#(But also fit in more with the idea of this season's which is callbacks and superheroics....despite us getting like none of that yet.)

[clydesavage-thefox147]

[Part 2 to Big Long Awaited Theories. This one is a bit..Roman slandering so be warned, be civil and hear me out here please, sorry if it's a bit jumbled heh] (Part 1 here)

Unpopular opinion/theory here but:

I think Roman sided against the callback because if he picked it, he would be supporting Janus who was seen as a villain at the time by everyone else, so he wanted to avoid any more affiliation. His need to be the hero and feed his broken ego was bigger than achieving a life-long dream.

Don't believe me? Then what does this line mean?

Furthering this belief, there's a notable pattern throughout season 2, particularly to start with Fitting in. When Roman was assigned the role of Slytherin in the group, he was rather taken back. He refused to believe it because he pushed the understanding that Slytherins were evil. This then followed with him saying "I'm not evil!" then Virgil(in a pretty Janus sounding tone) saying "Says who?". (Also coincidence how the snake affiliated house gets called evil here).

Then cut to the episode CLBG. I find it quite funny that Roman felt like Janus used him during this episode even though Roman himself was the one who stated FIRST that acting was like lying AND started the idea of disguising as Joan to help Thomas practice. Janus only nudged him to do it on a stage. Then later into the episode, Roman states about Janus "I hate this guy and his creepy snake face, however he is very kind". First off, making fun of Janus for his snake traits that he has little to no control over having. And two, blatantly admitting that he believed Janus' flattery. He left the window wide open for what happened later in SvS.

Speaking of, in SvS, it was clear that Roman wanted the callback desperately and so did Thomas. Roman is part of Thomas' personal dreams and goals. Janus knows this. Roman was willing to give Janus the benefit of the doubt and let him explain his side of the situation which Virgil obviously wasn't too happy with. Throughout the court case, Janus' flattery was his way of keeping Roman on his side, the best overall decision that was the callback while simultaneously pointing out the denials of all the other sides and Thomas. He eventually got so fed up of them beating around the bush that he made Thomas finally admit that he wanted to pick the callback instead. Like I said before, Janus knew this beforehand so he did low-key rigged the case in favor of the callback choice. This is a positive form of manipulation called a "Contrivance". Something meticulously planned piece by piece in favor of a desired outcome. Virgil I guess was right about it being rigged. But, when all was said and done and Janus was so close to winning the case, Roman pulled out last minute, making Janus reasonably angry. Roman stated "It is my sworn duty to help Thomas achieve his hopes and dreams, but Thomas wouldn't dream of attaining his hopes through deceitful means" following with Janus pleading that that wasn't true. But, Roman's line proves that he picked the wedding to avoid committing what was believed to be a selfish act. You can see how desperate Janus was for the others to see his perspective, even benching Logan in the process to have his lesson heard instead(then did it again in POF). Janus wanted the others to see that they were blowing this simple problem out of proportion but no one cared. He knew the answer was obvious but everyone refused to agree.

Then cut to DWIT, the following episode where Remus was debuted for the first time. Many believed that Remus was sent out, out of pettiness on Janus' part which could be possible. If Roman wanted to be a good person, Janus was going to show him(and Thomas) that it wasn't so easy. Remus made Roman realize and admit that he doesn't want to end up like him. Furthering why I think he made the decision he did.

Then cut to Healthy Distractions, where I find it funny is that here's Roman trying to avoid villainy...but commits petty theft and voter fraud. Roman literally said "I was gonna rig the vote anyway". So much for trying to avoid what he literally talked about an episode prior. Sure, he could've stolen the hat out of a joke but it still is petty(both be petty bitches).

Then..cut to POF: SvS Redux. This is where a lot of this come into play. One noticable thing is within the song. Not only was the line I previously stated there but the lines leading up to it paint a different picture.

Ro: "And no one wanted you to go more than the that slimy snake"

Th: "Who pushed to do the egocentric thing auditioning" (Ro: "Yep that's Deceit!")

Now, correct me if I'm wrong..but don't you have to audition before you get a callback? And isn't Roman the physical representation of Thomas' Ego? And didn't Janus point out Egoism in SvS? AND didn't Thomas called Roman " a bit of an egoist" in the 2017 behind the scene vid? Yes. All yes. So, this can only mean that Janus, in the few months that he and Roman were on decent terms with one another, must've influenced him to get Thomas to audition(or influence Thomas to get Roman involved) since Janus is a part of the 'selfish desires'. In this case, Janus is within his right to be mad at Roman. He spent time setting up the perfect end-goal for Thomas here as a show of good faith and intentions, but Roman shoved it aside because the other sides believed Janus' was still no good.

Then after the song, when Patton was struggling with his rhetoric of morality, some moments seemed to correspond with the court case. Two of these moments Roman himself brought up in conversation. Roman stated the view of how it shouldn't matter why the prince saved the kingdom as long as the citizens are safe(in this case the prince did it for a reward). However, Patton didn't like that conclusion, claiming that that doesn't make the prince a good person. Which then prompted Roman to respond with somber expression "Yeah probably not". Roman wants to avoid any villainous affiliations. But, he also wants the praise of being a hero for his own external validation which he's desperate for(no wonder Janus' flattery almost worked). His reward was that praise and he got that for a short time.

But, according to Patton, this is a selfish act. Roman has stated that he is "a proponent of following one's heart" It would make sense to appease the heart and morality to remain on his good side. However, Roman said shortly after "if it's not helping to fulfilling one's longing, then what is the point?" Patton wasn't fulfilling Thomas' goal of finally being a star. Roman didn't really like that. But, to avoid upsetting Patton, he followed along with him. Hell, Patton was the one who gave Thomas the inspiration to even start video creation. Another incentive for Roman to follow along with him. Double Hell, Roman initially didn't like Patton's idea of using puppets back in LNTAO but then immediately flipped script which Virgil pointed out. Patton definitely contributed to Roman's final decision on the wedding. Roman thought that he was the problem for making Thomas want a 'selfish desire' over friendship, even though this desire wasn't really a big issue at all(and he sent Thomas to wedding as punishment for wanting said desire). Which prompted Patton to beg for Roman to stay on his support team. No wonder when Patton started to view Janus in a different light, Roman got immediately defensive, trying to push that Janus was evil and he wasn't. He didn't want to feel like his decision was for nothing but it ultimately was. Janus states "it served no one" after giving Roman some credit for his sacrifice. But, if that sacrifice was for the praise and glory of the others for his heroism...that's just as selfish as going to the callback. No wonder Roman was upset when Patton thought it was bad. So, why is Roman mad at Janus when he should direct some of his anger at Patton for contributing to his final decision and the moral confusion. Is he afraid of hurting his feelings? Also tagging on, the same episode he said he followed the heart, Roman said that Patton should only stick to knowing the difference between right and wrong and leaving the rest to them...well, look where that took them. Lead Patton to guilt Roman into making him feel bad for pushing Thomas to be dishonest and dishonorable which just made him more confused.

The second thing being that Roman stated the Trolly Problem. The situation of deciding to save the larger group of people or the one person. Roman did this exact same thing the court room. He had to pick between siding with the others (the larger group) on the wedding..or side with the one person(Janus on the callback). He picked the former and let Janus get hit metaphorically.

It all collimated in the final scene between him and Janus. Janus being vulnerable with revealing his name as an attempt to gain trust..all to get laughed at and made fun of. Janus retaliated with the now infamous line "Thank God you don't have a moustache, otherwise between you and Remus, I wouldn't know who the evil twin is". Roman couldn't take it. He can dish out all these insults but the second it's him who's insulted he shuts down or gets pissy right back. However, maybe Janus was right with his statement. I mean, there's been only two confirmed times Roman was ever influenced by Remus. One was the "Naked Aunt Patty" line from the 12 Days of Christmas vid and the bubbagump shrimp line in the carol itself. But, there's been moments where it seems that Roman had no influence from him and it was all his wording. Like how he responded to Janus' pinata metaphor with "I believe he's saying that you beat someone up and rob their unconscious body". Or how in one scene in CLBG, as Joan, he stated "-like your weird habit of gluing your butt cheeks together". Or how in Moving On pt 2, he was all about that butt dial lie and wouldn't stop. And finally, remembering way back to the QnA, when they were asked if they all had YouTube channels, Roman said quote "Epic fail compilations of all the horrible deaths my enemies incur after I impale them". Roman...wanted to film himself..killing people..to post on YouTube. For what? To laugh? To gloat? Does this not sound creepy to any of you? And just adding his petty theft and vote rigging and all his bullying insults up to now...yeah Janus' retort holds a lot of weight.

Another note is that Roman has been getting pretty close with Virgil lately. What's noticable here is that Roman's might be playing favorites. Notice how when both Virgil and Janus revealed their names, they were both equally vulnerable. Virgil revealed his name because he had already gained trust with the others but Janus did it to gain trust with them. Roman gave Virgil congrats for his admittance and bravery and only laughed at the Virgin joke Patton said. But, Roman laughed and insulted Janus? Even though both Janus and Virgil are of dark side origin? What makes Virgil more special? Especially when Roman hated Virgil to begin with and now they're best buddies...then he supported Janus at first and now flat out hates him. He pulled an Ono reverse card on them. Roman mainly chilling with Virgil now because they both hate Janus is definitely 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Hell, in FWSA, Roman and Virgil were calling Thomas a liar constantly after he accepted Janus. Meanwhile if Roman continued to do so, he would be in the same boat. Mind you, only Patton has accepted Janus completely. Thomas and Logan are 50/50, and Roman and Virgil are against it entirely.

Janus is aware of the others' denials, lies and desires. He's aware that Roman is in denial. Roman wants to believe he made the right decision but he knows he didn't. He keeps moping and whining over how he wants to be happy and achieve his dreams but he lost that opportunity because he made a stupid sacrifice. If he was confident in his choice, he wouldn't be acting this way. Janus knew Roman would be hurt if they missed the callback. And him behaving this way long after just proves it. Janus said right to his face in the court room "You want that callback so back and it will CRUSH you if we miss it". This was true. And if Roman were to say that he did make a good decision he'd basically be lying and stooping to Janus' level. So both ways he's screwed and played. Roman is also very fraudulent when it comes to his facade. He likes to act like he's this brave prince who isn't insecure and can handle his problems alone when that is clearly a lie. Janus wants Roman to be honest with both himself and the others, the others know by now that Roman is very insecure so what else is there left to hide? Janus would know about facades..and he sees right through Roman's and so does everyone else. Tagging in here, Janus' 'wroammin' spelling meant 'remorse' signifying that Roman was giving Janus sympathy while also showing Roman's imposter syndrome(alongside other times he corrected people on his name). This wasn't Janus insulting his name first, this was him proving a point.

To add on, Roman turned to Janus after he said "I thought I was your hero" and Thomas replying "You are". Roman trusted Janus' confirmation. Janus' nod was confirming that Thomas is telling the truth but Roman only believing Janus was lying, he took it as Janus confirming Thomas was lying. Or, Janus was sadly confirming that Thomas was in fact lying. But I think the former is most likely. Roman now believes he lost his "hero" title..which honestly might be a good thing, maybe he'll try to earn it back in a very honorable way without letting the power go to his head. His bullying and grandiose behavior was his way of making himself feel important when he deeply felt like he wasn't good enough. Roman is so desperate for external validation because he can't love himself without it and Janus is trying to tell him that. Quit acting like you love yourself and actually..do so.

In conclusion, I believe Janus was more in the right here but if we must compromise, they both must reach an understanding and an apology. My theory stands that Roman sided against Janus to avoid any further association for the reward of heroic praise.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Feel free to correct me or change my mind if you so please but remain civil.

Part 3 soon.. maybe.

[vole-mon-amour]

3x12, Jamie edition, part 4.

Jamie is basically ruling this game at this point. My wonderful, wonderful boy. All this training. All that development through the seasons. I am so fucking proud of him.

You know what this reminds me of? "Hey Jamie! JAMIE! 🖕"

It was what, 1x022? 1x03? When Ted wanted Jamie to be like this and Jamie was like, "Is this a fucking joke? But no one is laughing. I'm not fucking doing this." And now? NOW??? LOOK AT HIM GO!!!!

They fit sooo many callbacks into this ep. I love it.

Jamie in the center of attention again. Jamie celebrating with Sam and the entire team cheering them on. Beard running towards them. I want to grab them all in one huge hug.

Just what, a day or two ago a was begging for them to win, in a post about how important it is for me for Jamie to score? They did it. They fucking did it. ;_; I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

Ted celebrating with his previous team. Ted celebrating with this team. And look at Jamie. My boy.

Guys. How am I supposed to just let this show go? The thing that Jason created... Tears, just tears. The only piece of media that I was able to consume in 2021 and that got me through that year after my parents died. My goodness, it's everything.

He. Him. I'm gonna ignore the circumstances bc fuck that. Jamie deserves better.

But while I'm at it, Jamie needs therapy just as much as Roy. With his depression and PTSD it would only be right. Jamie probably needs meds, too. I want him to get better (and remove his abuser from him! Who fucking thought this was a good idea? Who thought to "forgive your abuser" is the right thing to do? I have questions to the writing room.)

Knee to knee, kiss already. I can feel so much Brett in this Roy, but I'm glad the boys are having fun together and seem to genuinely be very good friends.

Ooh, you make me live Whatever this world can give to me It's you, you're all I see Ooh, you make me live now, honey

That kind of thing. :) Now I can make edits, hehe.

Jamie being good friends with Rebecca? Are you kidding me? This is perfect. The height difference so that he has to tip toe :')

Also, Keeley in sneakers instead of high heels is such a wonderful development. Hell yeah, babe! Let your feet rest!

Roy was turning so for a second I thought he was going to join the hug and hug Jamie from behind. *deep sigh* Almost a kiss this season, almost a romantic hug. If only.

Soft boy. :') Such uncharacteristic, unusual look but yeah :')

So you can canonize this but not RJ and/or RJK? Really? Where did all the talk about Roy and Jamie being the best couple of the show go? Phil? Phil, I have questions.

But hey, for better or for worse, by weird feeling of Roy, Jamie, and Keeley all staying single seems to be working? Sure, they showed them all together, we can take it any way we like it. But I definitely see it more like Roy x Jamie at best and Keeley is focusing on her work. Roy and Jamie are sitting next to each other, very, VERY close & Keeley is a bit away from them. Hugging Phoebe :') She still loves that girl, obviously.

Lots to process, but if it IS the end of the show, I can basically make anything I want out of this. Which is still better than what they could've done, for which I'm still a tiny bit grateful. Didn't ruin it completely and thanks for that.

This isn't final thoughts, just some after the first watch. Gotta think on it and sleep on it and live for like a week on it.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Twilight of the Apprentice"

The shadow of Malachor looms in the very highly-anticipated Season 2 finale.

Right, so, technically I've already liveblogged this before and you can go here for some of my more, ah, realtime reactions.

(Spoiler alert: There was a LOT of screaming.)

So for this and other episodes that I've already reacted to before I'm mostly going to be focusing more on commentary and meta observations and also my favorite bits and moments, music and animation, that kind of stuff.

Let's dive in!

Ooh right off the bat we have the more serious version of the "Shenanigans" cue.

I know this exchange here between Ahsoka and Rex is a callback to when they first met. So a heart stab for TCW fans.

One thing I notice about Malachor right away is how dead it looks, even from space. Just a featureless plain gray marble.

We get down to the surface and it's even eerier. In the middle of a giant crater there's this wide, unnaturally glasslike smooth plain, only broken up by weird towering stone monoliths.

Malachor's whole aesthetic leans very heavily into the idea and theme of descending into the Underworld, into a place of darkness and shadows where the light can't reach. Somewhere underground, somewhere full of devils and demons lurking in wait, with many hidden traps and temptations to stumble over.

Like the one Ezra triggers by touching the monolith lol.

This really isn't a survivable fall but whatever.

The Sith Temple is actually kind of beautiful in a stark, harsh, Gothic kind of way.

This whole environment is really excellently creepy and ethereal. The ceiling above recalls a night sky, the holes like pinprick stars casting beams of light down. The palate is almost colorless, mostly grays and blacks with some splashes of red and white. The lighting is muted and dim, heavy contrast with the shadows. The music relies on dissonant chords. The sound effects are full of watery rumbles, voices whisper quietly that apparently only Ezra can hear.

Oh and there's the scorched ground and statues of people frozen in distress, like the casts at Pompeii.

"To defeat your enemy, you have to understand them." A sentiment echoed and repeated later by both Maul and Thrawn, and inspired by the writings of Sun Tzu in his Art of War. You have to figure your enemy out, learn how they operate and what motivates them, in order to beat them. "Knowledge" is another word they keep using this episode, our heroes need to seek knowledge about the Sith in order to figure out how to defeat them.

I'm still not quite sure what knowledge they were actually able to gain during this trip. Certainly the Force did basically slap the truth of Vader's identity in Ahsoka's face, to get her to confront it and break through her denial. There's maybe a lesson to be learned about not seeking quick, easy solutions to one's problems, which wouldn't fully sink in until "Twin Suns". (Ezra's obsession with finding "the key to destroy the Sith" can be traced straight back to the Malachor plot thread.) There's definitely a cautionary tale and warning about the nature of the Dark Side, that Ezra completely ignores due to his guilt and shame and self-blame.

On the surface level, technically, the mission does accomplish what it set out to do. All the Inquisitors we know about wind up dead, Vader no longer has any interest in harassing them, they keep the base safe. But boy the cost of it all.

It's probably really fitting that the finale takes place here on Malachor, a dead world with nothing left but stone remains and a creepy Eldritch Sith Temple housing a superweapon that must have killed everyone and everything on the surface, in the vein of The Deplorable Word or a nuclear bomb metaphor. The victory is hollow and meaningless, because there is no one left alive to appreciate it. Likewise our heroes' "victory" is pyrrhic and empty, they kill the Inquisitors but take more and heavier losses in return.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. We haven't even met Eighth yet.

Hi Eighth!

He's not really developed or explored at all and is really just a generic episode-specific antagonist and ancillary to Seventh and Fifth, but he serves his narrative purpose in splitting the party.

Kanan's worried shout for Ezra after he falls. <3

Ezra looking very nervous here, don't blame him.

HI MAUL!

Oh man, the pre-finale trailers spoiled Maul's appearance and fandom was bonkers about it. (The pre-finale anticipation and hype was crazy man, so much over-analyzing and hypothesizing. There was a Bingo Card we could fill out with our theories. This one was mine.) Not a small amount of people were speculating about the possibility of Maul corrupting and/or abducting Ezra at Malachor.

I was one of them. Obviously. Still a smidge bummed it didn't come to pass, just imagine how devastating that would have been on top of everything else.

Anyway, Maul pretends to be frail and weak and old and harmless like some kind of sick parody of the scene in ESB when Yoda's introduced to Luke.

The appropriate reaction to creepy old men lurking in the shadows lol.

Maul plays on Ezra's compassion at first, and then tempts him with what they came for, "knowledge". Ezra keeps a guard up, but cautiously allows Maul to lead him. I think he's figuring he's going to play this by ear like he did back in "Brothers of the Broken Horn", so he's not giving out his name or really trusting Maul yet. That would come later.

Lol, Maul has met Jabba, he knows full well Ezra's playing him.

There's some excellent tense music for the chase with Eighth Brother but I'm not going to really talk about those segments much since, frankly, all the interesting stuff is happening in the Maul and Ezra scenes.

They're in the roots of the Temple now, very Mines of Moria-esque vibe down here with the columns.

Maul still trying to break Ezra's guard down, playing himself up as an enemy of the Inquisitors and the Sith (even though for all intents and purposes Maul still is a Sith) and I love how awkward things get when Ezra asks him if he was a Jedi, he's all like, "ERRRRRRMMMM."

Talking about his Tragic Backstory though unlocks Ezra's empathy and Ezra lets slip his own grievances with the Empire that Maul immediately tries to manipulate to his advantage, sensing Ezra's anger about it.

Boy if I had a nickel for every time my favorite shows explored the "creepy older villain forcibly trying to make a younger hero their apprentice" plotline...

(I would actually have three nickels now because the Big Hero 6 cartoon also decided to do that plot YOU GUYS GOTTA FIGURE OUT SOMETIME THAT THIS PREMISE IS BASICALLY CATNIP FOR ME.)

Anyway, at this point I think Maul's mostly just using Ezra as a means to an end, he's not planning to kidnap him yet, just needs him for the doors. It's really interesting that whereas the Jedi Temple on Lothal emphasized the individual journey and separated the master and padawan, the Sith Temple forces them into kind of a codependent symbiosis--if one betrays the other like Sith are wont to do, the prize is lost and both of them die--making them have to use teamwork and a certain level of trust.

Chopper stealing Eighth's TIE to use against him is pretty awesome, admittedly.

Maul gives Ezra an abridged lesson in Sith/Dark Side philosophy: Channel your passions--your fear, anger, hate, any strong emotions etc.--through the Force for a lot of quick easy power. Ezra expresses misgivings but attempts it and this time does not immediately pass out, though he's clearly tired by the end of it.

Oh man the sound design here.

Also love that annoyed look Maul gives when Ezra complains about their progress. XD

"Yeah I'm killing you after this, I don't have to deal with this shit."

Watching the expressions on Maul's face is a trip, you can see the subtle little flashes of conniving and triumph.

Aaaaaand every time Maul puts his hands on Ezra I still feel an immediate uncomfortable protective rage. You leave him alone you cockroach. >:(

Enjoy the last vestiges of Ezra's innocence folks, this episode is what shatters that to pieces.

Always loved this sequence, it feels very evocative of the Cave of Wonders segment of Aladdin and also several scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

SO much symbolism with the precipices and pits here.

Love this music cue too.

I already noted in a different post way back when that something subtle I love is how Maul's Force Grip catch around Ezra is clearly much rougher than how Kanan has caught him. Ezra's tiny panicked glances down are great too.

So riiiiiiiiiight about here is when I think Maul decided he was going to keep Ezra, you can see in his expression the mean satisfaction when he grabs the holocron, like he's gotten what he wanted. Ezra gets a prolonged moment of regretting all of his life's decisions before Maul finally decides to haul him up.

Look I know fandom makes fun of the helicopter sabers but I never minded them so this is my only comment about them.

Gah, Ezra's innocent little uncertain expressions here always hurt me.

You know, given the added context of TCW Seaason 7, along with the fact that they had already clearly integrated the unfinished arcs into the background continuity while writing Rebels, AHSOKA YOU SHOULD HAVE REALLY WARNED THEM ABOUT MAUL.

Cool shot is cool.

I haven't talked about the music much because it doesn't really stand out until the climax but it's appropriately menacing and dramatic and ominous, as it should be.

Sam Whitwer's vocal progression through the episode is also amazing, along with the slow shedding of his hood it's like Maul is revitalizing himself, reinvigorated, reclaiming his strength and purpose.

He found something (Ezra) to hang his legacy on and seized it. Or tried to.

Ezra sounds just a bit desperate to convince Kanan, this is likely a product of the straining tensions between them. Maul, meanwhile, takes full advantage of Ahsoka and Kanan's uncertainty to suggest using the holocron to activate the obelisk, not telling them of course that it will turn on the Sith superweapon. Which he's counting on to kill Vader and the Inquisitors.

Ezra's theme in cello bass here, as Kanan decides to trust Ezra.

Almost forgot about Seventh's ID-9 Seekers, didn't we?

Love Kanan's protective bitchiness towards Maul this whole episode. The conflict between him and Ezra is just a little bit contrived, Kanan's been harder on Ezra recently yes, but it also feels a smidge rushed. Then again Ezra's been fixating on trying to solve the fundamental problem of the Inquisitors possibly as a way to assuage his grief over losing his parents, like Anakin he thinks if he can maybe just get enough power he can prevent it from happening again, so he's letting his impulsiveness reign in the quest to find "the key to destroying the Sith" and it's making him have a repeat of "Vision of Hope" where he trusts the wrong person.

Ezra's bright little, "Trust me." here hurts so much because Kanan does trust Ezra, that's the only reason why he decided they would stay and then it all goes HORRIBLY WRONG *SOBS*.

This is a nice sentiment and all Ahsoka, and it shows how much faith you have in Ezra's goodness and Kanan's ability as a teacher BUT ALSO YOU SHOULD HAVE WARNED THEM.

Ezra's out of sight for like a minute and Maul's already picking at his insecurities and need for validation and trying to get him to murderize Seventh.

The momentary pride we feel that Ezra can't bring himself to strike in anger and hate vanishes when Maul tests the veeeeeery limits of the Y7 rating.

Ooof.

I hate this man I hate this man I hate this man I hate him so much. He snarls at Ezra for hesitating, berates his merciful Jedi instincts, and then picks up with that soft manipulative fake concerned tone again. He always uses this tone when he's trying to manipulate Ezra, we'll be watching for it next season, trust me.

Hhggnnl Maul glancing up and seeing the shadow passing over the gaps in the ceiling, he knows Vader's on his way. And he's definitely already made the decision that he's taking Ezra.

Love this brief triumphant cue here, for a moment it looks like they've won.

The matching "Oh crap" expressions on Kanan and Ahsoka's faces when Maul says, "You mean... my apprentice?" they are just a hair too late to prevent disaster.

Yeah so this moment pretty much traumatized fandom. For months.

DUEL OF THE FATES BABY!

And a very unhinged Maul getting a little too excited about using the Sith superweapon to kill everyone.

The presence in the holocron is likely a trace of the Sith Lord who created the superweapon, Darth Tanis.

Sound design appreciation moment, just LISTEN to it.

"The power will be mine! Ezra will be mine!" Very hinged. Much sane. If you had waited maybe five minutes, Maul, and resisted the urge to murder everyone you could have actually had what you wanted! But such is the nature of the Dark Side, the quick and easy way offers fast solutions but hollow ones, in the grasping for what you want it slips through your fingers.

ALL MAUL HAD TO DO WAS NOT TRY TO MURDER KANAN AND AHSOKA AND EZRA PROBABLY WOULD HAVE GONE WITH HIM. At the very least Kanan might have tentatively let Maul hang around. This is the tragedy of Maul's life, he is the king of self-sabotage.

[Insert ramble about the symbolism of Kanan taking up a Temple Guardian mask and how that relates to his role as Ezra's protector.]

I don't remember I think there was maybe one or two people who complained that Kanan shouldn't be able to beat Maul here, but for the most part fandom was agreed that this was awesome.

:(((

Please do note: Maul just kind of... assumed Ezra would use the Sith superweapon when he learned what it was. Ezra's too pure for that, alas.

WELL THAT'S NOT ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING.

Ezra sassing Vader like Kanan sassed the Grand Inquisitor back in "Call To Action" lol.

And there goes Ezra's blaster-saber. :(

I've been a very good girl conserving my limited photos so now you get a lot of Ezra's terrified face.

The Ahsoka-Vader confrontation is pretty much perfect, even for someone who never really watched TCW and doesn't really have the same level of investment as a long time fan would have. Even without the context the emotions and drama come across well.

Ezra veeeeeeerrrrrrrry slowly and carefully trying to scoot away from Vader always makes me giggle.

Vader threatening to torture the information out of Ezra if Ahsoka won't give up any remaining Jedi she knows about. :(((

:((((((((

Still love how TCW recontextualized Ahsoka's angry, "I am no Jedi!" by reframing it as, "I can't be a Jedi anymore, you took that away from me, you killed the Order I loved and wanted to return to!"

I think I heard someone trying to describe Vader here as, "Picture an upright locomotive with a lightsaber." and that's apt, Vader is so heavy and powerful with every movement and swing. This is Vader in his prime, unleashed, against an opponent he won't hold back on and it is glorious.

Chopper guiding Kanan by the hand. :(((

Ezra's horrified realization. :(((((

Small note: Ezra's been nursing his right wrist this whole time, possibly sprained or burned a bit when Vader destroyed his saber. Also a nice parallel to ESB and Luke.

Ahsoka does her best but you can tell she's tiring here.

Some gorgeous animation as the Temple begins to seal back up.

How annoyed do you think Vader must have been to have a blind half-trained ex-Padawan and a scrawny 16-year-old kid managing to fight his Force Pull on the holocron?

Ahsoka swoops in for a Big Damn Heroes moment and breaks open his mask. You're welcome for the nightmares, kids.

Hello so many parallels to Luke and Return of the Jedi.

:(((((

Very effective bringing the orchestra full to the fore with almost no other sound or dialogue here. This whole sequence is brutally powerful.

Kanan and Hera's heartbreaking reunion. The sorrow on Rex's face, feeding into Ezra's clear guilt. Maul surviving to menace us another day. Vader limping off, out of the wreckage of the Temple. Tracking the convor as it flies towards the vague form of Ahsoka descending further into the Temple. The cut to the Ghost with everyone's silent worry and sorry. And closing on Ezra's murderous Kubrick Stare as he gets the holocron to open.

This finale is on people's favorite episode lists for a reason, lol. It's so dramatic and game-changing and tightly-written, leaves us perfectly fuming in anticipation for more.

You know how shows promise that, "Nothing will be the same anymore." in taglines to trick you into watching for the Next Big Twist? Rebels actually delivers on that promise.

It's an amazing ride.

Overall Season Thoughts:

Season Two is stronger than Season One in a lot of aspects. The animation is even prettier with the added budget, the stories remain well-balanced and woven together even with the added breathing room of twenty-two episodes to Season One's fifteen. The show takes advantage of that extra room to build up the finale, especially in the last few episodes, to very good effect. The expanded scope means we're facing bigger and greater threats, and also widening our cast, and yet none of the guest stars overshadow or overpower our mains, who are given plenty of chances to develop and shine.

Aside from one minor misstep in "Blood Sisters", this season is solid through and through.

Onwards to Season Three!

[whichuniverseisthis]

Sooo... I did a thing. Here's the list of Pokémon I think would fit the td reboot cast. Choices are based on either esthetic, personality, certain characteristics or a mix of everything. I'm planning on doing the other casts as well, btw.

Axel: Scizor - I thought about an "axe" Pokémon, and the only thing that came to mind was Kleavor, but since I didn't want to give her a Pokémon from 200 years ago (no, I don't count the fact that you can have it on SV), I thought about the closest thing to it, and that was Scizor, which is still pretty fitting, if you ask me.

Bowie: Meowscarada - I decided to have Bowie and Priya foil each other. I haven't played SV, but from the Pokédex entries I've read, it seems like Meowscarada uses deceit to hit it's enemies. Plus, I think Dark type fits Bowie pretty well, and it also has his color palette (green and purple, though in reverse quantity).

Caleb: Dragonair - At first I wanted to go for a pink Pokémon since it's his main color, but I already headcanoned Milotic with Alejandro, so I went with the next closest thing. Plus, if in season 2 his own description ends up being true (strong and kind) Dragonite could be pretty fitting too.

Chase: Impidimp - A reddish little trickster gremlin who likes to cause chaos. I don't think I need to explain more.

Damien: Kecleon - Decided to go with his "biology nerd" side. A Kecleon seems like a species he would be really interested in, while also being a not-too-strong Pokémon.

Emma: Morpeko - I couldn't help thinking about the "Bad Emma" during the pole challenge. Plus, an overall cute Pokémon who gets angry because of a specific reason seems pretty on point.

Julia: Zweilous - Two-faced Dark type Pokémon, violent and strong. The colors are actually the opposite of hers (white, yellow and light blue vs black, blue and red). She probably wouldn't use it too often, but it does fit.

Millie: Gothita - I started thinking Psychic types would fit her well, so I started looking into it, and Gothita's Dex description is funnily on point. Observes other Pokémon and Humans to watch things only it seems to see (self-explanatory), and it apparently talks alone (which could represente her notebook).

MK: Nickit - Didn't know whether to go with the technology side or the thieving side, but in the end I chose the more obvious one.

Nichelle: Mime Jr. - A pink little Fairy, who becomes a full fledged performer (both as Mr. Mime and Mr. Rime), is the closest thing to an actor I could think about for her.

Priya: Quaquaval - Foiling Bowie, a Fighting type fitting of her, with her same blue palette and oriental elements in the design. Meowscarada and Quaquaval also have a weakness and a resistance to each other. Also a callback to when she acted as a bird to save Millie from the cassowary.

Raj: Alolan Vulpix - Ice type who become a Fairy type, the more trickster type (he was the one who came up with the idea to stop the raptor). Funnily enough both Ice and Fairy are super effective against Bowie's Meowscarada.

Ripper: Stunky - Do I really need to explain this? At some point he even does the same pose.

Scary Girl: Mimikyu - I could have gone with any Ghost type, but I thought about when Zee said she dressed like a doll, so I decided it was either Mimikyu or Banette.

Wayne: Alolan Sandshrew - Ice type who's also a Steel type, more strong willed and super effective against Raj's fairy (the leader and more competitive).

Zee: Slowpoke - I thought Water types fit Zee pretty well, and Slowpoke is probably the laxest and dumbest Pokémon I could have chosen. Psyduck was also an option at some point, but Golduck was too cool-looking for him.

[jonfucius]

Great Star Trek Rewatch - TNG Season 2

Originally posted on Twitter 17 March 2021 - 6 April 2021

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 is up next in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. As with ENT, DSC, STX, TOS, TAS, TOS FF, and TNG Season 1, mini-reviews will document my progress.

The Child: A reused Phase 2 script gives Troi a unique pregnancy story, though I don’t like the loss of bodily autonomy. Still, it’s hard not to feel a little sad when Ian “dies.” Pulaski is instantly dislikable yet charismatic, a testament to Muldaur’s performance. 7/10

Where Silence Has Lease: I really dig the surreal scenes aboard the pseudo-Yamato, and the philosophical discussion about death later in the episode. The episode swings and hits, but it’s a single. 7/10

Elementary, Dear Data: Everyone loves a period romp, and a it’s Sherlock Holmes romp to boot. Moriarty is a compelling villain, whose motivation mirrors that of Data’s: what does it mean to be human? 8/10

The Outrageous Okona: A romantic farce with the dashing titular character at the center. I can see why Billy Campbell was both a finalist for, and ultimately passed over for, the role of Riker. It would’ve been great to see Whoopi Goldberg and Joe Piscopo trade jokes. Alas. 6/10

Loud As A Whisper: I appreciate the deaf representation, but the denouement leaves something to be desired. I’m fascinated by the idea of Riva’s chorus, however. A grisly scene in an otherwise tame series really drives home the danger into which Riva is going. 7/10

The Schizoid Man: Intriguing concept that is strung out far too long. Props though to the late W. Morgan Sheppard and Susie Plakson, who makes her Trek debut as Dr. Selar. 6/10

Unnatural Selection: This one hits a little differently in a post-COVID world. I don’t care for rapid aging stories, however. I do appreciate the somber tone at the end, with Pulaski’s voiceover paying tribute to the Lantree’s crew. 6/10

A Matter of Honor: I love this episode. It’s top-notch from the top down. Riker’s sojourn aboard a Klingon ship gives us some much-needed insight into the franchise’s most iconic aliens. Klag is one of my favorite guest characters. 10/10

The Measure of a Man: Another standout episode from this season that shows just how high Star Trek can go when it wants to. If you have access to the TNG Blu-rays, make sure to watch the reconstructed extended edition as well. 10/10

The Dauphin: After two standout episodes we get a dud. I don’t like the implication that Salia’s worth as an individual was directly tied to her appearance. 4/10

Contagion: The episode does a ton of worldbuilding without being tiresome. The stakes are high, with the destruction of the Yamato (RIP Capt Varley) and the Romulans investigating. The gag of Picard appearing on the warbird’s bridge, and his parting shot, is a great capper. 8/10

The Royale: The surreal style is reminiscent of “Spectre of the Gun,” but I still think that entry is the stronger of the two. Still, it’s a decent, off-beat entry that has somewhat disappeared from the franchise. 6/10

Time Squared: A small time jump sets this one apart from most time travel stories. The knowledge that this could have led into “Q Who?” is a bummer, since the anomaly ended up being pointless. Nice callback to “We’ll Always Have Paris,” and foreshadowing of the next episode. 7/10

The Icarus Factor: I wish Worf’s B-story and Riker’s A-story could have been swapped, because the former is far more compelling and less repetitive. 6/10

Pen Pals: The debate about the Prime Directive is meaty and well worth watching, which grows organically from Data’s communications with Sarjenka; the conclusion to Wesley’s subplot also easily melds with the main storyline. 7/10

Q Who?: In a petulant fit, Q tosses our heroes into the path of the enigmatic Borg. Great things have small beginnings, indeed. The Borg’s horrific relentlessness is on display here. 9/10

Samaritan Snare: The Pakled are a swing and a miss. I love Picard’s scenes with Wesley, however. And I don’t fully buy Picard’s sudden vain streak. 5/10

Up the Long Ladder: Hoo boy the Irish stereotypes. The pro-choice message gets a little lost in the shuffle, as well. 5/10

Manhunt: Lwaxana Troi haters can back off; she’s a delightful change of pace. Worf’s admiration of the Antedeans always cracks me up. 7/10

The Emissary: K'Ehleyr is one of the greatest Klingon characters ever written or performed, and her chemistry with Worf is off the scales. The Klingon sleeper ship concept is intriguing, and shows how much the galaxy has changed in the decades between TOS and TNG. 8/10

Peak Performance: This is just a fun, plot-driven action piece. Wesley's sneaky antimatter gambit, Riker's glee in playing pirate against the Enterprise, and the fooling of the Ferengi make for a fun outing. Guile, indeed. If only the season had ended here. 9/10

Shades of Gray: The use of barely-relevant scenes from previous outings makes the clip-show nature of this one stand out even more. I'm giving it a generous 3 points for the three days it took to film the "new" material, which is actually not horrible. 3/10

And with that, TNG Season 2 comes to an end in my Great Star Trek Rewatch. Final score: 6.86/10. Highest score(s): “A Matter of Honor,” “The Measure of a Man.” Lowest score(s): “Shades of Gray.”

[rainbow-filmnerd]

TMNT: Halloween 2023

Happy Halloween, folks! It's been a hot minute, but I pulled through with some new Turtles art. I very much miss drawing these guys, but what better way to get back into with my take on their Halloween costumes! As for the humans, this was actually the first of the two Halloween drawings I worked on, because I've gotten more used to drawing human(oid) characters. I'm actually quite pleased with this one, honestly. I wanted to do something different for the Turtles and April; a breakaway from their costumes seen in Trick-or-Treat Tussle, which was a flash game on Nick. So here are my offerings!

Leo is dressed as a masked swordsman, heavily inspired by another favorite blue sword-wielding boy, Shin-Ah from Yona of the Dawn. It took some brainstorming to figure out a costume, but I'm very content with my choice for him. Donnie is a scientist, which feels like a no-brainer, and the overall inspiration comes from this old TMNT 2003 fancomic with Don in this mad scientist get-up. This costume is a callback to an older drawing I did back in 2020, so hey Kim of that year, I did a group drawing of the Turtles in costume! For Raph, I'm just calling it a "bodybuilder", because... I think that was the vision Doug from 50 First Dates had of himself. I just thought it would be super funny after remembering this Sean Astin movie character to have Raph's costume essentially be this. Lastly, Mikey is dressed up as Ice Cream Kitty, and yes, he did paint his face, torso, and arms to look like this sweet kitten. I also had him in an orange bowl, because it's Halloween.

So, for April, I felt like news reporter was appropriate, but with a spooky twist. After taking it to a poll, the creature type for April was a Frankenstein-type, and I even drew a bit of inspiration of how I did my Frankie Stein cosplay. I got inspired by a judge wearing a creepy news reporter costume on Halloween Baking Championship, which is one of my favorite shows to watch during Spooky Season. For Casey, I just thought him dressed as a classic masked serial killer would be his thing. Most of the stuff he'd already have lying around, and all that blood is actually red paint! The bits of hot pink is a bit of a nudge to Danganronpa. Karai is a vampire lady, and I used a couple of Vampire dress up games to get an idea of what her costume should look like. I also remember someone mentioning that Karai with her snake fangs looked like a vampire, and I can very much see that. Lastly, Shinigami is dressed as Jinx from Teen Titans. Like with Leo, this one was a thinker, but then I remembered this character and thought it was perfect. Raven is also another good fit, but Jinx makes more sense because of the goth witch vibes she already has. And honestly, I like Shini with a bit of pink.

[harmoniouspixels]

Crystal Valley: A (Belated) 10th Anniversary, Just in Time for the 13th Anniversary!

Hey simblr! I've finally decided to queue up the posts of my custom 'hood I've been talking about for the past three years on here, lol. I posted this originally in the Fall 2021 season on Boolprop, which served to honor the 'hood's proper 10th anniversary. Given that the sims bug has bit me again and so has the desire to share, I'm going to do so now! The text will be lifted from Boolprop and all posts will be adjusted to a Tumblr format the best I can given the limitations of this site compared to a proper forum.

Text from the forum will start below! If you'd like to get ahead of the queue and check out how it appeared on the forum, you can do so by clicking HERE.

------------------(Remember proper line breaks? I do.)------------------

So after three months [May-July 2021] of downloading lots, CC, building houses, placing 'hood deco, making sure the sims were just right, I finally have completed a passion project of mine!

I (re)introduce to Tumblr for the first time: Crystal Valley!

Now, what's so special about this 'hood?

This 'hood, as the thread's title implies, is a recreation of one I made 10 years ago! Back in 2011 when I was gifted a laptop for my 13th birthday, I took it upon myself to install my copy of TS2 and the EPs and SPs I owned one by one so that I could get a chance to play with them a bit more in-depth than I did on the family desktop at the time (where I had installed everything I got immediately from about 2008 until then). This 'hood quickly became my go-to place to play, outpacing the then record holder of Pleasantview by a landslide. It also helped that in the summer of 2011 when I made the 'hood, my cousin was staying with us from Georgia, so I had someone to bounce ideas off of and relay this story to a bit. (She, however, was playing on her laptop in Belladonna Cove with some sims she made.) After that summer, this became the go to neighborhood for me. Wanted to play more of this convoluted story? Wanted to test mods? I booted up TS2 and went on down to Crystal Valley! Sadly it went by the wayside around 2013/2014 as I didn't take backing up seriously then. I used the name only to make a new neighborhood in 2015, but it wasn't a true recreation. Realizing that in 2021 it had been 10 years since I had created it, I figured now was as good a time as any to make this 'hood again! (Giving it some cosmetic updates that my 13 year old self wouldn't have done, like using defaults, and not including the premade bin sims because I have since learned how to stop them from being created.)

I should make a little content warning ahead of the posts about the families. There's nothing uber spicy (this is a recreation of a neighborhood I made at 13 after all), but it's really just about same-sex pregnancies? Fitting for this forum's [BoolProp's] name, this is where I tested out the boolprop testingcheatsenabled true and used the Tombstone of Life and Death to simulate genetic mergers, and two of the households storylines revolve around that. I also dabbled with InTeen in the 'hood back then, which was active in the recreation process, but not actively used outside of spawning sim's biological clocks. Hell, the household I used for that I didn't recreate 100% faithfully, and made it make a bit more sense storywise. (Even then it's not a major part of the Crystal Valley narrative, but rather a creative way to callback to that original household of tester sims.) Again, nothing too terribly offensive, but could be some rather crunchy bits for others that I wanted to give a quick heads up for. The first street we'll be heading to is Crystal Lane! It's where the first families I made were located, so it's only natural to start there. Not every family will be on that post, seeing as there's four households (Baker, Waters, Lopez, and Rizzo) on the street. The Baker's will be first!

[atomicsuperrobot]

Looking at that article and like... apparently they wanted them to look mostly the same, but also more "adult/cool" in seasons 3 and 4?? Which. Idk man, they look basically the exact same to me. I guess that explains Oniyama's reaction to Joker at the beginning of season 3, tho; since I don't know the original air dates, I had just assumed it was a bit of a fourth wall break referencing a gap between seasons- which it still could well be; vaguely recall references to the year 2015 in season 2, and that article is dated 2016, so it might've been several months like I assumed. But it'd also fit with an in-universe timeskip, if such a thing was meant to be implied. Since they look, sound, and act exactly the same, tho, it flew right over my head...

(The lead character designer once drew Queen's and Joker's adult forms as an illustration for a magazine; they looked exactly the same there, too, to the point where it looks like their teen selves were cosplaying their adult selves. I wonder if she is simply not very good at aging up characters, particularly ones with deliberately "cute" designs... Consequently, this makes a slightly humorous (if very much unintentional) callback to the unused concept of Joker as an ageless immortal.)

Another interesting thing to note is that apparently, Hosshi laying eggs that predict the future via small objects, is unique to the anime- or at least has its origins there. Dunno if it was one of the ideas that got adopted later on, or not.

Akai not knowing what videogames are doesn't surprise me at all, but I feel that he'd very much enjoy them after a basic rundown. (Also, how would he intend to make konpeito of all things, spicy...?)

I hadn't noticed that Akai's riddles rhymed! That's a fun concept that absolutely doesn't translate at all, sadly... It's something I might wanna take into account in the future when writing fics, bc that'd be fun to play with (tho I'm kind of bad at rhyming poetry, so idk if I'd be able to pull it off...).

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 8x06: All I See is Red

Okay, so the mid-season finale of FTWD was really interesting. I'm going to talk briefly about what happened, and then the one thing that jumped out to us TD-ers as super interesting, and possibly a tease for us. Over the next couple of days, I'll give you my fellow theorists' thoughts on this tease as well.

***As always, spoilers abound below for episode 8x06 of FTWD. Don't read until you've watched!***

So, after finally winning Mo over and dispensing with the current leadership of PADRE, Morgan decides to return to D.C. and look for Rick. He takes Mo with him.

The other characters, many of whom were on Fear long before Morgan crossed over to it, will stay behind and try to rebuild PADRE into a positive organization.

I'm assuming the second half of the season, which will not air for a while yet, will focus on them and shoring up their arcs.

In the episode, we see Morgan take Grace's remains and bury them in the cemetery next to Eastman, which I thought was an awesome callback. He then tells Mo he is going to find Rick.

Now, he knows where Alexandria is, so we can only assume that's where he'll go. Because of the time jump this season on Fear, he's now concurrent with the TWD timeline. And of course we know that Rick is not there. Since we didn't see Morgan in the TWD series finale, I'm assuming he'll arrive after Daryl leaves as well.

Either way, Morgan is clearly merging back with the main series.

As is Dwight. He and Sherry have gone their separate ways--which I'll talk about in more detail later--but Dwight says he's "going home," which means he'll be part of the CRM storyline.

But now, let's get to what we think might be a TD tease. There was a very brief coda after the episode, in which we see someone putting some items into a bag. We cannot see this person's face, and it's not even clear whether it's a man or a woman. We lean toward woman, as the hands and arms look to be fine-boned, but it could possibly be a fine-boned man.

Now, one of the items we see this person put in a bag is Alicia's amputated, desiccated arm. When I first watched this, I was half asleep, and definitely not bringing my analysis A-game, lol. I just assumed this was Alicia. Especially because this person is listening to Madison's voice on the radio, and it's as though they're going to find her.

Of course, my fellow theorists quickly corrected me by pointing out that this person has both their arms, where Alicia doesn't. She's missing one. So, it can't be her. No idea how they would have gotten Alicia's now-mummified arm, but that's hardly the point.

The other MAJOR tease about this? You can see BLOND HAIR.

Yeah, that's right. So, could this be Beth? It very well could be, but because we can't see the face, we can't know for sure. The person is fine-boned enough to be Emily. But it's also true that even if this turns out to be Beth, it might not be Emily actually doing the part. They might have used another actress as a stand in since they don't actually need Emily's face here.

There is also talk of it being Troy, and I'll get into that in coming days. But again, there's that blond hair. It looks exactly like Beth's.

So, might they reveal Beth in the back half of Fear? Again, we can't know for sure, but it's a definite possibility.

As I said, I'll talk more about evidence for these theories, both for and against, in coming days. But this is pretty huge.

One more thing I want to mention (and that will be mentioned later as well) is that we hear music around Morgan and Mo that is the EXACT same music we heard around Morgan in the coda of Coda.

So, it just fits, doesn't it? In 5x08, Beth "leaves" and then there's a coda of Morgan with a specific musical accompaniment. Here, we see Morgan leave to go find Rick, hear that same music around him, and then there's a coda of a woman (theoretically) with blond hair.

Needless to say, we're very excited to see what happens moving forward.

Thoughts?

[bugsbenefit]

i recently rewatched s2 and i'm SO curious what unused plot ideas they could have possibly recycled for s5. because those ideas DO still have to fit the overall tone and plot of season 2 since that's what they were intended for, no matter how much you modify them. and the overarching plot of the season was Will being possessed and the sickness of the UD spreading through town... which are both concepts we could 100% see return in s5 with the set up s4 gave us

the possibilities of what they could have scrapped and put in store for later are endless, there's so much they could adapt for s5

Will getting possessed again is a real possibility or at least a concept that the characters will have to acknowledge, with Will back in town and his connection to Vecna still intact there's no way he won't at least get contacted soon. would that be a possession as intense as in s2? MORE intense now that Will is older and Vecna is stronger? less intense and it's just Vecna trying to persuade him while he's still weakened? who knows but that concept is most likely showing up at some point in s5 tbh

along these lines i honestly also wouldn't be surprised if we got Will's flashes to the UD make a return. he's had them even before he got actually possessed and since he still has the connection to Vecna to begin with, the possibility of getting another terrifying scene where Will is suddenly in the UD halfway through? not unlikely

if that made a return we could also get another instance of Mike being the only one to snap him out of these. which would be a sweet callback in the final season. but in the spirit of adapting ideas to progress with the plot Mike could also snap Will out of a Vecna vision, true s2 style

then there's the whole deal about the pumpkins, tunnels, and spreading "virus" of the UD over town. and i'd bet money we're getting that in s5. there's 4 gates open, visions about monsters in the streets, direct mentions of Hawkins falling... yeah that's not happening over night, that will be slower, with the UD spreading all over town and infesting it. the town wouldn't fall one day to the next, it'll sink first. (also a potential tie in to s3 here with the flayed army. having the town want to hunt down most of our main cast for being satanists is going to create a "MCs against everyone" situation. the potential of the UD infesting or possessing people here again is also There tbh)

just hhkjfahdkjh, i've not been normal since they confirmed they're taking unused plotpoints from s2 into s5. that's one of my favourite seasons plot/vibe wise. the Potential for s5!!!

but seriously, Will's possession/UD visions and the spreading of the UD into the RSU are the central motives most plotpoints in s2 rely and build on in the first place. so we'll most likely get similar situations to those for the plotpoints of s2 to be usable again

[wanderingwomanwondering]

601 golf game meta - father-son issues

the golf scene in 601 keeps bugging me bc i can’t quite figure out what it means. but i know it means something bc it was a long scene and felt loaded, right? 

i think the first half of the golf scene is about eddie and chris:

son doing something bc his dad loves it - maybe this is about eddie and chris doing things together this season on screen?

dad trying to teach him but the son feeling overwhelmed/annoyed bc the game isn’t his thing - we know chris is growing up. maybe this speaks to chris trying to do what eddie enjoys but wanting to break free?

“swinging in a barrel” - this is a golf putting technique i think but i have no idea how it applies? being constrained maybe?

dad gives the son his lucky ball but it doesn’t help - maybe about chris finding his own way as a person separate from his father? kinda like dad what’s helped eddie may not apply to chris in many cases???

***the lucky ball is marked with two intertwined horseshoes*** i mean yes horseshoes are classic symbols for luck but also the show had lots of references in prev seasons to “getting back on the horse” and going to equine therapy. both those horse related things were super relevant to eddie and to chris. for eddie, both were related to buck being integral to helping chris. first with building the skateboard and later with the value of equine therapy for CP. and we all know when buck helps chris, eddie and chris appreciate it. plus the equine therapy was intertwined with eddie getting back on the horse as a firefighter and with this mental health which moved buddie forward.

while looking for the lost lucky ball the father and son discuss the son’s current husband and his past boyfriend. the search for the lucky ball feels like a transition point from eddie and chris issues to eddie and ramon issues?? both sets of father-son issues have a side of buck ofc bc buck is an integral part of the family now. anyway the dialogue shifts from golf to choice of partner and to choice of golf buddy seem pointed!

so let’s go with it and say the second half of the golf scene is about eddie and ramon: (more below the cut)

I remember in 517 hero complex ramon said he wanted to be there for eddie so i definitely feel like eddie’s dad and maybe mom too are coming back this season. also eddie made that clear and pointed reference to his military days which always calls back to his time in texas with his parents. He even mentioned to albert one time that he joined the military at least in part to get away from his father and find himself.

the potential eddie and ramon relationship beats would fit well with how the second half of the golf call played out. the team thinks the call is a gsw but then find out it’s a wedding ring lodged in the father’s chest. the very ring that was given to the son by the husband that the father doesn’t like as much as the previous bf. the tungsten ring may represent eddie’s relationship with buck saving him from losing a part of himself to his father’s game/expectations. the budding buddie relationship knocking ramon off his feet... “wounding” him for a bit but ramon ultimately not taking it so badly or harping on it for so long that it destroys his relationship with eddie entirely. maybe ramon will mostly accept buck (as the “shotgun” husband) at first but still be attached to shannon for a little while (as the ex-wife and/or imagined symbol of eddie’s non-existent heterosexuality)?

I think it’s fascinating how much this scene leaned into the gsw misunderstanding too. we got buck trying to contain the gsw scene with caution tape which does feel like a callback to the s4 shooting and the role that we all know it played in showing buddie what they mean to one another and how intertwined their lives are and can become.

In terms of golf being the chosen game for the ep, I find that super interesting too! like. before 601, golf was part of 2 key buddie beats - one directly and one indirectly - as far as I can remember. Specifically:

i only remember golf/equipment featuring heavily in an important buddie ep once. and that was the darrell call in 310 christmas spirit where he was sucked into a jet engine. his life was saved by golf clubs. buddie ran point on that rescue. 310 was huge bc it was the first christmas after shannon’s death and so eddie invited buck over to spend the day with chris (as well as hen and denny).

darrell reappeared in 408 breaking point. the show made a point of noting that we met darrell before and buck recognized him.408 was the epic ep where we got buck watching chris while eddie went on his first big date with ana. We also got construction on sunset out of that ep.

now we have 601 let the games begin working to bring the buckley diaz family home. sorting out the eddie-chris and eddie-ramon issues along with way is going to be a part of it and i think buck will be important to what happens in both father-son relationships in eddie’s life.

[sodiumlamp]

Picard

More like "Pic(king a better show to watch would not be h)ard"! Ha ha!

This is Season 3, Episode 5, "Imposters". I think this is a rare bird in the season, where the episode title is not some cutesy reference to classic Trek. Most of them have names like "Make It So" or "Four Lights". Sometimes they'll add a little twist like "Tea, Earl Grey Cold".

Oh... this is ass. Let's talk about continuity for a minute, because I'm still pissed off at how neither Guinan nor Picard remembered their meeting in 1893. I looked this up on Memory Alpha to see if there was some acknowledgement of the error, and apparently the people who made the show provided an explanation: Due to the changes in the timeline, General Picard never experienced the events of "Times Arrow", so this version of 2024 Guinan had never met Picard before. Which is kind of what I assumed, except Admiral Picard (the good one) still remembers 1893, but he never mentions any of it. He walks into her bar expecting her to recognize him, and he's surprised when she doesn't, but he never explains why she should. You'd think he would just assume she forgot, since it was so long ago. You'd think he would say "Don't you remember that 19th Century mine in San Francisco?" and she'd tell him she has no idea what he's talking about, and he'd go "Oh, right, because the timeline changed. Crap." But that never happens, which took me out of the show.

I say all of this because Picard usually operates that way. In the previous episode, Seven kills a Changeling, but it retains its human disguise even as a corpse. That's now how it worked in DS9, but they explain that here. Dr. Crusher makes note of how unusual this is, and she studies the body to understand why. She doesn't have a complete explanation, but she confirms that these Changelings are Built Different, and chalks it up to evolution. The upshot is that the Changelings in Picard are harder to catch than the ones in Deep Space Nine. I assume this also explains why they look more like liquid meat than the orange syrup we saw in the 90's. They wanted to beef up the Changelings and they did, but they also took care to inform the audience of it.

I say usually because Picard screws up in a number of places. For instance, Season 2 heavily implies that the Ten Forward bar on the Eneterprise-D was named after a bar Guinan ran in Los Angeles. It's not; "Ten Forward" is a designation for the most front-facing section of Deck Ten. Season 1 makes it seem like extracting Borg implants is a laborious, sometimes gruesome process, but Picard and Seven were de-assimilated pretty quickly and easily decades earlier.

Sometimes Picard struggles to get its own continuity straight. Last episode had a flashback to "five years ago", when Picard told old stories of his adventures to a bunch of excited Starfleet officers, and he unwittingly told his son that Starfleet was the only family he ever needed. The thing is, five years ago, Picard was in the middle of a fourteen-year resignation from Starfleet. He was bitter and disgusted with the whole organization, so it seems odd that he would be so eager to call it "family". His crewmates, sure, but not Starfleet. I'm not talking out my ass here, because this was all established in Season 1, set two years before Season 3, and three years after this flashback scene.

My point here is that the show is a confusing mess. Lots of TV shows play fast and loose with continuity. Hell, TNG was a repeat offender, using, distorting, or discarding TOS lore as it saw fit. But TNG could get away with it, becuase it was (a) good, and (b) it wasn't depending so heavily on the callbacks to TOS. Picard, however, is pretty much marketed as a continuation of TNG. Season 3 in particular is marketed as a damn reunion show. It desperately needs to get the continuity right, or at least mostly right. But it makes some big blunders, which means the callbacks that actually make sense are less effective.

For example, this episode sees Commander Ro Laren from Starfleet Intelligence show up to question Picard and Riker about their shenanigans in the previous four episodes. But the last time we saw Ro, she betrayed Starfleet to the Maquis. The idea here is to make the audience wonder if this is really Ro at all, or a Changeling infiltrator disguised as Ro. That's a good angle, except that the show has made too many mistakes in the past, so I couldn't ignore a third possibility: It's a plot hole.

So we get this rather well-acted scene with Ro and Picard talking out their beef, each gauging the other to see if they're really who they claim to be. But the whole time I'm trying to gauge the writers, trying to figure out if they actually watched the Ro episodes of TNG and paid attention. And it turns out they got it right! This time. It's frustrating because a lot of this episode is about trust, and I can't trust this show because it's let me down so many time.

For example, I assumed Captain Shaw would be killed off by now since they introduced him like the kind of jerk who dies in hilarious fashion in a horror movie. He's like the guy who dies in the restroom in Jurassic Park, or Peck from Ghostbusters. Yet Shaw remains improbably alive and with zero marshmallow goo on his body. Ro had most of the crew sent to a different ship and warns Picard to make a run for it, but she doesn't tell any of this to Shaw, who is the captain of the damn ship. So Picard has to convince him that Ro's news of a Changeling conspiracy is legit and they need to run, except Shaw's been burned by Picard before. He finally comes around, but it's becoming more and more clear that Shaw's sole purpose in this show is to pump the brakes on the plot. I'm sure Chicagoans love seeing one of their fellow dipshits on the show, but as far as I'm concerned Captain Shaw is like a bad Peter David Star Trek novel come to life. I trusted the show to avoid stooping this low, and they keep digging deeper.

Will the Federation Horns appear in Star Trek: Picard? Is that where we're headed? Maybe they already did, since there was a live band at that pre-launch party for the Europa mission in Season 2. They were simply biding their time, scouting the centuries before making their big move in Season 3. Their plan: pointless filler bullshit. The cybrid bitch is mine.

What else happened? Oh, Jack Crusher got cornered by a bunch of Changelings posing as security officers, and he suddenly "activated" just like Dahj and Soji in Season 1. I mean... literally exactly like what the synths did in Season 1. You'd think that the writers would get to this scene and someone would point out that this is too similar to a moment from a previous episode, but no.

Could this be an important clooooooooooooooooo as to what Jack Crusher really is? Maybe he's a robot like Dahj and Soji, by which I mean not a robot at all, but somehow a robot anyway, because the writers don't understand what words mean?

I'm gonna say no, because Worf pulls the same trick in this episode. A bad guy captures him and Raffi and makes them fight to the death for his amusement, and Worf fakes his death in order to get the drop on them. How did he fake his death so thoroughly? He used the "Kahless Technique."

...

You know what? I'm in the wrong blog, but I can roll with this. I thought Worf was acting a little too much like a Jedi in this show, but no. No, he's become a Dragon Ball Super guy. That's why his hair is white. He's not going grey, he just had to be in Ultra Instinct (mastered) so that he could properly align his ki to survive the knife wound. Also he needed the heightened reflexes and speed to ensure Raffi would actually stab him in the right place, since Raffi's such a fuck-up she couldn't win a fight even if it was fixed. At least now I know how Goku survived all those stab wounds he got in the Zamasu arc. He learned the Kahless Technique. Or he's a synth. I hate everything.

Or... they could have just caught the guy they wanted without all this nonsense and had the information they needed without all this rigamorale, but Captain Shaw can't slow down the show all by himself. We have to drag this out to ten episodes together! Come on everybody!

Back to Jack Crusher, so he beats up and kills four Changelings all by himself. Bev asks him how he knew they were Changelings and he admits that he had no idea. He's just been having these nightmarish visions of murdering every crewman on the ship, so when they tried to capture him it just sent him over the edge. He sees all this red shit when he's in this mode, so either he's a vampire and this is all a Hellsing reference, or he's like a Borg sleeper agent and the red color scheme is meant to throw me off the scent. "Ha ha," the writers said when they came up with this. "We always use green lighting for the Borg, so this time we'll use red and they'll never see it coming." No, I'm on to you, Alex Kurtzman. You ain't slick.

Oh, right, I forgot to talk about the show's opening. They didn't do a flashback this time, instead it was a dream Jack had of himself shooting up everyone on the bridge. Apparently the writers got bored trying to make a space 9/11 on Star Trek so they started doing space mass shootings instead. This show is hacky and crappy and boring and stupid and not even the Kahless Technique can save it.

[hazbincalifornia]

Hazbin Episode 2 Liveblog

Episode two, here we go!

I will admit, one of the only 'leaks' I've ever looked at was the copyright office one that gave the titles of season one since it felt like less of a 'leak' than the others, and I was so excited about early access because it pretty much said 'this episode will have at least one part be about Alastor and Vox'. VERY curious to see where this goes.

Oof, from the texts we can already see some of Val.

Hey, silver lining!

"Oh, there you are" he is ADORABLE and I LOVE HIM

Shadow-transport, fun! Also, Bella would still love him.

'Pent wants to take down Alastor to impress the Vees' makes perfect sense now that I think about it, as he did keep trying to get 'in' with them on the old instagram accounts. Still, F to the idea they used to be exes because I still think it makes their dynamic funny.

I SEE THOSE HYPNO SWIRLS...

I am so charmed by Vox already. I love Vel's voice too.

One of the boards says 'trust us*' above '*with what? that's none of your business' and my theory that Vox uses his tech empire to gain energy/power and a cult-like following seems to be accurate, especially considering that electricity bit when it first cut to him. (It also makes me wonder- is part of the reason Alastor hates TV so much just because it might make him subconsciously susceptible to Vox's influence?

Oooo, he can travel through electricity like Alastor travels through shadows.

The fact that the dress seemingly inspired by her original one is the one she likes is a cute little callback.

Robofizz!!! Man, wouldn't it be funny if THAT was the 'character that's in both series' that Viv mentioned on a stream once? (I still figure it's likely to be one of the other sins since that's what makes sense.)

Also, not really what I expected for Val's voice? I suppose I didn't really have a concrete hc before, though, so I'll adjust.

So Angel used to literally live at the studio? They must have rooms there for the staff to keep a tighter leash on them.

That filter on Vox's voice the second he hears about Alastor... I think the fact that it seemingly only appears when he's knocked off-kilter makes an interesting contrast to the fact that Alastor's is always on.

The idea of making Alastor's little minions living inkblots is a fun one! Sort of an old-timey animation vibe?

Yessss Vox song

OH MY GOD THEY USED THE SHEET THEY TEASED ALASTOR'S REDESIGN WITH

Wouldn't it be funny of Vox goes through a whole big musical number and Alastor just... doesn't even see it.

Oh, he saw it... and just chose to completely ignore it. Which fits what I've been musing on, how he refuses to let Vox know directly that he gets under his skin without trying to brush it off as not worth any real time or effort.

OH. OH THEY WERE A THING. Favorite song so far too!

Fuck yesssssss monster Al monster Al monster Al

They're gonna use Pent, aren't they. And he's going to be torn between their approval and Charlie actually treating him decently, I bet.

Also, sharks. I hope Vark was kept since the giant dorky cartoon shark was cute, but I love the robotic ones.

Puppydog eye Charlie is adorable. I love her.

Oh hey, Alastor has an official staff title now! I previously figured 'co-manager' (which would make him share with Vaggie, lmao) but Facility Manager makes more sense.

I love how into it Pent's getting.

Yeeeep, nailed 'Pent is happy to be genuinely praised'. Makes sense Angel might be kind of salty, though.

And the first showing of Fat Nuggets!

Bedhead Charlie and nightgown Vaggie are adorable.

I wonder if Pentious is immune to Vox's mind-control since he can do hypnosis himself?

I guess it does make sense the con got ruined pretty much right away, they do have a lot of ground to cover. It does feel a little odd to have him calling himself unforgivable when he's only been here for, like, a day, though. You fucked up too fast for them to get any real useful info.

I really like the harmonies in the song! It sounds really aesthetically pleasing.

Pfffft, Niffty. Her dreams of snakey bad boys shattered. I still think he should fill her with eggs though. Just once.

'Ol pal, huh?' You know, I WAS always curious why Vox was on the list of overlords that had been in hell 'for centuries' that Alastor toppled- I joked once that HE was the original radio demon before Alastor knocked him out and he pivoted to TV, but it sort of sounds like he latches on to whatever new technology there is to keep on top so it's entirely possible that they were both radio-themed at one point before some sort of fallout.

[soul-heart-and-beyond]

(Development Meme) What are your headcanons for Jim Starling/Negaduck in DT17 post-TDKR?

Well, since I’m finally popping out of my small break since I’ve been feeling so fatigued lately, I’ll drop off a few stuff for this. Can’t say I’ll remember everything I had thought of when it first came out, but I’ll give it a try! (I don’t even remember if I reblogged the development meme at this point so this was a bit unexpected.)

First of all, I think it’s good to start off with Jim and his whole life before the accident happened as usually the past does help explain the present, and the future. Gotta say that he probably doesn’t have the best house in Duckburg, since we haven’t seen St. Canard yet to really make something of it, and he’s barely making ends meet to keep that place to himself. 

Those meetings and conventions that he goes to are pretty much his main source of income, which definitely fluctuates given the amount of people in the area that actually care about his work. So whenever he isn’t about to make a decent amount there from the charges he gives, he’ll try to find some manual labor or an advertising gig to scrounge up a few bucks.

With that one season being cancelled and overall the show just not getting a reboot or sequel series, it left Jim pretty much heartbroken that his series that he put so much dedication and heart into just wasn’t going to get a proper finale. And that’s pretty much been in the recess of his mind ever since as he loved playing the character, being something that children and perhaps even adults could look up to as a source of vigor and inspiration.

And that goes to saying that whenever he wasn’t in character, he definitely had his problems, being too whiny and wanted things to be done absolutely well in a way that wouldn’t damage his likeliness alongside with doing his own stunts to truly get into character. However he wasn’t really fond of those he had to work with that didn’t like how he did his work, mainly due to the injuries that he would inflict upon the actors. It was nothing personal against them, but he was trying to give his audience a good show.

Another thing is that Jim used to be pretty fit in his prime, which is another factor in why no one would want to do the stunts with him or action scenes as his blows would pack a whallop. Even to this day while he may be a little out of shape, he still has that strength but just slower now due to his lack of maintaining all parts of his body.

He’s been trying to get some acting parts to work in after the show was cancelled, but most of the time they don’t tend to work out so well because he still has traces of that Jim Sterling, that Darkwing Duck character he grew so used to in other portrayals and it can be a bit weird to have to see it. Nothing like a split personality, but just moments that seem all too recognizable to a character from a cancelled show.

Like how it’s done in the episode, Jim already had shown signs of degrading into Negaduck before the explosion, so it’s really safe to say gradually his mental stability and moral standards were being lowered constantly every time he kept getting pressured in a way that wasn’t to his liking. 

While Jim does like attention and fame as it really is something that can be quite intoxicating and he can’t really help himself with it, there are times where he can push that back to take a look at the bigger picture, decide what is truly right for him and others, and go through with it. It’s been one of those small things that has fended off the mental degradation for so long.

Now for Negaduck, which is pretty open ended given how the episode just ends right around his reveal.

For the time being, it’s a good bet that he’s probably gonna be a wild card that runs off to St. Canard and start trouble there as for one: he won’t have to deal with Gizmoduck and Scrooge until it gets to a point where he’s obtained a lot of power or made his presence very clear, and two: it does have attachment and resemblance to the city he used to protect in the fictional show of Darkwing Duck, so it might be just dramatic themes being displayed here and there.

So far, like most others have said before me, Jim still thinks fondly of Launchpad, as he still cares about him, and is probably gonna want for him to either not be hurt by his actions or wanting to bring him over to his side of things. Obviously not many people are going to break through to him and Drake definitely won’t given how he detests the guy.

Most likely he won’t have most of the stuff OG Negaduck is known for outside of chainsaws and firearms, but that’s due to other factors. He’s probably not going to get a gas gun or multi purpose gun of his own, and will be using close quarters combat mostly unless it deals with sci fi weaponry.

Probably gonna make a bunch of small hideouts and stashes for himself all over St. Canard from pillaging some of Scrooge’s or Flintheart’s delivery trucks with stuff that he finds suitable for himself.

He may try to band together his own Fearsome Five or Four as a means of trying to deal with Gizmoduck or F.O.W.L. should the latter make themselves aware of his activities and try to contact him. 

And we may get a Negaverse special/centric episode this season, so there is a chance that he may meet the alternate versions of himself, Drake, and Launchpad. It’s small, but I think it might be pretty interesting if he found a version of him that actually was what he wanted to be, yet to find that his biggest fan was doing things that he is currently doing yet seemingly not like the one Launchpad that had been there to see him at all of those conventions and gatherings.

[pestopastaenjoyer]

Nancy Wheeler and necklaces

Hi all! After re-watching clips from s1 and s2, I noticed something that hasn’t been present in the previous two seasons (other than chester but theres been a direct reason as to why lol): Nancy’s golden ballerina slipper necklace she wears pretty religiously in s1 and for some of her outfits in s2. It’s an easy connection to make that she simply just used to do ballet (in s1, she has a ballerina music box El rummages through while she’s exploring the Wheeler house and Robin plays with it again in s4 and I’ll talk about that much later), but at the same time, I personally find it odd that a piece she wore for all of s1 and most of s2 is oddly absent in parts of s2 and all of s3 and s4 - especially considering just about every outfit a character wears in ST has a deeper significance to it. Mike has literally been wearing the same goddamn Casio calculator watch for the whole entire show - why would they forget Nancy’s necklace?

Well?

I don’t think they did, because it was on purpose. I think it has a deeper meaning - specifically to her romantic relationships with Steve and Jonathan respectively.I also think that Mike wearing the same watch for the entirety of the show has a deeper meaning/connection to his character/his close connection to time itself but that is a completely different rabbit hole LMAO.

Anyways, lets look back at s1 Nancy

Something that really sticks out to me when watching a show is characters wearing articles of clothing/accessories/jewelry multiple times. In Nancy’s case, it’s her fabled necklace that’s practically glued to her body. While it is easy to just say “yeah, people have jewelry that they wear on a daily basis” (I have a necklace I wear basically every day if I can make it go with my outfit), I find it too intentional that she actually doesn’t wear it during and after her and Steve’s fight (and in her PJs while studying and at Will’s ‘funeral’, too, but like. come on). 

See? Nancy is very conveniently dressed in collared shirts when hanging out with Jonathan - rendering ‘unable’ to flaunt what I personally think is supposed to represent Steve. It’s a common (albeit mildly fucked up when you think about it) trope (is that even the right word?) in media to have necklaces tied to a specific romantic relationship. And again, maybe it’s just a necklace she wears because she used to do ballet (which WOULD also fit with her arc over the course of the show). At the same time, it could’ve also been a gift from Steve himself. He’s wealthy enough to buy a genuine gold necklace, and when you think about it, it makes sense on both a more concrete and abstract level as to why he would choose ballet slippers specifically. There was a part of me that was leaning more towards the first explanation before I re-watched Nancy’s s2 scenes. And then I was more convinced by my second theory. 

So let’s look at s2.

There’s the necklace! Does it show up anywhere else this season?

Conveniently collared shirt while she’s questioning her relationship with Steve?

Convenient turtleneck while she’s in a fight with Steve, afterwards going to Jonathan for advice? (and a callback to their fight in s1 at that)

Oh come on. You could’ve totally worn the necklace with that shirt, Nance.

The infamous ‘We like Steve. But we don’t love Steve’ scene featuring *drumrollllll* ....yet another collared shirt! I wonder what she’s going to do after this scene!

And finally, the nail in the coffin: no necklace. No Steve. But what now? 

A new necklace for s3!

If the conclusion I drew about Nancy and Steve’s relationship = the ballet slipper necklace is true, then her necklace from s3 represents her relationship with Jonathan. From what I can make out, it seems to be an opal on a thinner gold chain (compared to the ballet slipper necklace, which makes me lean more towards the idea that Jonathan maybe bought it for her as a gift). After consulting my good ‘ol pal Google, I’ve found that Opals symbolize a few things: faithfulness and (kind of more important to her individual character arc at this point in the story) confidence (they’re also thought to be good luck and I just thought that was cute). Nancy wearing a stone that represents the newfound confidence she’s gained while dating Jonathan is, in the context of her character, a perfect fit. She doesn’t wear an outfit in s3 that excludes the necklace - which makes sense because roughly scene she’s in, she’s with Jonathan (with the exception of the heart-to-heart with Karen). But what? I lied? There is an outfit that she doesn’t wear the necklace with in s3?

Very convenient, given the circumstances at the end of s3. 

Really this whole scene in general with everyone is just kind of off but I could ALSO go into a whole post about the last ten minutes of s3 but like. Not today haha.

Finally, s4.

(I honestly thought it was silver at first LMFAO)

Conveniently wearing a collared shirt? That doesn’t stop Nancy from wearing a necklace now.

Oddly enough, Nancy is not wearing her ‘Jonathan’ necklace - and certainly not her ‘Steve’ necklace. She’s wearing her “Nancy’ necklace: a simple golden chain with no charms/pendants. I wouldn’t have noticed this if I didn’t re-watch s1, but it looked oddly familiar to me.

I screamed when I realized this btw. It makes so much sense.

Anyways, what about her final scene outfit? The one where she re-unites with Jonathan?

Conveniently collared shirt strikes back after she’s been wearing a necklace all season! I wonder why!?

Moral of the story: I personally think that Nancy’s necklaces across the series are meant to represent her identity/relationships with the grand total of two boyfriends she has had over 4 seasons. I found it interesting that Robin made a big deal out of Nancy still having her ballerina music box while Steve was present, and the fact that being gifted jewelry/accessories in the context of Stranger Things isn’t a foreign concept (El’s ring in s4 being confirmed as a gift from Mike, Chrissy’s necklace). And even if these necklaces weren’t gifted by Steve and, very frankly, Jonathan, what they represent given Nancy’s character over the course of the show remains intact: Nancy starts off simple, shy, and on the edge of girlhood (the ballet slippers) - transitions into a confident and self-assured young lady (the opal necklace) - and finally, has fully become a woman (the simple golden chain). 

Anyways I am so tired rn I literally hunted for all of these SSs.

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Together Again’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 3)

Airdate: May 20, 2021

Story by: Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, Christina Catucci, Jesse Moynihan, Adam Muto

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Iggy Craig, Maya Petersen, Serena Wu

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

Across Adventure Time’s ten season run, the show explored a bevy of “mature” themes and story ideas—topics, like love, sexuality, depression, and grieving. The show also touched upon death, but the emphasis was usually placed on the emotional toll of a loved one dying, not really what happens when you die. We knew there were Dead Worlds and Death. We knew that there was reincarnation. But how does it all fit together? What does it mean? How does it work?

With “Together Again,” we finally have many of the answers.

This special opens with a marvelous fake-out episode simply called “Finn & Jake,” that sees the two steal a magical cartoon of 50-flavor ice cream before rescuing Turtle Princess and LSP from the clutches of the villainous Ice King. This is all deliberately anachronistic and over the top. Ice King is back to his season one ways, Finn has both arms, and he is still wielding his golden sword that he lost in season two’s “The Real You.” There’s lolrandom dialogue and silly monsters; it’s like a parody of seasons 1-2. But then, this adventure starts to get all wonky, and in time Finn realizes that he is in a some sort of trance or illusion: one that ends with Jake being buried in the ground. Suddenly, Finn awakens from his reverie. He’s an old man. And he’s dead. We’re then presented with a new title card that lets us know the episode is actually called “Finn & Jake Are Dead.”

Holy Glob! They actually went there.

Turns out Jake died years before Finn, so naturally Finn is super excited to see his best bud. But something’s wrong—he cannot find Jake!! They planned to spend eternity together. But all that Finn can find is his very own psychopomp, Mr. Fox (voiced by Tom Herpich, whose purposefully stilted line readings are the epitome of delightful). Finn rightfully assumes that Jake is in a different Dead World, and so, being the ball of spunk and energy that he is, he demands to meet with Death, only to discover that there’s a New Death in town (voiced by Chris Fleming). The episode eventually explains that New Death was the son of Death and Life, and after New Death killed his father, he became the sovereign of the afterlife. New Death hates his job and decides to just blow up all the Dead Worlds so he doesn’t have to deal with it all. (I won’t get too much into the details here, because there would be a lot of story to parse out.)

Finn soon learns that Jake has reached nirvana in the 50th Dead World, where there is nothing but peace and serenity. Finn nevertheless tracks down Jake, pulls him from paradise, but in doing so, accidentally lets New Death in, who promptly obliterates Elysium, sending all the enlightened souls—including those from different levels of the afterlife—to the 1st Dead World. This gronks up the afterlife, temporarily halting the reincarnation process.

Well, Finn and Jake are rightfully ticked, and so they haunt the material plane looking for Princess Bubblegum. She’s not home (more on that later), but Peppermint Butler is! After Ghost Finn and Ghost Jake explain the situation, Peppermint Butler tells them what to do: They need to find Life and explain the situation. The duo manage just that, and Life is rightfully angry that her kid has stopped the transmigration of souls. After Life gives Finn a McGuffin sword that can hurt Death, Finn and Jake return to his abode. A brawl ensues wherein we learn that New Death has been possessed… by none other than that spirit of the Lich.

That’s right, it’s the Lich! He’s back, and boy is he evil.

The Lich explains that by possessing Death, he can destroy the afterlife, thereby destroying a key aspect of reality. Naturally, Finn and Jake are not cool with this, and they engage in combat. After Mr. Fox grabs the McGuffin sword and uses it to annihilate the Lich and New Death, he is proclaimed the New New Death and sets everything right. Finn is slated to be reincarnated, and Jake is slated to return to the 50th Dead World where he and Finn will one day be reunited. As Finn is pulled into the wheel of souls, Jake suddenly decides to go back with Finn, too, “Just for fun.” The episode ends with a card letting us know that the episode is neither called “Finn & Jake” nor “Finn & Jake Are Dead.” Instead, it is “Finn and Jake Are Together Again.”

As they say, “And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

If you were to tell me several years ago that the last episode to star Finn and Jake would revolve around them dying, I think I would’ve been upset. Not simply sad, but rather frustrated because “they all died” can feel like a cheap ending. But with “Together Again,” it all works. And a large reason that it works is because the show goes all in with their ideas. Finn and Jake don’t magically leap back into their old life (no, no, they very much do bite the dust). Instead, the special emphasizes the cyclical nature of life through the transmigration of souls. The episode ends with a beautiful scene of Finn and Jake, bound together as soul-brothers, being reborn into a new, mysterious (possibly Ooo 1000+?) world. It’s both aesthetically and emotionally pleasing; it doesn’t feel off the way over finales might. This is right. This is the way life works. “Round and round as nature goes,” and all that jazz.

I loved the series explanation of how death works. It seems that souls land in a specific Dead World, where they ‘marinate’ for a bit, presumably being rewarded or punished based on their life in our meat reality. After a time, they are then reborn. This process repeats, with each soul reaching higher and higher levels of enlightenment until they hit nirvana, which is the 50th Dead World. So in a sense, Adventure Time has a roughly Buddhist cosmology with a dash of Greco-Roman mythos thrown in for flavor. (As to what happens after a soul stays in the 50th Dead World for a long period is anyone’s guess, but I’d speculate that when all the souls in the multiverse have been purified and land in the 50th Dead World, they will all collapse into one another and form one perfect Monad. Perhaps this is the sphere of perfection that the beings who merged into Matthew thought they were connecting to? Who knows! It’s anyone’s guess!) I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see who Death, Prismo, Life, etc.’s boss was, but perhaps that’s a mystery better left up to the imagination!

One minor thing that I loved about this special was the number of characters who made cameos as well as all the callbacks that were made to previous episodes. Regarding the former: Finn and Jake’s canine family show up (including the oft-forgotten Jermaine!), as do Tree Trunks and her myriad husbands. Tiffany plays a major role in all these shenanigans as a “death cop” of all things. There is a delightful rogues gallery stuck in the 1st Dead World (including, among others, Maja, Sharon from “The Gut Grinder,” and Wyatt). In the 50th we find Ghost Princess and Clarence happily at peace next to Booshy, the weird spirit mentioned in the Pen Ward classic “High Strangeness.” As far as callbacks go, perhaps my favorite is the clap (from “James Baxter the Horse”) that Jake taught to Finn in case they ever do get separated in the afterlife. And of course, there are myriad references made to “Death in Bloom,” the episode that planted the seed for what this would grow into.

Going into the special suspecting that it would involve Death, I was curious how they were going to handle Miguel Ferrer’s character. (In case a reader is not aware, Ferrer played Death in episodes like “Death in Bloom” and “Betty,” but he sadly passed away a few years ago). The producers’ choice to feature him in a non-speaking cameo—despite playing a relatively significant role in the story—was wise; I’m not sure if I can articulate the exact reasons, but something about his role felt appropriate and not gross, as some post-mortem memorials can be. Speaking of which, the wonderful, lovely Polly Lou Livingston was featured for the last time in this episode as Tree Trunks, happily in heaven with her literal harem of husbands. It was funny, it really was, and I’m sure that Polly Lou would’ve gotten a kick out of seeing it on screen. (Also, this is a pro-Tree Trunks safe space. Any Tree Trunks haters will be chucked into the 1st Dead World with Wyatt.)

The biggest mystery in this whole thing, for me at least, is the question of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Several years ago, I wrote an essay about what could’ve happened to them in the Ooo 1000+ universe. I speculated that they peaced out and left Ooo behind. In this special, neither Bubblegum nor Marceline are to be found in the Candy Kingdom—Peppermint Butler seems to be the one in charge, given that he is now wearing Bubblegum’s crown. Likewise, the duo aren’t anywhere in the Dead Worlds either. Maybe the two of them skipped town and got a duplex in the Nightosphere? Who knows… I just want my favorite gals to be OK!

All things considered, “Together Again” was a marvel: An episode that managed to feel like a series finale even more than “Come Along with Me” already did without taking away from the series itself. An episode that managed to make the idea of dying funny. An episode that brought back the Lich in a way that wasn’t forced. An episode that made Mr. Fox the New New Death. An episode that gave us a beautiful ending to Finn and Jake’s story… as well as the beautiful beginning to a new one. I said it on Twitter, and I’ll say it again here: “Together Again” was the end of a sentence in a book with infinite pages. Truly, the fun will never end.

Mushroom War evidence: Everything takes place in the Dead Worlds, so not really. Perhaps a more eagle-eyed viewer can inform us...

Final Grade: That’s right, I’m gonna do it...

Post-script, I actually messaged Jesse Moynihan to ask about his writing credit. He told me that it was for an unused story idea that he had developed. I’m not certain, but I’ll bet it was a part of the cancelled TV movie they were trying to make during season 5, since that would’ve seen Finn and Orgalorg journey to the various Dead Worlds.