyond, but then it also fits with the running motif of the show of change, death and rebirth. We've had confirmation of the existence of a place between life and death plus a character who was beaten to death coming back from it and a seawitch turning up at the grave. I can see why it was done as it has been foreshadowed since "the only retirement we get is death" but after all his growth in S2, having Ricky be the one to get the jump on him is... hm. I feel like they had him and Ricky talking and Ricky causing his death for a reason. Feels like there's set-up for S3 planted and ready. My Forbs, they are A-Boding. ffs, they Obi-Wanned him right after he did a speech about "our spirit will last beyond your whole fucking empire". Strike me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine vibes.

The way trauma is/isn't being dealt with - I feel like there's stuff there that is set up for S3 as well, because we've seen how Stede is still bottling all his stuff and hasn't dealt with any of it, while Ed has done some processing and started to make peace with himself over it. Stede still has his mental lockbox and while he tries to pretend it isn't there, it still informs so many of his decisions.

All the Star Wars vibes - I've always been convinced this was the Empire Strikes Back season and now, they have all the pieces in play for the Return of the Jedi arc: Stede and Ed are together and recovering but will have a role to play, Izzy is in carbonite with a seawitch control panel, their allies are out there getting pieces in place, and the Imperial figurehead villain who showed up in S2 is still out there and convinced he holds all the power. And I just realised that this means that if they use Hornigold, he's the equivalent of Boba Fett - Bounty Hunter for the Empire XD

On the whole, I am content with it and am already having thoughts about the potential for S3, but I find it incredibly frustrating knowing how much more it could have been with the budget/time they wanted and didn't get.

#ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers

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mdhwrites · 8 months

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I feel part of the reason toh is hold in such high standart over series of the same demographic is how fast it abandons the episodic format in favor of a more serialized vibe. I have noticed lately that audiences have come to see episodic as the lesser form of storyteling in comparation to serial, and unlike series like amphibia that remain episodic the vast mayority of their runtime, toh feels very serial in his later half even if it still holds an episodic format for most of s2. People like that didn't bother them with 'silly & inconsecuental' episodic adventures more than other shows. There's a reason some people skip most of s1 of amphibia and a big part of that is how episodic it is.

Okay so this is going to get wild because I'm going to seem incredibly critical of filler but I want to make something clear here: Filler is flavor. As a writer, I'm actually happy that I personally think I've been adding MORE filler to my stories. There's a reason I have a good number of reviews on my early books commenting how surprised people were that I get a LOT done with a low word count after all.

But let's first define Filler. It actually refers to non-canon material in anime which... makes sense actually. The issue with filler arcs, even the good ones, in anime are that you have to reset to zero afterwards for the sake of being able to keep in line with whatever the mangaka creates eventually.

But how does that translate to Western animation where the director for a given show is effectively its mangaka? Well... It's complicated but many will position themselves as it being anything not critical to the plot, themes and core elements of the show. Put a pin in the phrasing I use there.

With that being the definition though, how much of TOH do you have to see to grasp its core narrative? Well...

A Lying Witch and a Warden simply to be introduced to the main three characters and for the setup.

The Intruder so as to learn about the curse.

Covention so as to learn about Lilith and Eda's relationship as well as the Coven system.

And then Agony of a Witch/Young Blood Old Souls to see resolution to the curse and the destruction of the portal door.

And if you're going "What about-"

What about anything else? Amity doesn't develop Luz's character in any way that changes her actions in the finale, though arguably at all in general. Gus and Willow appear in the finale and Covention but you don't need to be introduced to them. As far as the plot is concerned, "Luz's friends" is literally all you need to know and you don't need a full episode's introduction to that. Lilith and Eda's relationship starts catty and slightly childish and competitive and the last thing they do before the finale? Play a Grudgby Match that Eda would have probably tricked Lilith out of having to pay the consequences for if she'd lost... Literally just like back in Covention but less dramatic. Literally NONE of these elements matter to the story of TOH.

It gets WORSE for S2/3. Hunter's whole character payoff is in Belos' Backstory... Which doesn't matter. The Collector never matters. Going to Earth doesn't matter. Hell, the portal does so little to progress ANYTHING but Lumity, that it doesn't matter. The episodes that matter are:

Elsewhere Elsewhen because Luz is the main character so knowing the context for her angst arc is important, even if her angst arc goes literally nowhere. You might think this means Yesterday's Lie but the promise in that literally doesn't matter as her angst is unrelated and not about the promise. She wants to stay in the human realm for other reasons, rendering Yesterday's Lie and Vee pointless... Except this episode is pointless because the reveal of Belos as Philip is the only part that matters which-

Hollow Mind: Is done properly here to the cast as the one in Elsewhere Elsewhen only is to the audience and so demanded that it be done a second time, harming this one's reveal. You won't know as many specifics but as Luz claims the light glyph was part of her sin when we see literally no evidence of him knowing the light glyph matters... Yeah, the writers didn't care about the specifics either.

Edge of the World: I almost included Echoes of the Past because that introduces this issue but it's so different from how King is for 80% of S1 that really what you need to know is that King is the Titan's son. Not even that he himself as a Titan as King is not important to the story of TOH. Only the fact that he is related to the thing that will allow Luz to beat Belos matters to the story of TOH.

And then Watching and Dreaming for S3... Because Luz confronting Belos in King's Tide doesn't matter. It's not like it even weakens Belos in a substantial way and King releasing the Collector doesn't matter either. Moments like "I want to be understood!" in the first two parts of S3 don't matter to Luz's character because they actively make the dream sequence at the start of the finale worse because the show is still mining the same conflict for Luz that it has been since Hollow Mind. Luz's friends and Hexide are barely in the finale, you're only missing out on caring about them during the epilogue and despite skipping over Harpy Eda, Harpy Eda barely matters to Eda's character, same goes for Raine.

That's the thing with people claiming filler as much as they do online. They POSITION themselves to be about plot and narrative. About getting down to just what matters. If they were being honest, they'd admit that most of what they call filler is because it doesn't cover elements they care about. The Plantars are main characters of Amphibia but many who criticize filler in Amphibia explicitly don't give a shit about the frogs. A lot of them skipped S1 because it focused on the frogs and Anne was rougher...

But that's also why VERY little of S1 of Amphibia IS filler. I would argue it's more serialized, just in a more classic manner of making old elements eventually important, because the development of its characters and the push and pull the characters have about change versus who they are and how to handle change is important to the payoffs of the series overall. Hop Pop's Noir episode? Actively talking about things that will come up even in the FINALE of the series. Anne learning to ride Bessie? Teaches her about learning the quirks of others and the importance of doing something right instead of wanting instant gratification.

And instant gratification is what TOH is all about... Ruining its serialization. Like I pointed out with Lilith: Eda and hers relationship starts as sympathetic towards Eda and NEVER CHANGES. What if in Covention, Eda had to be saved and over the course of S1, we saw Lilith softening so the tragedy of Agony of a Witch hit harder as Lilith decided to go back to who she was. To do anything for the Coven... And thus make Belos' betrayal SO MUCH WORSE?

Luz starts as a genuinely good person. Hell, she regresses over the course of the series as in Young Blood, Old Souls, she chooses that sacrificing one life isn't worth her safety or her potentially not screwing up... And then condemns an entire world to death when she chooses not to go back in Thanks to Them. She doesn't learn and grow and her relationships are shaky at best. They also arguably do a poor job at pushing the themes of TOH because TOH struggles to keep consistent with its themes. If it's about community, why is the EC purely demonized instead of trying to be rallied so Hunter doesn't have to lose his community? If it's about self expression, why do both Hunter and Amity end up being clones of past generations where Amity is just her father, right down to being subservient to the girl who enchanted them in High School, and Hunter is just Caleb? If it's about individuality and creativity versus rigidity and order, why don't Amity, Gus or Willow ever actually pick up a second coven or just in general, why aren't the covens treated as the illegal thing they are instead of college? This is why I say TOH struggles with theme because it's all about wish fulfillment for Luz and how she's just the greatest person in existence who never had to change and grow which is a pretty shit theme.

BUT

With all of that said, TOH would be WAY worse without the filler... Because Filler is Flavor. Amity adds a lot of good to the show in S1. Hunter adds good flavor to S2. Raeda is neat. I honestly wish I had more good to say about Gus or Willow because their episodes are genuinely filler as they don't make the world more interesting, usually make it genuinely worse, and are kind of boring in general with their episodes. Or repetitive for that matter. Lilith and Eda though? I still like that Grudgby match they have, even if it's derivative because it's fun and it's neat to see different sides of these characters.

Honestly, I kind of wish My Adventures with Superman had MORE filler. Just more time to breathe and just enjoy these characters being kind of quirky or fun or just neat. Not everything needs to feel breakneck. If it's plot time all the time, an issue for S2D of TOH where after Hollow Mind everything is EXHAUSTING, then you never get a chance to breathe. Never get a chance to just enjoy the world and explore it.

I just wish there was more to explore with TOH but it's too busy not caring about its own elements or making an interesting world to explore anything. Not anything explore anything besides how clever it thinks it is. Just like how people think it's clever for claiming to be serialized when it really isn't.

After all: How much of green haired Amity do you really need to see in order to understand Purple Haired Amity? Like people kept pointing out: Would you believe these two are even the same character?

Does it even matter? For a serialized story, it should have and that's why TOH isn't serialized.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical

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gunkreads · 7 months

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Okay, but for real this time.

What on earth were they thinking with Nynaeve's non-arc this season? The arches were a dead end--there was no clear intent with those and no clear change, either forward or backward progress, in her. Instead of framing the arches as "Face your fears so you can solidify your sense of self and cement your motivations to becoming an Aes Sedai", they were just framed as "Face your fears. 'Cause." The show did not follow the arches up with any reason why they had to happen. There was no payoff for them. Why did she go through them? What tools did she gain from them? What scars did she gain from them that she didn't already have? The mental damage done in the arches overlaps too evenly with the issues she already had to deserve an entire episode of major focus. She came out of them almost identical to how she went in.

Why has the show changed the nature of her block? Why did she end this season not only completely impotent, but also DIRECTLY overshadowed by other characters whose roles in the story give them no reason to step into Nynaeve's role as a combat medic.

Okay, so let's assume that the showrunners have decided that they wanna slow-burn Nynaeve's arc to become a healer--they want to have Nynaeve be outstripped by her closest friends, have them become her superiors at the thing that used to be Her Thing, then have a big heroic speedrun where she breaks her block and makes a ton of progress and is Healer Supreme. If this is gonna be what they do, they're fucking it up. One, I just don't like it, but two, more importantly, they have not focused enough on her specific failures. The show has only focused on Nynaeve's inability to channel. In the show, like in the books, that's not really something she cares about; instead, she cares about her inability to Heal. Of course, channeling is how she does that, but it's secondary to the actual ability to make things better. Because the show doesn't do enough to emphasize the specific reason she's frustrated with her block, it feels like she's missing the ENTIRE core of her motivation. Don't like it. Whatever. Moving on.

Actually, not quite yet: What was up with cutting back to the Looney Toons girls sitting in the exact same position in the courtyard like 4 times in that last episode? What function did that serve? The function I believe it served was to do an embarrassingly bad job reiterating that Nynaeve can't channel. We know. Why did you take multiple separate scenes to establish that? Why did it take her so long to realize she couldn't use this power that she's almost never used? I know that "being arrowshot" is not high on the list of problems a Wisdom has to fix on a daily basis, but come on, man. It's a flesh wound; you know what to do with flesh wounds.

Why has Nynaeve been rewritten throughout the show into such a panicky person? She had such a strong sense of focus in S1, but S2 has really knocked her down too many pegs, in my opinion. I get that the whole "almost dying" thing made everything much harder to approach--though it was completely unmentioned in S2 for some reason--but the writing in S2 completely stagnated Nynaeve. She never did a single goddamn thing on purpose and was dragged everywhere she went. Even though it was only 3 episodes, I would've liked a little more actual back-and-forth between her and Elayne, with each of them getting corrected by the other, rather than just... Nynaeve being wrong every time. I don't feel that this does any credit to Elayne, either.

Elayne is very nearly a non-character, not in the sense that she's actively dull, just that she's... so off-puttingly normal and level-headed. First off, why is she just big chillin with an arrow through her leg? Ach, whatever. I'm a little upset that I don't really have enough material with her that I can make any solid assertions.

Except...

Are you fucking kidding me with that shit at the end? She's the one to Heal Rand's gut wound? What the hell and/or fuck? Robert Jordan did not make an entire cast of women while carefully omitting "nice, polite, awkwardly maternal healer love interest" for these assholes to make a mockery of the surgical precision with which he avoided that.

Anyway.

Where was my sword fight in the sky? Don't answer that. I just miss it.

Also, what the hell was up with that Joss Whedon-ass "let's all team up together! Woohoo team moment!" shit against Ishamael? How hokey can we get? Please tell me that was the cap.

Also also, what was the big old power jump for Rand suddenly being able to control his channeling? Did one little conversation with Logain and one bit of practice breaking Moiraine's shielding make him able to fucking Terminator a crowd of dudes? Like... Ach, whatever, I'll just phone in the analysis and say it's a sign that Lews Therin got a much stronger grip on him after he rejected Lanfear.

Hey. Where was Ingtar's beautiful, beautiful last stand? Where was his admission that he was a Darkfriend, but he believed Rand could save them all, so he was betraying the Dark? I know where it was; they dropped it in S1E8 when they had Rand head off on his own, eliminating any chance to set it up. Still sad they cut such an amazing scene.

Anyway, Egwene and Perrin are the main characters and everyone else is a sideshow. They're the only characters in the show who seem to have actual arcs, or progress of any kind, on the single-season scale. Sure, Rand and Mat changed between seasons, but during this seasons, they were mostly static. The most basic metric I know for this is that if you transplanted their E8 selves into E1, they wouldn't have made any crucially different choices that didn't involve "knowing secrets".

Season 1 started strong and fell off linearly as it went, then ended in the dirt. Season 2 started weak, built up to be fucking stellar around episodes 5-7, then fell off a fucking cliff in the last episode. I dunno.

Once again, I'm having a pretty solid time with each episode, but the show just feels badly-written. Little clarity of purpose.

#wheel of time on prime

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warningsine · 3 months

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There are so many moments in season 5 that make me facepalm.

Leaving aside the fact that in the first four episodes nothing happens and the plot is nonexistent, many of the farcical developments do not land.

Not only does it feel like they are belittling the tragedy as well as the critical subject matter it represents (BLM and police brutality), but it also cheapens heartbreaking moments like Tasha's speech about Poussey and Brook's library tribute to her deceased lover.

Exhibit A: The seance in order to talk to Poussey. What is this, Yellowjackets 1996?

Other ridiculous scenes that may make you chuckle momentarily and might have worked tonally in earlier seasons (s2-s3), but not as parts of a season with such serious consequences for everyone involved:

The guards playing "fuck, marry, kill" while the inmates run amok.

Luschek getting a boner in front of all the angry prisoners while his colleagues are being humiliated and then joking about it.

That extended scene where that guard is performing a striptease. Wanted to capture the female viewers' attention there, huh?

The whole "talent show" arc.

Linda running around like a puppy instead of using her mobile phone. I enjoyed the short-lived Boo/Linda thingy because it allowed me as a viewer to see Boo's softer side, but sheesh.

The neonazis hanging out with the women they hate, because [spins wheel] there are coffee and funny impressions. Whatever happened to that tension among the tribal units in late season 4?

Gloria getting the hostages to the Poo.

Red, the other matriarch, spending half a season running around aimlessly.

“The Tightening” episode in general.

Moreover, I cannot for the life of me understand why the scenes where the inmates abuse, harass and rape the guards are treated as sitcom moments with no laugh tracks.

(Black comedy would have been more fitting than slapstick humor anyway.)

Subverting the power structure did not have to be about how the inmates, whom they had been humanizing for 4 seasons, are capable of doing bad things. We already know that.

More things that had me either scratching my head (bullets no. 1 & 2) or eye-rolling (bullets no. 3 & 4):

Certain background episodes. Until this season, the flashbacks had served a purpose: telling us why the ladies have ended up in prison and helping us gain insight into their personalities and actions. But Freida, Red and Alison's were not exactly that. At least, Linda and Piscatella's episodes--just like Bayley's in season 4--were used to point out the hypocrisy: these fuckers are responsible for people's deaths as well. Also, in the latter's case, his focus on avenging his lover made him lose his last shred of humanity--unlike Tasha's which remained intact.

Judy King being forced to look like Jesus. The series had tried to tackle white privilege before, but this symbolism (?) was bizarre.

It's no secret that I didn't like how they turned Maria (and Blanca and Ouija) into an antagonist in season 4 by having her brand Piper. Similarly, very original that in a room full of women the ladies of color are the ones perpetuating the abuse and herd mentality whereas a white character (Alex) cannot stand the sight and walks.

For similar reasons, the "white pride nationalists are mistaken for Muslim terrorists" arc rubbed me the wrong way.

Moving on to some of the other topics they touched upon and then dropped like hot potatoes.

Mass shootings? No mention of gun control.

Internet culture and inappropriate memes being toxic af? No commentary there.

The series asking us to root for the neonazi inmates because, um, they're funny and just like the other inmates, yo. No commentary on white supremacy being extremely dangerous either.

When they needed a strong script to make an organic transition from lightheartedness (s1-s3) and the existential grief of season 4 (from Piper and Maritza to Lolly, Sophia and Poussey) to drama, they failed.

The riot was not enough to sustain the stakes for 13 episodes, which is why the season dragged.

At least:

Selenis Leyva (Gloria), Danielle Brooks (Tasha) and Uzo Aduba (Suzanne) were there, managing to evoke some strong emotions out of me. Too bad that Laverne Cox didn't get more screen time.

Janae's flashbacks were great.

The show did try to say something about hostages, slavery, mob mentality and that portion of humanity that chooses to distance itself from the torturers.

Except for the case of the white pride inmates that I cannot comprehend, it was interesting to see the usual cliques fall apart, e.g., Flores working with Red instead of Gloria or Maria, Piper working with Taystee and the others.

The season came full circle. Daya, who accidentally got the gun and then chose to shoot one of the most brutal guards, to Taystee deliberately pointing the gun at the true villain--whose actions led to Poussey's murder--and then choosing not to murder him. Too bad that even touching that gun will come to bite Tasha in the ass.

Choosing to have Piscatella killed by a rookie with no training was quite poetic.

Reversing the roles and having Nicky comfort Red (and Lorna but that's besides the point here) was great to watch. If only these three women had been given actual arcs.

#orange is the new black

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all-the-heart-you-cannot-see · 2 years

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REBELDE S2 WAS A HOT MESS (major spoilers ahead)

Plot

I think conceptually speaking having Gus as a villain this season was a good idea. Who can be a bigger enemy to music than s producer only interested in money who exploits his artists? I hated that he died in the end. Biggest wtf of the season, now he exits the next season completely and our mains are left to deal with the fallout in what most likely will be an attempt to copy Elite. Rebelde is about the music and the highschool drama not an student accidentally killing one of the most important producers in the country, what?????

Characters

Esteban was interesting this season, i like that tried to kind of make him the villain. Him getting sucked into Gus bullshit and doing whatever it took to be the best was a nice change from him being really plain last season. I hated him 80% of this seasons runtime but at least this was intentional on the writer's part. I'm so not looking forward to the murder plot with him next season.

Jana works better when she is alone than with Esteban, they make each other lamer, I thought her arc about not having to always please everybody was cool, and i don't think her conflict at the beginning of the season with MJ was nonsensical at all. She's 16, of course she's jealous of someone who could steal her spotlight, not to mention MJ was her friend and left her and the band to go with Jana's shitty ex lol. I like that the girls ended up together at the end and it didn't feel like something forced to me, so many things had happened to them by that point that the reason they were fighting in the first place probably felt stupid anyways.

Dixon is one my favorites lol, this guy is ride or die with everybody. He was willing to keep going with the band, to forgive MJ, he was even trying to help Esteban before he turned into an asshole, i think he's actually the most mature one of the bunch. Whether he was the best in the class depends on personal taste but I think it was well done in the sense that he was the only one to stand up to Gus and remain true to himself as an artist. I like his friendship with Jana cause we almost never get platonic relationship in teen media between girls and boys without feelings being involved, i screamed when they kissed but I hope they keep it as a "we were just too drunk" thing. I liked him with MJ at first, now I think he deserves better.

MJ didn't really have an arc this season, she was just doing her own thing, the actress is a really talented singer so I wish she was more present in the race for Gus's contract. I think she and Sebastian were pretty cute together but I could see their breakup coming from a mile away (more on this in his section). I didn't mind her bit with the pregnancy scare (sin gorrito no hay fiesta, guys) and i just want her to have more to do next season.

Fucking Sebastian. I like to believe that if he knew Gus was such a monumental asshole he wouldn't have done what he did at the end. I thought his arc about being a better person because of MJ was cute however what was wrong from the start is he was changing because of her so I knew the moment she was gone, he was going to go back. My guy just needs therapy and i would have more sympathy for him if his entire villain arc in s1 wasn't based around him being classist lol. (Also I can't believe we were doing the i can fix him in the year of our lord 2022).

I hate what they did to Andi and Emelia. I didn't mind Andi's addiction arc per se because it's pretty common in the music industry, I hate that it made her absent for a pretty good chunk of the major drama this season and that they broke her up with Emelia that way. The thing is, i don't think before the song thing they were actually "bad for each other" their relationship didn't have any major problems before so breaking them up was the most homophobic act of 2022.

Luka is above good and evil in the show, he's kind of an ass but he has been like that since day one and everybody has learned to tolerate him so really, he's just fun. I hope they would've spent more time with him an Okane being actually together but they are only a thing in the last 3 episodes and Luka is literally unconscious in the last one so we were given cruuuuuuumbs. I thought the scarf thing was really cute, I love them, please don't take them away.

I didn't expect much from Okane but he was a pleasant surprise. It's a shame they ruined his storyline with Jana by adding the sex tape thing because he gave her actual good advice (apart from the drugs) and i think they could have s great friendship dynamic, he could certainly make her more interesting. Idk where he went at the end, i just want him to be left alone in this entire bullshit plotline and be happy and home with Luka.

#rebelde netflix #rebelde #rebelde 2022 #luka colucci #okane #jana cohen #mj #dixon alvarez #esteban torres #andi

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pippa-frost · 2 months

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I think - or at least it would make sense to me - that in S3 there will be an instance of Zira thinking Crowley's been destroyed.

To be honest, i thought it would happen during this season, but instead there was a continuing of the status quo in a way, with a flip at the same time.

In a way, both our boys have kept the same relationship as s1: they orbit each other in the name of helping/plotting together. However (to me at least) there was a shift underneath, they looked to be more free about their closeness, walking together unpreoccupied of being seen doing so, but this time Aziraphale seemed to be the one leading the mission, he is the confident one now, walking ahead, coming up with new plans, reaching for Crowley's help and opinions first, taking matters into his own hands; while Crowley seemed somewhat.. duller? It felt to me like he was sort of aimless during the first few episodes, sort of depressed, with little energy compared to both his s1 self as well as to his portrayal in the flashbacks (him living on his car certainly didnt help). I don't know. To me he seemed so serious this season, so... Tired.

(i dont actually know if there s more to the pandemic time skip in canon that i dont know about? Cause even Crowley mentions "the last year" during his confession, could someone clear that up for me? I might be missing context?)

I truly believed, to him (insert here the hurt and betrayed *So did I*) their win in s1 didnt turn out to be so much a 'we won' as it was a 'we didnt die' in the long run, cause while they didnt need to run off together, but they didnt end up together either, did they?

Anyway, by the end of s2, Crowley has:

1. Made CLEAR to the viewer that he LOVES Zira. (However it might NOT be so to Aziraphale)

2. "Confessed to him" (because while WE know it was a confession, Zira might have not) and asked to run off together.

3. Been rejected. (Again, WE know it wasnt because Zira doesn't love him, but He might NOT)

4. Believed Zira to be dead.

5. Learned Zira was alive.

6. Believed they would now get their maybe-not-quite-happy ever after, but at least a together-if-only-kind-of ever after, that could evolve to a real US happy ever after.

7. Realized the US wasn't coming (even if Zira seems to be content with this kind of together)

8. Realized (thanks to Maggy and Nina) that the US won't come at least he DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT, which happens to be to communucate, which they BOTH SUCK AT (seriously is like they speak different languages, and of course there are valid reasons for this)

9. "Confessed" AGAIN (well, WE know it was a confession, not so sure about Zira)

10. Been rejected AGAIN (ditto) and thus, in his eyes, has laid all his cards on the table, he gambled and lost and will have to decide how to keep going. But whatever happens to that 'US' is now completely on Aziraphale's hands.

So, in a way, Crowley's arc so to speak is kind of at a standstill in regards to Aziraphale. Obviously is a huge grow in and of it self to look Aziraphale in the eyes and now reject HIM. (WE know he didnt reject Zira, he rejected Zira's conditions, but he LOVES him and he obviously will continue to do so)

To be true to himself and respect himself enough to ackwoledge that is not who he is, and he won't be even for Aziraphale.

Also WE know Zira didn't reject Crowley, he LOVES him, ALL of him, but he wants to gift him this, to give him the world, and what could that possibly mean other than giving him back his Grace, His Home, His Stars, Her Love? Taken from him only for asking questions?

But, again. Different languages.

So. Crowley now knows HE has to COMMUNICATE, and while he kind of failed at it, he took that first step which takes a fuck ton of courage, so now he has to work on perfecting it, but he already started.

But Aziraphale? Now it's up to him. And during the season we see him take more initiative: he's bolder in his interactions with Crowley, he has a pep in his step and a confidence we certainly didnt see in s1, hell, he PREPARED A DANCE FOR CROWLEY (we all know Maggie and Nina were just a bonus) and GRABBED HIM BY THE HAND AND PULLED HIM TO THE DANCE FLOOR.

But now it's HIS turn to COMMUNICATE. And he DOESN'T have Maggie and Nina to set him on the right path.

I think Gabriel and Beelzebub will play matchmaker now, or at least be of importance to the whole development (if anything i just really wanna see them together again), maybe they will help Zira, or maybe Crowley.

BUT. Aziraphale is in heaven. And there is no one in heaven to guide him. Anyone who could is either on earth or -hopefully- in Alpha Centauri,and can BE on earth, not so sure about heaven.

Aziraphel is alone.

So i think one thing that could set him in the right direction would be something awful enough to shake the very foundations of his beliefs: Crowley being gone.

So far, they have both loved each other, protected each other, worried for each other, 'confessed' to each other and 'rejected' each other.

But only one has believed the other to be dead.

Just saying, it d make for a very good parallel.

#Good Omens #Good Omens S2 #Good Omens S3 #Crowley #Aziraphale #They fucking love each other ok #analysis? sorta?#wishful thinking more like #I need this whump #Also FUCK the Metatron #he is who we really hate #sorry for the mistakes! on phone and non english speaker here #I just want the hurt to stop please

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millimononym · 3 months

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TAG GAME!!!

tagged by @cerisia76 thank u 4 the tag!! I didn't know who i should tag so I'm just gonna be answering this one

3 ships:

this is gonna be hard I'm in so many fandoms lol I'm gonna try to be diverse. Also this is super long

1. Eritav (Homestuck)

OUGHHH where do i start with these 2. Ok so tavros is my fave troll so naturally during the period i was reading Homestuck a lot i stared having dreams about him. And for some reason one time Eridan was also there so i was intrigued and looked into their ship tag on AO3 and found the best fic ever with like the best characterization, writing etc... Before i literally didn't give 2 shits about eridan but it made me love his character as well. It's called "Black sails, Black romance" by mtjester and it's about Tavros and Eridan developing a kismesissitude(which is basically hate love, for those that don't read hs). The reason i put a pic of them down there as moirails is because i can honestly see them in any quadrant, despite them never talking in canon.

For moirallegiance, i feel like it would start out rocky but eventually develop into something better. Tavros would actually be allowed to speak his mind and develop more confidence since i dont think Eridan would shut him down constantly like Vriska, as Eridan is desperate for his quadrants to actually work. And Eridan would obviously benefit from having someone to keep his ass in line.

I can see them developing into matesprits later from that as well.

And as for kismesissitude, well it's already getting too long and i already gave a fic rec for it.

image by urfavsarequadranted

2. Toxic4Toxic/Socket/Rocket x Sinedd whatever they're called (Galactik football)

Must i say anything. They give each other undiscovered mental illnesses and are horrible for each other and i love that for them. Rocket is my favorite character and so his arc in season 2 was most interesting to me, which includes his relationship with Sinedd. I feel like they could have done more with them in s2, but i already made a post about that.

3. Hinadam (Super Danganronpa 2)

AHHHH THEM. Contender for fave rarepair of all time and fave Danganronpa ship overall. Best fics on ao3. 0 fandom toxicity surrounding them. Should be shipped more than k0mahina. Is more canon than k0mahina(I'm gonna get torn apart for this opinion but idc!!!)

like the entire freetime events with Gundham ends with him letting Hajime hold his hand, which he never let ANYONE do due to his touch aversion. He never develops a relationship this strong with anyone, not even Sonia who is his friend in the game. Hajime is the only person he feels safe and comfortable letting down his walls with due to Hajime's genuine effort to understand him better and be his friend. It's genuinely touching to me idkk i think i cried a bit first time i saw it. I'm not going to go into spoilers but good god man...the chapter ....if you know you know

and also in the island mode ending, Gundham asks Hajime if he wants to live a quiet life with himself and his animals. How is this not shipped more they're literally so in love it's not even funny

And NO i do not ship it because gundham is the best character and Hajime is the character i relate to most. but that could be part of it

IDK who made this artwork I'm sorry

Last song:

Okay it's technically not these ones but its the ones i remember listening to most lately. It's rainbow factory and Terrible Things. Fun fact a childhood song of mine called Erase The Underground (undertale fansong) just. Straight up used rainboe factory's music and i never knew so when i listened to RF i got the biggest jumpscare of my LIFE

youtube

Last movie:

The last movie i remember watching fully was Howl's moving Castle bcz my sister forced me and i enjoyed it even though it's not one of my favorite ghibli movies or anything. It was cool

Currently reading:

Still reading Watership down! (I have no time for anything lately otherwise i would have finished it) and if Manga counts I've also started reading NANA !! and i love it tbh my favorite thing is the fashion i could feel myself getting more cultured while reading it i think

Currently watching:

There's nothing im really focused on atm but i have a list on my pinned. The big ones i would say are Adventure Time and MAR (for nostalgia purposes). I'm also watching the justice league cartoon but tbh I don't really enjoy it that much despite people saying it's great. It just doesn't hit the same heights as BTAS or have as enjoyable of a superhero team as LOSH 2006. To me. But idk maybe it gets better later

Currently drinking: waterrrrrr baby

Currently craving: school to end to end tbhhhh

#Tag game #homestuck #galactik football #sdr2 #danganronpa #Eritav #toxic4toxic #Hinadam #Rarepair #shipping #Long post #milli's monologuing #gif

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limerental · 2 years

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ok at long last it's time to post this draft of my very belated things I didn't like about s2, unrelated to book accuracy

things i did not like:

Geralt's character arc. Or lack of one. He reads like the same character from the first episode to the last, which is not what you want from your title protaganist. Contrasting with his s1 arc, his s2 arc is entirely flat. He doesn't change and doesn't really realize anything and is not really deeply affected by anything that happens to him.

Geralt and Ciri's relationship. Most of their scenes together felt forced with Geralt delivering fairly wooden, sage lines and not truly connecting to Ciri. I don't buy him as a father figure and am perplexed by the idea that Ciri thinks of him as "the father she never had" given she did have Eist as a child... I would have liked to see Geralt at least grapple somewhat with what a child like ciri needed, especially given how isolated he has been. I don't buy his calm and measured approach to parenting, and he consistently tells Ciri what she should be feeling and refuses to actually listen to her.

Every Eskel choice, obviously. Idk that guy. The choice to make him into a smarmy asshole and then tree him was unnecessary and poor writing. Regardless of book accuracy or not, we barely had time to care about this guy who isn't Eskel before he was dead, and Geralt's lack of emotional reaction to killing him was the nail in the coffin of that plot line for me.

The escalating mutated monster fights and mystery leading to the ultimate boss battle. According to notw netflix Canon, Vesemir had literally seen mutated monsters before but somehow forgot? Anyway, my main beef is that the monsters had no real chemistry or sentience. They weren't sympathetic or interesting, just mindless beasts to be killed dramatically. Which sucks. Cool monster design isn't just "ooh cool scary thing" it's also making something that the audience feels something about. Vereena was maybe the only monster that was true for

The wigs. God, the wigs. Especially Triss & Francesca for racism reasons but a lot of them just sucked

Geralt's fucking contacts

Dermain dying. Let the deaf character of color live, you fools

The fast travelling fucking everywhere. Absolutely zero consistent travelling distances or difficulties. Where's Kaer Morhen even in comparison to cintra? The show seems to make it look like a brief stroll away. Though to be fair this was established in s1... gonna be real awkward when most of s4 or whatever is just months of geralt travelling to the amell pass when he was there and to cintra in s1 in like a blink. Anyway

Geralt bringing jaskier back for what... for fanservice? He didn't even wash his pits man. He's stinky. Love him though unfortunately. For real though "I need your help" help for fucking what, writers? Help to appease the bard fanbase?

Roach recast as a Friesian. Hate it. Reject it. Cannot support it

The treatment of Yenralt. Everything about it. Everything. The fucking disgusting "mine" scene. The lack of forgiveness. The dear friend letter erasure. Their stilted conversations that ultimately said nothing. No Yen apology. Yen pleading to him. His cold, hard indifference as he held a sword to her throat. Nope. No. Naw. Not my Yenralt.

On that note, I said I wouldn't harp on book accuracy but Yennefer and Ciri's bonding time at the temple is one of my favorite Yen parts of the books and I hope dearly that gets reconciled in s3 because seeing all those Yen and Ciri bonding moments repurposed with Yen not truly feeling them but manipulating Ciri for her own purposes broke my wee heart.

Probably more that I am forgetting! But that covers my main criticisms. A whole 9 months late lol

#the witcher #twn critical

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rollforjackass · 10 months

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some of my favorite underrated fictional friendships/potential/unexplored friendships, in no particular order

joss carter & anthony marconi - person of interest

the man HATES reese and tolerates finch but anthony genuinely likes carter and probably at least suspects what it takes for her to bend her principles and help elias

meanwhile carter doesn't trust him but she gets where he's coming from, understands the kind of loyalty that binds him and the love that fuels that fire

they come from the same school of 'put your money where your mouth is' and take no shit from blowhards, but at the same time they both have a habit of being blowhards themselves when they feel the need to state their authority. i'm sad we didn't get to see them interact more, i would have loved for them to butt heads over who's the toughest tough guy

benji dunn & ilsa faust - mission impossible

going from the banter in the car > "i misjudged you" > her betrayal > them working together seamlessly in fallout > her SLAMMING her spine against a table to get free & save his life is such an up-and-down progression of events, i just think their dynamic is neat

i feel like they both have a certain element of displacement and frustration in common: benji as a fiercely loyal not-particularly-violent friend in a field where betrayal and violence are like water and bread; ilsa as someone good at what she does who's forced to do it for all the wrong reasons. both british ex-pats, both a bit awkward in non-emergent social situations, both a bit like the side of ethan hunt that the other is most impressed by/worried will get him killed one day

also benji is entirely too forgiving even while he's verbally bitching up a storm, he jumped to "ilsa? OUR ilsa?" with a quickness in fallout given that the last time they saw each other she'd had orders to kill him. i think that would fucking gut her given that she's so used to being tossed out on her own for things that aren't even her fault

danny williams & kono kalakaua - hawaii five-0

they got along like a house on fire in s1, she gave him surfing lessons, their matching tempers & equally matching loyalty, plus his blatant concern for her during her whole s2 arc and their mutual protectiveness of each other

they both have such a big 'family' chip on their shoulder, what with danny being raised in a big loving family only to become a divorced single dad struggling to make ends meet for his daughter, and kono likewise being raised in a big tight-knit family that's all about duty and honor, only to watch them turn their backs on chin without a second glance when he's accused by IA without even wondering why someone also raised on duty and honor would forsake either

and as a result, they're both so defensive of who and what they care about, both quick and sharp with their words but also both careful to check in and make sure they're not doing real damage when they don't mean to

i can easily see them completing each other's sentences trying to get out of trouble for something they absolutely did and that's an A+ in my book

they're such sweet friends and they get so overshadowed by whatever homoerotic shit danny & steve have going on

alana bloom & will graham - nbc's hannibal

yes they were attracted to each other, yes it went sour when they expressed those feelings, but my GOD she is not the villainous seductress i keep seeing people characterize her as in their will/hannibal fics. it is possible for an mlm relationship to form in coexistence with a perceivably heteronormative relationship/overture without needing to be repulsed by the latter's presence, especially when the m/f characters both go on to be in explicitly and implicitly queer relationships. some people heard 'kissing alana bloom was a clutch for balance' and went 'she's a predator seeking to lure will away from hannibal' in what frankly feels like an EXTREMELY lesbophobic and biphobic manner

anyway as someone who is autistic, the presence of a character who was always willing to dictate what would usually be between-the-lines, openly telegraphed when she was considering dancing around a subject so that will could choose if he wanted to hear socially acceptable vaguery or direct communication at risk of offending, and refused to let a miscommunication sit any longer than she needed to be able to address it, was a breath of fresh fucking air and i loved that she was willing to adapt to will's preferred methods of communication instead of expecting him to adapt to hers

even in season 3, after everything has changed between them, after pushing each other away continuously, they're still able to sit on a couch and just chat about each other's families like nothing ever went wrong. by the end of the show, alana is still the only person who never tried to manipulate will into changing who he was, and she is still the only person will is ever completely honest with about how he's feeling (even in s2 when he's plotting murder in prison/honeytrapping hannibal & faking freddie's death, when it comes to how he's feeling, he never lies to her)

there's a definite power in a relationship founded on clarity in a show defined by the lies we tell, to ourselves and to others, in order to keep our person suits well-tailored

dr. mccoy & literally everybody in star trek tos

WE GET IT HE AND SPOCK ARGUE ALL THE TIME!!!! it's a wonderfully complex dynamic but there's so much else going on with him!!!!! he's always boiled down to the grumpy guy who has beef with spock (SIDE-EYE JJ ABRAMS SIDE FUCKING EYE) but his number 1 character trait is that he cares so goddamn much about everyone and everything that he can't dial it down At All, it's both his strength and his achilles heel

he and christine chapel are so precious to me, he's so kind and supportive of her crush on spock while also warning her to be realistic, they tease each other mercilessly, and there are no two people you want Less to be caught in a game of chicken with than them. there's an episode where they literally get into a screaming match bc mccoy is refusing to tell anybody that he's gravely ill & chapel refuses to leave him alone until kirk arrives & he can't back out any longer, and even then their fight ends with mccoy very softly reassuring her that he will do the right thing

mccoy and uhura have this playful chivalry routine going on where one of them turns on the charm and the other ups the ante and it is endlessly entertaining to me. also in the tholian web when they think kirk's dead & uhura freaks out after seeing his 'spirit' in her quarters and runs right into mccoy in the hallway, he catches her so carefully, tries to reassure her, and keeps her from running off in a panic, and then later in sickbay he helps her out of the bed and is so kind to her

mccoy and scotty being drinking buddies!!! the two most loud-mouthed combinations of curmudgeonly and boisterous alive just reveling in each other's casual company!!! and the way mccoy starts yelling at a literal killing machine after it hurts scotty & dismisses the fact, how rattled he looks when he thinks scotty is dead, ugh dude

we don't see a Whole lot of him with sulu and chekov, but the parts we do are darling. he and sulu are so tongue-in-cheek with each other, sulu demonstrates a complete trust in mccoy any time he's in sickbay, and i can't remember if we actually hear mccoy tease sulu about his plants, but i feel it in my bones that it happened and we run on vibes in this house. then there's him bantering with chekov about his 'russia invented everything' stories & teasing him when he clearly has a crush on an ensign in the apple, everything about spectre of the gun, mccoy adopted that boy the second he opened his mouth

all i'm saying is the Entire Crew banded together to save him and get him help in search for spock, sacrificing their jobs and cushy lives in the process, and they had good goddamn reasons for it!!! he's friends with literally everyone i need to see more of those dynamics at all times

#don't mind me i was having Feelings #i love ensemble casts bc you usually get so many little glimpses into a life outside of the episode #and those glimpses could fill up whole episodes of their own #i always mean to write about them but i always end up forgetting #person of interest #mission impossible #hawaii five 0 #hannibal #star trek #oxly hollers

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nanjokei · 1 year

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finished willdress s1. i think it was pretty decent, the last few episodes were a solid 9 but the first half was like... a strong 7 at best. the anime needed an extra 13 episodes that's for sure, but i think the semifinal fights were so awesome, and the new characters were resoundingly great.

the post got a little long so my thoughts under the cut. i spoil obviously.

the episode where it was raika v tohya was pretty great cause it was all the new characters (the ones with actual presence) commentating. i do think -dress's greatest weakness is how blackout are a set piece and its refusing to break them up even a little, but by the third season its like, eh? they definitely contributed to how "okay" the first half of the series felt... i don't care about yuyu, zakusa's aight, i love tomari, tohya is better for leaving, megumi isn't suddenly gonna matter to me but i think it's funny they're driving the jobber angle so hard with her, at least it's honest.

and down in the nitty gritty that's what i enjoyed about willdress the most so far, even if it was very rushed it didn't really force a lot of conventions— raika and yuyu hate each other's guts by the end still but raika acknowledges blackout nonetheless. i do think it is in character for him to concede that much i guess, given he lost. i guess what i'm saying is "things made sense"— i think a big issue with not only vanguard but a lot of anime in general is that it seems like in an effort to resolve things, characters are bent in ways that are kind of irksome. like, i'll never get why anyone got along with kai in the original series aside from idk, miwa and aichi. getting along is kind of pushing it,

but speaking of kai, i find raika quite refreshing because he's a born hater. there's no real excuse for his behavior: he grew up to be an unpleasant person. i think there's a lot of people like that in hobby spaces, people who develop superiority inferiorty complexes because they're chronic tryhards first and foremost. as mentioned before i like that he is still a hater. come s2 i hope he keeps being a stupid bitch boy.

i do think my favorite characters however were urara and michiru. i don't think there is anyone who watched the show who would disagree with my assessment. urara was the beating heart of this season no questions asked. i don't think there was a single moment that had me going "what the fuck is she doing?!" because she was solid. it's quite easy to mess up shrinking violet blorbo characters imo. i would have loved more episodes to flesh out her troubles, but out of everyone, her arc was the most strongly realized and it is satisfactory enough as it is. she achieves both being cute and being a well constructed character all at once, despite the limited runtime alotted to each character. as the beginner character this season, i really do wish she had been the protagonist instead of yuyu... i don't have much to say about him in particular except that i was just going "lol idc" for most of his screentime. for some reason he became a really cool guy for the last few episodes of the season... but i don't consider it. it doesn't feel thoroughly earned. definitely an issue of the anime being one cour. but yeah, she kind of reminds me of naoki from the original in a way, except she avoids the pitfalls naoki had... i do think it was quite cool that naoki SUCKED ASS at vanguard but i loved that urara had a strong win record. the fight that ended her streak was quite good, she didn't feel cheated out of it at all like it usually feels like when a female character loses in vanguard. L O L.

i thought i wouldn't have much to say about michiru, but what a tour de force of a character. THIS is how you do GAR, not whatever the fuck they were doing with danji in season 1. it's not enough to say "this character is well liked and awesome". that's a lot of tell, no show. not to mention danji's actions were rather aggravating and got in the way of the plot constantly to the point where i remember the first season was more than halfway and it was nothing but danji dicking around performing clamp brand cringe. none of that with michiru: he looks like he just got out of bed constantly... and has looked this way for at least a decade. it's kind of amazing. he might as well be 40 years old and i'm subscribing to that idea personally. i was worried that they'd write the character voiced by a famous johnny's idol(!) to be a lame overpowered Thing, but he was incredibly charming. he really is overwhelmingly strong after all, but they made the right call of pushing him to the background and making him a moeblob who does funny funnies and can't read the room sometimes. infinitely charismatic character. he is everyone's ideal, and no one seems to be able to reach him, even though he's so down to earth... i truly do love the contrast. raika being a huge fanboy adds to it because when he finally lost me and fabio kept hooting and hollering and that was probably the only way i think most people were gonna root for yuyu at all— if raika's entire raison d'etre crumpled up and collapsed before his eyes (it happened quite literally too....hehehehe. iykyk.)

small bit for taizo— the only character who feels a little robbed, but i do think it was a little brave of them to kill him off and not let him advance to the semis out of courtesy of him not being one of the non-characters. but i guess that's how the bracket works given he lost two or three times in a row? (i forgot, but he missed his chance thoroughly). i hope his promise to not give up on his dream of capitalism means he'll be in s2 cause i quite liked him, i wasn't as invested in him as urara but it really is a case of feeling bad for the loser, you know.

dunno when we'll catch up to s2 but i hope it's while it's still airing. i like the designs of the new characters :)

#rambles #tl;dr the good stuff was GOOD

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laylakeating · 2 years

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the thing is rina antis are holding onto 2 big (false) things; the idea that ricky “never liked gina” (clearly wrong but whatever) and that he was leading on her on and cruel in s2 bc he knew her feelings. the first reason is going to be disproven this season even though it’s obvious that was never true. i can see why ppl may be upset with him for their number 2 reasoning but i really don’t think he truly understood what she said (even if he did it’s more complicated than that imo) and he never TRIED to go to her for advice besides once every other time she gave the advice unprompted which probably made him think it’s ok to ask her. i just don’t see valid reasons to dislike them i wish ppl would just go back to disliking ships for no reason stop trying to come up with reasons why rina and ricky are toxic 😒😒 this season will no doubt have him being called a homewrecker and toxic all season just for being FRIENDS with gina (like gina in s2 before she stopped talking to ricky)

"ricky never liked gina" yeah you're right he was acting insane in 106 and 107 because he didn't. yes. that makes total sense !! it's one of those things that is so clearly wrong - like you said!! - but because it hasn't been explicitly stated on the show people love to ignore it because it furthers their own agenda. bleh. rina are about to serve girl falls first boy falls harder and TRUST we are getting that love confession !!!!!!!!!!

number 2 is definitely a really interesting one but i completely disagree?? however i do think it's a lot more valid than number 1 because the lines become a lot more blurred. it's exactly as you said - ricky tries to respect her space and her boundaries!! he tries to give her time !! throughout 2a we see this happen repeatedly. in 201 he's trying to get back to where they were. she ignores him. in 202 they barely interact (coincidence? i think not! although, sidenote, i love 202 as a rina ep and i'll die on that hill). in 203, gina comes TO him. like, directly to his house. and even then, ricky doesn't bring up nini, gina offers him advice UNPROMPTED !! so, hmm. let's file that away for later.

then we come to 204. we see that rina have fallen a little bit back into their old friendship, even though gina is still clearly hurting (clear to the audience, not ricky). once again, when big red tries to ask gina for advice, ricky (quite vehemently) tries to stop him, only letting red go ahead when gina insists it's okay. we see that gina is in pain, but she still gives ricky advice. and NOW we've established a pattern. also, it's worth noting that gina is giving him good advice. or, at least, advice that's working.

so now we've got our pattern. ricky assumes gina's okay. he assumes she's over it! why wouldn't she be? she hasn't given him any indication that she isn't.

so we come to 205 (rip). ricky once again goes to gina for advice, because there's a pattern that's been established. it's the last straw for gina, she tells him her boundaries (which she is obviously within her rights to do) and now ricky's confused.

which brings us to 206 (a wonderful, brilliant, excellent rina ep). we essentially finish out ricky's arc when it comes to gina - he asks her if she wants to partner up for the exercise, she doesn't even deign to answer, and from that point on? HE LEAVES HER ALONE. he gets the message!! he respects her space and her boundaries, and even though he's probably confused he doesn't try to push her.

as for the flashback scene...i lean both ways? or i have, at least? now, i do think he understood what she was saying, but it IS more complicated that that because again. do we want ricky to cheat on his girlfriend? no!! of course we don't!! he was doing his best not to hurt anyone, but his hands were tied.

okay and yes !!! on twitter all the time i see tweets like "i don't know about this ship they seem forced and have no chemistry. also they're toxic". just SAY YOU DON'T LIKE THEM. it is not that hard !! i don't like rini and i don't like pw but that's due to personal preferences !! i just don't like them!!!

ricky is my homewrecking prince lmao <3 but honestly it kind of seems like ej will be digging his own grave this season anyway !!

#also i do not think rina are going to end up together (be in a relationship) at the end of this season #we are playing to long game folks s4 endgame here we come !!#anyway awesome ask anon i had a great time reading it and extrapolating on it (i hope you didn't mind that i did that)#i'm really enjoying dissecting the material with y'all it's so fun !!#asked and answered #anonymous #hsmtmts #rina

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yenvengerberg · 1 year

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Anya is the best Yenbefer we could ever have in TWN. It's sad what's happening but imo after s1 she won the majority of the fans (minus the racists). She was the outstanding actress, people were talking about her talent etc. And then s2 came along and Lauren gave her the most controversial story, in her lead woc she gives the betrayal arc & the worst scenes in the last couple of episodes and here we are again, like it's her fault for the script. I'll never forgive Lauren for what she did to Anya (and the rest of the cast). She could have given us her story from thd book, the mother-daughter relationship everyone wanted and shut the racist forever, not give them a voice. And when the show fails soon, bc let's face it with Lauren's decisions it will, who do you think once again will take the blame? I pray everyday Anya gets a worthy job with script that will showcase her amazing talent. Never forgiving Lauren.

i completely agree, anya has brought so many layers to yennefer's character. i actually think that even with the poor writing of the last season, she was the standout performance. she delivered so much unsaid emotion and torment that i could understand yennefer's journey, even if i didn't agree with her decisions. i do think there were a lot of unnecessary writing decisions made in season 2, but i don't think there is a way to shut down the racists even if things had happened differently. whatever yennefer's character arc, even if she was the most angelic person on the planet (which yennefer has never been) they would find reasons to hate her. blaming writing doesn't help, only calling out the racist 'fans' does

#Anonymous

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underscore-jude · 1 year

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I loved what you said about kourtney and how you’ll change her plot in s3! do you know what you would like to see for her in s4 + her relationship with jet?

sure, but only if you guys start telling T*m he needs to hire me or that he owes me royalties! I mean, I’ve been saying as much for *quite* some time now. Note those timestamps there 🥰

I fully endorse the harrassment of T*m Federle for whatever reason. Until he can come forward and address and disprove the allegations that have been sitting against him since 2020 (!!!!), I have no problem sending my tiny ass legion of tumblr followers against him. Now, on with the show.

So I'd like to preface this by saying that I do enjoy Kowie. Like, so much that sometime last year I earned myself a special "CEO of Kowie" role in the Wildcats discord. but i think with how much i also love jetney it's just that i love Kourtney Greene and i love when people give her love.

I think a lot of people don't like Roman for whatever reason, I didn't have twitter until far after s2 had finished airing so if there was drama I wasn't present for it. But his IICLH is magical and I do think that Howie genuinely wanted to be with Kourtney- he made mistakes, as a sixteen-year-old boy is wont to do, and he was caught up in the fiery hell of Zacky Roy and Lily Whatsername's Brigade of Evil, and his shadiness in the s2 finale could lend itself to some suspicion on his part.

However, I also really enjoy Jetney. The thing is I also enjoy Jetwen. There is room for all of these things in my perfect HSMTMTS. I just think that brooding, emo Jet is so full of love that he has not let himself share for so long, that when he finally opens up to himself he realizes oopsie, he kinda likes both Ricky and Kourtney! even better, it's right around the time when Ricky and Kourtney have reconciled and become besties again! that's a whole thing with jet. but it bleeds into kourtney's s4 arc, so i thought i'd mention it.

So when we left Kourtney at the end of MY s3, she was full of confusion upon seeing Howie for the first time since she left for camp. I haven't decided yet whether or not the documentary would've been released to the general public yet, but the trailer certainly had, so no matter what she knows that Howie has watched another man profess their love for his girlfriend on national television.

And Howie is... weirdly not bothered by it. He says it scared him a little at first, but he trusts her- and reality TV is all too keen to force things and feed actors lines, so he's not really worried. Kourtney, however, is, because as much as she'd like to agree that it was all for the cameras, there's a very real part of her that does like Jet, and as much as she wants to get rid of it she can't.

So another thing- Nini doesn't move to California. I know this was done in the show because Olivia's schedule didn't work for her to keep being main cast, but this is my perfect fantasy world and I get to keep my ninikins, okay? She left camp early due to her growing lesbianism to record some demos with Jamie in LA, and as s4 starts she's back in Salt Lake waiting for something to come of them.

Sometime in the first episode, Nini and Kourtney are hanging out and Nini reveals that she's written a song inspired by the whole documentary situation, mainly about how she knows her friends hearts despite the editing making them look like entirely different people. They sing it as a duet. Kourtney talks about her Boy ProblemsTM. There's a funny comment about how this time last year the roles were completely reversed. Nini insists that there's lots of other things to worry about and at least Howie is at North and Jet is all the way in Texas, so she won't have to worry about them during their Best Senior Year Ever.

Cut to the first day of school, and Kourtney, Nini, Ricky, and Big Red are all united as a front, and guess who's sitting in Miss Jenn's sixth period Drama II class? Our good buddy, Jet Lastname (i gave them the last name Grey). Kourtney and Ricky are both red in the face all throughout class. Nini and Big Red find this hilarious.

So in my world, HSMTMTS lasts five seasons, ending with the older four graduating. And with that, I want to save HSM3 for the last season. So, s4 will be The Little Mermaid! I really wanted them to be building up to Kourtney and Carlos as Ariel and Eric with Kourtney having her TLM playbill and Carlos wanting to play a human character and if this is my hsmtmts, that means i get what i want, and what i want is Carlos and Kourtney front and center like they deserve. i also want to include songs that didn’t get used from the other shows they’ve done. I feel like I deserve that.

I think that Jet would meet Howie randomly when he and Maddox go to Slices or something, and eventually realizes that he's Kourtney's boyfriend and has a moment.

the Kowie breakup would hurt me unless it was completely amicable. a few episodes into the season, they realize that they're just not working as a romantic couple and would prefer to just be friends. I can't handle a angsty kowie breakup that would devastate Kourtney or destroy Howie's character, I'm sorry. Maybe Howie can get with Big Red idk if i want to keep redlyn or go with madlyn or not!!!

So there's not really a Jet-Kourtney-Ricky love triangle because there's not anger or people being really aware of it- in fact, Jet's a little bit clueless, but Ricky and Kourtney both think that the other likes Jet so they're like "ok i'll keep quiet cause I don't want to make the other person angry" and then eventually they're acting so weird around each other that the four seniors are all in big red's basement late at night and they're super high loopy from lack of sleep and they admit to each other what they've been doing and they all laugh about it and Nini and Big Red are like "wow you guys are not very smart".

The east high friend group is very fruity

But over the course of the season I think Ricky would get over Jet or decide to be single for a considerable amount of time or whatever and actively encourage Kourtney to go after Jet as a contrast to like. Pained helping others to ignore his own problems like he's done before, y'know? Carlos is like "ricky is this another in a heartbeat" but it's not, it's genuine growth and finding happiness in himself before trying to get it from a partner. Ricky and Kourtney also become therapy buddies btw

And if Jetney gets together in s4 it would be closer to the end. I envision Gina (who is Sebastian) leading the kids in a dream sequence-esque performance of "Kiss the Girl" and everyone is like, goading them together, but they decide to take things on their own terms without any meddling from their friends.

So beyond the Jetney of it all, Kourtney tells her mom that she wants a proper therapist and we see her actually getting that in s4, talking about her anxieties and why she always situates herself behind her friends rather than letting herself come into her own. Someone asks her if she's seen all of the support she's been getting online since the doc came out, and she hasn't because she's forced herself to not go on Twitter. Her Youtube channel has blown up and people are wanting to see more and more stuff, but she's too afraid of hate that she doesn't want to risk it at all. She eventually starts uploading more casual makeup videos, and building more confidence in herself.

Eventually, Nini asks if Kourtney wants to do a duet with her on her EP, and Kourtney nearly dies. On one hand, yes she does, but it's after the initial viral boom of the doc has worn off and things are returning more to normal and she doesn't know if she wants to be quite as nerve-wracked as she was before. I think later, sometime in s5, Nini makes a second record and Kourtney happily agrees to do a song with her.

Nini, Big Red, and Ricky are super supportive, and she also allows herself to get closer to Carlos, Gina, Seb, and Ashlyn, and eventually the drama club is on it's way to being a big loving support system.

Plus, not to mention, I cast Kourtney as Ariel in the musical. I wonder if there's a version of If Only that's just an Ariel and Eric duet, cause that would fit Carlos and Kourtney much better than the quartet. Looking dramatically offstage at Seb and Jet during rehearsal and whatnot. She'd be nervous about playing Ariel, sure, but it's about more than that. There's something more innocent, with more ingenuity about Ariel than there is about Elsa, and that's what scares her the most. Performance-wise, she definitely does Beyond My Wildest Dreams as part of the performance and impresses the hell out of everyone. If Only, like I said, would be in rehearsal, and I think Part of Your World too, I think it could parallel the Monster scene I envisioned for s3, where it shows that she's having issues cause the performance is just Too Real, so her friends support her after the fact, just that this time Big Red and Nini are there as well as Ricky and all of the other kids are making it very clear that they're there to support her through it all.

As for her college-related anxieties, well... i suppose i'll just have to write up my ideal season 5 :shrug:

#hahahaha sorry this got so long lmao #i just live and breathe ricky kourtney besties you know #and the idea of them thinking they're fighting over a boy and then just being like 'wait that's dumb' is immaculate #hsmtmts #kourtney greene #jetney #jet hsmtmts #jude's work #asks

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averrse · 1 year

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some s2 thoughts~

note: i watched the whole season in one day after also watching the kaz parts of s1 (also known as 12 hours of sab in a row) so i don't know i might have forgotten some things. also i'm aro af, and the amount of romance in this show makes me feel weird, so if i seem like a hater about most of the ships, it's only because i am (but no hard feelings to anyone!)

also this is almost 100% about kaz because while i respect that there are other characters in the show, i have not a lot to say about them except in relation to kaz.

...

wesper got in the way of kaz and jesper having more of their weird friendship moments and i'm bitter about it because i'm a hater. but i did like every scrap they did throw me... especially jesper's little monologue about how much they care about each other and kaz agreeing with 99% of it god bless they are a version of sunshine/grumpy that i do really love

kaz and nina had some GOLD interactions and i'm so happy about it. the way he kept making it clear she's part of the crows now? the way he seems baffled by the fact she can just talk to people and they like her? WAFFLES?* every time they say words to each other i am transfixed.

*i need everyone to know how much i enjoy fake dating (or marriage in this case) when the two people are TRULY not interested in each other that way

also kaz appreciating the poetry toyla was reciting. it reminded me of how kaz dresses like the merchers instead of being flamboyant. he Does Not want to come across as a farmboy orphan, and i feel like being that familiar with poetry is related to that.

i'll get back to kaz and inej i have a lot to say, but. in general, i think their relationship was handled well and i do mostly like it, i just kind of wish it were platonic.

kaz blowing up the club a++++++ no notes

truly did enjoy kaz being unhinged about pekka. i appreciate kaz's bad side more than i probably should.

also appreciated that, while kaz had some little moments of vulnerability with the people he cares about, it was very clear that he has a lot of mental health consequences because of it. he loves his friends so damn much, and it is So Difficult for him.

i don't know if the show was... actually doing anything with this (since most of what the darkling did was sulk under a chandelier this season) but i do like the parallel of kaz keeping people around him who DON'T unquestioningly do whatever he says--and i think that's in part because he knows he could veer into actual evil if he didn't--while the darkling doesn't trust anyone enough to listen to any criticism.

it is so funny to me whenever the crows show up in these high magic situations and they are SO unequipped for it but they just kinda manage anyway.

okay now i'm going to do a whole thing about kaz and inej now

things i liked:

they didn't kiss or touch much.

inej realizing that the moment with kaz was a hallucination because he was functioning like a normal human.

i didn't feel like the narrative was telling us that she's supposed to fix him.

BUT they still do look after each other.

kaz walking toward her after the battle in the last episode, then jesper running out to hug her. my emotions.

things i didn't like:

him getting angry at her for not being there during his pekka revenge was weird to me, especially given that he kept telling her to leave over and over through the season. i could go with this conflict but i didn't feel like it developed in a way that worked for me.

the last scene between them for so many reasons god i hated it. first of all, i don't like that he grabbed her. i don't like that he tried to convince her to stay instead of looking for her family. i thought one of the character arcs for him was that he was respecting her need to look for her family, then it got thrown away at the end? i didn't get it.

second, as someone who also has extreme touch aversion connected to ptsd, i thought her line about his armor was actually offensive? if she'd made it about his withholding information from her and not expressing his emotions properly, that would've been FINE. but she made it about the fact he has trouble touching people. from experience, i can ASSURE you that's not something he can control. i just found that totally out of character for inej, who generally understands him pretty well.

and ANYWAY, couldn't she just have left because she needed to do this for herself and not make it into some kind of "break up" situation. they are friends FIRST, in my opinion, and he could've just respected that she needs to do this like he needed his revenge. if they wanted to show that, yes, he's still not the greatest person... he could've just gotten quiet about her leaving or even done some light guilt tripping about leaving the others behind.

a;sdlfkj okay i think that's all i have to say right now.

#s2 spoilers #. ooc

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ncutii-gatwa · 11 months

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hi, i sent the ted lasso ships and hooo boyyy i am so happy that you put my thoughts and feelings into words so perfectly! i was genuinely a bit weirded out in the last season because it felt like the show deliberately opened doors that it firmly closed in the earlier seasons? i assume they pulled that just so the audience feels encouraged to take whatever route they prefer because suddenly all these ships are apparently "plausible" in canon again.

there were quite a few weird samrebecca moments in s3 that felt like they are suddenly back at having feelings for each other? like why have them run into each other or share a meaningful look over watching some romantic movie? it gave off this vibe like "oh la la, it isn't fully over yet" wtf. i hated that they sold that ship so positively with the whole power imbalance thing. i agree, it wouldn't have come off the same way if the boss was a man and the football player was a woman.

and i actually loved jamie's entire development and how it was very much not about ever getting back together with keeley! the show doing a 180 in the last episode just to undo this central aspect of his development that actually felt organic just for some cheap comedic relief simply felt like bad writing to me. i pretend it didn't happen because i hate it >:(. jamie is over her, keeley is over him.

while i'm already here lmao. what about roykeeley? XD

you took the words right out of my mouth! the fact the writers were hinting at sam and rebecca for no reason, then decided to hint tedbecca only for it to be a fake out, THEN hint at roy and keeley getting back together in one episode but nothing happening the next. it really felt like the finale was detached from the rest of the season. like they'd run out of time to explore everything so just slapped a finish on no matter what it meant for characters and relationships.

idk what they were thinking making roy and jamie literally fight over keeley like wtf. as you said jamie's arc in s3 was always about himself, and even though he admitted to keeley he loved her in s2, s3 seemed to move on from that and the relationship all together. and despite s1 i really do feel jamie isn't a violent person. why would he wanna be with a father like his? and two men literally fighting over a women and pressuring her to make a choice between them was stupid af idk why they did it (and dont even talk to me about jamie using the keeley video that was leaked as like a one up on roy. old jamie might have done that but not our jamie). you could tell men wrote those scenes.

as for roykeeley i really loved them. i really loved their relationship and wanted them to get back together by the end of s3. im so annoyed and sad and a little angry they didn't. idk why the writers were constantly hinting at them getting back together and even had them sleep together again just for it to go nowhere. like what was the point of roy's letter and the almost talk in jamie's old bedroom if nothing was going to happen? i honestly feel cheated and baited by the writers. like they saw that roykeeley was a popular ship because of how genuine it was and they decided to rip it apart for drama

sorry for the rant i just have a lot of feelings about season 3 that ive not had to chance to get out really :)

#i got mail #anon #ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #emma thoughts

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