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xan-izme · 11 months

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"Protecter" Metkayina fam x daughter reader

Summary: The eldest daughter of Ronal is very protective, so when the Sully's arrived, trust that her dislike for them were bigger than both her mothers and little brother.

TW: Mention of death, slight family issues

Being Ronal and Tonawari's eldest daughter, you were held responsible for a lot of things. Responsible for your actions, responsible for your lessons and how to keep balance with all of them, because you have a LOT.

But most of all, you felt deeply responsible for the safety of your clan, your family. Before Tsireya and Aonung were born, you were reckless, always doing whatever, whenever you wanted. But your reckless behavior had meaning to it, all those extreme tricks you did with your Skimwing and Ilu were not just to show off. It was to prepare, to gain knowledge of what could work and what could not work in certain situations.

After passing your Iknimaya and finally becoming a warrior, that was around the time Aonung was born. Your father had spoken with you about changing your ways, be safer, was what he was practically saying in his one our lecture.

You didn't argue back, seeing as you were Aonung's eldest sister, you were a warrior, best in their village and in their clan. And you were getting older, no longer a child, you abandoned your reckless ways and made sure to follow the rules, to show Aonung how a true warrior is to act.

When the Sully's arrived, you were not in Awa'atulu. You were beyond the reff, making sure the sky demons were not near the nest the Tulkuns had made. And if the sky demons were near, it was your job and others to alert the Tulkuns and help them move to another loction.

When arriving back home, you demanded to have a meeting with your father and mother.

"Have you both gone mad!?" You were not very happy when you had gotten word of Toruk Makto and his family being here. And seeing them at the beech when you and the other young warriors came back for the season.

It didn't look right for them to be there. And all of this didn't feel right to you either. Yes, you respect Jake Sully for the warrior he was back in the rain forests. But now, the sky demons have come back, and knowing his story and why he had come here, you just hope the Sully's respect your dislike of them being here.

"The Sully's are only here for sanctuary daughter. Jake Sully-"

"Jake Sully brings war father, war brings death . . . death brings hate and hate causes more death!" You had cut your father off as you burst out in anger. Ronal stayed silent, her eyes closed as she slowly rubbed her baby bump when you had mentioned death and war.

The Marui was silent for a moment. Tonawari sighed, nodding his head. Your father signaled you to come closer, you did as told and kneeled down with him.

"I understand your worries and doubts, but my daughter--" Tonawari held your hand in his "--They are a family in need. We cannot simply turn them away. If our family were in their situation-"

"We are not like them." You were quick to cut Tonawari off. Your nose scrunched up in distaste.

"Yes, but if. If were seeking Uturu, they would have done the same and welcomed us in." Your father truly did want you to be at ease and just welcome the Sully family in and help them adapt.

"You don't know that. . . we don't know this family."

"No, my daughter, you don't know this family. You have been gone for these past sessions, so you are to help your siblings teach the Sully children our ways."

You looked at your father as if he really has gone crazy, you glanced to your mother. The two of you stared into each other's eyes. By the looks of it, your mother was practically telling you to give in, no use of arguing against it.

You gave out a deep, depressing sigh and agreed. Leaving the Marui.

Ronal and Tonawari watched as you left. "She has good reasons to act this way." Ronal spoke. Tonawari sighed and closed his eyes. He understands your protectiveness, the sky demons have hurt you before, and it is only reasonable for you to not want the hurt the sky demons inflected on you, to happen again.

The first time the Sully family heard of you, you were this great warrior that went beyond great lengths for the safety of her people, making new arrangements, making sure the other Metkyina spirit brothers and sisters were safe from the sky demons.

You looked a lot like Tonawari, but you acted a lot like Ronal.

You were a little rough when it came to teaching the Sully's. You didn't like talking to them much, only interfering if someone strayed too far or if you saw that it was time to take a break so the Sully kids can catch their breath.

"Sister?" Tsireya spoke as she entered your Marui. You glanced at her and gave her a small nod, which she returned one of her own.

"Stop moving, Tsyava." You mumbled as you tightened the wrappings on the Na'vi man. "Ow! . . .Tsireya, can you please tell your sister to be gentle with me?" Tsyava begged.

Tsireya giggled "She is your mate Tsyava, this is a problem between the both of you."

You chuckled as you gave your little sister a smirk. Your mate sighed, knowing that this was useless.

"What did you come for, little sister?" You spoke as you finished up.

"Well . . . sister, something has happened with Lo'ak." Tsireya watched as you cleaned up the martials you used. Your mate sat himself up and started to do his own chores around the marui.

"Lo'ak? that Sully boy, right? what about him, did Anoung cause trouble again.?'' Your nose scrunched up as your voice became a little harsher.

"No, no, no! . . . Sister, Lo'ak has interacted with Payakan."

The room went stiff. Tsyava glanced at you and continued with his chores. You clenched your jaw, not looking up at Tsireya as you continued to clean.

"Sister, Payakan saved him! confided in Lo'ak and-and if things continue-"

"Payakan is a murder. By the Tulkun law, and our law." You stood up and put the materials away. Tsireya's ears pinned back. She stood in place, fidgeting with her fingers.

Tsireya knows how you are. Your loyal and firm to the rules of the people. If you didn't decide to step down for the role as chief, you would have been close to be the first female chief in the clan, but you fell for Tsyava, and the man doesn't like to be the center of attention 24/7.

A meeting was called. When you arrived, that is when you found out about the problem.

"You allowed him to bond with the outcast!?" Ronal was distressed, and very angered at her children, you stood off to the side as you watched your siblings and the Sully boy get scolded.

Tonawari explained the history of the Tulkun. You have heard the story multiple times. It is a story that you will always keep in mind, the story represents your morals and reasons for safety.

"I'm sorry sir. . . but your wrong."

"Lo'ak!" Lo'aks mother hissed at him for being disrespectful to the chief. "I know what I know."

This made you scoff.

"You know nothing boy." You finally spoke. The tension in the air was too much. Tsireya thought she was going to cry if you didn't speak any longer. Your silence was scarcer than your burst of anger.

"I know the story of Payakan . . . I was there." Your hard expression softens when you focused on the Sully boy. "I lost many friends . . . I lost my own spirit sister."

You shifted yourself a little closer to Lo'ak and put your hand on his shoulder. "I understand that the rules seem unjust. But the rules keep us safe. Keeps your family safe." You stood up, ready to leave this suffocating meeting.

"So please, do your family and our clan a favor and don't be another young soul we have to return to Eywa." Your voice became bitter, you then looked at both Tsireya and Aonung, but mainly on Tsireya.

You gave her a look and shook your head in disappointment before leaving.

A lot of people don't blame you for the many lives that were lost that day. Saying that you were just a child, but so was Payakan! He was a child that had his mother taken from him.

You know if your mother was taken from you in such a way, you would do the same thing. When you lost that first battle you ever had, you lost a lot.

Lives had to be lost to see that the rules are important and are there for a reason. You don't want anyone to suffer the same as you did. No matter what tribe they came from, losing a sister like that was the worst feeling.

So, you follow the rules, make more rules if needed. As long as everyone is safe, alive. Thats all that matters. Because you're the eldest daughter of Ronal and Tonawari. You were meant to protect, and that is just what you'll do.

#avatar twow #tsireya #aonung #ronal #sully kids #metkayina #avatar x reader #neytiri #kiri avatar #avatar fic #avatar james cameron #atwow

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baldpeoplehater · 11 months

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ok so its 2 am. i am tired, i am incoherent and i have a lot to say.

first of all, before the final 10ish minutes i was actually pretty ok with the ending! i was so happy to see that most of the stories were wrapped up really nicely and were headed for a good place. but as soon as ted boarded that airplane. oh god.

although i never really shipped tedbecca before season 3, to me it kinda of seemed like they were ending up together? and i wasn’t mad about it. i actually got pretty invested in it after the whole matchbox/soldier thing. and it really sucks that they build all that up for nothing! all the signs with the psychic (“oh but they could have been for the dutch guy” yes! why not just leave them for scenes with him then?), the multiple ted/rebecca fakeouts (the whole bantr thing and the beginning of the finale episode), the AIRPORT SCENE? SERIOUSLY? and the worst part about it is that by building all this up but not having them end up together, rebecca’s ending felt unfinished and rushed (we barely got to know the guy and even though is “meant to be” or whatever they interacted once. come on), and (for me personally) it seemed that the show implied ted going back to michelle, which makes no sense at all. there was no need for tedbecca to be endgame, but both of their characters deserved better.

the whole roy/keeley/jamie debacle. (i think i just get throuple baited by ted lasso) seriously, i’m ALL for keeley ending up alone since she’s been in relationships basically the whole show. but why make her go back to roy when he apologized????? if they made up, as friends, there wouldn’t be A SINGLE storyline that would have to be changed. they still could’ve gone after jamie. the fight between jamie and roy could still be a catalyst for her to realize that she doesn’t want to be with either of them for now. it was completely unnecessary for them to sleep together.

why. on. earth. would you, for three entire seasons, disapprove of a relationship, show us how toxic it is, and then have them marry each other. seriously. of all the couples, beard and jane ended up together? dude. come on.

ok. let’s ignore the whole beard and jane thing being toxic and just assume they’re good now and she’s improved (her shredding his passport so he couldn’t leave was barely a figment of my imagination). although i dislike ted and beard being apart, i do understand that people move on and even the closest of friends sometimes have to grow apart. but why couldn’t they show us ted at beard’s wedding? he clearly was ok with beard staying for jane. there was no bad blood and even with him going back to kansas, i really doubt he would miss his best friend’s wedding.

and finally, i hate that ted went back to kansas. i can’t really logic myself out of this one, like i did with my other complaints because the reason why he went is really simple: for his son. and it’s the right thing to do. must be really hard parenting from another country and i’m absolutely sure that henry missed him a lot. but michelle could’ve gone to london with him, specially after it being implied that dr. jacob was out of the picture. it just makes me really sad that ted had to go back while everyone else moved forward.

ok! now the positive points because im not a complete bitch.

love to see rupert get absolutely shitted on. the wanker scene? poetic cinema.

i’m really happy that rebecca didn’t sell the club and that she realized that, although it wasn’t what she imagined would happen at first, they were her family now. also loved the juxtaposition of her giving 49% of shares to the fans against edwin akufo’s idea of a super league or whatever the fuck

COLIN GOT TO KISS HIS FELLA. THATS ALL I WANTED I LITERALLY CRIED

the ted/nate scenes really moved me. even though nate’s arc was kinda rushed, i was still happy to see him thriving at the end and going back to being the sympathetic character he was at the beginning of the show. him saying i’m sorry, crying on ted’s shoulder, coming back as assistant kitman instead of coach, it all showed that he changed. i’m also really glad that richmond won with his false nine after all.

MY BABY SAM GOT TO BE IN NIGERIAS TEAM IM SO EXCITED FOR HIM I DONT EVEN CARE IF IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE JUST LET HIM PLAY OK

the goodbye song from the boys and their reaction when ted says he liked it. priceless. (bonus points for trent joining in)

trent’s book being successful

willis

anyways. it was a hell of a ride. i don’t think we’re getting a season 4, but if we do i’ll be back on my bullshit. believe guys :)

#ted lasso s3 #ted lasso spoilers #this is a whole essay im so sorry

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madness-curin-sadness · 2 years

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KILLING EVE S4 Ep 1 & 2

Really enjoyed both episodes, mostly episode 2.

I know a lot of people thought the Jesus hallucination parts were weird or uncomfortable, which I understand. Regardless, I enjoyed the Jesus hallucination parts, they were genius and funny to me- and ultimately worrisome. Eve is so badass now and that scene with Helene was extremely hot. I like the feel of the show. It's darker, more mature, on the edge, and tense af.

Also the lesbian and bisexual aspect of Villianelle and Eve is constructed well, especially Eve's. Like Eve's wardrobe style is a huge improvement. And Eve's bisexuality has really been presented in these first two episodes. Eve is attracted to men (Yusuf), yet she feels a deeper more sensual draw to strong women (Villianelle, even Helene). That is literally the nature of a woman who is bisexual. As to Villianelle who only sees women as attractive and sensual even though she has used men in the past.

I also like how the cinematography is being shot and the effects that are displayed on screen whenever it would show Villianelle and Eve doing something. The screen would have a blurred focus on them when they are thinking. It depicts their uncertainty, their impulses, and their chaotic actions given the situation.

Still, there are many questions.

1. What the heck actually happened on the bridge at the end of season three?

2. How long has it been since season three?

3. Did something actually happen between Eve and Villianelle? (It seems Eve's demeanor and perspective has drastically shifted) Or is it the fact that both of them are not together, the reason why they are both spiraling greatly?

Things that were confusing

Villanelle randomly showing up in front of Eve. Eve absolutely resenting Villianelle. Eve saying, "I'm different". Eve slapping Villianelle and then saying, "that was for Kenny". Is that because of Konstantin or does Eve think Villianelle was the one who killed Kenny? (Which makes total sense, but they need to clarify it if that is the case)

How is Konstantin living a good life, even campaigning? I thought he was a wanted man by the Twelve?

Also is it just me, or is Eve going around spying on members of the Twelve just a little too easily? Eve is way in over her head whatever the case, because Pam (the assassin woman working at the funeral home) knew she was being followed and whooped Eve's ass so quickly anyways.

The suprising/shocking, interesting, dislikes, and controversial moments.

What do you feel about Eve shooting Konstantin in the hand? (suprising)

Eve spending so much time flirting with Yusuf. (dislike)

Hugo threatening Carolyn. (suprising)

Villanelle singing in a church. Villanelle trying to be a faithful person. Even though she has killed so many people. (suprising/controversial but I liked it)

Eve putting herself in danger around members of the Twelve so many times. (suprising/concerning)

Villanelle being so subconscious and having little confidence. (suprising/dislike/concerning)

Villanelle not wanting to kill anyone. (Interesting)

Villanelle getting caught on cctv burying a cat she accidentally killed. (suprising/funny)

Villanelle hallucinating about Jesus, and Jesus being herself. (suprising af/controversial)

The results of Eve and Villianelle's Romeo and Juliet moment. (suprising/confusing)

Villanelle's whole baptism scene. (suprising/shocked/controversial)

Eve showing up at Hélène's house and wanting to have dinner with her. (suprising)

Villanelle almost killing May in a church. (Suprising/controversial)

Villanelle calling out May's father at the bond fire during the game at church camp. (SHOCKED)

Eve and Hélène having a fucking sensual interaction. (Shocked😏)

Villanelle getting mad after overhearing May and her father talking badly about her. Resulting in Villianelle killing them. (interesting)

Theories and insights

Yusuf dies some how. Lol.

Carolyn gets captured or arrested.

Villanelle or Eve get arrested.

Helene is fooling Eve.

Konstantin finally dies.

Those fish Villianelle cooked for dinner were the same fish Eve fed at that fish tank.

Villanelle and Eve are going to make up and finally have the most anticipated bang of the century.

Conclusion:

Episode 1 and 2 were written pretty good. The show felt fresh. The acting by Jodie, Sanda, and Fiona was superb, they did their characters just right. The comical parts were not overly done, they were small, and wonderfully timed.

Going forward into episode 3, we should be concerned for Eve's safety and Villianelle's sanity.

Eve is going around acting reckless looking for the Twelve. Without a care for what might happen to her. I mean she freaking shot Konstantin in the hand. In episode 1 after Eve confronts Konstantin he tells Eve that she will not survive. Eve replies with, "thank god". Signaling that she does not mind dying at all. Eve does not fear anything in that moment. It is pretty worrisome to hear. However, there is one point in episode 2 where Eve and Yusuf are at dinner and he tells Eve that she might die going to Hélène's house. And Eve looks scared. There are parts of her that still are humane, moments when she steps back and thinks about her reckless actions. There are times she doesn't know if what she is doing is right or wrong. Episode 2 when she goes to get another opinion from the psychologist Martin. Eve goes to Martin to gain insight about going to Hélène's house and she ends up talking about Villianelle. She is not sure of her actions. And at the end of Episode 2 she walks out of Hélène's house holding her burnt hand not believing what just transpired between her and Hélène. Eve likes the power she has over people, specifically Hélène in that moment. In that moment when Eve is questioning her actions, she looked a bit aroused, scared, and pleased with what she just did.

I do think it is crazy how Eve showed up at Hélène's house. Though Eve didn't mean for her interaction with Hélène to be similar to the times when Villianelle would show up at her house- it still ended up like that. Eve randomly brought up to Yusuf the idea of just showing up at Hélène's house, gee I wonder where Eve got that idea from? Still Eve randomly got up in the middle of the night and did the same thing Villianelle has done to her. Challenging and arousing one another is what happened with Eve and Hélène. Just like Villianelle and Eve would do to each other. It is a big parallel and I wonder if that was something Eve was thinking about when she was leaving Hélène's house. Clearly Eve cannot stop thinking about Villianelle.

Then there is Villianelle. Villanelle turns to religion and faith in order to be a better person. To do good things instead of bad. To establish morals and know from right and wrong. Villanelle is acting like a normal caring person around May and her father. Villanelle doesn't really talk much and you can tell she is holding back. She has placed herself in the Christian faith even though it is clear she does not believe in God and she is still the same psychopath. She plans to be baptized to wash all her sins away. She accidentally kills May's cat. She questions herself and seeks affection from May. Villanelle wants to be told she is a good person. Then Villanelle gets caught hiding the dead cat, perhaps indicating that Villanelle cannot hide her true self. We find out she is only doing all of this to impress Eve to show her that she has changed. Villanelle goes to talk to Eve about how she's "changed" and "supposedly" so has Eve. After that Villianelle nearly kills May. And Villianelle kills May and her father after getting upset with them. During the whole 2nd episode Villianelle starts to hallucinate about Jesus as herself. Which was humorous and good acting. But in reality it means that Villianelle was basically imagining someone and talking to them. It is a psychological disorder we all know too much about, which means Villianelle really does need help.

In episode 2 Villianelle repeatedly tells May that what matters is that she didn't kill her, and that she is still alive. May says "no, you don't get it. You tried to kill me but it's okay because you didn't finish the job?". Then Villianelle explains to May that she is trying to be a better person. And Villianelle throws on a sap story to May successfully manipulating her. Which is interesting because in the past we'd see Villianelle say some sad lie to manipulate someone. Though this time we know Villianelle is trying to manipulate May but Villianelle is actually being genuine about how she feels while doing it. Not killing May or anyone matters to Villianelle. It shows that she is trying to be good. Well good to prove to Eve. Also not killing someone that likes you is very important to Villanelle. Villianelle's current relations with May represents a parallel to Eve and Villanelle trying to kill one another in the s1 and s2 finales. When they both failed to kill each other. Afterwards they were glad neither of them had died, in fact Eve and Villanelle both tried to apologize the next time they seen one another. Villianelle tells May, "what matters is that I didn't kill you" almost like she is trying to prove to Eve again. Villanelle believes that NOT killing Eve is a huge importance. Because Eve is so important to her. Now switch back to Villianelle and May in the forest. Villianelle seems distasteful about May liking her again so easily when May doesn't even truly know her, which is different from with Eve. Villianelle also appears very lost and unhappy. And clearly Villianelle cannot stop thinking about Eve.

I worry for Eve and Villanelle individually. They are both trying to prove to one another that they are different then before. That they have changed. That Villianelle is not the murdering, self centered, psychopath assassin. And that Eve is not the naive, scared, easily manipulated agent. When actually they are still the same people. Though now a little part of each other reflects in the two of them. Making them only slightly different from each other and still the same as before. Though their characteristics are now amplified up. Mix it with how tense they are, knowing that they clearly love each other, and that one is stubbornly denying it. It is frustrating, painful, and confusing. Villanelle and Eve seriously need to have a one to one that is uninterrupted. They both need to suck up their pride and realize that they need and love each other. They can keep trying to live without each other, though look how that is working out for them.

I look forward to more Villianeve moments. How their love will finally turn for the betterof both of them. And how the show will end. It is nice being able to theorize about Killing Eve once again, so please enjoy it because it will be missed.💚💛

#killing eve #villanelle #eve polastri #villaneve #villanelle x eve #killing eve season 4 #killing eve spoilers #killing eve spoiler

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galvanizedfriend · 2 years

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I was just here thinking about how I've been in this fandom for roughly three and a half years now and how it all came to pass and how life is a bitch, you know.

I was just minding my own business, lalala, and then a freaking vampire teen show on the CW decided not to give me my promised endgame, and that made me so ??? indignant ??? I had to start reading and writing fanfiction. And now three and a half years later I'm still here, more obsessed with the pairing than I had ever been while the shows were airing, all because they wouldn't deliver on this basic promise.

I mostly dislike everything that happened to the TVDu after S5 of TVD. Few scenes here, few characters there, whatever. But I didn't enjoy it anymore. It didn't SPARK JOY. And yet I was really chill about it. I see people getting legit mad at showrunners and stuff, and while I understand the feeling, I never really shared that hatred because I was always willing to accept that TVD was just going to be bad. And there's nothing wrong with that! lol I enjoy the bliss of crappy TV. Bad, absurd, nonsensical shows can make for really great entertainment. Not everything has to be Six Feet Under, you know. And when I started watching TVD, I think mid-season 3 was already airing, or maybe s4 was about to start, so I had a pretty good idea what I was getting into, never had any expectations about what a teen drama on the CW was or was not going to deliver. I was chill.

So when it went from bad-but-actually-good to just bad, I was just shrugging, rolling my eyes and going 'ok', because all I wanted was my endgame. That's the only reason I was watching it. I was never drawn to TVD as a whole, the storytelling was never that compelling to me, the world building never truly gripping, and while the first 3 seasons were REALLY good (S2 and 3 are awesome, come on), what kept going back every week was Klaroline. And I figured, even after S4, one day the crossover will happen, they will bring those two back together. There's no way they're just gonna throw this out. I was willing to wait patiently for it. However long it takes.

Not really though, because I ended Marie Kondo-ing the shit out of that and quit TVD on S7 and couldn't make it past the beginning of TO S3, so I dropped both. But every six months I would hop on Google and type 'Klaroline crossover'. Something told me one day it would come. When S5 was finally announced, I felt PEACE, man. I was like YES, FINALLY. I KNEW IT. I felt REWARDED. I EARNED this.

And here's the thing about me: all my ships die. It's just a curse I carry with me that I'm sure I will pass on to my children, and my children's children, and their children after that. The curse of being eternally heartbroken and frustrated over fictional characters. It's awful here, guys. Real life sucks and then THIS, you know. So unfair.

It's so, so rare for me to actually have a ship that gets me INVESTED. Even when I like characters/a show/a pairing, for me to have PERSONAL FEELINGS towards them, it takes mountains moving and planets aligning. And so far, whenever it has happened, someone died. I NEVER got my endgame. EVER. And when I wrapped myself around Klaroline like a snake around a little calf it wants to devour, it was because I, fool that I am, thought there was NO WAY a teen vampire show wasn't going to give me my endgame, especially when they had been hinting at it for YEARS. TVD LITERALLY ends with them saying Klaroline was endgame. I had just had my heart ripped apart by The Good Wife and Homeland. Torchwood, my OG fandom and only other time I ever got into fanfiction, killed my soul. Cowboy Bebop, my baby Yokie ship? Dead. Beautiful, poetic, I fully support it - but also, consider my heart.

I saw these two vampires, VAMPIRES, and I thought: wow, I'm finally safe. It's the BASIC understanding of teen shows that ships need to happen. You don't cheat teenagers, dude. You don't break their hearts. That's just mean. And then when S5 was announced, I knew I had been right all along. I watched that mess and I was like "They have Nazi vampires in this season and Klaus is out there saying shit like 'They hate me because of what I am' [a hybrid, not a mass murderer psycho who's also essentially an asshole *affectionate*], but hey - it'll be fine. Klaroline will be endgame. Nazi vampires don't matter. Klaroline matters."

I was chill, dudes. I was very chill. Compared to how vitriolic people have been about TVD over the years, I was just CHILL.

And then they betrayed me. While I will argue that Klaroline ended up being *the* endgame pairing, since Elijah essentially worked to get Hayley killed (hahahaha dude wtf), and Caroline and Klaus were *it*, as we always knew they would be, I was just... Livid. I could not BELIEVE what those bitches had done to me.

This was me:

They put me through NAZI VAMPIRES, YOU GUYS. Klaus was like 'Oh no, they are killing wolves, because they are LIKE ME' when he basically spends his entire TVDu career HATING and KILLING wolves himself. And it was all for NOTHING.

I can take shows like The Good Wife killing my ships. I was destroyed, but I can take it, because shows like TGW aim to be 'superior drama'. They are going for the awards. I don't feel cheated by them. But The Vampire Diaries? Are you effing kidding me?

I had been watching TVD for years before that fateful day in August 2018 when Klaus turns to glittery dust without having ever felt like reading fanfiction. But I remember I finished that episode, got my computer, and went straight to AO3. From the ashes of my indignation, an urge was born. And I've been here ever since.

I wasn't even asking for a *good* finale. I had long abandoned any notion that this show, which featured Nazi vamps and a snowflake baby that grows up to kill the mom who basically raised her all by herself, was going to give me *good*. I just wanted it to BE, period. All I wanted was to collect my fan service and be done with it. I'm easy to please, I'd be happy. If they'd given me that, I would probably not be here right now. AND YET.

Why am I writing all this? I have no idea. I was just thinking about it. Life, huh? Just as pointless as this post.

#yokan talks #personal #this makes no sense #long post #for all your mistakes and crimes julie plec #this is the one thing i shall never forgive you for #me and my vampire show that ruined my life #however i love those two idiots your honor #send me to jail

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bookishlyizzy · 3 years

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discussing the final season of carmen sandiego

*spoilers* umm....so yeah, i finished watching carmen sandiego, and i’m left in a state of perpetual sadness and despair. i feel like the ending of the show wrapped up wayyy too fast, and kind of left off on a bit of an unsatisfactory note for some of the characters. although i love the large and diverse cast of carmen sandiego, one of the drawbacks of having all those characters and arcs and storylines makes it harder to cram in a satisfying conclusion for everyone in a twenty-minute episode. so here’s what i would do if there was more time.

let’s start off with the threads that i think were tied off pretty well:

julia & chase devineaux: i wasn’t really a shipper of julia and devineaux but i actually really enjoyed their relationship throughout season 4. we see a lot of character growth from devineaux in the way that he interacts with julia and the world. julia pushes devineaux to become a better person, to see things with a broader perspective and from other people’s points of view. and he does really change a lot into an understanding person instead of the overconfident, arrogant detective we first saw him as in season 1. in addition, he also grows to respect julia as a person and partner, and it’s completely adorable how he looks at her while zari tells julia that they’ll follow her lead. also i love how he keeps wearing his lucky cat jacket from san francisco in season 4.

el topo & le chevre: okay, i was pretty much shipping these two the minute they showed up on the screen together. you can tell how much they care about each other throughout the series. whenever one of them gets hurt, you can really see how they prioritize each other over whatever thing vile is planning. when things are good, they’re so sweet and they have so much fun together. and they take dumb cute selfies. they’re so, so adorable, and this season definitely brings the shipping fodder. and they end the season moving on from vile and running a food truck together. the only thing i’m mad about is that we definitely needed more screen time from them.

shadowsan: i didn’t like shadowsan in season 1 but over the course of the series he really went through a lot of major character development and i love how he’s now basically a grumpy dad figure to carmen. the season ends with him finally reuniting for good with his brother in japan, and it’s a satisfying conclusion for his arc. i also love how he was the one to help carmen in the finale when she’s struggling with the brainwashing thing. which is way better than the brainwashing being resolved by some bs like true love’s kiss. (also carmen and gray are way too hurt and they’re super not ready for a relationship.) carmen sandiego is a show that emphasizes the importance of family with this father-daughter duo, and i think that’s something really valuable. also i’m interpreting that shadowsan isn’t permanently moving to japan, but rather just visiting his brother. he’s still definitely going to be there for carmen going forward when she needs him.

player & carmen’s friendship: i love this show for having a male/female friendship with absolutely no romantic feelings going on. it’s a solid friendship, and depicts a wholesome, supportive relationship. absolutely no qualms here.

and here’s all the stuff that needs expanding/fixing:

tigress: i actually really love tigress as a character, and i personally think that there should have been more of her in the series. i would have liked to see more depth and motivation to her, since she has a lot of character potential. i don’t really know how i would rewrite tigress’s arc, because it’s virtually nonexistent and there’s not too much to go off of. i don’t think she needs a redemption arc, but i would give her more of a spotlight. (also low key fictional-crushing on her.) i would like to include sort of a tigress-centric episode, which can also generally be more expansion on the inner workings of vile.

cleo & saira: villain couple. villain couple. they need to be a villain couple, enough said. i would rewrite season 4 to have include an emotional downbeat moment in which saira struggles with being able to fit in with society and humans and being completely awkward at it while cleo, in all her regal and ettiquite-esque manners, tries to help. this wouldn’t really help with the main plot, but it would be humanizing and provide character depth. i feel like this could be the b-plot in the tigress episode somehow.

coach brunt: you don’t betray family. at this point, coach brunt has lost the daughter she raised, who, in her mind, has basically backstabbed her entirely. coach brunt was also betrayed by shadowsan and left for the police to find, and in season 4, malestrom basically abandons her to drown. and it’s highly likely that somewhere in her backstory she’s been betrayed many times, likely by her own blood family, which would provide context for why she’s such a loyal person to vile, who she thinks of as her found family. in rewriting season four, i’m adding one extra episode that’s solely on the backstory of coach brunt. in this episode, we would explore brunt’s upbringing and the first time she is betrayed by someone she considers family. in my opinion, coach brunt was likely pushed to fall by another influence, but she also makes the conscious choice to choose revenge over moving on. potentially, we could also explore brunt’s budding friendship with the mechanic, who we never see again after that one episode, as well as a reflection upon this from her adult self.

gray & the freaking mind control thing & his moral struggles: *sighs* i can see what the show is going for, but i really just don’t see it in the execution. the way that gray struggles with morality is like it’s an on and off switch. he’s either graham, basic civilian, or crackle, basically evil. in that one episode, he flip flops between being overly heroic, even taking out time from his day to specifically track down a random kid to return his wallet instead of just dropping it off at the police station or leaving it where he found it. and then the flip side is like he’s just robotically relapsing into stealing mode, where he just suddenly has to impluse to steal literally anything. i feel like this flip flop wasn’t really a good portrayal of his struggle and didn’t really demonstrate many active choices made by him. and the way that he’s just like “i’m actually just evil” when he confronts carmen at the lab is just super one-dimensional. i just don’t buy it that he flips to vile so quickly in the span of a few episodes. i feel like there should have been more active reflecting and the decision should have been dragged out longer.

also it’s revealed in the finale that gray also changed his crackle rod to not go beyond a stun, and i think this was a nice touch, because it demonstrates his aversion to murder, which calls back to the first caper, in which he’s confronted with killing the archeologist at the excavation site. but he doesn’t end up having to make that choice, because carmen stops him. but this time, it’s his own choice to take that step away from vile ideals. i don’t think gray is ever going to be a “hero” of the traditional sense or have a complete redemption arc, because it just doesn’t fit him. to be honest, i don’t know what the future will hold for gray, but i definitely think of he will fall somewhere along the lines of red x (teen titans) or catwoman’s (in certain comic runs) gray morality. (and i think the way gray returns to vile kind of screws this up.) he’s still going to steal stuff sometimes probably, but he’s not going to straight up murder people. he would probably be the type to work for himself alone mostly, but be okay teaming up with the good guys sometimes. definitely no joining evil organizations tho.

gray & carmen & the “i know you’re in there somewhere fight:” i definitely ship these two, but i think they’ve got a long way to go before they’re really ready to admit their feelings for each other. i’m happy that the “i know you’re in there somewhere fight” didn’t culminate in a kiss scene being the thing that snapped carmen out of the trance. because that is just so cliche and not the message of the show. instead, it’s shadowsan who does. and that makes sense going along with the themes of family. i think the issue with this i dislike how there is no more elaboration after carmen supposedly kills gray. this is her best friend. i would imagine that the reaction would be greater, since he was also her friend and teammate during the months they were both working under vile. and then when carmen’s brainwashing wears off, she agonizes that she killed her best friend. but that’s it. the “i know you’re in there somewhere fight” is the last screen appearance of both of them together. then it’s directly cutting to taking down vile. there should have been a hospital scene where carmen rides with him in the ambulance and talks to him as he’s unconscious, and leaves behind a note for him to read when he’s awake.

i just really think there should be a “heart to heart” scene somewhere in this finale where they confront their feelings (not romantic stuff, but more about like shared trauma at the hands of vile and their broken apart friendship). this could happen at that sydney cafe. both times carmen and gray go on a “date” she leaves him sitting there alone, bewlildered. i think the finale should include a scene of them leaving the cafe together and then walking away and waving to each other. this shows development in their relationship, and that they are now closer, but it also visually shows that they still have differences as they walk away with a sort of two toned kind of environment angle that shows the different paths they have chosen. (and carmen calls him gray. and he doesn’t correct her.) it’s more of a see you later, than a goodbye though. we’re also getting rid of that part of when gray says he doesn’t want to complicate carmen’s life in the hospital scene. instead, he’s going to ask for a sheet of paper on which he will write an indiscernible letter to carmen. (the same letter will be seen in at the carmen brand outerwear hq a few scenes later for continuity, but unopened at the time, as if carmen’s not yet ready to read it. i feel like both of them need to heal a bit on their own before they’re ready to reconnect. gray knows he has hurt carmen in the past but he also knows it will hurt her if he disappears without a trace, so he’s leaving her with the choice if she wants to see him again instead of making the choice for her.)

ivy & zach & found family: carmen leaves a note behind for ivy and zach and leaves to find her mother. i feel like this did not handle team red’s found family very well. basically, the whole show is setting up this importance of family, especially found family not blood family kind of narrative. vile blood runs in carmen’s veins but she chooses to do good and find her own family. ivy and zach both choose carmen, their found family, over their racing career. i think that they should have stuck together, and when carmen goes to find her mom, they would have been totally onboard dropping her off at the airport and saying a “see you soon” or actually driving her to carlotta valdez’s house in lydia (the car). i just don’t think that splitting them up via a note is really a satisfying conclusion to the whole found family aspect. and in that time skip carmen really should have stopped by to say hi to the zach and ivy and the acme squad instead of maintaining the air of mystery. that would have definitely pushed the family feel, instead of the mysterious loner archetype.

that time skip thing: yeah, no. this part was completely not needed and unhelpful. instead, we’re going to have carmen hug her mother at the airport, and go to visit all of her friends and found family, especially shadowsan in japan and ivy and zach in presumably boston. and the time skip will be a few onths not two effing years. i think it’s natural for them to grow apart a bit and pursue their own personal goals in life after vile’s gone, but they’ll definitely be staying in touch and reconnecting and seeing each other pretty often. and lastly of all, carmen will meet gray at the cafe in sydney.

basically, this is how i would redo the episodes for season 4.

episode 1: the beijing bullion caper. (this episode remains as is for the most part, i would like more expansion on lady doksu and shadowsan's past since it seems like their pasts are more tied together than is revealed)

episode 2: the big bad ivy caper. (this episode remains as is for the most part.)

episode 3: the robo caper. (the scenes in which carmen first meets the robot and ivy runs it over with a truck can stay the same. where we start to deviate is with gray’s story with a revised, more complex, and in depth view of his moral struggles. instead of being unaware largely as gray flops between graham/crackle, he’s going to be a lot more aware. he’s still going to rob the house, but instead it’s because he feels hopeless that since he was previously a criminal, that’s all he’s ever going to be. gray doesn’t want to be a civilian, and feels like the only thing that he can do instead is be a part of vile. however, when he sees carmen again, he’s going to realize that if she got out of vile, then that means he has a chance to get out of it too. gray comes to a crossroads of deciding between carmen and vile, good and evil.

episode 4: this will be the episode that concentrates on tigress, with a cleo/saira b-plot. most of this episode will take place within vile, and give more insights on the workings of the organization.

episode 5: the himalayan rescue caper. (this episode is going to get a real makeover. with the insertion of episode 4, this creates more actual space between the last time we see gray grappling with his big choices, which makes it feel like more time has passed. so it actually feels like he had more time to think. carmen’s still going to try to rescue gray, and the part with player can stay the same. as gray is manipulated by malestrom, i think this episode should further emphasize how vile manipulates their recruits and amp up the shittiness of how malestrom is acting. i think malestrom should say something along the lines indicating that vile is gray’s only family left, this is what he was born to do, he belongs with them, and make up a bunch of bullshit lies about carmen. malestrom will portray this stuff as the “truth” and then say something like “we told you to the full truth, while carmen was hiding your past from you. didn’t you say you wanted to piece together more of your past?” (which gray did express interest in a previous episode.) since more time has passed, malestrom will play the “if carmen wanted to rescue you, she would have done so already. she abandoned you.” card. of course, it’s not easy to get into a super advanced vile facility, so instead carmen’s going to be having more struggles with getting in, which is the real reason she’s taking a while.) i want to keep the scene where he says that his name is crackle, not gray and not graham. i think this scene is particularly painful because graham/crackle is kind representative of the two sides of good and evil that gray thinks he has to choose between. gray will accuse carmen of abandoning him, both in the present but demonstrating that he’s still hurt by the time when she first left vile, and all those times when she kept secrets from him and disappearing in sydney. carmen asks him to leave with her, but instead of him being like “i’m bad, and i was always a villain,” he’s just going to be hurt and feel manipulated and be so conflicted. i feel like gray would choose vile, but not because it’s where he belongs but because he’s afraid of being brainwashed again if he doesn’t agree and because he just wants to know the truth, which vile happened to tell him first (and carmen had been hiding it from him for a while). why would it make sense for gray to willingly side with vile because he’s “throughly bad?” actions speak louder than words, and it’s clear that he’s definitely not evil enough for vile.

episode 6: the vile history caper. (we’re just going to keep this episode as is for the most part. but like more el topo and le chevre moments.)

episode 7: this will be the coach brunt backstory episode, piggybacking off of her hurt feelings about maelstrom’s intended betrayal.

episode 8: the egyptian decryption caper. (this one is just going to be as is for the most part. the cleaners kidnap carmen, but we’re going insert one more painstaking scene of gray learning of vile’s plan to kidnap carmen. he’s not going to know they are planning to brainwash her. he’s going to feel conflicted and try to protest, but then realizes that now that he’s stuck with vile, if he goes against them he’s probably going to get brainwashed himself. and the brainwashing was really traumatizing, so it’s understandable he’s really afraid of it happening to him again.)

episode 9: the viennese waltz caper. (mostly just keeping this episode as is, but more worrying gray scenes. i feel like he should have had a bigger reaction to seeing carmen so unlike her personality. carmen’s lack of empathy should have pushed himself to question if vile is really a healthy place for anyone if they’re so willing to brainwash his best friend in a greater capacity. i think gray should recognize how bad the situation is but he still won’t act upon it since he’s trapped in the nostalgia of their old squad and since he’s been abandoned by carmen before, he’s too afraid that reversing the brainwashing will result in a repeat of her leaving him again. and he’s still afraid of the brainwashing.)

episode 10 + 11 + 12. the dark red caper. (yeah, this episode is kind of just way too quickly wrapped up. i’m going to expand this into a three parter so we have more time to focus on everyone. basically, we’re going to expand this for the angst. and because this is the last season and i need more content. i feel like we can follow the general plot trajectory but with more nuance and include the improvements i wrote above about the finale. absolutely pushing the found family trope to its limits, and less vagueness since there’s not going to be another season. oh yeah, and the scene when carmen fights shadowsan, i feel like they could have amped up the emotional stuff and make it as much as about him being her dad figure as the doll because #foundfamily. and also the extra time gives more space for all of that other stuff like endings for all the characters, and more team red found family, and a bit about the non-jailed vile operatives, and the acme team, and also maybe a little infrastructure rebuilding montage, and also that carmen and gray moment.)

basically i just want a satisfying ending for gray, and i love him, and he can’t just stare out of the hospital bedroom and agree to stay out of her life while melancholy music plays.

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lover-of-trash-and-people · 3 years

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bittersweet netflix shadow and bone finale (s1 e8) rewatch; accoutrement: white wine with ice cubes in it (no YOU'RE a mom drink shh)

my wine's like fruity I love her

light and darkness title card we love to see it

Inej looking at Alina before she goes below deck to hide <3

okay that 'what can you really do on your own' was like not fun that shit hurted

okay but Jesper's 'not enough'? <3

oh no my baby Zoya's first inkling that Darkles does not really care

omg Helnik just appeared and I remembered how much heartbreak I have to face in this episode

gods I love Danielle as Nina so so much

'this can't be it' said she with her pleading smile with downturned eyebrows MA'AM I-

don't break my dumb little heart

I might hate Calahan's little accent but they're making me tear up

oh gods I literally cannot keep a hold on myself when Dani's accent bleeds through with full force, it's like she comes more alive or smth

'I will keep you warm' SIR WHAT-

I am surprised they showed a leaning in for a kiss so soon but I'm not mad about it

her little eyebrow twitch at 'what are waffles'

when that rando said 'i hunt slavers now' a dread settled into me because I knew what was about to go down

Matthias looking somberly at the stuffed wolf's head </3

I am so incredibly entranced by this exchange between Fedyor and Nina and what it represents, it's very interesting that they pushed up their storyline to match with the timeline

damn it's kind of jarring to be back in the Fold

'REMEMBER WHO'S DRIVING'??!!!! *you better stop* meme, *i am, disgusted* meme, *oh wow, oh wow* meme

Mal you fucking idiot you could never take the crows by surprise

the music rising as Kaz starts explaining his thought process, fucking perfection

haha Mal bitchass Inej caught you

'Because if he isn't with Kirigan's crew, he's with ours' WHEN I TELL YOU I SCREAMED

'And why would we destroy the Fold? It's the greatest weapon we've got' valid point at the moment but you know I don't necessarily agree with your methods

the use of the light tunnel in the show instead of Alina just being a super flashlight in the books is quite an interesting addition as well

is this an inappropriate time to point out how pretty Ben Barnes is

okay I kind of love the depiction of the shadow powers okay sue me

'they are traitors who tried to kill you' why are you suddenly making valid points despite having kind of committed low scale genocide

'i never said I was smart' YES MAL BE THE VOICE OF HIMBOS EVERYWHERE

Kaz's face going from 'can you believe this idiot' at Mal to 'fuck me I'm gonna do the same thing aren't I' at Inej

'For who would oppose us now?' *himbo romantic rival appears out of nowhere and shoots at him* god I love this show

him standing calmly in his ridiculous all black attire after nodding at his soldier to stop the himbo in his tracks, i fucking can't

could she summon light without the Darkling making her after he put the collar on her until the uhm moment in the books? idts but in the show she can hmm

'only because I'm not in the game' you tell him Jesper

not me snickering at 'you'll be seen not as a saviour, but as a heretic' LMFAO

'Shame. I'll have to give that speech again now.' THIS SHOW IS A FUCKING COMEDY AND YOU CAN'T PROVE ME WRONG

YES LET'S FUCKING GO SULI SOLIDARITY

Darkles casually whipping the Cut out like a shuriken or a throwing knife at Jesper because he shot at him lmao I can't

INEJ FUCKING GHAFA STABBED ONE THE OLDEST AND MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THAT WORLD AND THAT IS VERY TELLING OF HER POWER

that moment where you actually think that affected him despite having read the books and watched the show

and then he has to go and fucking say 'it will take more than this' and I can't be help but be a little bit impressed at this old fool's resilience

throwback to when he said 'the king is a child' sir you make some valid points sometimes and it does make it difficult to hate you

I would just like to inform everyone that it is currently 6:09 am IST and I am sipping my second mug of wine while watching netflix sab for the second time instead of doing my three papers that are due tomorrow

I'm sorry but Inej jumping to check on Zoya after she gets knocked over by the volcra? first class display of solidarity and sisterhood as well as Inej's inherent kindness

Kaz jumping in front of a FUCKING VOLCRA AND STABBING IT WITH HIS CANE to save Inej, you best believe love is true, kids

god the volcra are so ugly and gross, they did such a good job with them

they kind of remind me of these creatures (I think they might have been called Hollows or smth) from the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children movie

STAG VISION TIME

despite my dislike for the callous nature with which the stag plotline was handled, I kind of dig the stag vision scene

'It's just me and you now, Alina. And we're all we need, anyway.' I actually feel bad for this old fool simping for this wonderful gorgeous powerful woman despite lying to her and manipulating her and exploiting her power

okay 'I never needed you' *stabs the bone fragment out of his hand* beautiful power move I fucking love you so so much

alright ben looking like ✨ that✨ not only in physical pain but also emotional pain at what the Darkling clearly considers another betrayal from this girl he wants to give the world and maybe? loves? maybe? or at least has feelings for makes my fucking heart hurt while simultaneously soar at Alina taking back control and reclaiming her power as her own and stepping into her own

'how do you claim such power' okay could have had better dialogue there writers

the fucking score lifting as she says 'you cannot claim what was not given to you' good people my heart is full

one day I'll talk about my defense of the chosen one trope because god damn I kind of love it

hmm I wonder was that brief hesitation that we saw on Alina's face due to her thinking about the 'you chose to betray our people' comment or the 'i was trying to save us' comment because that will define some of her actions in the later seasons (hopefully god if we get some, I honestly don't know what with this stupid brownface debacle)

I'm not saying talking about brownface and pointing out that it is wrong (for further context, I am actually brown) and harmful is stupid btw I'm talking about the incidents involving brownface in question

I don't wanna talk about this anymore but I might feel like I need to and end up posting about it idk

goodness Ivan actually believing in this cause makes me so sad because he too has been victimized by the system that ostracizes Grisha and he has every right to feel the way that he does

Ben actually fighting in that ridiculously heavy cloak and kefta when he's about to turn 40 this year makes me super impressed because I as a 19 year old sometimes wake up with muscle pulls after weeks of inactivity it's weird idk

also I understand that this Mal Darkling fight is completely fanservice and serves nearly no purpose to the plot in general but like I? love it?

'I don't have to kill you Darkling. Your past will do it for me' YES HIMBO GO OFF YOU TELL THAT OLD MAN GODS THAT WAS SEXY AS FUCK

maybe it's because I know Darkles will survive and will come out of it more powerful but I can't get myself to feel bad for him at the moment

Inej and Mal tearing up at Alina's condition made me almost feel something despite it being super obvious she was gonna be fine and save their asses at the last moment

HER POWER

a solitary Kaz in spotted on the western side of the newly expanded fold in his signature all black emo boy look

okay but the crows with zoya and malina is such an adorable team? I literally love them so much?

INEJ'S FUCKING SMILE AT ALINA GIVING HER THE DAGGER AND KAZ LOOKING AT HER AGSGSGSHSJSJSK MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE

SHE KNOWS JUST WHAT TO NAME IT WELL GIRLIE I KNOW IT TOO AND MY FUCKING HEART IS LITERALLY GONNA BURST

okay I know they had one interaction but Mal and Jesper would be besties in another universe

Kaz glaring at Jesper when he answers ''course not' to Alina's 'will you still be trying to kidnap me?' tell me one fucking adaptation that got the dynamics between characters this perfectly

okay why do I love that Alina kept the jewellery as maybe a small nod to she has the wits to, um, you know, I don't wanna say steal, but, um, yeah, steal it because she knew she would need money to survive on the run

oh Jessie I love you so much I wish you hadn't said those things on you ig story about the brownface

it's like every single celeb I grow attached to god's like nope that one is going to do or say something problematic (hey btw im not reassigning blame to god for stuff people have done out of their own free will, 'twas a joke)

AAAAAAAH them saying 'the deal is the deal' in the show even though they didn't have to but like they did and I love them for it

Inej literally not being able to not stare at Kaz's face and smile after this <3

'I didn't expect it to burn at all. But it can be destroyed in the end. Just like him' babe you're not wrong but like um just you wait

god Mal being on supportive boyfie mode is well, absolutely adorable, obviously, but I wish we got to see more of him as a person outside of his attachment to Alina

kaz my little demjin I wish you hadn't have had to suffer so much to meet the crows and find your calling

fastforwarding Zoya's arc is also an interesting choice to me

I wish the hug hadn't been done though, it didn't feel earned

maybe Alina awkwardly and half-heartedly (remember, at this point the alliance is fresh and they still don't entirely trust each other) reached for a hug and Zoya avoided her? and then the rest of Zoya's lines followed? that would have made more sense to me at least

I love Sujaya as well, she brought life into Zoya with whatever little screentime and scraps of writing she got

inej asking kaz 'what's your angle?' beep bop bleep morp I sense another incoming embarrassing love confession

'but we do need you' *stares at her face intensely* 'I need you' ah look at the clock, look's like it's time to screech and flap your arms like you're a volcra because you're incapable of containing your emotions

NO YOU CAN'T GO DIRECTLY FROM KANEJ PROGRESS TO HELNIK BREAKUP (TEMPORARY, MIND YOU)

helnik my loves you don't deserve this I'm so sorry for both of you

Matthias fucking smiling ruefully while he says 'this was... just a cruel joke all along' THIS IS NOT FUCKING OKAY

omg hellgate

AAAAAAAAH NINA IS ON THE SAME FRAME AS THE OG CROWS I CAN'T HANDLE THIS

CAMERA PAN FROM KAZ SAYING 'JUST HOW THIS ALL STARTED... WE'RE GONNA NEED A HEARTRENDED' TO NINA OVERHEARING HIM AND LOOKING OVER?????!!!!!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THIS TO ME?!

Nina genuinely being curious as to the status of the sun saint because she obviously still cares

Also, 'But she is a Saint' okay Kaz trying to earn brownie points you have succeeded

DID THAT SAILOR JUST SAY 'GOED MORGEN FENTOMEN' TO MALINA BECAUSE I AM NOT OKAY WITH THEM JUST THROWING THAT IN MY FACE ALL OF A SUDDEN

gods I know I'll probably see them again but my heart is full of sorrow as my eyes drink in the sight of my crows for the last time for a while

I know people were annoyed at the meadow flashbacks but guess what? as a darklina, I loved them

'now that the Darkling is dead' could have phrased that a little differently my dudes that line needed to hold more weight

am I glad that they showed Darkles in this state with his nichevo'ya as a tasty little cliffhanger despite not being entirely true to the source material? maybe but only because Ben Barnes saying 'follow' and the nichevo'ya doing exactly so sent a chill down my spine

well, that's it for now, I'll have to move on I guess, get back to my real life which I'm obviously not ready to do

thank you to whoever actually read these things

I probably should have just made reactions or commentary videos instead but I'm lazy

my tumblr will probably go into inactivity once more as I emerge from my stint in the grishaverse

it was quite short (less than 2 months), considering the length of my other obsessions but it was definitely more intense than the other ones

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ins0mnia-an0nym0us-au · 4 years

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let’s talk about TUA fandom

y’all are hypocritical - let’s just get it out there.

before you start typing out some angry comments or coming in my ask-box lemme explain my reasoning here.

LUTHER HARGREEVES

Luther is one of the most hated characters in this fandom for some unknown reason to me. He is just another victim in all of this and as much as all of you want to blame everything on his actions, he simply acted in what he thought were the best interests of everyone. Luther showed his trauma in the same way the rest did.

In my opinion, Luther is one of the most underrated characters in The Umbrella Academy because all of you are too busy with your thirsting after Diego or uWu-ing over Klaus to notice him.

So here is Luther’s trauma broken down for all of you.

Luther was doomed from the moment he was chosen to be Number One, it’s that simple. From the very moment Reginald chose him, he had no chance, because he had the expectation of being the best put on his shoulders by a man who was never going to see any of them as anything less than worthless.

But Luther was determined to live up to his name, to be what his father wanted him to be – to be Number One.

Because for Luther he was sure everything that Reginald was doing was out of love. But I think Luther deep down knew that their father didn’t love them, but he needed to believe it was out of love, he couldn’t stand the thought of it being anything but love, because if it wasn’t love then it wasn’t worth it. He needed it to be worth it.

We got a glimpse of that in season one when he found all the packages he sent to Reginald. He never had any friends, he never left the house, he gave up his entire life for his father and the mission he believed in. Because he needed to believe it was worth it and when he found out it wasn’t – well, he had thrown his entire life away for what? It wasn’t because their father loved them or believed in them. So what was it?

Just to prove to all of you that Luther is more like his siblings than you all want to admit, here are some comparisons -

LUTHER: needed the moon to have a reason behind it, so much so that his obsession put others in danger. He also couldn’t face it when it turned out his mission was for nothing - so he regressed to his old behavior of thinking his father was right.

DIEGO: needed to be the hero, even though I’m almost positive Diego isn’t a complete idiot and knows that dramatically changing history would be bad - aka saving JFK could make the timeline explode, he needed to save him. So much so he was willing to put all of his siblings in jeopardy.

LUTHER: was told from the beginning he was the leader and that being Number One meant that he had to be the best. Because of this he had an inflated sense of importance. It just meant he had a higher distance to fall when he finally realized that it all meant nothing. He also doesn’t take their opinions or plans seriously because he’s Number One and his plans are superior.

FIVE: is a cocky little shit, who is insistent he is the smartest person around and he might be. But he views everyone around him as lesser, that includes his siblings. He has spent his entire time in the apocalypse trying to get back to save his siblings but still treats them like garbage. He also never lets his siblings in on anything that’s happening, he never sits them down and explains anything, and when they try to contribute with a plan or a theory he looks at them like they are stupid.

LUTHER: was sent to the moon, alone, with no one to talk to. Before that he had no friends his age, his only companions were Grace, his father, and Pogo. He’s been alone for a long time.

VANYA: has been alone for a lot longer than Luther - but trauma is not a competition and they both have dealt with it differently. I just wanted to point out these two similarities between the two characters.

LUTHER: is desperate for love and affection from his father. Everything he has done has been to get Reginalds approval and love but none of it has ever worked. He got small glimpses of things, like his dad’s favorite spot under a tree, so maybe he got a bit closer than the others but it was not real love.

ALLISON: is desperate for love and affection in general - hence her stardom. She needs attention, she feeds on it. It isn’t until she has Claire that I think she truly understands that everything until then has been fake. The unconditional love of a child made her realize that all of that fake love and affection is no match for real love.

LUTHER: has probably felt like a monster since before his transformation - having super-strength means having to be very careful with your own body. But after the transformation must’ve been so much worse.

BEN: literally has a monster inside of him and has always felt like a monster. The difference is he has openly spoken about feeling like a monster.

LUTHER: has always been in control of himself. He is the exact opposite of Klaus in how he uses control to deal with trauma. Luther needs control in order to deal with trauma.

KLAUS: has no control and he does not want it. To deal with trauma Klaus loses control by using drugs and alcohol but he also uses it to control his powers.

So now that I’ve gotten through the siblings a bit, let’s talk about another topic that has a bit of hypocrisy behind it -

ALLISON X LUTHER

For some reason this ship is very despised in the fandom, I don’t know if it’s because of the fact that one part of it is Luther but a lot of the reasons I see are just - ‘ew, they’re siblings’.

Yet, most of the ships in TUA fandom are of the siblings being paired together.

Five x Vanya [fics on ao3 - 372]

Diego x Klaus [fics on ao3 - 687]

Ben x Klaus [fics on ao3 - 311]

The only other ships that top these are -

Dave x Klaus [fics on ao3 - 1409]

Diego x Patch [fics on ao3 - 434]

And let’s be really honest for a second here - them being in any romantic relationship with each other, is not weird. None of them are biologically related to one another. They were just raised in the same household as one another and told to treat each other as siblings. If they had never been adopted by Reginald Hargreeves and met randomly on the side of the road, this discussion would be moot.

I find the Five x Vanya ship much more disturbing if I’m being honest, simply because most of the fics ship a fully grown Vanya, in the body of a 31-ish year old, with Five - who while mentally is like in his 60s or whatever, is back in his 13 year old body. If Vanya did ever get with Five before his body turned 18, it would be statutory rape.

Let’s also just for a second list some other fandom pairings that are pretty popular that people ship that have the same ‘we grew up as siblings but we aren’t biologically related’ trope.

Thor x Loki [fics on ao3 - 10894]

Eren x Mikasa [fics on ao3 - 1221]

John Marston x Arthur Morgan [fics on ao3 - 651]

Max x Alec [fics on ao3 - 357]

Iris x Barry [fics on ao3 - 3689]

It’s incredibly strange to me how unpopular Allison x Luther is - especially since it’s actually canon in the comics. Granted, some things from the comics of course should change or be adapted, but the chemistry between Tom Hopper and Emmy Raver-Lampman is just spectacular, especially during the dance scene in The Day That Wasn't.

I absolutely loved that scene (still mad it’s nowhere on youtube). I felt like we got to see Luther both as how Allison sees him and for a moment he was out of his head with Allison, relaxed and just himself.

If you just don’t ship it, just say you don’t ship it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Alright. I think my duty as a member of the Luther-Protection squad is finished. If you can’t see your hypocrisy after this post, I really don’t know what to tell you. If you would like to have a calm discussion about why you think I’m wrong or right, I’m willing to talk about it. However, anyone who comes at me just spewing vitriol or that I’m so stupid will not be taken seriously, if you can’t have a calm discussion about things then I won’t take you seriously.

I do want to say though - I understand having favorite characters, I’m a sucker for characters that are only held back from destroying the world by a hug (Vanya). But I’m also someone who loves to look at the entire picture and appreciate the depth of each character in a series, even the ones I hate. In fact - some of my favorite characters were ones I hated and the actors/actresses soon became my favorite because it takes a lot of talent to make people hate you.

So for a moment, really think if you hate Luther Hargreeves or if you dislike his actions and if it’s his actions, who you really should hate is Reginald Hargreeves because all Luther has ever done has been a reaction to trauma - exactly like the rest of his siblings.

#the umbrella academy fandom #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy season 2 #tua2 #tua #spoilers #i'm calling y'all out #luther hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #ben hargreeves #diego hargreeves #allison hargreeves #five hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #trauma #reginald hargreeves #luther x allison #dumbasses being dumbasses #they are all stupid

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jordanr770-blog · 3 years

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America Needs Some Talent

I just needed someplace to write down my thoughts so here we are!

I have been watching America’s Got Talent since season 11 when the ukulele girl won. I personally didn’t vote for her but can understand why she won. Same goes for season 12. I was rooting super hard for Diavolo but can understand why puppet girl won. Season 13 had some of the best acts ever (Shin Lim-winner) and I know a lot of people disliked her, but Courtney Hadwin should have at least gotten 5th place over sob story “I’m such a good person and I hit my wife” Michael Ketterer. Kodi Lee was the obvious winner of season 14 and I personally thought he deserved it over the other acts. Other people did not think it was well deserved, and that’s ok too.

Last season we got a spoken word poet in the form of Brandon Leake. I did not enjoy the act AT ALL and was kind of mad that he won, but I will say that even though I did not enjoy him, spoken word poetry is indeed a talent.

Now, you may be thinking that season 16 would be a smidgeon of an improvement over season 15. Talent and reality shows should probably strive to become better every season. But if you thought this show isn’t capable of getting any worse, you haven’t been paying attention because this show will always find ways to disappoint. Last night we were told everyone voted for an INSPIRATIONAL speech giver as the winner. Or I’m sorry, apparently he does magic. His name is Dustin Tavella. But the thing is, he was HORRIBLE at both storytelling AND magic and nowhere near deserved the win. “It was well deserved.” How? How is a kindergarten level “magician” worth a million dollars and a Vegas show? I believe the show in Vegas is about an hour and a half and I am curious as to what is he going to do in that timeframe? Talk about how the folks living in Vegas are living in sin while simultaneously throwing paper in the air MAGICALLY? I’m sure the audience will go wild over that. Or maybe during all of his shows he will adopt a kid a day from different countries and then spend about an hour talking about Little ZimZam’s harsh life and while he’s babbling he’ll be semi incorporating his poor magic skills into the act in the last minute so the poster stating he’s a magician didn’t TECHNICALLY lie so nobody is getting their money back. I really don’t know. I have a lot of thoughts.

Plus, his sob story just did nothing for me whatsoever. Good for you for adapting 11 children, unless it has to do with whatever your act is, shut the hell up and do the trick! Not once did this guy impress or give even the best of a performance of the night. It was always 8+ minutes of “inspiration” and tirades about how we as a society need to be good to one another whilst doing crappy magic. Let me tell you, I know next to nothing about magic but even I could tell he was a less than stellar magician. Even calling him a magician is somewhat laughable. In reality he's a motivational speaker who does terrible magic tricks and who always somehow manages to suck at said terrible magic but America apparently doesn’t notice him screwing up his terrible magic because he’s too busy telling them to look at a crumpled up piece of paper or a ladder or the new photograph of his adopted son who has an extra eyeball or whatever. It’s stupid.

Last night for his final performance Dustin’s act was, and I kid you not, telling us all to be nice. FOR SEVEN UNNECESSARY MINUTES. And I do believe he started to fake cry. Dude, you’re acting is about as good as Heidi Klum’s. You can't act and you can barely do magic. Why are you here? What is your talent? Did he really join a talent show to become some type of inspirational God of obvious wisdom? If that’s the case, he should have gone and done a Ted Talk, many less victims of mediocrity that way. America somehow put him in the top 5 with actually talented people? I think not. The act itself was not impressive and he did the same thing every time, just told a different sob story. If you have to rely on a sad story to win, you don’t deserve to win a show where talent is the main objective.

In case my last few paragraphs were not made abundantly clear, I am not a fan of this dude. At all. I read a comment which stated that a message is not a talent and whoever said that is 100% correct and summed up my feelings pretty accurately. I'm not a fan or boring and basic tricks combined with even worse stories. He's the living embodiment of a motivational meme and anyone who voted for this guy is gullible and can fight me. Maybe people “voted” for him because he attempted to pull on the heartstrings? But because I sold my heart long ago his act didn’t effect me as much. /s But I swear every year they make it more clear that the entire show is rigged.

Well, maybe the voting ISN’T rigged entirely and all the boomers (first time I’ve ever used that term) and antivaxxers and easily swayed by sob story people on Twitter and Facebook voted for him. Doubtful, but you never know. HE WAS SO FREAKING BAD!!!

We are all allowed to have opinions and just because you don’t agree with me that doesn’t mean I am an awful person who deserves DEATH. I keep getting responses and messages on Twitter from angry folk who are calling me heartless because I questioned WHY they voted for him. “Well, IIIII gave Dustin all 10 of my votes!” That’s nice Karen. That is also not an answer and I cannot stress enough how much I do not care that you voted for the phony used cars salesman. Go tell your Prince from Nigeria all about it. Another guy got mad and reported me for “yelling at strangers.” Which is kind of a typical thing people do on Twitter. And I wasn’t even yelling! Lol.

And another point I’d like to make (about this and in general) is people really need to stop using the terms “all of us” and the word “we.” I am my own person and you do not get to speak for me.

“We were all crying when we saw him perform!” - No WE most certainly weren’t. I was seething with anger, yes. Crying? Not even close.

“His magic touched all of our hearts!” WHAT MAGIC? WHERE WAS THE MAGIC IN THIS MANS ENTIRE ACT? I MUST HAVE MISSED IT AFTER I PASSED OUT FROM HIS 7 MINUTE LONG STORY ABOUT HIS BORING LIFE.

His win was a complete insult.

* I personally voted for Aidan Bryant, but I really wanted Unicircle Flow to win before they got kicked off due to the judges having a tendency to suck at picking during judges choice. *

Edit: I apologize if this wasn’t articulated very well or if it seems I basically said the same thing over and over. To be fair it was 3 am when I wrote this and I was still irritated and questioning everything. Still doesn’t excuse the fact that this guy was lame and doesn’t deserve a Vegas show. My mom told me earlier today that people on the Internet are mad about his win and that it’s not fair to take it out on the guy, which I suppose is kind of true. Not exactly his fault the general public has failed and shown their stupidity yet again. If anyone is to blame it is the people who actually voted for this doofus. And AGT. And yeah, I guess I will blame him as well. But I’m not saying go to his Twitter or Instagram or whatever and call him out for being a con artist and bully him.

I think the MESSAGE =P I’m trying to display here is that someone has no business being on a talent show unless they have talent; self explanatory. A message isn’t talent. Being a narcissist isn’t talent. Exploiting your kids and wife isn’t talent. Speaking can be a talent (comedy, that poetry guy, acting, improv, probably a lot of other stuff I’m forgetting about) but one shouldn’t call themselves a magician if one is really a way less cool garage sale version of Talky Tina. Magic IS talent but if you want a million dollars you better have skills that are on par or better than the professionals.

#agt #rant #INSPIRATIONAL #Magic #Adoptakid

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ectora · 3 years

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Review episode 312

It’s weird because I enjoyed the episode but most of my comments are actually criticism so bare with me 😂

Overall it was a nice episode to watch. The acting was on point especially for Sarah and Poppy imo they carried this episode but also probably cause they’re the one with the most compelling stories on this one. The episode kinda felt like a filler but honestly that’s because the show is focusing too much on the allergy and we know that’s not gonna be fixed til the end so as long as they make that the main story of the sisters, most episodes are gonna feel like fillers when it comes to them. Macy and Maggie had their own little adventure with a ghost which was funny (again kudo to Sarah), Harry and Mel went on a quest for a soul tho we still have no clue what it actually meant and Abigael was going through her own little traumatic hell in the tomb (Poppy really has been particularly slaying this storyline acting wise ).

Screen time

Abigael: 6m11s

Macy: 17m24s

Mel: 11m15s

Maggie: 18m24s

Harry: 11m03s

What I liked

Maggie still got the internship and I’m glad back she deserved it. I really don’t dislike Antonio but I’m also glad they kinda made it clear she wasn’t interested and that she finally made progress with her feelings for Jordan.

Abigael. I liked it because it gave us more insight on Abigael’s past (tho I still think they should have given us this earlier). I always theorised that from her childhood, she was obviously scared from the fact her mom never really accepted her demon side which created her deep feeling of rejection and how she was never accepted and never belonged. But I also thought she had some kind of loving family. Like to me these two things were not necessarily contradictory. Well apparently not. Her mom straight out abused her during her childhood. Which definitely explain why she choose the demon side like that. Both her parents were terrible to them but as she said in the past, at least she can understand demon a little but. She can rationalise it base on their nature. When it came from her mom however, it came fully from a place of dislike which must have been very harmful on a child. So obviously when I say I like it I don’t mean I like what her mom did to her, but I really like the insight and explanation. And again, Poppy did an amazing job. She made Abigael feel so vulnerable and scared, and confirmed that, ultimately what Abigael always wanted was acceptance. Which she first needs to give to herself.

Marisol and Macy sharing a scene. I have my issues with how it went which I’ll come to later. But I’m glad it existed and Mads really showed great emotions.

That was a short list because if I did enjoy the episode and there was some highlights I’ll talk about later, I also can’t really pintpoint things I loved.

What I disliked

Harry’s story. I just really don’t like how they make it all about the relationship when it could be so much deeper than that. I also am not sure I like the length to which he’s ready to go for it. Like the entire soul donation is a bit weird to me.

Marisol and Macy. Listen that one made me angry. Maybe it wouldn’t have if Macy actually had other stuff going on than her relationship with Harry but with the way the show has been writing her mostly around her relationship with Harry, it really didn’t come across well to me. The fact we had for the first time a in present tense scene between Macy and Marisol and all they talked about a man has me fuming. Maybe if they had had a longer time to talk. But they had like two minutes and most of it was about men.

The sisters. I don’t like the fact Mel wasn’t there when they were going to connect with their mom. I feel like that should have been a story kept for all three of them. I’m also annoyed that they once again refused to give us some Mel and Macy. I would have liked to see them a bit. Once again that sisterly bond feels like it’s non existent.

Melby. I cannot believe anyone would actually look at them and think yes that’s good. The treatment is absolutely terrible. The buildup was bad - because it was supposed to last - and the fact it’s all off screen is absolutely terrible. Ruby has been in three episode this season. One of them she didn’t actually share a scene with Ruby. The second episode they were full of drama and jealousy and they were so easily breaking up. And suddenly we jump to the I love yous. And were supposed to find that cute ? Like what are we supposed to think they love about each other? The constant breaking ups ? Cause that’s the most consistent thing about them. It kinda feels cheap in the way it’s done ngl.

What doesn’t make sense

Why was Jordan in the description ? I feel they’re kinda trying to avoid putting Abi’s name in the summaries (or at least it feels like it) but like .... Jordan had not reason to even be talked about. He didn’t appear once. It should have been Abi’s name in there.

The pills falling from the pocket Like ... Harry you had literally one job. How exactly did they fall ??

Why did they seem lost until their realised Jordy was a descendant and they could use his soul. Did I miss something saying it needed to be a male descendant ? Cause like ... Gil (Jil ? Idk) was literally right there. (Nevermind apparently I missed them saying « male descendent » my bad dkdjd

How did abi know she was in the tomb. Like I know my girl is smart but like ... she has basically no contact with the sisters at this point so how on earth did she learn how the tomb works and what happens inside ??

Highlights

The hammer. Listen, don’t ask me why but this picture of abi has been sending me for weeks now and I’ve been wondering the context since I’ve seen it. Like it gives me the biggest dumb bitch energy ever. The fact that abi is a very smart person and just thought a hammer would get her out of the tomb just has me laughing like it’s just too funny to me 😭

“The British hot lady” Swan I understand You

The way Maggie calls for Abi and gets into her apartment. I don’t know why I just love it.

Macy trying to lie to Antonio. Macy’s face when she lies is always a delight.

No but do any of these older generations know what not having an affair even mean? But I mean like father like son I guess.

« Who footnotes a spell » Macy’s face was so funny 😭 she was so done with it.

Theories

Not gonna lie. I’m a bit scare about next episode. I think it might be really interesting but also I’m very scare of the execution especially when it comes to Abigael and Macy. I do believe Macy has valid to distrust Abigael. However the show has been terrible at portraying those. And ultimately, especially lately, the sisters and Abigael have barely crossed paths. They’re barely in each other’s lives. All the do is coexist in the same city and interact when demons are involved which isn’t really the case. So right now all abi is doing is keeping the demons in lines. So I’m scared that Macy’s rightful dislike and distrust is almost gonna come across as pettiness or jealousy. But I also think that there is a difference between not trusting Abigael and say she deserves to be in the tomb. Cause at the end of the day past episode 4 what has she really done so terrible that deserves eternal suffering/delusion or whatever the tomb actually does. She’s manipulative and self serving sure but she also helps more than anything. The sisters have actually nothing to win have having Abigael stuck in there. And more to lose.

One theory is that the perfecti are trying to isolate the sisters. Putting abi and Jordan in the tomb is separating them from their allies and helping Harry to lose his powers is taking their guidance/healer away from them.

Another is just that really just have a very strict black and white vision and Abigael being a demon and Jordan helping them makes them automatically in the black category. Which the title seems to be referring to so it’s probably this.

I think the upcoming episode might be a way to introduce the whole controversy around Macy’s demon powers. And slowly bringing up the story of Abigael giving them back to her.

I think it also might be a way to actually have the show approach the wrongs Abigael did in the show. But also the rights. After all, it seems like they’ll need to prove she doesn’t deserve to be in it. Which I personally don’t think she does. Though she definitely did wrong things in her life. So I think they might actually use this as an occasion to have the sisters talk about what she did do that was wrong. And hopefully also highlight that she did help them on multiple occasions.

With the “previously in charmed” it makes it feel like they’re still going with Maggie not knowing Jordan can actually touch her and this doesn’t stop confusing me. But I can see the show have them hug once he’s out of the tomb and then kinda admit their feelings finally and Jordan say something in the lines that he kept it from her because he didn’t want to put pressure on her or that him being able to touch her didn’t change the fact she wanted to focus on herself or something on those lines.

One thing I want to talk about is Abigael. Please don’t read this paragraph if you haven’t heard about the rumours going around. //// The fact is, there is a very strong change Poppy is leaving the show. And the way they made this episode made it very clear Abigael was abused as a child. But that she is also absolutely craving love and acceptance. And that she does love her mom and always wanted her love. I’m very scared that if they make Abigael leave (better than die) they’d make her go back to her sister and family and try to fix their relationship. Which would absolutely be terrible message to give as we literally know now that she was abused. And making a character go back to their abusers because of the trauma it caused (her fear of rejection and inability to actually accept herself) would just be disgusting. But I’m scared that’s the road they’re gonna take.

#charmed #charmed cw #charmed reboot #charmed 2018 #charmed review #abigael caine #mel vera #maggie vera #macy vaughn #harry greenwood #jordan chase

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noethicalconsumptionunderdisney · 3 years

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Ranked: Hannah Montana — Jake Ryan Episodes

Here we are at last: Jake Ryan. I think you all probably could’ve seen this coming, but I had to keep you waiting (and gather my thoughts a bit). Of Miley’s canon love interests, Jake (Leslie) Ryan is the one that gets the most screentime overall, and happens to be my personal favorite match for her, so it only makes sense to dedicate a Ranked post to him. As per usual, I’ll be revealing these rankings from Worst->Best, in reverse-order of how much I liked them.

Which brings us to probably the most unambiguous “Worst” ever:

“The End of the Jake As We Know It” (Season Four)

Yeah. Of all the episodes on this list, this is the only one I actively dislike. I don’t think this one was too much of a shock to anyone, but let me talk about why anyway:

This is the first and only time Jake shows up in Season 4. He’s barely shown in Season 3, which we’ll talk about a little more further down, but he really just seems to appear solely to be dragged through the mud, and then unceremoniously shooed out so Miley can ride off into the sunset with Jesse. I don’t even necessarily have a problem with them breaking up. I wouldn’t be happy about it, but you could at least give a better reason— you’ve done it before! Twice! And there’s a perfectly good reason right there in front of them: they’ve been apart for a while, they liked each other as kids, but now that they’re getting older and growing into separate lives, they’re growing apart. But no, let’s just have him randomly cheat on her, because that’s totally a satisfying conclusion to a multi-season arc. Calling one of your most beloved recurring characters a dick for 30 minutes is peak comedy, amirite?

This is also the only time in Season 4 that Oliver is actually an important part of an episode? He shows up for like 5 minutes in the Finale, but really, the Season 4 episode where he has the most screentime is this one. And while there’s nothing wrong with how Oliver is written here, it just makes a little extra mad, because most of his screentime is focused on this dumbass plot development. I can’t help but think, They brought back my man for this?! on both counts.

But let’s move on to less loathsome episodes, shall we?

“He Could Be The One” (Season Three)

Okay, I might catch some shit for this. I know. This episode’s very popular. I am aware of that. And I don’t actually hate this episode, like with the other one. I like the song, I like Miley asserting herself to her dad when it comes to her dating life, Lilly and Oliver are on-point (although that does kind of apply to the last episode too), and I even liked most of the interactions between Miley and Jake. That said, here’s why I’m ranking it so low:

THE ONLY REASON IT EXISTS IS TO SET MILEY UP WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

Everything from the start of the episode to the weird reframing of Miley and Jake’s complicated past to the focus on Miley bonding with someone else, thinking about that someone else when she’s singing to Jake, talking about how she wants to kiss that someone else so badly except for the inconvenient fact that she’s with Jake, to the episode treating them like equivalent options that are just so hard to decide between despite she and Jesse barely knowing each other and having no history outside this episode… every bit of it is designed to make you like the other guy better and root for the other guy.

And I guess if you haven’t watched the other episodes, or you have but it’s been awhile and you don’t remember them super-well, it’s easier to root for Jesse (ignoring all the problems that he himself has as a character, in this episode, even, but let’s not focus on that right now). But this show can’t trick me that easily, sorry not sorry.

I “should” like this episode more, given that this is when they get back together, but they could’ve gotten them together differently. Instead, we have Lilly berating Miley for going back to her ex after she rejects Jesse, we have Miley… tackling Jake? Did anyone else find that odd? Funny, yes, but weird as hell, and not really indicative of their dynamic. And worst of all, we have them completely rewriting history and hoping we don’t notice. It’s not respectful to list “we have so much history” as a reason to stay with Jake if you can’t be bothered to portray that history accurately. So before we delve into that history a bit, let me make one thing abundantly clear:

Jake did not break Miley’s heart. He’s also not the only one who’s ever fucked up or acted immaturely in their relationship. You wouldn’t know it from watching this, but she’s the one who broke up with him the only time they actually did date. Yeah, it was kind of crappy of him to make her think he was marrying her friend so he could “Gotcha!” her on TV, and it wasn’t great of him to kiss her and then leave in Season 1, but that’s a far cry away from “breaking her heart.” He literally never did. The fact that they framed it that way is not only frustrating, but also some gross foreshadowing for what they ultimately did to his character later on.

That said, the way Jake actually is when he’s onscreen (i.e. when you look at how he actually acts and not just how other people are talking about him) is pretty in-character, funny even. Miley and Jake still have their chemistry and their interactions are amazing apart from that weird tackling thing, and Jake reacting to the cat sweater was something I didn’t know I needed. So objections aside, I do like this episode. Just not as much as what’s to come.

“Jake… Another Little Piece of My Heart” (Season Three)

So while my previous entry was largely dedicated to explaining why it was ranked lower, this entry is going to be a defense of sorts, explaining why this episode, yeah might not be the best, but is a lot better than people remember, or at least is one I’m still very fond of.

In Jake’s last appearance before this, Miley agreed to be “just friends” with him. Here, we see them following up on that. She calls him “one of [her] best friends,” and not only that, she shows that she knows him well enough to know why he, of all people, should not be getting married young. “You change your phone plans every 6 weeks.” How does she know this? Because they kept in contact with each other. They contact each other frequently enough for her to know that he changes his phone plan all the time. They kept their promise! They’re exes, yes, and there’s still tension there as we see in the end, but they genuinely do feel like friends, and not just like they’re awkwardly forcing it.

Miley is understandably pissed when he pranks her, but that’s only because she cares so much, and I do think there’s genuine concern there as a friend, even if she very likely was also jealous. They’re comfortable around each other, they’ve gotten to know each other a lot better, and the hint that there’s still more lingering between them at the end is both promising and open-ended. They don’t get back together right then… but they show that they could, because those feelings are still there, despite everything.

I wonder, though, if this episode would’ve worked better had it aired earlier. We get indications that it was filmed earlier than some of the others, namely that scenes from it show up in the Opening Credits for that season, but for whatever reason, it didn’t air until much later. I’m not sure why, but I do think things could’ve been better had they reintroduced her relationship with Jake (friendship with some lingering feelings) earlier on, had a few more “regular” episodes without him, and then given the two a proper arc later in the season rather than just one episode where they’re like, “We’re back together now! But I also kind of like this other guy! Oh no!” and then he’s not there the rest of the season. But c’est la vie.

Now onto the good stuff:

“Good Golly, Miss Dolly” (Season One)

Honestly, the way the entire Season 1 arc unfolds with them is so natural and beautifully done, I almost don’t feel like it’s fair to dissect them individually and split them up based on personal favorites, because they work best in order and as a unit. But I still have my opinions.

I’ve expressed previously why I love Dolly Parton’s appearance here and why she kills it, but in terms of Miley’s development with Jake, this one remains the most stagnant and frustrating. Painfully realistic, of course, and very in-character for everyone, but of all the Season 1 Jake episodes, this is the one that has the least Jake in it? Which is not really why I’m ranking it lower, but it does put their dynamic into generic “girl clearly likes guy but is too proud and scared to admit her feelings” territory. Which is necessary for their story to develop, but isn’t as fun as the episodes where we actually see why she hasn’t been “falling all over him” up to this point (meaning, her aversion to his personality). And we pretty much end the episode right where we started: once again, Miley’s pining over him, wants to express her feelings for him, but feels like she can’t… only now she’s got a more solid reason not to.

“More Than A Zombie To Me” (Season One)

I was torn at first between this one and the Dolly one, but I ranked this one higher for a few reasons. For one, the storyline is a bit more complex and nuanced. Lilly teases Miley for being in denial of her feelings for Jake, Miley rejects him when he asks her out… but then Hannah Montana has to kiss him. She makes a case for why she shouldn’t have to kiss him… only to realize she wanted to when they actually listen to her. Jake respects her “no” and asks someone else… only for her to realize she wanted him after all. Miley fights with Lilly for Jake’s affections… only for her to realize that her friendship with Lilly is more important than whether or not she “gets the guy.”

Beat for beat, Miley is always one step behind, not because she’s stupid, but because she has too much pride to see what’s right in front of her, to acknowledge her own feelings. It’s not the most pleasant characterization for Miley, but it is very telling characterization, and it paints an interesting picture of her and her relationships to both Jake and Lilly— that she genuinely wants to mean what she says and say what she means, but her pride makes it harder for her to figure out what she actually wants. She genuinely wants to be a decent, down-to-earth person, but sometimes she’s too self-centered to realize how she’s coming off and how she might be hurting others.

What’s most interesting here, though, is Lilly’s characterization and development in the Jake arc. In this episode and the one before it, she’s among the girls who are “falling all over” Jake, even continuing to say “Sup” to him because he said it to her once like it’s their “special thing.” She alternates between starstruck awe over Jake and amusement over Miley’s aversion to him, teasing Miley that she may be protesting too much, and shamelessly drooling all over him to Miley’s annoyance. After this episode, we see her being the supportive friend and #1 Shipper On Deck for Jake and Miley… then firmly against Jake and Miley together after they break up the first time, and from that point on, genuinely over Jake and wanting what’s best for her best friend.

But this episode… this is where we see the switch. This is where we see Lilly giving Miley a fair shot, then taking Jake for herself when the opportunity presents itself. This is where we see her doing something for herself for once and going beyond that “best friend” role… only to realize it’s not meant to be. That Jake only ever had eyes for Miley. That she was the canned fruit cup he settled for after all. It’s painful and heartbreaking, and perhaps a less strong friendship wouldn’t be able to withstand it, but theirs does. Because Lilly does. Because Lilly knows that whatever Miley says, being with Jake would make her happy, and Jake wants Miley more than anyone else. And she’s willing to do whatever it takes to help them be happy together… even if it means she doesn’t get the guy herself. I think Lilly’s role in all this is so underrated, and she deserves massive credit for the maturity and development she displays here.

And of course, we have more characterization for Jake, where he’s… very much himself, but also better than Miley initially gives him credit for. Yeah, he’s still hiding behind his ego and bravado, and he does initially say Miley must’ve been nervous to reject him when he asks her out a second time on the beach, but we also see him accepting that she doesn’t like him back (or so he thinks). We see that he’s sweet to Hannah as a coworker, and then he confides in her that he likes Miley because she’s “cute, funny, smart, down-to-earth,” and because she sees him as a person, not as a superstar. I do think “moving on” from Miley by asking out her best friend, right in front of her, is kind of a dick move (or possibly a jealousy play), and he could’ve made a little more of an effort to be loyal to Lilly as she was his date, rather than being so obvious that he preferred Miley, but overall, I think this is a good episode for developing Jake as someone with hidden depths, and someone Miley could realistically fall for.

(Also, the subplot is comedy gold from start to finish.)

“People Who Use People” (Season One)

Their first kiss! Yeah, there’s no getting around it: this one’s amazing. Their banter is just on point from beginning to end. We have a continuation of Jake and Hannah’s pleasant costar relationship, a continuation of Miley’s ever-more-obvious feelings for Jake, and we have a culmination of the tension between the two in an incredible scene. Once again, this does one of my favorite things: it turns the narrative on its head. We know Miley used Willis to make Jake jealous, but now it’s revealed that Jake was doing the same thing with Holly all along.

“Holly? She’s not my girlfriend. We have a movie coming out, so we’ve been hanging out, it’s a publicity thing.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?!”

“Uhhh… well… I-I think I—”

“Wait a minute, I know why. Because you were trying to make me jealous.”

“Was not.”

“Was too. Admit it, Jake, you like me.”

“No, you like me, just say it.”

“No, you say it!”

“No, you!”

*cue Big Damn Kiss*

They spar with each other like this all episode, meeting each other on the same level beat for beat. And Lilly eating popcorn in the background and falling off her chair? Let’s not lie to ourselves, we were all Lilly in this moment. Ultimately, this isn’t the story of “how they got together,” because Jake leaves for a movie, but even that makes some sense. He feels good that he got to kiss her before he left and doesn’t have to wonder what it would’ve been like, she feels angry that he kissed her when he knew he’d be leaving soon, and ultimately his acting career comes before him having a normal life, as it always sort of has, which unfortunately means it also has to come before Miley. But once again, we have an open ending, a clear “not now” rather than a “never,” and a question to be potentially answered in the future: Will They, Might They, and Would It Work Out? And of course, what’s next?

But before we get into that, let’s talk about where it all began:

#3: “New Kid in School” (Season One)

Who doesn’t love a good First Meeting, especially one that starts off with two prospective lovers starting off on the wrong foot? What I love about them starting off on the wrong foot here, though, is that it’s not really due to misunderstandings. On the contrary, Miley is the only person who knows exactly what’s going on— even better than Jake does, I’d argue, because he doesn’t even realize how arrogant he comes across, and Miley’s the only one willing to call him out on it.

This isn’t even particularly a shippy episode, apart from “Also, he thinks I’m cute, not that I care,” but I’d argue it’s better because it establishes them as characters first, and as Foils. Both of them are celebrities attending normal school and who, in theory, want to be treated like normal kids, but while Jake talks the talk and still gets everything he wants, Miley walks the walk and has to lose her celebrity privileges in exchange for peace and privacy. It’s understandable that Miley feels she’s gotten the short end of the stick, and it’s only later, after she’s opened her big mouth of course, when Jake confides in her that sometimes he really does wish he could be normal, it’s only then that she realizes she’s the lucky one.

But of course it’s not too late for her, it’s too early in the show for that! So we see her family coming together in this hilarious scene where they pretend they’re all crazy celebrity-impersonators. As a side note, I like to think they didn’t buy the Elvis costume for this, but that Jackson just had it lying around already and was itching for an excuse to use it. (Maybe he was Elvis for a previous Halloween, idk.)

In any case, the reason I rank this higher is that even though it doesn’t show that Miley and Jake like each other all that much, it shows why they could like each other, which in my opinion is more important. I mean, ideally, you’d have both, but this does a good job of introducing Jake as someone who seems like just another egotistical celebrity Miley can’t stand, but underneath that, is someone who just might understand what she goes through better than anyone, and Miley is the perfect person to understand him right back.

#2: “That’s What Friends Are For?” (Season Two)

The return of not one, but two iconic guest stars in the best and worst way: together. Months after their breakup, Miley finds Jake at her doorstep after sparring with Mikayla, and is sure he’s only there to get her back… but he just wants to be friends. Great! Good, no drama! That’s exactly what she wanted… right?

Even better, he invites her on the set of a talk show so he can reveal his new movie… and his new costar, her archrival Mikayla. The worst part is, he chose Mikayla out of courtesy. He doesn’t know Hannah and Mikayla hate each other, because they act friendly when they’re on-camera. He did it because he values his relationship with Miley, and doesn’t want to ruin their friendship by inviting her to play his love interest. And Miley… well, we all know Miley isn’t as okay with this as she pretends to be, and it only becomes more apparent as the episode goes on.

What I love about this is the role reversal this puts them in. For once, Jake is the one being mature, and Miley is the one that needs to apologize and grow, and admits it. It’s framed that way and everything. It’s almost bittersweet to watch, because this was such a good step for them, and probably the most mature episode involving the two. To see them go backwards in development after this, to see Jake be raked through the coals by the writers, all that good will between them forgotten and retconned and burned to hell later on, there’s just something very bitterly tragic about it. This episode was so important for them, not just as a relationship, but as people, and I wish that good will they had towards each other had remained and gotten a proper follow-up.

Of course, this was itself an excellent follow-up to…

#1: “Achy Jakey Heart” (Season Two)

Was it ever even a question? Jake Ryan returns in glorious fashion: falling from the sky, in a tux, down on one knee begging Miley’s forgiveness, with chocolates from the sky. Say what you will, that man knows his way around a Big Romantic Gesture. And he doesn’t stop there: muffins, “Jake steak,” a cardboard cutout, and barging in the front door in a literal knight costume, he asks what more he can do. More importantly, he says, “You’ve dumped stuff on me, and you’ve yelled at me. The one thing you haven’t done is tell me you don’t care about me. Tell me that, and I’ll go away.” Even after all this, he’s willing to respect her if the answer is “no.” He just wants to make sure it’s “no” because she doesn’t want him, and not because she doesn’t believe he cares for her. He does care for her, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to prove it.

He gets tested for this pretty much right away, fails in private, and then passes in public when Miley least expects him to. After telling Miley he can’t take her to a movie premiere because he’s pretending to date his costar, he rejects his costar on live TV to confess his love for Miley. He doesn’t do it expecting her to come back, rather, he admits his fault and accepts that for him, there’s no happy ending. And Miley responds in the best way possible, showing up with a “Who says real life doesn’t have happy endings?” and a Big Damn Kiss of her own.

This is also when they confide in each other. Jake tells her his real name is Leslie, and Miley tells him she’s Hannah Montana. They’re vulnerable with each other for the first time in their relationship, and they understand each other better than ever. Unfortunately, it’s understanding, or lack thereof, that also leads to their demise.

Jake wants to be a normal guy, or at least he thinks he does. Miley feels to a certain extent that she is a normal girl, just a normal girl who happened to get famous. And that disconnect, that difference hurts them. Miley realizes that Jake doesn’t actually know what it’s like to be normal, and having to be with someone who can’t handle one night of it, as well as the pressure of being famous as Miley too, is what finally cracks them open. I will say she could’ve handled it a lot better, and good on Jake for calling her out on her lack of communication, but in the end, their relationship is left with a mutual understanding: that Jake respects her secret, listened to what she had to say, and wants to improve. Not so that he can get her back, but so that he can be “worthy of someone as terrific as” her.

This also has ONE OF THE BEST SUBPLOTS OF ALL TIME. Cheese jerky? Capitalist commentary? Jackson rolling in money and Rico being mad about it? Oliver and Jackson doing a rap together? Are you not entertained? Like its main plot, this does end up reverting to the status quo by the end, but it’s done in a way that’s both crushingly realistic and brutally hilarious. Overall, this episode? One for the ages.

So there it is— every Jake Ryan episode, ranked. I have a whole ton more I could say about Jake Ryan, Miley Stewart, and their overall dynamic (and probably will, this week lol nope), but I feel like this is a decent start that outlines my opinions in quite a bit of detail. While not a perfect couple by any means, they sure as hell made the screen a lot more interesting. And hey, the course of true love never did run smooth, why should they be any different?

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dukeofonions · 3 years

Text

Duke Gets Personal

So I’ve been doing a bit of thinking lately (dangerous I know) since the last Asides and I’ve come to this conclusion: I miss enjoying this series.

(This gets long and is just a mess of feelings and thoughts so sorry in advance)

I miss analyzing videos and the characters, I miss looking at theories and coming up with my own, I miss getting excited for future episodes. I really wanted to stop enjoying it and move on to something else, but then this flipping video dropped and I just loved it.

This is the first time I’ve just genuinely loved and enjoyed an episode since Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts, the one where I stayed up until almost 2 or 3 in the morning to watch even though I had work the next day.

The videos that followed just didn’t really do it for me, and the whole concept of Asides didn’t help either since it’s purpose seemed to have been lost with the first episode. Heck, I hesitated to call this last one an Asides just because it feels like it should have been a main episode.

That combined with the waits (especially after Putting Others First) also killed a lot of my engagement with the series. I’ve said before that POF felt like it was set up to lead directly to the finale, only for Asides to be crammed in and forcing us to wait longer for the conclusion to that episode, and season two as a whole.

I’ve said countless times how Asides has messed with the flow of the original series, with the complete tonal whiplash that was Flirting With Social Anxiety being the follow up to POF, and how the introduction of Nico completely undid everything that happened (at least to Roman) at the end of POF by having things suddenly be happy and good between him and Thomas.

I’ve said that certain moments (like seeing Virgil having to face Thomas again after his confession) were ruined by the Asides as well since we don’t get to see them happen in the main series and tend to be, well, brushed aside.

And you know, to an extent, I still see Asides as completely unnecessary and it feels like it was thrown in at the last second because they forgot they wanted to add a love interest to the plot so had to find some way to do it without disrupting the flow of the main series but ended up doing so anyway and so far all these Asides could just be regular episodes because they were apparently necessary to have before the season finale despite Asides being a relatively new concept so why would we have to have them before the season finale unless you were planning to go this route the whole time so why bother making a “separate” series in the first place when you were just going to be telling the same story anyway???

Sorry for the run on sentence but it felt like the best way to describe my confusion.

But to summarize, the last episode clearly shows that things are being set up for the finale. Everyone is reaching their breaking point and clearly, everything is not as fine and dandy as I initially thought the series was implying. And it’s here that I get to the actual reason of this little post.

The thing is, I’ve been jumping to conclusions about the series and making judgments about it as if I have the complete picture when, that’s not even remotely true.

Like this episode clearly showed that things are being put into place, and there is more thought to the story and characters going on than I initially gave them credit for. Sure, there are things I still don’t like, but I’m starting to come to the realization that I just need to wait and see where things go before jumping to judge something I don’t even have yet.

And part of that is because I do want things to get better. Like take Virgil for instance. I hate how he’s been written lately because it feels like all his negative actions just get excused and the show never addresses how harmful some of the things he says and the solutions to dealing with him (I’m glaring at you Embarrassing Phases) aren’t actually good or healthy at all and maybe I’ll elaborate on that later.

But my point is that I need to see these things be resolved and for them to get better. It feels like all these characters flipping hate each other right now and it’s exhausting to see them like this. I just want them to work things out and start on the road to getting better because my gosh I just want them to feel like a family again.

And I understand that story-wise it makes sense as to why they’re all so prickly with each other but y’all, Virgil’s been mad at Patton for who-knows-what for awhile now and we still don’t have a conclusion to that and again, I think the waits are a problem when it comes to this series because things get left unresolved for months, or even years, only for an episode to finally drop and the issue is never even brought up because those characters are completely absent.

And that’s why the Asides bug me so much because they initially promised something (less angsty content that we’d get more frequently between the heavier longer episodes) that we never ended up getting and it gets treated like a joke.

Like I understand that so far the main thing that separates Asides from Sanders Sides is that they tend to be filmed in a different format, but is that really enough to count it as a separate series when it’s existence is deemed necessary for the series you’ve already been working on for awhile now?

I dunno, I loved this episode, I genuinely did and I’ve loved seeing people pick it apart and analyze it because there’s so much to unpack with it. And just from a technical standpoint, my inner film lover was geeking out at the use of camera angles, lighting, music, all of it.

And since I loved it so much it started to make me wonder if I’ve been being too harsh on the series, and even Thomas and the team in general. Most of my thoughts have come through assumptions made, and my own personal feelings, towards Thomas and the team, and I’ve realized that yeah, I have been harsh. And honestly, a bit unfair.

I’m not saying I don’t still have my own personal issues with them all, but a lot of the things I’ve said have just been, well, assumptions. Especially in regards to how much care and planning actually goes into this series. With all the details put into this last episode, how could they not have been planning things out?

Now part of me is hesitant to let my guard down in regards to how this series will go due to a number of things. One of them being that this could probably be the last episode that Joan had any input in, and personal feelings towards them aside you couldn’t deny that they had so much passion and love for the series. And it makes me wonder if future videos will be better, worse, or even the same without them.

Another thing is, again, the waits for videos. I still don’t understand why Thomas’s content in general takes so long to make, especially the unscripted videos which are fairly simple in terms of their content, so why do they take months to come out? And with everything they’ve talked about wanting to do or are planning to do, it makes me wonder if anything will ever get done due to them not seeming to be able to find a way to make their videos faster.

Like I don’t know if it’s an issue with finding people to work on videos, or them continuing to make things more difficult than they need to be, or maybe them just not working as much as they say, or a combination of multiple things. But again, I don’t know if any of that is the case.

All we have is Thomas’s word and the end product when it does finally come out. And yeah, this last video was really good in terms of the production, but there are still some things about it that make me feel iffy about certain aspects of the series that could come in the future, but this post is already getting longer than I intended for it to be so I’m just gonna wrap things up here.

On one hand, I don’t want to get my hopes up all the way due to one video that exceeded my expectations (which I had zero expectations to begin with) when the rest of the series could end up going downhill. On the other hand, I want to let myself try and enjoy the series again and find things to love about it instead of constantly focusing on the negatives.

Negatives that, technically, aren’t even real negatives to begin with.

So what does this mean for my blog? Well like I said, I still have some issues with the series and other things that I’m not gonna push aside (I use that word a lot don’t I?) just because of one video. However, I’m going to try and stop making harsh conclusions about the series before I’ve gotten the whole picture.

And of course, my blog is still open to anyone that has their gripes with the series because that’s what it’s for. Even if we don’t agree I like to get other perspectives from people and a lot of y’all really do bring up some good points. And the last thing I’m gonna do is turn around and start saying that y’all are wrong for feeling a certain way about the series.

This is all personal here. How I’ve been thinking and feeling in regards to what I’ve been personally saying. And you know what? This could all completely change by the time the next episode finally comes out because who knows what could happen between now and then?

When you’re presented with a new perspective or new information, sometimes you’re just bound to change your own and that’s just the way it goes.

I’m probably going to start delving into the fandom and series again. Maybe write a fic or two or just some simple analysis. I do have one passion project of mine that’s been in the works for awhile and I’m finally getting closer to making it a real thing so I’m excited about that.

But I also really wanna start branching out into other media as well. Talk about movies or shows that I like, dislike, or have some kind of connection to. Whatever it is, I just wanna start having fun again, in whatever form that takes.

So, yeah. That’s the long and short of it.

I am gonna make an actual post talking about the video because oh boy there’s a lot to unpack with that one. But this has been pressing on my mind quite a bit since the episode and I just needed to get my thoughts out. If y’all stuck around to this point I’m sorry for the emotional spiel, and I’m also sorry if anything I’ve ever said has made anyone feel bad or ashamed for liking the series because really, there’s a lot to love about it and I don’t want people to think they shouldn’t like it just because of what some random person thinks.

I mean heck, I love movies and shows that are considered “bad” by most and who cares? As long as it’s not my family hating on the things I love than I don’t care.

*laughs in family issues*

Alright, gonna atually close this out now so... see y’all and hope y’all are going okay.

#dukeofannouncements #long post #should have titled this duke gets personal #guess i still could but eh #oh okay i did

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marrissacooper · 3 years

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Follow-up questions: I'd love to hear why you dislike Lorelai (you're not alone---many agree with you!), what you think of Luke/Lorelai, and why you prefer Rory/Logan to Rory/Jess :)

Sorry it took me a little long to answer! I wanted to phrase it right.

Lorelai and her relationship with Rory

I don’t really dislike Lorelai but I feel like the show rarely points out when she does something wrong, so it frustrates me. Her parenting choices are painted as good because she’s her “daughter’s best friend” but that’s the problem for me, you can’t be a mother and a best friend to your child. You can have a close and loving relationship, but a line has to be drawn. Because of that, it sometimes feel like Rory has to be too mature and responsible for her age. Also, she often claims that Rory can do whatever she wants but whenever she doesn’t act like a mini-lorelai she gets judgemental. I guess that’s my other big problem with her character: she often says something but does the opposite. Like when Emily has her breakdown in s6 and says to Lorelai “you think I live a meaningless life” and she answers “No.” Except she does think that, she always did and loves making jokes about it to other people. Emily is a flawed character too but at least the narrative aknowledges that.

Luke/Lorelai

However, I still like Lorelai more than Luke lol. He’s one of my least favorite characters. I didn’t mind him in early seasons, I was actually rooting for him and Lorelai but when they got together they lost whatever appeal they had. To be fair, Luke is simply not my type of guy. The small-town, grumpy, manly man is just not my thing. And once he gets with Lorelai, his flaws only become more apparent: he never responds to her cheery behavior, hardly ever communicates and manages to turn a confident woman into an insecure mess. Not telling her about April is his worst mistake, but I also hate how desperate Lorelai is after the wedding renewal incident when none of it was her fault! Not to mention the entire Martha’s Vineyard episode and the time he tells her not to sell her inn (as if that was his decision to make) when she was obviously hesitating because she loved the idea of travelling.

Why I love rogan

Simply because he makes rory visibly happy! They share the same interests but also challenge each other and bring out the best in the other. Rory is more spontaneous and assertive with him and Logan becomes more responsible and settles down. They do all these fun things together, they just look really happy. And in s7, they communicate so well (at leat until the finale) it's nice to see them resolve their issues like adults and they're all domestic they just exude warmth and comfort.

In comparison, j*ss/rory never seemed appealing to me. Again, I'm not a fan of the grumpy man, I don't understand why you'd want to be with a guy who is constantly in a bad mood and isn't willing to make an effort even with your loved ones. I've met guys like J*ss irl, who think being moody and reading books is a personality, and I've hated every single one of them. But most importantly, the scene at Kyle's party where he gets mad at rory in the bedroom will never be okay to me. I don't even think rory should've remained friends with him after that.

#ask #gilmore girls #thank you for asking ! it's very nice especially since these are pretty unpopular opinions 😅#i'd love to know what you think of these character too!

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kirishwima · 4 years

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soulmate au 30 for Jumin x mc and yoosung x mc? pretty please?

30. Every so often you will get flashes of what your soulmate is seeing at the time, however your soulmate does not know when it happens. ok listen, i get how cute and/or heartbreaking this can be but like,,,,imagine the funny potential djdjksaljd

JUMIN:

* His first flash came unexpectedly-he was at school, another boring class dragging on and on, the view of Jihyun’s messy mint hair more interesting than whatever historical fact the teacher was rambling on about, when his eyes blinked, and suddenly the scenery changed, odd and unfamiliar, his heart stammering in his chest at the sight

* He was still seated, still a desk in front of him-but gone was the pricey mahogany of his private school’s classroom, instead a different, white-painted desk beneath his hands-his black pencilcase replaced with a white one, a cat-face key-chain dangling from its zipper, fingers-were they his own? No, they were far too different, but they were fumbling with the cat ears, flicking one between their thumb and index finger-

* He heard a voice calling out, an unfamiliar voice, an even more unfamiliar name-but before he could even begin to comprehend what was happening the scenery was gone, replaced with the view of his very furstrated teacher standing over his own, normal desk, Jihyun’s worried gaze turned to him with furrowed brows.

* Without bothering to give anyone an explanation, Jumin simply excused himself, leaving class early.

* He didn’t speak of it to anyone until it happened again and again-as he caught more and more glimpses of this persons’ life, how he’d see their hands, fumbling with their phone in bed, looking up one thing after another online, or he’d see them in an alleway, see their knees as they bent down to coo at a nearby stray cat.

* The only person he eventually confided in was Jihyun-he told him his genuine concern, how he was afraid he was going mad, how else could he explain it all?

* Jihyun merely shook his head, a small smile on his lips-Jumin couldn’t be sure, but something about that smile didn’t feel right, as if it didn’t belong on his friend’s face.

* “You’re one of the lucky ones Jumin. That’s your soulmate.”

* Jumin...didn’t know what to do with that information. So he very simply didn’t do anything. What use were these glimpses into a strangers life to him? And what use was it to them, to see glimpses of his own life?

* He became more self conscious, worried everytime he’d be caught doing something wrong, something inapprorpiate-he’d keep his interaction with his father and the random women that came home with him to a minimum, worried his soulmate would see-but why was he worried? Why should he care if they saw or not?

* Yet he carried on this way for years-he’d smile everytime he saw anything cat-related, remembering the flashes of his soulmate’s life, their love for cats; they’d recently adopted a black cat, a curious little thing that spent most of its time on their lap, their hands scratching behind its ears, or perched atop their shoulder like a parrot, as they’d turn their head to face it, the cat happily chirping at them in return.

* That’s the very first thought he had when Rika had presented him Elizabeth the 3d. Had his soulmate seen her? Had they gotten the same rush of excitement he did as she blinked up at him, as she used his lap as a pillow?

* He wondered what it’d be like if their two cats met, a black and white mess in a shared home, tails intertwined as they sat together, hand in hand, watching them-

* Shaking his head, he tried to put that thought out of his mind. After all, he had no plans to meet them. How could he?

* ...how could he accept he’d been falling in love with someone he’d never even met?

YOOSUNG:

* His first glimpse into their life was....rather embarassing.

* He’d just come home from school, exhausted as exam season was right around the corner, college applications haunting his every waking moment-the only thing he wanted was to hop into the shower come out as a full-time employee of a high-paying firm.

* And he did-almost that, letting the water wash the stress of the day away, happily humming a song as he lathered shampoo into his hair, shutting his eyes to avoid any stray soap reaching them-

* -only to find an unfamiliar scene greet him as soon as he opened them again?!

* He’d been in his shower, at his home-that much he was sure of so how-how was he outside right now?! How was he sitting in a park, a sandwich in his hands, and-there were people around him?! But he’s naked!

* He tried to cover up his body but his hands just wouldn’t follow, but as he looked closer-those hands were...manicured? Wait, he’s pretty sure he doesn’t have pastel pink coloured nails, unless his sister pranked him again...

* Oh! Oh, this is his soulmate!

* His initial shriek of fear became an excited scream, his eyes trying to soak up everything they could about his soulmate, ignoring his current predicament as he took in the faces of their friends, the colour of their jeans, even the contents of their sandwich, what they liked and disliked, anything and everything about this scene-

* Only to remember his position as soon as the glimpse into their life faded, his own body greeting him once again, the water stinging his eyes as he looked around manically.

* “Wait” he mumbled, eyes wide, “if I saw into their life....and they can see into mine...”

* His poor mom couldn’t ever understand what the context behind her son yelling ‘DID THEY SEE MY D*CK?!” could be as his voice echoed through the entire house.

* Throughout the years he tried to find out as much info as he could about his soulmate-he found out they loved coffee, that they didn’t really like sweet things, since he saw them refusing sugary treats from their friends more than once, unless they were on a diet-which he’d be sure to tell them they didn’t need to unless they absoloutely wanted to! He doesn’t want his soulmate to think they’re not beautiful, he huffed, all the little things that made up their personality, little quirks and habits that made him fall more and more in love.

* He hoped they could see him too, could see things about him they liked-but as he looked around at his bleak life, the only light illuminating his room being the computer screen...he highly doubted it.

* Rika’s death tore him apart, and he knew his soulmate must’ve caught more than a small glimpse of his breakdown, the countless nights he spend crying, how he’d nod off in school because he spent his nights staring at the ceeling, a million thoughts racing through his mind.

* Yet somehow he knew-he knew his soulmate wasn’t the type of person to judge him for it.

* The fated day came when, during his orientation day at university, another flash came to him-a glimpse into his soulmate’s world...

* Only...they were looking at the same view as him? It was the same university, the exact same area-they must be in the orientation tour too!

* And-he saw himself, a blonde bob of hair a few meters ahead of them, could see his own shoulders tense in excitement, how his feet stopped his fast-paced walk-as did theirs, their gaze solely focused on him.

* He turned in a flash, scanning the faces of his fellow colleagues-until he found them.

* He didn’t have to know what they looked like to know this was his soulmate. The way their eyes widened as they saw him, how their lips turned into a soft smile, their hands coming up to their reddened cheeks-he knew.

* Before his confidence could waver, he walked to them, gait shaky, extending a hand to them.

* “It’s...it’s nice to finally meet you.” he said.

* They looked up to him, their eyes clear, holding so much emotion-Yoosung couldn’t wait to begin to untangle this Ariadne’s tangle in their gaze.

* “I-you too” they stumbled over their words, “It’s funny I-I didn’t expect we’d meet like this-I don’t know you yet I feel like-like I’ve known you for a lifetime.”

* Yoosung laughed, clenching their hand tight as they shook his, remaining quiet-what was there even to say?

* His soulmate had nailed it right on the head.

* “Yeah” he said, “yeah, me too-but I can’t wait to spend another lifetime getting to know you”

listen Yoosung is a sappy romantic and once he becomes bold enough he’ll be the sappiest boo ever no u cant change my mind-

-send me a headcanon for mystic messenger character(s) reactions!-

-you can find commission info on my bio if you’d like a full-fledged fic!-

#asks #mystic messenger #mysme #mystic messenger reactions #mysme headcanons #mysme prompts #mystic messenger prompts #jumin han #yoosung kim #soulmates #soulmate au #fanfics #mysme fanics #mysme imagines #jumin han x mc #yoosung kim x mc #Anonymous

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toonytoodles · 3 years

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Some of my story ideas, there's a lot here, but if you read let me know which ones you like/dislike, what ones you would or wouldn't read, feel free to leave comments or suggestions, and just give me your opinions 😊 So without further ado, some story ideas I had (some are still being workshopped, if you have ideas for those just let me know ❤)

Don't shed light on it!/ The scales aren't in my favor;

Avery is shedding and is embarrassed, making an attempt to hide it, especially from her friends... She's the only reptile amongst her friends and is worried that she'll be seen as weird and gross if they see her skin falling off.

A "little," cold?/ Emma and the giant cold;

Emma catches a small cold, and after falling asleep at school (and partially on the building), she's sent home, so Avery brings her her homework, and ends up volunteering to hang out with her and help her out with stuff until she feels better, which is a lot harder than Avery initially thought, because Emma's house is difficult for her to navigate without Emma... But she really wants to help so tries to get around without her, hiding the difficulty she's having

Big fear/ A crushed dream;

Emma has a nightmare in which she hurts her small friends accidentally, and can't stop thinking about it the next morning. She begins avoiding them in fear that she'll do something terrible, she stops talking to them at school, and eventually stops showing up to school at all. Avery goes to her house to confront her on it, which only makes things worse...

Cat fight/ Sibling rivalry;

Andy and Andie are fighting, more than usual, and decide that just because they're siblings doesnt mean they have to be friends, and end up spending some time apart.

Mixed Results/ Goin' through the potions;

When stocking the shelves in the shop, Avery accidently knocks over several potions, ensuing chaos when the effects of each vial takes place at the same time.

Slumber party / Girls night;

Ave & friends girls night! Followed by a camp out slumber party

*needs a little something

Love Bug/ A push in the right direction?;

Emma and Avery's friends work together to put the two through various scenarios in an attempt to make them finally become a couple, believing they need a push to make it happen. When all else fails, Andy foolishly uses a love bug to get the two to confess their love, as messed up as that is, it gets even worse once he loses the bug.

Big problem/Little problem;

Emma gets frustrated at being so big, and wants to be shrunken down, just for a little while. She asks Avery for a potion, but Avery refuses to give her one, causing a fight between the two, it escalates to the point where Emma steals a potion from Avery, that she doesn't know how to use, causing a little problem...

No title/ Lost title;

The gang faces off against a herd of memory trolls in the woods, but they don't remember that. They wake up in the middle of the woods with most of their memories gone, they struggle to get along and struggle to find their way back home, it's a strange journey back to Tradeskeep

How to raise a Draconic / Eggstraordinary origins;

A look into how Avery's egg came to be with her parents, and how they managed to raise her

Smitten kitten / Head over heels;

Andie and Sofia have a crush on the same guy and have a small fight over him, Sofia usually never speaks up about things like this, and it makes Andie mad that this is when she tries to take a stand, she's not giving up on getting this guy. Sofia gets scared and backs off, so the fight kinda ends up being one sided. Andie ends up being mean to Sofia over it, and doesn't realize how mean she's being until she does something stupid and petty she regrets

Avery meets Emma/ Emma meets a bean;

Kid Avery attempts to make friends with a nervous giant, but the young giant, Amelia, has never been around someone smaller than her before and doesn't know what to do

Oh Deer/ Magical mishap;

Clementine has been studying magic, and attempts to do a few advanced spells, all of which go horribly awry

The centaur of attention / Marely passing through;

A young centaur adventurer is passing through Tradeskeep, and during her stay she encounters a group of girls around her age, though she's a bit hesitant at first, she ends up quickly befriending them. She stays around for a couple days before she moves on, but she keeps the stop and her new friends in mind, visiting every now and again.

Dreaming/ Awaken;

Something happens to the small town of Tradeskeep, causing its people to fall asleep, all of them. People in the market, the tavern, their homes, the school- they're all asleep. Adventurers heroes and travellers passing through attempt to investigate the small town, soon becoming drowsy, they must investigate from the outside. While others search for a cause and a cure, the people of Tradeskeep dream of altered realities and terrible nightmares.

The big date/ The insecure dragon;

Avery and Emma have a date at a giant restaurant, and shortly after they arrive, something happens that causes Avery to ask Emma to take her home. Emma attempts to talk to her, but it only makes things worse... A few days later they're able to talk it out, and try it again, with it going much better the second time.

Evil Avery/ Dragonic Dopple ganger;

Avery means to take a Duplicate potion to allow her to be in more than one place at the same time, but gets mixed up and instead uses a Doppio potion. This causes her to be split into two versions of herself, a neutral good version, and a chaotic evil version. One Avery keeps running off to help people, while the other keeps running off to hurt people. Unable to tell them apart, people are confused as Avery comes over and causes a problem, then runs back in and fixes it. The two need to be together to be able to reverse the potions affects, but getting the two together and keeping them around long enough to undo it is much easier said than done.

Snow way to the dragonlands/ Snow way home;

During the holiday season, Avery is eager to go to the dragonlands and participate in the Fire Festival, but due to heavy snowfall surrounding Tradeskeep, travel is nearly impossible. This makes Avery incredibly upset. That night as she packs a bag, steals several potions from the shop, and leaves to go to the dragonlands. Her parents go to check on her, and when seeing that she was gone began to panic and call around, trying to figure out where she could've possibly gone. Upon receiving the phone calls, people began to go out and look for her. It begins to snow again, meanwhile Avery isn't doing as well as she thought she would, she's cold, tired and hungry, and soon she's lost. Everywhere she looks is just blankets of snow, and new snow fall quickly covers her tracks. There's no way home now, and it's getting colder.

Avery, Andy, & Drew;

Avery Andy & Andie have basically known each other since birth, this story basically explains how they grew up together, and how they've changed over the course of time. Andy goes from awkwardly trying to be extroverted and cool to being comfortable with being a quiet nerdy introvert, Drew becomes her true self, Andie, and Avery, well, Avery never really changes. The three of them have been through a lot together, and this slice of life side story just tells some of those tails~

Water you?/ Wets be friends!;

Young Andie, Andy, Avery & Emma meet a young Pond, they're immediately intrigued by her, and well, as little kids, it's sorta easy to become best friends quickly

A new friend/ Hi deery;

Clementine's new to Tradeskeep, but makes friends with a group of other kids

Pink with Envy/ Not berry subtle;

Audrey starts flirting with Emma, and, uh, Emma doesn't seem to be arguing it... Avery tries to brush it off, Audrey sorta just has a flirtatious personality and Emma's really nice... But literally everyone who sees them talking thinks they're hitting on each other, making Avery's anxiety worse about it. She's really worried about Emma seeing how much better Audrey is, and she starts to become genuinely concerned that Emma is losing interest in her... She tries to keep her jealousy and insecurity in check, but Emma can tell somethings up. When they talk about it, something happens that shows Emma how Avery really feels, and Emma tells her that she feels the same way, so though Avery is still mildly annoyed by Audrey, she's not really worried about Emma breaking up with her or leaving her for some one else anymore. After what happened, she realizes how silly she's been.

Blank space/ Making my mark;

Ty wants to get his mark, and Avery tries to help him, but to no avail. They spend the whole day trying different things to try to get his mark to appear, trying out different hobbies and activities, there was bound to be something that he likes, and Avery intends to help him find that passion, but she gets a bit over involved and starts trying to push him, to help of course.

The egg/ Whatever it takes;

Avery finds an abandoned egg, and, sorta projecting onto it, is determined to reunite it with its parents no matter what it takes, cause no one should ever be abandoned like that. Her friends are understanding to her need to take care of it, they're quickly able to put together why she has to do this, and help her out with finding the parents, which proves to be sorta difficult... But eventually they find the parents, and everything's alright again.

Kalvins wish/ You remind me of the babe;

Kalvin is upset by how fast Avery's growing up... If only she could be a little kid, just for a little longer... But he never expected it to actually happen. Avery begins to age backwards, slowly losing her memory as she regresses. It's a race against time as her parents rush to figure out how this happened and how to fix it. They try to keep it quiet at first, but end up having to call in reinforcements to get this fixed as quickly as possible.

A head in life/ Do you need a dullahand?;

Frustrated, Sofia shares some of her struggles as a dullahan, which Avery mistakes as an ask for help. She attempts to find ways to help Sofia out, but Sofia just sees it as Avery treating her really weird. Sofia gets mad at Avery, and the draconic thinks that she's not helping enough, so this goes on for a while until Sofia gets really mad, and Avery realizes that she was just venting, and didn't actually need anything. In the end they just sorta laugh about the misunderstanding and become closer because of it. At least now Sofia knows she can a ask Avery for help when and if she needs it.

Swap meet/ The perfect present;

Clementine finds a magical artifact at a swap meet, but they won't take her money, they want a different item, so Clementine runs around swapping items to try to get the item she wants. Meanwhile, Andy and Andie go around the swap trying to find the perfect birthday present for the other.

Andy's birthday / Andie's birthday;

The kittwins are celebrating their 17th birthday! They celebrate with a get together outside the tavern, with their parents and their closest friends. They spend the afternoon getting presents from their loved ones and eating cake and ice cream.

*needs a problem/conflict of some kind

Sapphire & Kalvin / The pirate and the mercenaries;

Mercenaries Micheal and Kalvin are in search of treasure they were hired to find. However, they weren't alone, as pirates came to find the same thing. The treasure was in a booby trapped dungeon with a multitude of traps and dangerous wildlife, but the mercenaries were ready for anything, unfortunately, one of the pirates weren't. A member of the crew, a fairy, got captured in a carnivorous plant with no chance of an escape. While Michael went after the treasure, Kalvin saved the fairy. This fairy was named Sapphire, and after Kalvin saved her life, she decided to join them and became their partner in hired crime. Later on though, Sapphire and Kalvin became actual partners, and they'd go on to retire and open a potion shop in the small town of Tradeskeep. Michael would meet them again later on after he retired.

Dulladad/ A whole new life a-head of me;

A retired mercenary, Michael, meets a young dullahan girl on his way to his new home, and instantly falls in love, wanting nothing more than for her to be loved and protected. After learning she's an orphan, he feels that Fate has planned this and he takes her in. The two journey to Tradeskeep together, and the man adjusts to his new life in a small town as a black smith and a father, and neither was as easy as he thought it'd be. And although Sofia is happy and excited, she's also sorta scared. She's overwhelmed by the amount of changes happening so quickly, and struggles to adjust. Things are made easier though when Michael meets up with some old friends, and Sofia makes some new ones.

Ponds problem/ Element-emotion-al;

Ponds parents are having another kid... Yay?... Pond has... Mixed emotions on it... She's not mad at her parents, or against another kid, she just... She'd never considered her parents having more kids, she's been the only child her whole life... Everything's gonna change... Luckily Emma's a big sister, and she gives her some advice.

Rainy day/ Video chat;

Since its pouring in Tradeskeep, schools been cancelled and shops have been closed, so the girls decide to video chat all day to prevent boredom. We get to see more slice of life stuff as they're stuck at home for the day, seeing some of Emma's younger siblings filter in and out and wanting to talk, over hearing parents, chatting while doing chores or studying, stuff like that.

Ponds pal/ Invisibuddy;

Pond becomes quick friends with an invisible named Travis after being paired up with him for a school project. The two begin spending a lot of time together and become close, basically becoming best friends within a month.

*needs a problem/conflict of some kind

Wave hello/ Baby Brook;

Ponds new sibling is here! A water elemental named Brook. Ponds still a little nervous to become a big sister, but instantly falls in love with her.

*needs more, idk what tho

#toonytoodlesoc #original character #oc #avery trowbridge #amelia mcconnel #sofia hodges #clementine moores #andie and andy #andy and andie #pond the elemental #toons story ideas #long post #writing ideas

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