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formulaorange · 1 year

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2023 Spring Anime

This season looks whack. There's so many notable series, there's definitely something for everyone this season. Of course starting off with the big ones:

Demon Slayer Season 3 - The Swordsmith Village Arc

Attack on Titan: The Final Season The Final Chapters

Dr Stone Season 3

While those all look amazing and all:

Bocchi is back baby!!!

Season 2 of Ranking of Kings is back this season. Their story telling is top tier and if you didnt' check out the first season, now is the time to do so.

All these amazing new seasons to look forward to, but this season doesn't stop there, the new series set to debut look absolutely killer too:

Hell's Paradise gets it's anime release, produced by MAPPA of course. This is definitely my most anticipated for the season.

Followed by MASHLE. While I had fun with the manga, I ultimately couldn't get past the art style. The anime should complete the picture for me and this will definitely be one of the top comedy series this season.

Lastly for the big name debut series: Oshi no Ko

This series takes a second to get into but it's taken the manga world by storm and has already gotten its english translations with only 11 japanese releases so far. The story is definitely worth sticking around for and will likely be one if not the top show of the season.

Additional continuing series:

Golden Kamuy S4

Edens Zero S2

The Ancient Magus' Bride S2

KonoSuba - Spin Off Series

As for some lesser known series, I've gone through this seasons' release schedule and filtered through the trailers to pick out the ones that might be worth watching... I honestly wasn't expecting for there to be so many. So like I said, there's definitely something for everyone this season.

Heavenly Delusion

I'm such a sucker for adventure series, throw in sci-fi and I'm hooked. While this definitely gives me Made in Abyss and Promised Neverland vibes, I'm not sure it'll be on the same level.

So far episode 1 looks absolutely amazing. Post-apocalyptic world with the contrast of the two stories, one of kids inside a sanctuary with little outside world knowledge and the kids that live and survive outside. Definitely worth watching.

A Galaxy Next Door

I'm surprised this is even being aired already. I swear the english volumes for the manga just released earlier this year. I've heard mixed things about the series but I think this'll be worth checking out.

Skip to Loafer

I've heard so much about this series and it's honestly got the golden trio of tags. It's a Slice of life comedy romance and the style and characters are so cute. I'll definitely be giving this a full watch through.

Insomniacs after School

This kind of looks like an irl version of Call of the Night but after watching the trailers a bit more it still looks like a lot of fun. It's about these two students who're unable to sleep and what they do when they stay up. They end up joining the astronomy club and overall it looks like it'll be a really pretty and relaxing series.

Dead Mount Death Play

Most manga collectors will have heard of this series. It's supposed to be quite a decent thriller/supernatural series. While I haven't had a chance to read through it, I think it's about time we got another good supernatural show. I'll definitely be checking it out.

Magical Destroyers

This straight up looks like utter chaos. Whether that's good or not I guess we'll find out. It's under the mahou shoujo tag?? but it's about a radical group that is trying to eliminate the otaku culture from Japan. This guy "Otaku Hero" stands up and tries to stop them. It sounds wild and kind of looks like a passion project. I'll give it 3 episodes.

My Home Hero

This is straight up a western drama movie. Similar vibes to Taken this guy kills his daughters yakuza boyfriend and gets caught up in the criminal underground. It's definitely a new trope for anime so I'll be giving it 5 episodes.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury S2

While technically this is a continuation of a series, I feel like many people didn't watch the first half unless they were already into gundam. I never grew up with it and truthfully I just lumped it in with transformers so I never checked it out.

Lots of people have been saying that this reboot it really solid and a good way to get into the series. After watching the trailer I totally understand, the characters all look great and the story looks like a solid sci-fi series. I'll definitely be watching to catch up to the new releases.

Yuri Is My Job

I've head of this series all over the place in the manga world and I know it's one of the more popular shoujo ai. Essentially it seems the plot is that these 2 girls end up working together at a themed cafe and start falling for each other. I don't really have any interest in shoujo ai series (frankly i just started getting into romance series in general) so I'll give it 3 episodes and see how it goes.

The Dangers in My Heart

This is one of those - unlikely mc's gets attention from the pretty love interest. After watching the first episode I can say it definitely isn't the same as the others. The girl is super weird and I like his commentary of all the shit he does. Pretty fun and worth a try at least.

Loving Yamada at Lv999

This looks like a fun lighthearted romance. I'll give it 5 episodes.

Otaku Elf

Pretty much as the title says it's about an Otaku Elf. I think this hoenstly looks like a fun series and as long as you're not looking for more plot, it'll be a good time.

Blue Orchestra

While I think a decent number of people will like the series, I know for sure I'll drop it due to the cgi. I just feel that CGI isn't at the stage where it feels natural enough with the rest of the animations and it really takes away from my watching experience.

My god. I had no clue they redid this but I'll 100% be watching this now lol. They rebooted Tokyo Mew Mew.

This was one of the first anime I watched growing up.

The second season is airing this season - Tokyo Mew Mew New S2

in case anyone else grew up watching it and wats to catch up.

And of course, the isekais.

We've now evolved from just the standard isekais to isekais with a twist.

I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, too.

I'll give it 3 episodes but unsurprisingly I don't think i'll stick with it.

The Legendary Hero is Dead!

This looks a little different from the ususal, I'll give it 3 episodes.

Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion

This is a full send fantasy shoujo romance and I thought I had had enough of the royal isekai trope but apparently not. The cheese of the romance has sucked me in again with the pretty animations to top it off. I'll be giving it a good 3 episodes.

The Ecchi series for the season:

KamiKatsu: Working for God in a Godless World

This honestly looks like fun but I've had my fair share of this kind of show. This is a fantasy ecchi isekai comedy. I'll still give it 3 episodes.

Megami no Cafe Terrace

Frankly I have no interest in ecchi harem series like this but the quality looks decent so I've added it here for those who want something to watch along those lines this season.

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syncopatedid · 8 months

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Link Click S2E7: At this point it's probably a sure thing (?) to assume that that's Cheng Xiaoshi who is in possession of Lu Guang's body (his mannerisms sure as heck seem to want us to believe that), but the immediate question I have is, does that mean Lu Guang is in possession of Cheng Xiaoshi's body???? Granted, we've never been shown that LG is capable of such a power or that CXS could do that to a soul of a body he has taken over, but then again, this show is notorious for randomly dropping random facts out of nowhere to make things canon, so make it make sense.

But then it got me thinking: It's been established that when CXS time leaps into the past, his physical body disappears along with him until he returns back to the present. Assuming our first hunch to be correct, why is CXS' physical body still around? Two possibilities I've thought of: 1) This is the first time CXS has possessed someone in the present timeline, rather than the past, so his physical body does not disappear as it's still the same present, but since two bodies cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time, CXS' soul would need to separate from his body to possess another. However, vacating his body to possess LG would leave it vulnerable if left 'empty', so it makes sense for the souls to exchange places so LG could protect CXS' body and follow the girl without raising further distrust and suspicion, and CXS in LG's body could make a break for it and ditch the police to meet up with (and rescue) LG in CXS' body as they would not have seen it coming. 2) That BOTH of them are CXS, and the one possessing LG is CXS of another timeline, future OR otherwise, here to save his own ass. Because... aw yeah, my Conspiracy theory that an AU timeline exists in this story is back on the table! We mad lads be madding over here and I will hold on to that thought until canon evidence states otherwise. Edit addition: I don't know how this holds up to that episode in S1 where CXS went back to Qiaoling's past to save a friend and LG reminds CXS to never meet up with his past self as that would mess with things, but given that CXS is never a stickler for the rules anyway I think this scenario is entirely possible and opens up a whole new mystery mcguffin for the series as to what can happen when you meet yourself. I will admit that this season is a slower drag for me compared to S1, which is why I haven't been motivated to muse about this show weekly the way I did for S1. Don't get me started on s2e1, which I thought went and complied all the questions we had at s1 and just... kind of info dumped on us as exposition? All that buildup for 12 episodes and for what. This season seems more focused on flexing their animation prowess than genuine plot and character development, and if I weren't invested in its potential and knowing the end game for these boys and how close my predictions/speculations are I might have lost interest already. The pace has gotten draggy, plot more convoluted than ever before (which is just S1 powered up tbh but I digress) and all their filler scenes of no consequence are probably 15 minutes too long. It is already episode 7, and it feels almost certain that at this pace, the 'end' will be yet another new cliffhanger so they can explain making a S3 and I don't know how I feel about that. We should really stop thinking about it, yeah. Orz.

#Link Click #shiguang daili ren #time agents #thinking out loud #there she goes with her wall of texts #Is it really that hard to build up the revelations slowly and organically than dropping one shocking twist after another #That is not really how a good plot works I'm just saying

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chibivesicle · 1 year

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Hello, just dropping another thing here :P After reading your review of Episode 9, plus a little more about what people have been saying in regards to Vash's "gate" thing being a freaking BLACK HOLE of all things, I saw something that someone pointed out in regards to a new promotional poster for the final act of Stampede, and they mentioned how Knives looked more angelic whereas Vash looked darker and more devil-like, and that Knives appears to be more of a force of creation and Vash a force of destruction, which makes little sense since Vash is the one who can communicate with the non-independents and "heal" them (unless with the dark/light motif Studio Orange were trying to be subversive or something for whatever reason), but I thought I would offer a couple of predictions for how Stampede might end.

1- Vash and Knives are going to be revealed as a pair of "yin and yang" twins born as a light/dark pair, with Vash ironically being the "dark" twin, a force of destruction, and Knives being the "light" twin, a force of creation; Knives tells Vash that he's supposed to be the dark twin, Vash freaks out. Someone dies, possibly Wolfwood or Roberto, or both, and Vash, overwhelmed with grief, activates his gate, sucking the city of July into a black hole, BOOM July Incident.

2-Vash is revealed to have the "gate" power because he's a living portal to another dimension, and Knives wants to use that in his plan to create a paradise for plants and exterminate humans once and for all. Vash's gate is activated, likely through someone's death like with the above prediction, and a portal to this other dimension, likely the dimension plants come from(playing into the whole thing with plants being interdimensional beings), is opened, and the city of July gets sucked into it.

What do you think?

Hi there! Appreciate the comment about the inverted aspects of things with Knives being more heavenly and Vash the more demonic. However, that just seems to be a weird concept seeing that we haven't gotten their full Rem experience and her philosophy. I wonder if they thought it was 'cool and edgy'? I've been reading too many xianxia novels in the past year or so with Daoist cultivators so the first thought that popped into my mind is that for yin and yang, Vash has that female yin vibe going on. It would be weird for a series with Buddhist and Christian undertones that well - are essentially gone to take a Daoist path instead. What is this; Outlaw Star? All previous Trigun iterations have really focused on Knives as the fallen angel while Vash keeps his impossible ideals. I mean, for the love of God, Knives gifts the one family a fruit tree at the end of Trigun Maximum . . . if they bite into the fruit will they realize they are wearing clothing?

We are all thinking that something emotionally traumatic will make Vash activate his gate and go boom, but will it be his right arm? Can he still make one with his robotic left arm? Will it suck Vash into it instead at the end of the season? To quote my friend Merdo's opinion on Vash's arm as a black hole "I'm still trying to understand this too." I think Knives might use his huge collection of red plants to force Vash to do something which results in the July incident - maybe this is the new Fifth Moon? Meryl and Roberto are the hostages in July so they will kick things off, but the last time Meryl was trapped - it resulted in Vash using his angel arm. I don't see how any of their possible deaths would result in Vash losing it - he's seen far too much death already.

Roberto is the most likely to die, since plot wise he's been absolutely useless the entire series but that is poor writing. Wolfwood should die at some point, but Wolfwood isn't really friends with Vash. Studio Orange, they aren't friends, those two traveled all around for months on end in the original (manga). Meryl can't die, she's the token female waifu. The only other option is Brad or Luida dies and Brad gets another anime death or Luida gains an anime death as a manga only chara.

That's honestly all I've got. It has been a busy week at work so not much time to ponder Stampede.

#answered ask #ask #trigun stampede #trigun anime

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lovecolibri · 1 year

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SaL anon here friend for just a brief note. This episode just made me sad. Not the good sad-but-the-hurt-comfort-will-be-worth-it sad, just sad. I'm not going to bring The Discourse into your inbox, but I think I'll just pretend this episode doesn't exist (except of course for the fabulous attempt at sex doll resuscitation by Nancy) until next week. Also where the hell are Paul, Marjan, and Mateo??!! These characters are more interesting than just fun banter, give them screentime dammit!!

This episode was....fine. Like, I laughed at some of the Owen/O'Brian shenanigans but I do not give one single fuck about O'Brian so why would I care about his neo-nazi nephew? I said in the tags on a couple of posts that I'm not here to watch the FBI investigate a terrorist plot, or some kind of Criminal Minds torture-fest (next week is the episode I'm kind of dreading a bit 🤷🏻‍♀️), there are other shows out there for people who enjoy that! I'm here to watch first responders go out on calls! Sometimes they're funny, sometimes suspenseful and exciting, sometimes the crew is in danger and it's stressful, and sometimes they get confronted with something that applies to their personal life and helps to move that arc along for them.

We have.....not gotten a lot of first responding in these last two episodes. And consequently, we are getting very little for the 126, and basically NOTHING for Paul, Marjan and Mateo except for a few quips. Nancy too, but Brianna has ATE every scene she's been in this season and she at least got to have some input on Tommy's storyline in the first 2 episodes. I don't just want Paul, Marjan, and Mateo (Grace, Nancy, Judd as well but they're getting *something* at least) each to have 1.5 episodes centered around them, I want to see them involved in other characters' stories every week and doing their jobs on multiple calls! We had ONE team call out during the episode these past two weeks and probably the same next week. This is like, the other side of the coin from the problem the OG is having which is too many calls with nothing to tie into the mains' arcs and long set up to fill time, where as LS is having some enjoyable calls but so few of them and they are trying to cram too much outside plot into the episode so we loose the first responder element a bit.

As for the Carlos/Tarlos stuff it's also...fine. (I'm more worried about them leaning into the creepy factor next week like his last detective storyline because that shit is Not For Me.) I personally enjoyed the scenes with Iris and Carlos (though it's hard to reconcile them being so ride-or-die after having zero idea they were anything more than vaguely acquainted through Michelle before now), and I liked that he believed her when the detective didn't and I like that they aren't trying to pretend like she's "cured" now. I'm not too worried about the angst because I get Carlos kinda shutting down and blaming himself and everything he and TK brought to Iris' doorstep all at once, but I feel like we aren't getting ANY idea what is going on in TK's head. He had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene with Tommy but that was all about Iris not where his head is at, he and Carlos aren't talking about it, does Owen even KNOW?! Because we haven't seen Owen and TK even talk this season (WHAT?!), he hasn't gotten to sit with Judd or Nancy or any of the 126 and vent, not even his sponsor has had a mention! This IS a Carlos centric storyline so I'm not surprised we're seeing his POV and his interactions with Iris, but because the show is spending SO. MUCH. FUCKING. TIME on this Owen plot right now too, were not getting to see TK's side of this (though hopefully next week!), while still having time for a call (singular because god forbid these first responders get to do any first responding).

It's all just...fine. It's fine to watch, I'm laughing, and holding my breath, and yelling for Carlos to look out behind him, but then the hour ends and it's all just....fine. I get ending on the Carlos cliffhanger, but I would rather have some angst in the form of TK calling and calling and leaving measages to ask when Carlos is coming home overlayed by Carlos getting taken, than to save it all for next week and rely on torture for the angst, but that's just a personal preference for me and I wanted more than just one episode of TK being frantic that something is wrong and Carlos isn't answering. 🤷🏻‍♀️

To end on a lighter note, Nancy deserves an Oscar, even if it's justa handmade one by the team, for her dramatic performance reacue of Crissy (alexa, play "Chrissy Wake Up"), and Tommy and TK can get little mini Supporting Role statues as well. Definitely a highlight of the season so far.

#my sweet nonnie friends #sleeping at last anon #911 lone star #lone star spoilers #tk strand #carlos reyes #tarlos #anti owen strand #for blacklisting purposes #i don't hate him i really don't but GOD give him a storyline centered on the 126 and his team and his son!#STOP with the random side plots that have nothing to do with anyone else and that gobble up screentime!#ANYWAY #i am curious about what you really didn't enjoy #so if you want to vent in my inbox and just not have me publish it you can if you want to avoid diskhorse #i did see stills with marjan in them and nearly cried because i miss her #but it also looked like she's getting in trouble for something soooo 🫤

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hyperfixated-unicorn · 1 year

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I just realized that I haven't really finished any anime last year except for two: (1) Spy x Family and only because I really loved the manga and want to criticize on how they adapt it in the anime, and (2) Anohana which didn't even aired in 2022. Anyway,

Bocchi the Rock is good but I haven't picked up from episode 10. It isn't really hitting me as much as I expected. Visual gags is just not something I find funny especially coupled with a single running gag of Bocchi's anxiety. However, there is never a dull scene or "dead air" (if you can call it that) in the animation due to its creative direction and exaggerated but quirky animation. In terms of these things, it is definitely one of the best of 2022.

There is also Chainsaw Man. I have read the manga and it has great themes of alienation and exploitation in Part 1 which I really liked. However, I wasn't personally invested in it. It's not just something I come back to after I read it. On the other hand, the anime is also well done. Lots of effort is given into its "cinematic" feel and the CGI is good (people keep exaggerating how "bad" this is like it is the worst thing there is). Still, I haven't gotten past 3 episodes and only watch clips of the rest. It might be because of said personal investment, but may also be because it doesn't quite capture the grittiness of the manga despite the quality production it has.

I also watched Akiba Maid War and made it into episode 7. The first episode of this anime is perhaps the strongest I've seen in Fall 2022. That shit is just crazy! But I still haven't finished it because its high-action, fast-paced craziness is also its downfall for me. This gave the anime less time to breathe or even flesh-out its characters without rushing to the next crazy thing. I don't care about the details or the plot as much but the characters are usually something which can endear or break a series for me, and for Akiba Maid War, it is veering close to the latter.

Another set of anime I haven't finished are Lycoris Recoil from Summer 2022, My Dress-Up Darling from Winter 2022 and Ranking Of Kings from Fall 2021-Winter 2022. Admittedly, I was distracted or busy on those seasons and just forgot to catch up with those I missed or else became occupied with newer shows (which I haven't finished either *sobs*). From what I remember, I generally liked them well enough and might continue them sometime this year.

There are also sequels of animes I have loved or enjoyed previously like Mob Psycho 100, Attack On Titan, Demon Slayer and Made In Abyss. Might just add them to my PTW list and hopefully, I can finally catch up and at least put some closure to the story especially for Mob Psycho 100.

Aside from these, there are still some anime I planned to watch last year but never really gotten around to start, or started but haven't finished for similar reasons. Most of these shows are not bad and even if they are, I usually suffer sunk-cost fallacy and finish it anyway. It's just that I felt like most of 2022 was a tough year for me mentally. It was just a spill over of 2021, a continuation of anxiety and burn out which affected my overall motivation and enjoyment of things I usually liked doing. Hell, I even read less books than I wanted to in the last two years compared to any other years. This is big for me since books are the media I prefer and consume the most.

Anyway, I hope for better tides this 2023. I wish for a more stable mental health and a work-life balance I can get behind. If I ended this year with more anime or books completed, I'd count that as a win and a testament for a better year for me.

#spy x family #anime #manga #chainsaw man #bocchi the rock #books #my dress up darling #attack on titan #demon slayer #2023 #2022 #new year #anohana #ranking of kings #lycoris recoil #mob spycho 100 #made in abyss #akiba maid war

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parachutingkitten · 2 years

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Screw it, here's my series reboot

Part of the community has fallen down the reboot speculation rabbit hole even though there's literally zero evidence for a new group of ninja or next gen situation happening. But hey, what better time to drop my reboot idea on y'all? If I had more motivation I might turn this into a fic, but that's never happening, and I need to get these ideas out of my head.

We open on a Ninjago far into the future. Just like the pilot, we follow our future fire master- a morbidly curious and unapologetically energetic girl who has just recently discovered her power. She's keeping it a secret for now, but is searching for answers on what it is and why she has it. She finds herself drawn to the mountain far in the distant skyline. On top is an old building. No one knows what it is or if anyone lives up there, but there are stories of it being haunted. She sets out on her journey, still unsure of why she's going.

Along her way she meets our earth master- not the smartest guy, but indescribably sweet with a dash of spice. He too is drawn to the mountain, and the two reveal their powers to each other after discovering their strangely similar impulse and journey.

They make their way up the mountain together to find the long abandoned monastery. Though it appears to be empty, they find a woman meditating next to a large tree in the garden. (If you know me, you know where this is going) She has long gray hair and a strangely ageless face. She seems to know why they're here. She says she has answers about their powers, and can help train them to use them effectively. Our two new masters, desperate for answers and purpose, commit to stay and learn from their new sensei.

Eventually they recruit a new member, our master of lightning, a fairly quiet and observant girl deathly afraid of her own powers. The massive lightning storm that accompanies her unlocking her powers triggers the first mission for our other two. The three train together, fairly content, but sensei insists there is one more.

Turns out, he's a fairly bitter ice master who has had his power for a while now. He and sensei seem to know each other, and recruiting him seems to be a harder task than anticipated. The three continue to train on their own while continually trying to coax the ice master to join the team, resulting in several heated confrontations and fight scenes. He ends up being a sort of running antagonist for a string of episodes. Eventually it all comes to head when he nearly ends up killing our fire master. He comes with them back to the monastery and insists he's only staying until she's fully healed, but ends up bonding with the team and sticking around. Turns out he's got a great heart once you get past all the ice.

Sensei grows increasingly distant as the team gets closer, fighting off what first appears to be one off threats. They see her meditating by the tree more often, sometimes sitting there all night, talking to the stars. They gather that they aren't the first team with these powers to be assembled, and that sensei lost someone very close to her.

The season 1 finale is accompanied by the revelation that Sensei is in fact Pixal- The students discover her still hidden Samurai X cave and her robotic nature is revealed after an initial run in with with big bad for the series. This could be Pixal predecessors, a Zane-related threat, or an entirely new villain. Idk, do what you need to sell sets or whatever.

The second season explores what exactly happened to Zane, if it is possible to bring him back, and the assorted mysteries associated with the rest of the team. Why are the lightning powers continually increasing in severity? What exactly is the ice master's deal? And maybe... Romance? Idk, I haven't gotten that far.

Anyway, that's the pitch- at least 2 seasons, like the original show, with plenty of room to grow. I guess I should have a name for it but... I don't. I'm bad at names. Anyway, thanks for reading!

#ninjago #future gen #reboot #this is the sensei pixal thing #cuz I'm still stuck on that #sensei pixal

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doorbloggr · 3 years

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Saturday 22/5/21 - Learning When it is OK to Drop a Series

The way I consume shows and books makes it difficult to keep a constant schedule of entertainment. I am very guilty of binge watching/reading, when I start a series, I will watch up to ten episodes in one sitting well after midnight. Then i sit around for weeks at a time putting off starting the next thing, knowing it too will take all my attention for a few days.

Unfortunately this binge behaviour means that I have often been a poor judge of character when it comes to whether I should finish something. Hey I'm already 10 episodes into this show, might as well watch all 24 episodes. And that has meant I've got a number of series on my Finished Anime List that I sort of feel wasted my time.

Higurashi is moe-horror, a very specific flavour of anime/manga where the characters and themes are cute on the surface but there is abuse, murder and monstrosities when you get even skin deep.

The true catalyst for this epiphany was an anime called Higurashi: When they Cry NEW. I followed up on it after a streamer I watch said the original series was one of their favourite anime. The show is a psychological and physical horror, and as I've discussed in previous blog posts, my domain is usually Slice of Life, so... a far cry from my comfort zone. I told the two friends I get anime reccomendations from that I was watching it and their reaction was very telling of signs I shouldve read.

The friend who suggests me Slice of Life and Isekai/Fantasy anime told me that he would never touch an anime like Higurashi with a ten foot pole. The friend who suggests me Fan Service and Horror anime told me that she tried to watch Higurashi but thought it was pretty dumb and hard to watch.

I continued to watch the show, I was 8 episodes in, and wanted to see if it got better. At 17 episodes, I was questioning again whether I should drop it, but I was almost done, so why not just finish? I regretted that.

This post is not a recommendation against Higurashu by the way, but my opinion is, if you're ok with very visceral gore horror, heavy themes of abuse, and looping stories that only get scarier with each retelling... hey, Higurashi could be for you, but in hindsight, it wasn't for me.

After I finished Higurashi, I caught up on Log Horizon, an anime I am very familiar with and enjoyed a lot.

After watching Higurashi I vowed to myself to only search out anime I know I'll be interested in, or take on suggestions from my friends who know what I like. Since Higurashi I haven't chosen to drop any series, but I also have only watched one Isekai and three Slice of Life's since then, and I thoroughly enjoyed all start to finish. But to safeguard myself against future bad binges, I'm gonna end this post with some advice to myself, and others, on how to ensure your media consumption is enjoyable.

1. Keep records and check for patterns

On my phone I have a Notes file detailing all the anime I've finished. I mostly do this because I have an obsession with documenting my habits and looking back, but it also helps as a way to reflect on what type on anime I have enjoyed in the past.

If you have a record of what you have watched, you can look over the list and find trends. Then you choose new series that have a lot in common with your faves.

I have enjoyed many romance anime, and the one mecha anime I've seen, Guren Lagann, I enjoyed a lot. So when heard that Darling in the Franxx was a mecha anime with romance, I was veryyy interested.

2. Swap stories with friends

On the list I discussed above, about 80% of the anime I've watched were recommendations from friends. It's like a learning AI, but with real people. Friends give you a bunch of anime to watch and you tell them which ones you enjoyed. Then they can get back to you with anime they think you'd enjoy based on past preferences.

Ben-to was an anime I recently watched because a friend told me it's just the type of show I'd enjoy.

My friends have gotten really good at recommending me anime that I enjoy because I've told them when I'm watching a new show and whether I like it or not. Because of my long dry spells, I dont watch a tonne, but I also give my own recommendations back and they've enjoyed my suggestions.

3. Unsure? Four episodes

Ages ago, I was watching a podcast run by 3 streamers called LewdCast and they had a segment where they had an anime bookclub; basically they'd come to each podcast having watched an anime and discuss whether they liked it or not. But having to watch an entire series per week not knowing whether you'd like it is exhausting. So their rule was to watch the first four episodes.

Food Wars was actually a recommendation from LewdCast that I was very hooked into by Episode 4, so I watched the entire series and it is still my fave anime this year.

Episodes 1 and 2 are usually world building and introduction of themes and characters. So dismissing an anime after the first episode isn't giving it a proper chance. But after 4 episodes, the themes have been established, you're introduced to core characters, and you've been given a glimpse of what the flow or hook of the show is. You're at least partway into an arc and you understand how the show will operate overall.

Some people will tell you, "Oh this show is a slow burn, but it gets really good deep into the first season", but the truth is, if you're hating it or not hooked after 4 episodes, it's probably not worth it. If a friend I know tells me, "trust me, you'll enjoy this", then I will probably stick with a show I'm on the fence with more then 4 episodes. But if you sought out a show on your own and you don't know if you'd like it, give it four episodes. If you don't wanna finish it after that, drop it.

#blog #blogpost #anime #manga #higurashi

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bibuckbuckley · 2 years

Note

Hello!!! I'm sorry you're not feeling good ❤❤❤

1. If you were to write a 911 episode, what would happen in it?

2. What's something you really want to do but haven't gotten to yet?

3. Is there any buddie fics you'd like to see as a movie? (Ofc same actors and everything)

Hugs and love 🤗❤

Thank you so much Joey this means a lot ❤

1. Oh gosh there's like SO much I would love to write. Okay so tbh there are two different episodes I would want to write. One would be a crossover ep that somehow had almost all the mains from both shows. I personally LOVED the crossover from last season and excited to see how they do Athena next Lone Star, but I would just love to have even more characters interact and the ones that already had see that continue. I have a lot of ideas that I personally would just love to write it.

The other one I would love to write is obviously the Buddie Getting Together episode. I mean we all write plenty in fics, but to actually write the episode?? Amazing! If I were to write that episode I would also have Bathena and Madney and Henren all have mini side stories that parallel and help put to light the Buddie™️ of it all. There are so many ways and possibilities I would want it to go (definitely haven't thought about it a million gazillion times. nope.) but just to be able to get to write it??? I'm dying just dream about it 😭

Ohhh I would also LOVE to write a bottle episode or a musical episode. I also have a lot of thoughts™️ and Ideas™️ about these too.

2. Literally so much I don't even know where to begin 🤣. bc of my chronic stuff (both physical and mental illnesses) I haven't really been able to do much in life as an adult. So there's so much I really can't pinpoint just one thing right sorry!

3. Oohhh gosh what an amazing question!! There are SOOO MANY! I want to at least mention a few but alas my brain is mush aksjhs. But the first one that comes to my mind is the awesome fic Breathe by @kitkatpancakestack. It's so good and sooo sweet but also has a lot of emotion with Eddie dealing with his PTSD and past drama (and also Buck's past trauma too.) And it has the perfect backdrop of the beach with Buck teaching Christopher how to serve (the 118 fam is still there too). I love it so much and it literally has everything that fits a great romance movie! It honestly felt like one in the best way and I can see it be so easily translated into that. Also, seeing everyone by the beach all the time??? Sign me tf up! It was also such a comfort read for me, so it would such a great comfort film too (which I desperately need rn astkjf)!

Thank you so much for these wonderful questions hon! They really helped a lot!! ❤❤❤

help distract me :)

#kj gets an ask #outlandishgal #the joey tag

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fillingthescrapbook · 3 years

Text

Rewriting The CW's Kung Fu, Part 9: Reflections and Moving Forward

And we have reached the end of our Kung Fu journey. If you haven't seen where we began, here's a handy guide to the previous posts:

Part 1: The Characters

Part 2: The Pilot

Part 3: The Mythology

Part 4: The Story Map

Part 5: Act I

Part 6: Act II

Part 7: Act III

Part 8: The Finale

Before I start with the lessons I learned and my other reflections, I want to thank @flailingbloo for all of her help and support in this endeavor. Without her to talk to and commiserate with, I would probably have gotten stuck in Act II forever and everything I've written would've been riddled with spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. So my eternal gratitude to flailingbloo. And now, we begin:

Lessons.

Going into this writing exercise, I already knew it was going to be hard. Writing stories is time-consuming, it's nerve-wracking, and it takes a lot of research...and patience. Writing, especially for television, is also not a solitary task. I mean, sure, the writing itself needs to be done alone--but everything that comes before, during, and after the writing needs input from so many people.

Although I have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of complaints about how The CW's Kung Fu was handled and written, I do have a lot of respect for the work that the writers put into their scripts. And I do appreciate all that they have done to have a show like this produced.

Doing this rewrite, I learned that it's really important to make the main character likeable. Like, every episode I broke down, I had to ask myself: is Nicky likeable here? Is she someone who viewers would want to root for? Like, for me she is, but only people who read what I wrote can say for sure. My perspective is now a bit skewered because I have bias.

Second, story maps are very helpful. There were times, especially during Part 6 (where I wrote breakdowns for Episodes 6 to 9) where I kept getting road-blocked by where I want the story to go. So I went back to the story map over and over again, to remind myself--where does the story itself need to go? How do I help the characters get to the point where they're ready for what needs to happen? (This is also where flailingbloo helped the most for me. Like, she really reminded me why I was doing this rewrite in the first place. Because I care about Nicky and the show. I wouldn't have funneled so much of my time and effort into this if I didn't.)

Another thing I learned, or rather re-learned, is the art of letting go. I created the character of Stanley to recur throughout the series as a reminder of who Nicky was and who she is becoming. And then I finished writing the first act without even mentioning him. By the second act, I was ready to use him finally--but, after multiple false starts, I realized Stanley was one of the reasons why I was having a hard time pushing Nicky's story forward. Because I kept trying to go back to the past. So I decided in the writing of the second act to shelve Stanley completely, only to find him popping up in the second to last episode in a, at least I hope, more organic way.

The last thing I learned in this exercise was that, whenever a new character needs to come in, I have to look at my existing characters first to see if any one of them can fulfill the role I needed for the story. Like, creating new villains for Nicky was fun, sure--but, at the same time, I realized that there were already existing villains that could recur. Like the Triad, who played villains in two more episodes after the pilot; and Henry's martial arts class at the community center became the source of two existing storylines from the actual show.

Reflections.

Do I think what my rewrite is better than the show? To me, yes. But, again, I am very biased. That said, I am proud of how I utilized the characters that the show created and didn't really give much importance to. Dennis, when he was introduced, felt like a rich character that could provide a very different point-of-view from the Shen siblings--but he was mostly relegated to being eye-candy. And I thought I gave him more meat by making him more involved in Althea's sexual harassment storyline, while also involving him in Nicky's stories.

That said, I also realize that I wasn't able to play up Nicky and Evan's past relationship as I was writing the episodic breakdowns. I was able to give them a lot of opportunities to explore their chemistry together, as I did with Nicky and Henry, but I kind of dropped the ball as a writer on guiding those planted moments into something more significant. Granted, I only wrote breakdowns and not actual scripts. Maybe I could've explored the romance angle more with a little sprinkle of direction and dialogue.

As I went deeper into the rewrite, I do see how easy it is to fall in love with characters as you write them. It's very easy to trap yourself into wanting villains to be more well-rounded. I keep having to remind myself that I don't have to redeem everyone. Just Nicky. Which became harder and harder as I went further and further into the story.

Another thing that became difficult as I went on? Keeping the mythology from just bursting open. That's how Henry, as I wrote him, evolved into becoming the son of a guardian--just so there's a reason for him to be so invested in Nicky's quest, while also having someone who can explain things to our main character. I'm actually really proud of that evolution.

All that said, I also have to recognize that I rewrote the show with the benefit of hindsight and the lack of budget constraints. In the real show, there's a group of writers who each have their own ideas of what the show should be. (This is where a head writer--not a show runner--would come in handy, so they could reel in the story to what needs to be told.) With more writers comes more chances for inconsistencies to happen. (And this is where a script supervisor, or a writing assistant, could come in handy.) And then there's production notes and budget. Not to mention, you know, the whole pandemic that's still happening. I didn't have to think about those things while doing this rewrite.

So, again, I want to give the writers kudos to actually producing scripts. I hope they haven't lost their minds--or their will to write--just because there are people like me who nitpick at everything. That's what people who love things do. We nitpick because we care.

Moving forward.

I do plan to stick with the real show for Season 2. I hope it's planned better. I hope they get researchers (plural!) and a writing assistant to help in the writing room. I hope the writers would sit down with the cast to discuss and develop the characters more. And I really hope they hire a better fight choreographer and fight director for the second season. (Like, rehire the people who choreographed and filmed the flashback scene in... Episode 11? The one with Nicky's maternal grandmother and Pei-Ling's own mother?)

I hope that the Nicky-Henry relationship gets explored realistically, and if a potential new love interest is ordered, they get introduced in a way that isn't antagonistic. Make them more well-rounded characters too, please. Make us want to root for their success. And while I think Nicky doesn't have an iota of chemistry with Evan, I do like Evan himself as a character. So I hope they get him more involved in future storylines--as an outsider looking in, sure, but also as an honorary member of the Shen family.

With regards to the Shen family, I do hope that we get to explore their relationships and dreams more before the show drops the reveal about Mei-Xue's daughter. I want Althea to have a cohesive storyline that doesn't pause for no reason. I want Ryan to explore being Asian AND gay as a first-generation Asian-American. And give the Shen siblings some recurring friends. They don't have to be semi-regulars (unless there's a story that can be explored) but let's not keep the Shens in a bubble. It was weird in the first season. Especially for Althea whose friends only showed up for her bachelorette party and never again. Not even when she was panicking about wedding preparations, which, considering how rich Dennis's parents were? They wouldn't let Althea be in charge of anything. They would hire a Chinese wedding coordinator. And an expensive and hard-to-book one at that. They donated an entire hospital wing, for crying out loud.

I want Jin to have an actual character, and not just be the supportive dad who loves his kids very much (admittedly my own rewrite also made this same mistake). And I want Mei-Li to be consistent as a character. Like, no more surprise twists about being the descendant of a legendary warrior without proper foreshadowing and plot-planting please.

Dennis shouldn't just be eye-candy. The same applies to Kerwin. Sure, I get that shirtless men are a must in a CW series, but please give their characters some meat too. Dennis's nerd-side was never showcased in the show, and Kerwin had that poor little rich boy background that didn't get explored either. Because the show was too busy keeping him and Zhi-Lan tearing each others' clothes off--when they're not tearing other people down.

Also, don't drop the ball on the tease that Bian-Ge is now everywhere. If I understood correctly, Bian-Ge is Kung Fu's version of Qi. If yes, then I hope they treat it respectfully as a force of nature--and not just the source of magic. The flowers from Bian-Ge itself can be magical, sure, I have no problem with a fictional flower being a McGuffin.

Finally, I hope the show also explores other Asian communities and cultures. Like, Kung Fu is great--but imagine if Nicky had to face someone who is versed in Silat Melayu? Or someone who uses Arnis? Someone who practices Kalaripayattu or Lathi Khela? Or Kuntao? Imagine Nicky having to use Wing Chun against someone who uses Karate or Krav-Maga? Asia is a big continent and there are so many different types of martial arts found from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Kung-Fu is an umbrella term, so it'll be great to see the different styles found under it.

... This went long again. Sorry about that. Funny thing is, when I started this whole rewriting plan? I thought it would take three posts, tops. And look at us now. Nine posts deep, and it seems I still haven't run out of things to say. So I'm cutting myself off before I completely wear out my welcome.

But if you've read all my Kung Fu posts, please do reach out. Let's discuss the show and what it can do to produce a better second season.

#Kung Fu CW #tv talk #my words

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lailarain · 3 years

Text

Spoilers for TBHK

TW: Mentions of s3xu@l åss@ult/@buse, $uicidə and bl00d

Episode 9(continued):

"Is Amane good at S M O O C H I N G"

"He isn't my type" "you sure about that?" this is literally the only time Tsukasa has been right I swear

NO DON'T LET THEM TRICK YOU

WOAH WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS EYES

HEY NO LET HER GO

THEY LEFT HIM THERE TOO LMAOOOO

NO NENE NOOOOOO

Also, on an unrelated note, does Nene have the same VA as Chiaki from Danganronpa, cause they sound really alike

WAIT IS SHE OKAY

SHE'S OKAY YEAH BABY

OKAY WHERE TF IS HANAKO

WAIT IT'S HANAKO

HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT

This Natsuhiko is not that bright

THAT ISN'T WHAT LOVE IS YA STUPID

OH MY GOD HE'S DEAD

Holdup this isn't her home🤨

OHMYGODITSHANAKO

WHO HURT MY BABY BOY

Hanako🥺🥺🥺🥺

HE'S BLUSHING

Wait so she still has the keys? What are they even for?

YES NENE PROTECT YOUR MAN😤

Episode 10:

Okay I'm starting to doubt my $exu@| @$$ault theory a lot, but I know that Tsukasa DEFINITELY hurt my precious Hanako somehow and I don't plan on forgiving him for it

Interesting🤔

ARM WRESTLING I'M DYING😭😭😭😭😭

I LOVE THEIR TRIO ISTG

IT WAS MITSUBA WHAT

THERE'S A MOUTH ON THE HAND WHAT THE HECK

NENE NOOOOO

WAIT IS THAT MITSUBA OH MY GOD IT'S MITSUBA ISN'T HE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD

MITSUBA WHAT THE F

OKAY WHAT'S GOING ON

I gotta admit, Mitsuba is pretty cute

OKAY WOAH "MASTER"?!?!?😳😳😳

WAIT AOI?!?!?

OKAY NO THAT'S NOT AOI

LEAVE NENE ALONE

Kou💀

WAIT WHY DOESN'T HE REMEMBER HIS LIFE

OH SHOOT I THINK MITSUBA JUST REALIZED

CAN PEOPLE LEAVE NENE ALONE ABOUT HE LEGS NOTHING IS WRONG WITH HER SHE IS LITERALLY GORGEOUS

The mirror dude is just roasting Mitsuba and Nene💀

NOT NENE

YES MITSUBA

NO MITSUBA

NO NO NO NO NOT NENE NOT MITSUBA

WAIT WHAT

NO THAT'S NOT HANAKO

TSUKASA STOP IT

YOU LITERALLY HAVE BLOOD ON YOUR FACE AND HANDS AND ARE CHILL ABOUT IT

TSUKASA STOP IT YOU MANIPULATOR

Episode 11:

SECOND TO LAST EPISODE OF SEASON BABY LET'S GO

I'm still wondering what Tsukasa did specifically to push Hanako to murder him(other than being a terrible person. I normally LIKE psychotic characters, but this guy is just manipulative)

YEAH DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF NENE

DID HE JUST RIP OUT HIS HEART

OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK DID HE SAYYYYY

Awwww Hanako🥺

I love Hanako I swear😭😭

WOAH IT'S SO PRETTY

WAIT SHE'S HUMAN AGAIN

Awwww Fox Girl🥺

THAT'S SO SWEET AWWWWW

wait why did Hanako stroke his face post-it thingy just now

TSUKASA LEAVE HIM ALONE

STOP BEING SO MANIPULATIVE

WAIT WHAT DID HE JUST DO TO NENE

OH KOU ISN'T GONNA TAKE THIS WELL

POOR MITSUBA

SOMEONE GIVE MITSUBA A HUG

THIS IS SO CONFUSING I CAN BARELY TELL THESE TWO APART ISTG

TSUKASA YOU FU€KƏR

NO MITSUBA

TSUKASA YOU SUCK

Hanako just standing there like 👁👄👁

DID TSUKASA JUST PUNCH HIM

WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT HE LITERALLY KNOWS ALL OF THEM

OKAY WOAH CHILL MITSUBA😳

OH NO POOR KOU

TSUKASA DOESN'T WANT HIM TO REMEMBER I BET

NENE ARE YOU OKAY

POOR MITSUBA

NO MITSUBA DON'T DO THIS

Awww Nene is sad🥺

WAIT THAT WAS THE WHOLE EPISODE?!?!?

Okay I'm gonna save the season finale for I tomorrow because it's getting late where I am

Episode 12:

Okay I know i said I'd watch it the next day and it's been more than a week since then but I swear I wasn't procrastinating

OKAY SEASON FINALE BABY LET'S GO

Okay so I think I still kinda believe in my s3xu@l @$$ault theory because I have been thinking abiut Korekiyo from Danganronpa's backstory and HE was gr00m3d by his sister(I think. I haven't actually gotten to that part of the game yet. I only heard this from tiktok), so it's still possible, but I'm not sure anymore.

WAIT SHE HAS A HAMSTER THAT'S SO CUTE

I'm still salty about Tsukasa manipulating Mitsuba🙄

I still feel really bad for Kou🥺

KOU🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Princess?🤨

Hanako istg why are you so LIT

She's worried for Kou😭

HANAKO THAT'S A LIL SUS

Awww hanako is so cute🥺🥺🥺

HANAKO WHY YOU GOTTA DO HER HAIR LIKE THAT😭😭😭😭😭

Yeah Hanako you gotta open up too😤

IT'S A FUCKIN PUFFERFISH WHAT THE FUCK

Nene lmao💀

Why does he keep calling her "Your Highness"

THIS FISH FUCK IS NTO GONNA TAKE NENE AWAY FROM HANAKO NO WAY NO HOW

A princess? Sounds like bullshit to me🤨

HE WAS CRYING AND HURT YOU FISHY IDIOT HE DIDNT ATTACK HER

NOPE DON'T YOU DARE NENE😤😤😤

This is totally the fish trying to trick her

Aoi got herself a deticated guy😳

BUT NENE DESERVES TO KNOW HANAKO'S PAST

WAIT HANAKO WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME?!?!??!

He really has to tell her his past, otherwise he's gonna lose Nene before he knows it and I DON'T THINK I CAN LIVE WITH THAT

YES NENE SHE TURNED IT DOWN MY GIRL

OH SHIT NO NENE

LET HER GO

BUT HANAKO IS IN LOVE WITH HER

WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP MAKING FUN OF HER LEGS ISTG

NO NENE DON'T

YES HANAKO TO THE RESCUE

HANAKO YES HOLY SHIT HE'S CARRYING HER

Awwww Nene no you mean everything to Hanako🥺

AWWW HANAKO🥺🥺🥺

THEY ARE SO CUTE AHHHHWHY DID YOU KILL YOUR BROTHER THOUGH

AJNDGEKBDJRBREJSBDUD SO CUTE

TSUKASA WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT BLACK STUFF I'M SCARED

AW KOU🥺

WAIT IS TERU NOT A PIECE OF SHIT ANYMORE

AWWWWW YES HANAKO AND NENE ARE SO CUTE EEEEEEEEEE

WAIT THAT'S IT?!?!?!?!

Okay so I googled it and apparently Season 2 hasn't been confirmed but there is plenty of material from the manga available to make a sequel. If anyone has any other information, I would LOVE for someone to reply to this with that info.

REVIEW TIME!

Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun is an anime about a ghost named Hanako-Kun, who haunts the school bathroom, being summoned by Nene Yashiro, a girl who dreams of having a boyfriend to love her for who she is. Despite how weird and crackhead-sounding the title and storyline are, the show has an amazing plot and incredible characters. Definitely high up on my list of animes I love. Overall, I have to rate Season 1 a definite 8/10. The show is awesome, but I despise the fact that all the characters keep making fun of Nene's legs as if a woman is supposed to have every single feature of her body be perfect. I feel like it would've made more sense if you had people make fun of her boobs or something rather than her ankles because for her boobs to be kinda underdeveloped in high school would be a definite target for bullying rather than a feature as random as her ankles. I am definitely a Hananene shipper, and possibly a Mitsukou shipper. I still wanna know WHY Hanako killed Tsukasa, and if my s3xu@l @$$ault theory was right or not. I can't wait for Season 2 to come out, and I hope they continue to have the show be the masterpiece it is.

Thank you all for being so patient with me finishing the first season, and thanks for reading my thoughts! Bye!

UPDATE: I've been told that the manga confirmed that the s3xual @ssault theory was wrong so yeah

Also, I've started collecting the manga(i currently have 1-3 and 5, with 4 and 6 arriving next month)because I'm sick of waiting for Season 2 so when Season 2 comes around just know that I might know everything that happens by then

#tbhk #toilet bound hanako kun

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angsty-nerd · 4 years

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RNM 2X13 - Echo Download

I've been having a hard time trying to put my feelings about the Season 2 finale into words, so I've been sitting on it for a few days, reading everyone's metas, and trying to organize and separate my actual thinky thoughts from the angst and heartache. That… is not something I am particularly good at. But I'm trying.

I LOVE this show. The writing is a mess. There's plot holes all over the place. The pacing issues alone make me want to tear my hair out. And dear God do I want them to give these characters and relationships (including friendships) the time and space for the big moments to land properly. I don't know if we'll ever get any of that though. And in the meantime, I love these characters and the story, messes and all.

Everyone knows my biggest love is Echo, so I'm gonna start there.

"I don't know what you thought love was gonna be like when we were 17, but it's not all sunsets and horseback rides."

Back in the OG days, there was one consistent criticism I had with the way they wrote Max and Liz's story: the breakups always felt like bullshit. Max breaks up with Liz because she was afraid of some weird alien shit. Liz breaks up with Max because he's "supposed to be with Tess" and meanwhile he's like, "um… no?" We had "it's too dangerous" when it was dangerous regardless. "We're just different" but not in ways that actually mattered.

Echo's breakup mattered. There were issues and they were not dealing with them. Both of them were sneaking around behind the other's back. Neither was being fully honest with the other.

The unwavering honesty was something that stood out to me in S1. Yes, Max was hiding the truth about Rosa's death. But when it came to the present they were almost laughably open with each other. Liz didn't lie about it when Max asked if she told Kyle the truth. When Max asked what she was doing in the lab, she told him the truth. Once Liz knew the truth about Rosa, she knew everything. It seemed like with that truth out there was nothing left to hide. And once they got together they were a team. Immediately. There's a reason that we had a joking headcanon in the Echo world that they had their first kiss and then they were a married couple.

I really think Max's death not only put that to a screeching halt...it also put them on this path to the breakup. Liz has abandonment issues, and Max made a choice, without her, that resulted in him leaving her alone. It wasn't openly discussed in the depth that it should have been this season, but I really do think it was issue #1. Liz loves Max and she was very happy being with him...but after he came back from the dead she didn't trust him to not leave her again. It was an issue simmering under the surface from Episode 7 until the finale. Liz channeled it all into worrying about his heart, but the underlying theme was a resounding "I can't go through that again". Which is deeper than just the worry over a physical health problem. And it pushed Max away from her.

He grew irritable with her. He started hiding things from her and lying to her. The season just ended and I have no idea if he ever told her anything about his memory flashes! He was obsessively trying to learn about his past and never once discussed it with Liz!?? Because he didn't want her to stop him from using the serum? This is a HUGELY personal thing to Max and you can see how much it means to him. He had tears in his eyes while telling Isobel about it. I mean, that puppy dog excitement, and yet, he hides it all whenever Liz is around.

I think it was around episode 8 that we started talking about how badly they needed to have a big fight. Us -- the Echo shippers -- the ones who WANT them to be together -- were BEGGING them to fight. I hate conflict!! But the lack of honestly and the aversions were just building and building and I just wanted it all out on the table.

They finally STARTED having that fight in episode 11, but then Rosa and Isobel interrupted. In retrospect, sweet alien!Jesus, I wish they could have finished then. Maybe they would have gotten the air clear between them. Maybe it would have put them on a path to healing their relationship before the finale. But they didn't, so the breakup happened. And the thing is… that ending. It just kind of haunts me. Liz waiting and hoping for a grand gesture that never comes. I mean, did Max even know WHEN she was leaving!?! He sure didn't seem to have it on his mind when they flashed to him in that scene. And their fight...was all about what Liz was doing and Max not taking care of his heart. They never once touched on what he was trying to learn about his past. I'm pretty certain that Liz left without knowing any of that.

And the thing is… I'm sort of skirting around the meat of the issue here. Because the biggest problem of all of this was Liz violating Max by studying his biology without consent.

I really hate saying that in writing, because, to me, it's kind of the most horrible part of all of this.

Max Evans has been referred to in jest in this fandom as the King of Consent. He was so careful with Liz, tiptoeing around her looking for explicit consent in Season 1 until her desire for him was made abundantly clear. He only ignored the need for consent twice: both times in the S1 finale. Healing Michael's hand and healing Rosa. But those things both happened after he killed Noah. After he was high on his own power. They were very clearly set up as out of character for him.

Liz didn't give him the same respect. Consent does not just apply to sexual situations and healing. It applies to studying too. It applies to Liz USING Max's biology without his permission. It also applies to administering the cure to Steph without her consent. Liz was very, very wrong here.

And the thing is… it sure didn't seem like the writers saw it that way. It also didn't seem like JEANINE saw it that way. There's been a little bit more balanced quotes from them in interviews this week since the finale ended as far as saying that both Max and Liz were wrong, but they sure focused on Liz being incredible and strong before the finale aired.

The part that confuses me though...like, a LOT, is that the narrative was pretty clear that what Liz was doing was Bad and Wrong. She looked guilty. She was lying and hiding things from Max. And the MORAL COMPASS OF THE SHOW, Mr. Kyle Valenti, repeatedly told her she was wrong. Kyle called her out on her ethical violations even as he was thanking her for saving Steph.

Genoryx was set up as being bad. Liz herself refused to go work for them in the flashbacks because they were morally sketchy. Although, maybe that's the draw now that she is all full of ethical violations. Sigh.

I'm gonna leave this topic now, but I'll encourage you to go read @latessitrice's meta on the subject here:

Okay...so to sum this up? The breakup was coming. We knew it was coming. But it still hurt my heart so much. I haven't seen anyone gif Jeanine's performance of the "I am in love with you. And I hate that right now." But the delivery of that line broke me.

That being said...do I see it being over? Let's give that a resounding FUCK, NO. I mean, sure, they fought. And it hurt. And Liz ran away. Without saying goodbye. And all of that SHATTERED ME.

But...they still love each other even if they both have a lot to work on individually. That’s part of what MADE it so hard.

I am actually stoked for season 3. Two Maxes? All of the delicious angst once Liz gets home. Liz not knowing there's two Maxes and meeting Jones first and not knowing who he is and being vulnerable to his mindfuckery? Or just his fuckery in general. Whatever. I am here for it.

I am here for Liz discovering that something about Genoryx is Not Right. I'm here for her living a normal life and getting drawn back into the madness. I'm here for Max getting more powerful and more alieny under Jones's guidance. And I am here for what I am certain will be an epic reunion once they are back together again.

As a last more positive comment...I’m stoked that we get to have both Max and Liz alive and facing interesting potential storylines this hiatus. All I wanted from this finale, in truth, was to leave the characters in a place that inspired me to want to write for them for the next year plus or however long this COVID-extended hiatus ends up being. And I am so excited for that.

And I have talked enough now that I will go ahead and post this and leave this post as my Echo Takeaways from the finale. I'll be back again with some more gen/bigger picture thoughts later.

#roswell new mexico #rnm season 2 #rnm echo #max&liz #max evans #liz ortecho #ogroswell #feeling the feels #ouch my heart #rnm echo meta #my meta

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disaster-j · 3 years

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HOW ARE WE FEELING oh my fucking god. This was like. An amazing episode holy fuckkkkk. First we got like pangwave sharing earphones and :((((( wave is legit the best like OMG WE ARE PRISONERS ARE U NOT ALLOWING ME TO PEE WTF i hated punn for the first part and then now i love him wtf??????? and claire doesnt like him anymore oh no punn is probably going to cry and also everyone leaving pang was heartbreaking as always and i SCREAMED when chanon came ALSO CHANON DROVE THEM TO POM U KNOW [1/?]

WHAT THAT MEANSSSSS but then pom and supot are fucking cowards i hate them i hate them everything was going so well oh and im so glad that pang didnt mind control holy shit!!!!! Ik im scrambling all over holy hell omg i still dk what happened w the ministry and shit and also yeah wtf was that egg ad again what. Also i love time grace and third a lot!!!!!! And i think that was all ok wow i cant

afagahsvhwhs im sorry I took a whole week to reply😭 I didnt mean to ignore you I swear! When I saw the ask I was still processing so I thought I'd answer it later except then I just forgot like I forget everything not directly in front of me😔 Sorry!!!!

So, by now you'll likely have watched the new episode but know that I haven't and probably won't tonight cause I have some stuff to do rn. So imma just talk about what I thought was going on this past week and you can tell me if I'm right?

1. WE ARE FEELING TIRED AND MAD while the writing on this show is amazing, being a Punn stan is HARD rn my child is hurting and no one cares enough to do anything about it😭

2. Goddam the pangwave in that episode was so amazing! That earphone scene agsyhshw if that's not a sign they're endgame then WHAT ISSSS!?!? Also, yes, Wave is so incredible this season every scene with him is a blessing.

3. I ca totally understand not liking Punn rn. I feel that way about Mon what with her constantly ignoring the fact that Korn tried to mass murder a bunch of children and only caring about him and his wellbeing and nothing else but yeah Punn! I don't like him siding with the ministry any more than the next person but I can understand why he did it. Rn he's feeling betrayed and is isolating himself. He's at his most vulnerable and Darin has been using it as an opportunity to manipulate him into doing her bidding. We've seen how she's been using her relationship with his family to get him to trust her since she showed up and bc of Korn's betrayal she was finally able to accomplish that. Punn is only siding with her bc he wants things to be better and he doesn't want to be at war anymore. He's a kid, that's a perfectly valid thing to want. But ultimately, it's not his choice. They're at war either way and he chose the side he thought would do the most good, not realising that neither side outweighs the other in terms of evil shit they're willing to pull. So yeah, I love him and as always I am hella worried for my boy.

4. It sucked so much seeing everyone leave Pang but I can't say I didn't see it coming. He'd lost their trust a while ago and so far he hasn't done anything that would help get it back. Even Wave has his reservations about Pang right now, despite him being the only one to stick around I don't think he fully trust Pang like he used to. Not to say he thinks Pang is using him or doing something bad, but just that he doesn't quite believe in Pang's leadership the way he used to. At least that's what I've gotten so far.

5. CHANON! AND! POM! How dare they bring those two so close and yet not let them meet wtf is up with that!?!? There's some big reveal coming for Chanon x Pom I just know it. I swear when Pom was trying to take the vials from them I was so sure Chanon would walk in and stop him but then nothing? Fucking? Happened??? I was so confused. How did he really just drop em off at the gate and just? Left???? Wtf?!?!? I hope they shed some light on that in today's episode and if they didn't imma riot. I'm tireeeeed this show is tiring me when will it end so I can write my cutesy au about Punn and his alters, one of whom is Rome who falls in love with Bright ugh I just wanna write the cute fics I wanna be done with this stress😭

6. I get why like we DO NOT want him becoming Supot 2.0 which is very likely to happen if he let's the power get to his head. But him not using at all even in crucial moments like that just gives me major Todoroki from Spirts Festival Arc vibes and I just wanna be Izuku and scream "IT'S YOUR POWER" like just use it for good instead of evil man!!! Lives are at stake!!!!!

7. What is the egg girl why is the egg girl i dont get why they are doing this to me how far are they gonna take this nonsense i have so many questions ugh but hey maybe if we all collectively ignore her existence it will go away?

8. I love the babies! Ngl I thought they were annoying episode one but now they are my new children and I love them and shall protect them with my life no one better hurt the children or I will riot!!!! Especially Time, no one touch Time, only happy moments for baby!!!!

That's it, that's all I've got, please tell me we get some real answers this episode? Or, better yet, Punn gets far away from Darin and actually talks to his alters instead of acting like they don't exist??

#again #sorry i replied a week late #im dumb sometimes #answered ask #anon ask #the gifted spoilers #the gifted graduation #the gifted #gifted anon

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tomakeitbeautifultolive · 4 years

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Hmmm, you know it's funny that you ask if I tag anything anti s8 Dany or anything to differentiate between Dany before and after S8. The honest answer is I really haven't. It's interesting cause on the surface it seems I've been easily able to dismiss S8 Dany to the point where she doesn't really exist in my pov of Dany, but for some reason the S8 version does. This may be personal to me though, I have a few theories why that is but the truth is IDK for sure WHY that's gotten under my skin. (1/?

The first reason/theory being that I didn't watch the last two episodes of the show in their entirety - once it was revealed what would happen I just watched certain clips from youtube and such. Therefore I didn't really watch the scene where Dany burned KL. I didn't watch Arya running through KL trying to save people. But I did watch Daenerys' murder scene like the masochist I am ugh. I really regret that. Because that's the iamge that pops up when I think of S8, not KL burning. (2/?)

The second theory/reason being that I, myself, am an abuse survivor and the abuse I survived was, for the most part, at the hands of a man. T throne room scene and the way it was framed/filmed really triggered me (which is a reason why I should've known better and not watched it at all, stupid past me). And perhaps, if I'm trying to dig deep, it maybe just confirmed a deep-seated trauma response in me where I just ... fear that all men are capable injuring or even killing their loved ones. (3/?

And the response of some people saying shit like "see, he HAD to do it" just ... really made that feeling worse. Which is ... really fucked up. And I should probably talk about that in therapy and work through that cause that is some HEAVY baggage. Thanks for letting me spill my guts on your page lol (4/4)

Oh, and a third theory/reason may be that as an abuse survivor I specifically bonded with Dany, not just because of her story, but also because of her characterization as an abuse survivor that wanted to prevent further abuse. And it may be difficult for abuse survivors who looked up to Dany to see her as an oppressor, especially since it was so abrupt and poorly done. It could be a combination of all of these really. Emotions are complicated. (5/5)

. . .

Hi again, anon! First, it is my honor to have you spill your guts on my page. ♥

I unfortunately did suffer through the penultimate episode (I had a friend over that night and, bafflingly, she wanted to watch it). While I have not seen episode six in its entirely, like you, I am a masochist and I have watched the death scene. I had to know.

The scene absolutely hits you in the gut with a visceral reaction. An unforgivably vile scene that I wish I had never watched. As a life-long fan of true crime stories, the first place my mind went to was how women are most likely to be murdered by their romantic partner - and D&D saw fit to turn this cowardly, dishonorable, and deplorable act into an act of heroism?

Utterly disgraceful.

Please, please remember that behind Jon Snow's action in that throne room were two very real and very ignorant men who were not only grossly insensitive but completely lacking in any empathy or awareness beyond their immediate experience on earth.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss never, for one second, understood what a symbol of hope Dany was. Further, they have no remorse for all of the hearts they shattered in their pitiful attempt to turn the series into their 'Breaking Bad'.

After all, David Benioff said:

"Themes are for eighth-grade book reports."

Meanwhile, women all across the world found comfort and solace in this fictional character who showed them that it was possible not just to overcome the most heinous acts committed against you, but to come out stronger for it. To become powerful. Following season eight, I had many one-on-one conversations with abuse victims who shared stories similar to yours - and, as someone who is very lucky not to be a victim of physical abuse, I'm eternally grateful for this insight. I know how devastated and betrayed I felt - but it goes so, so much deeper for those who have, like Dany, encountered abuse. It, in fact, tops the list of reasons what D&D did to Daenerys is absolutely unforgivable and unjustifiable to me.

And I'm truly unsure as to how my words have gotten so twisted on Tumblr here tonight - but I must reiterate - I don't see Dany as an oppressor either, anon, no matter how hard the writers would've liked me to. Dany’s heel turn was the very first part of season eight canon that I rejected because it was so extreme, so over-the-top, and preposterous.

Now. There's a line in your ask that brought me to tears.

"I just fear that all men are capable injuring or even killing their loved ones."

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss took Jon Snow, the most chivalrous male character throughout the series, a character you probably put your trust in for that exact reason - and they saw fit to use him in a way that affirms that this suspicion you have about men is right.

It is cruel. It is devastating. It's not right.

The true tragedy of season eight is how much hope these thoughtless men robbed from their audience by failing to consider the implications of their choices and only how much they could 'shock' the audience.

Please, please know that the people who argue that Jon "had to do it" are simply looking for some depth in the shallow kiddie pool of season eight. And by the gods, anon, it’s just not there. If you don’t believe me, believe the millions of signatures on that petition for a rewrite.

If you see an argument like that again, I strongly urge you to look past Jon Snow and see the two careless men standing behind him known as David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, because they were the ones who put that dagger in Jon’s hand. Jon Snow’s actions in season eight were just another asinine attempt to subvert our expectations.

I know it’s not much, but if ever you need someone to talk to, I can be pretty good at lending an ear, so don’t be afraid to come off anon and say hi. I think there are a few gals/guys around here who might still vouch for me 😅 Regardless, I really enjoyed hearing from you, so thanks for the asks! ♥

#answered #don't know how to tag this so I won't #🐉

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salvatoreschool · 4 years

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All The Vampire Diaries and The Originals Easter Eggs in Legacies Season 2

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With so many unpredictable twists and such a lovable cast, Legacies is such an enjoyable series even if you were previously unfamiliar with the shared Vampire Diaries universe. But for those of us who did watch the flagship series and its first spin-off The Originals, Legacies is also a treasure trove of Easter eggs and references to our favorite characters and moments from the former CW dramas.

Legacies' first season was filled with nods to our fallen favorites like Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Klaus (Joseph Morgan), the reappearance of memorable items like Caroline's (Candice King) ballgown and reverse kyanite rings, and it built up the mythology of The Merge and nature's loopholes. While that was all fun and good, Season 2 raised the stakes (excuse our pun) with the returns of Freya Mikaelson (Riley Voelkel) and Kai Parker (Chris Wood), plus dozens of cheeky references for Vampire Diaries and Originals fans to pick up on.

As of now, Legacies Season 2 is on hiatus after production shut down amid the coronavirus outbreak, but the show is planning to resume production on the remaining Season 2 episodes later this year. In the meantime, you can check out all The Vampire Diaries and The Originals Easter eggs and references in Legacies Season 2 so far below.

• We still haven't gotten our Caroline Forbes return, but the Season 2 premiere confirmed she was still off living in Europe, searching for a way to help the twins avoid the Merge and getting Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) the help she needed over the summer break.

• Alaric (Matt Davis) dropped the sweet reveal in Episode 6 that the reason Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig) is no longer sheriff is because he's now the mayor of Mystic Falls!

• That same episode, Lizzie took Damon's (Ian Somerhalder) Camaro for a spin, revealing to Sebastian (Thomas Doherty) that Damon had given it to the twins for their sweet sixteen.

• When Josie (Kaylee Bryant) traveled to New Orleans in Episode 6, not only did TVD fans get a one-sided phone call with Caroline but Originals fans got a wall full of photos of their favorite characters when Josie looked in at Rousseau's.

• Of course, the best aspect of this NOLA trip was the very welcome return of Freya Mikaelson, who revealed that she and Keelin (Christina Moses) now have a son Nik, which is presumably short for Niklaus. We also got to see such an emotional Freya and Hope (Danielle Rose Russell) reunion, which has us wishing for more Originals cameos soon!

• In Episode 9, Hope made a casual reference to her old friend Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood), who once gave her advice on what to do about a mora miserium.

• And while this isn't a Vampire Diaries or Originals Easter egg, Episode 9 also showed us Lizzie and M.G. (Quincy Fouse) reading Crisis on Infinite Earths comics. This was a cute nod to The CW Arrowverse, which includes many TVD universe alums, including Stephen Amell, Rick Cosnett, and Chris Wood.

• Another TVD favorite got a shoutout in Episode 11 after Emma (Karen David) told Dorian (Demetrius Bridges) she needed to go help Caroline with the Merge problem, only for him to tell Emma that Caroline could call Bonnie (Kat Graham) instead.

• We also got a great little flashback to the video Kai recorded in The Vampire Diaries Season 6 in Episode 4 when M.G. needed the camera to film Lizzie and the then-invisible Sebastian.

• Of course, that little glimpse of Kai was only the appetizer before the show served us Kai's full-blown return when the Saltzman's got trapped in the prison world with him in Episode 12. Seeing Kai again provided ample opportunities for the show to reference some of the heretic's signature moves, like singing karaoke and leaving video messages — including one in which he shouted out Damon, Bonnie, and Katherine (Nina Dobrev). We also learned that not only has Kai's ruthlessness not changed since we last saw him, but neither has his love of Zima!

• There were a handful of other Bonnie and Bennett family references during Kai's two-episode stint on Legacies, including the fact that Bennett blood is key to escaping the prison world and Kai mentioning Bonnie's teddy bear, Ms. Cuddles, when Josie said she spelled the mora miserium to be invisible. And after Kai does get out prison world in Episode 13, he went searching for the ascendant which he found in a stuffed elephant, giving us yet another Ms. Cuddles reference. (This show, much like Bon Bon, just can't get enough Ms. Cuddles!)

• But as fun as it was having Kai back, the prison world episodes also reminded us of the pain he caused on Vampire Diaries when Alaric had to operate on Lizzie with the aid of a Laughlin clamp, which was invented by Jo (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Once the Saltzmans escaped the prison world, Alaric finally got his long overdue vengeance on Kai for killing Jo at their wedding by beheading everyone's favorite villain in Episode 13.

• All the Kai references weren't the only blasts from the past in the prison world episodes either. It was enjoyable to see the Salvatore Boarding House refitted to look like it looked on Vampire Diaries and the actress who played young Josie on TVD, Lily Rose Smith, also returned for flashback scenes at the school.

• After the trauma of the prison world and everything else the Salvatore students went through, in Episode 14 Emma sent them into a noir simulation which she likened to a chambre de chasse, a pocket dimension used multiple times on The Originals.

• Caroline got another sweet shoutout when Josie explained in Episode 16 that her subconscious was a fairytale because her mom used to read them to her as bedtime stories.

• As Alaric pointed out, the spell Josie used to transfer her siphon ability into a coin in Episode 16 was the same spell her mother Jo used when she transferred her magic into a hunting knife to stop Kai from merging with her when they turned 22.

Legacies Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.

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ofeliaslullaby · 5 years

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Fleabag Season 2: A Discourse on Love

Finally caved and watched season 2 of Fleabag. And I say caved as if I haven't been waiting for this show to come back for a solid 2 years...but I was saving it for a day when I truly needed something to rival my own stuff. I knew Fleabag would, because it had when the first season premiered in the US. The poetry of the show really has a way of putting some things into perspective. Season 1 seemed like a discourse on friendship, grief, guilt and self-worth. Season 2 felt like a discourse on love. There will be spoilers.

Firstly:

This season was a love story. Not the storybook, happily-ever-after love (There are no happily-ever-afters in Fleabagland, just there-will-be-pain-but-it-will-get-better-afters), but love in all it's grotesque complexity. After watching the season I took the "this is a love story" opener to not just be about Fleabag's ironic love for the Catholic Priest, but loving yourself (Belinda's monologue, Claire's haircut, Fleabag's new care for herself), familial love (Fleabag's relationship with her sister and father), Martin's love for Claire, and Claire's love for her work and Klare (Claire/Klare will never not be funny and cute). And the Godmother "loves" the Father and art but really I think she just loves attention and the idea of eccentrism.

The first episode hits you hard. It takes place over a year after we leave Fleabag at the end of season 1, and she's doing well, as is the guinea pig café. She is seemingly no longer blaming herself for Boo's death, no longer using sex as a form of escapism, and genuinely valuing herself. We once again get to voyeur through some of Fleabag's life moments. When it all kicks off we go from insufferable family dinner/engagement party for the Dad and the Godmother (who I didn't even remember were not married) with the Catholic Priest they got to marry them, brother-in-law Martin who we despise and the sister we haven't spoken to in over a year; to a tragic and intimate scene in the restaurant bathroom between the two sisters, and almost immediately back to the awkward dinner table where all hilarious hell breaks loose. This formula continues, as it did in the first. If you're not laughing, you're wanting to cry. Such is life, I suppose.

You get a little more context this season behind Claire and Fleabag's relationship. Like all relationships its complex (I feel like there were times when it felt like my relationship with my older sister), but there is love there. So much love. In the bathroom scene in the first episode it is obvious Fleabag is concerned for her sister, while her Claire is distraught, embarrassed, and eventually we come to find out relieved. When they get back to the table and Martin makes remarks that are clearly only hurting the Claire's feelings, Fleabag intervenes because she loves her sister and doesn't want to see her suffer anymore that night. Championing Claire to leave Martin (was rooting for this), that was love. It was obvious Martin loved Claire, he says as much in the scene, but they were not right for each other. Just because you love someone doesn't mean you're meant to be (something we get shown more than once in the finale). A defining moment in their onscreen relationship is when Claire says to Fleabag that the only person she'd run through an airport for is her. A few episodes before this scene we'd learned that what always looked like disdain on Claire's part was jealously and resentment stemming from her own feelings of inadequacy. By the finale I feel like Claire had gotten over some of those issues. When she leaves the wedding for the airport (guess there was someone else she would run through an airport for), I was cheering for her. Phoebe and Sian have so many dynamic scenes together that wouldn't work if the two didn't have amazing chemistry. I love them as sisters, and I love the characters' relationship.

Speaking of chemistry:

Of course, Fleabag would fall in love with the emotionally unavailable. Phoebe and Andrew's chemistry is so good. They played easily off each other's quirks and The Priest sees Fleabag in a way the other characters aren't able to (he notices her zoning out/fourth wall breaks). I could've watched this relationship play out for years. But alas, some things aren't meant to be.

It was obvious the two would end up together, just as obvious as it was that they were never going to last, as friends or a couple. When Fleabag breaks the fourth wall early on she says "we'll last a week". They're both a little dysfunctional, and we never fully get to hear why The Priest is the way he is (he always gets cut off when he tries to explain his past, only getting as far as "When I was a child..." and that he wasn't close to his mother). Through their relationship though, we see that even though it's been some time Fleabag is in fact still coping with the death of her mom and Boo. I feel like part of what she was looking for in their relationship was reassurance, as she turned to the Bible and prayer (something she would never have done previously, as an atheist), where she would normally have only turned to sex and alcohol or other ways to harm herself. When she and The Priest finally do have sex, we the invisible friend have our view almost immediately cut off. Has Fleabag ever done this? She usually narrated her sexual exploits. I feel that adds to the fact that this intimacy with the Priest was love, not a means of escape like the other times.

What I said earlier about the Godmother I say with a tiny grain of salt because I do realize that it's all subjective. We only see Fleabag's point of view. However, she's still the worst. She collects "friendships" like commodities and talks about them in terms of listen descriptors, most clearly shown when she introduced people in the finale. There is no real redeeming of the Godmother for Fleabag after she went from being the Mother's "best friend" to the Father's special someone. And it's hard to tell if the Father really loves her or if he's afraid of her/afraid of being on his own. Fleabag has a lovely heart to heart with her Dad (which acted also as a callback to a scene a few episodes earlier at the mother's funeral) in the finale where in a foreboding moment he says to her "I think you know how to love better than any of us. That's why you find it all so painful." Fleabag replies to us voyeurs tersely, "I don't find it painful". She definitely did. Look at the way she dealt with Boo's death. Yes, there was guilt, but she loved her. She loved her mother and having to see her Godmother with her Father, and being told snyly says she modeled the bust after her mom, her reaction...that's pain from love. We know Fleabag's love and grief for her mother were just as strong as the love and grief she had for Boo. In a flashback scene to after her mother's death, she tells Boo she doesn't know what to do with all the love she felt for her mom and how painful it is. Boo says to give it to her, she'll take it. Boo was a real one. I don't remember Fleabag breaking the fourth wall in these flashback moments (maybe I need to watch it again), but that got me thinking that we're probably taking the place of Boo. The person she lost who shared her laughter, her love, and her grief. We're her echo.

The final scene is heartbreaking to watch play out. You kind of know it's coming especially during his wedding speech, which he seemingly recited to her. The whole season spanned such a short period, but there is an immediate investment in what could be between these characters, and for the Priest this was the only real way this could end. There was no way he was leaving the priesthood. He warned her and thus we were warned, but we don't listen when it comes to the things we want. I was sad for her and him, but as Brittany Howard sings out to the credits (and The Priest's fox-foe pursues him); with a shake of the head that says "you don't need to follow me" and a wave goodbye we, the invisible friend, are reassured she's going to be alright. This was a wonderfully poignant way to end the series. It basically ended as the pilot ended, Fleabag on her way with the stolen bust of her mother in hand. I don't think it could've ended any better.

*I've had this in my drafts for maybe six months, started a new blog, decided to finally edit and post it. If you're reading this I hope you enjoyed it. -S*

#Fleabag #Fleabag x the Priest #Phoebe Waller-Bridge #Andrew Scott #Olivia Coleman #Amazon Prime #Sian Clifford #love #grief #friendship #TV

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