#4. the writers sharing major spoilers for season two because they know it's over.

[briscoelily]

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[hughjidiot]

Complete Thoughts on the TDI Reboot Season 2

Well, the remaining episodes of season two are out in the wild, and since I'm snowed in today I've been able to watch them all multiple times. Now that the season is over, here are my overall thoughts on all of the characters, their plotlines, eliminations, etc. Spoilers below the cut, obviously.

First, a quick recap on everyone I talked about in my analyses of episodes one through eight.

As a Scary Girl fan it was disappointing seeing her get booted first, but understandable since at the end of the day she is mostly a gimmick character.

Chase I was glad to see go early, since his subplot with Emma had run its course and was pretty much the only thing Chase had going for him.

I wasn't too broken up about Millie going home third, since she'd already been a major character in season one. I just wish Priya had had more of a reaction to her best friend getting voted off, but more on her later.

Emma being eliminated early on was a surprise, since I thought she could get an arc of finally moving on from Chase now that she'd broken up with him for good. I guess there's always season three, if gen 4 gets one.

I have mixed feelings on Nichelle. On the one hand it was cool seeing how she'd been training in between seasons and become a much better player. On the other hand her elimination was really, really stupid. Like my least favorite of the entire season. A fake movie contract that she never even questions the validity of or even how it got there in the first place? Seriously??

Bowie was great for the few episodes he lasted. His whole subplot of being torn between MK and Julia's cheating to help them win while also not wanting to disappoint Raj made for some excellent drama in the first third of the season.

I'm also mixed on Axel and Ripper. On the one hand Axel got some depth showing that she's a bit of a romantic under her rough exterior, and Ripper was much more tolerable here than he was in season one. Unfortunately they got a major downgrade after they hooked up, being more concerned about making out than actually, you know, focusing on the competition to win a million dollars. Also Chris calling them both eliminated when Ripper grabbed Axel as the Drone of Despair was carrying her off? Yeah that was kinda cheap.

Lastly, Zee. I really enjoyed Zee, he constantly got laughs out of me. But once again, his elimination had me scratching my head because how the hell did he learn everyone's secrets in the first place? Did he walk in on everyone doing something embarrassing like with Priya kissing her pillow? Or did everyone decide that the soda stoner seemed like a trustworthy guy to share their secrets with?

And now for the final seven. And boy what a mixed bag they were.

Damien was pretty good this season. I really liked how he made an effort to compete this time around despite still being scared of pretty much everything on the island. I actually had him pegged as a potential finalist and was sad to see him go when he got outplayed by Julia stealing the Invincibility Idol out from under him.

Priya and Caleb... hooo boy, Priya and Caleb. I'll be honest, this whole season-long romantic subplot was kind of a mess. So first they had Caleb only wanting an alliance partner in Priya while she was crushing on him, only for Caleb to actually catch feelings for her, which then imploded after Zee revealed Caleb's original intentions. Then they had a whole deal with Julia manipulating both of them to try to keep them apart, and THEN they had Caleb make an alliance with Julia to save himself, which caused friction between him and Priya because Caleb doesn't wanna go back on his word?? It honestly felt like the writers were just throwing anything at the wall to see what stuck, and as a result the whole plotline felt like a tangled mess. Also this resulted in Priya getting a ton of screen time after she was already one of the main characters in season one. I can't call this the worst romantic subplot in TDI history because there have been way worse, but it also wasn't great either.

Wayne and Raj I'm also mixed on. I liked them in the first third where they opposed MK and Julia's cheating, but after that they were just kind of there. Honestly I wish they'd kept some of that animosity going into the merge and set the Hockey Bros up as season-long rivals for MK and Julia. In fact they could have used that for motivation for Wayne in the final challenge against Julia and Caleb, which would have given his ultimate victory more emotional weight. While I don't hate Wayne winning, I feel like it could've been done in a more interesting way.

Lastly, MK and Julia. These girls were easily the best part of the season for me. I loved their friendship born of mutual respect for each other's skills, to the point where MK wasn't even mad and honestly impressed when Julia pulled one over on her to get voted off. While I'm a little disappointed it didn't evolve into a full romance, I still enjoyed their friendship. Plus I feel like the seeds have been planted for a future romance if we get a third season, and overall the fandom has been given a lot to work with.

As for Julia herself, she really came into her own as an antagonist this season after sharing that role with Bowie in season one. Granted some of her methods did feel a little forced (see Nichelle and Caleb above), and it felt like there was untapped potential for a rivalry between her and the Hockey Bros, but overall I really enjoyed Julia.

And there you have it. Overall, I think I'd give this season a 6.5/10. There were a lot of elements I liked, but an equal amount of stuff I didn't enjoy. It's not as good as the best of Total Drama, but also nowhere near as bad as the worst. Personally I would love to get a new season with this cast, I feel like there's still a lot of untapped potential here.

[ifeelallwrite]

Let’s talk about Hospital Playlist. (KDRAMA REVIEW)

note: does contain spoilers

When people ask me what is my favorite Korean drama of all time, with no doubt, IT’S HOSPITAL PLAYLIST. This drama has the comic relief, the emotional scenes, realistic characters-just to name a few. No toxic relationships and petty revenge fights. Nothing else will stop me for saying that this is the ultimate feel good drama.

SYNOPSIS: The drama shows insights into the daily lives of doctors and nurses working at Yulje Medical Hospital. It focuses on 5 doctors who have been friends since medical school, who also play together as a band.

This drama encompasses so many elements and characters so bear with me yo this might be real long 

Hospital Playlist is produced/written by the Shin-Lee PD and writer pairing, whose previous works were the renowned Reply trilogy and Prison Playbook (which are *chef’s kiss*) I really like that all their dramas really highlight humanism, and puts emphasis on creating a heartwarming and realistic series. There isn’t always a major conflict to be resolved, but instead it showcases how different people-in this case mostly those in the medical field-go on about their daily lives.  I also liked their reasoning to produce a medical drama which was that hospitals were where the most dramatic moments occurred, for example during births, deaths or sickness. And since we are still in the Covid-19 pandemic, it ties in greatly to be paying homage to all the medical personnel saving lives. Hence, props to those who were involved in this meaningful masterpiece <3

The drama is not the usual 16 episodes, but has 12 episodes for each season (SEASON 2 IS COMING SOON YAAS) Good thing is I felt that they were still able to weave a dynamic storyline in the first season even with lesser episodes. The writing was just top-notch with the witty humor bits. Additionally, the music is AMAZING. I love the concept of the main characters being a band and playing different songs every episode too.

Okay, now onto the characters. I thought that every character in this drama was well rounded. Starting of with the main five characters, also known as The 99ers, whose distinctive personalities and natural chemistry make all of them extremely likeable. All main characters are professors of different specialties, and I find the male OB-GYN (Seokhyeong) and female neurosurgeon (Songhwa) very refreshing. Also, I like Shin-Lee dramas always have characters that might be realistic yet hardly seen in other dramas or films. For example, Professor Ahn Jeongwon. Despite being a chaebol (inheritor/heir), he isn’t depicted as a spoilt brat or a cold character, instead as a warm Pediatric doctor who uses his wealth to secretly support patients in need. However it makes him stingy to his friends LOL

To be honest, I really thought I was gonna dislike Junwan due to his cold and tsundere nature. I pretty much believed that he was going to be the party pooper type of the bunch, but with the writer being a master of character development, he turned out to be really sincere and hilarious at times. Same for Ikjun, who apart from his enthusiastic and happy go lucky exterior, cares the most about the people around him. Although Seokhyeong seemed detached and introverted, he shows a emotional side to his friends as well as his mother. Songhwa is literally a girlboss though haha she’s smart, capable and gets along with everyone well. And she’s the most sane out of the bunch. 

With all the main characters, we have the relationships. Junwan is the first to date seriously with Iksun (the dog or Micky? jkjk) who is Ikjun’s sister. When it first happened I was like not again Jung Kyung Ho (bc he dated his best friend’s sis in prison playbook too LMAO) I think their relationship was realistic and open. It also showed a more sensitive side to Junwan who would do anything for her. I especially liked how he said he didn’t need access to her phone because he trusted her. Yet as all couples do, they have their fair share of ups and downs. Like conflicts on getting married and a long distance relationship as Iksun moves overseas for graduate studies. I don’t really know how to take the ambiguous ending for these two, as Junwan receives the returned box (that has the ring he sent) I really hope nothing bad happens to these two though.

I’m sure we all love Wintergarden couple though, tbh they’re kinda my OTP at the moment 🤣 It was pretty much a ‘will they won’t they’ relationship with a relatively slow build. I think Gyeoul turned out to be one of my favourite characters. Shin Hyun Been did a good job at portraying her as a straightforward but innocent Resident, who is pretty much openly crushing on Jeongwon. The scenes they had together were adorably awkward (and the scene where he gives her chocopies omg) And when Jeongwon battles his inner conflict to become a priest, the final decision where they kiss was beautifully shot, with the actors both showcasing their emotions extremely well. 

Then we have Chihong who pursues Songhwa, his professor. Midway through the drama, it is also shown that Ikjun and Songhwa might have had romantic feelings for each other. Songhwa ends up rejecting Chihong’s confession. In my opinion, Chihong was quite a interesting character but I didn’t really like him at the end. (I like the actor though) He did a real jerk move during drinking games, insisting on Ikjun to confess his feelings towards her even though he is already trying not to put Songhwa in an awkward spot. Although his character did end up making a cool exit and when I thought about his incredible story of soldier to doctor, I kinda regret disliking him that much. As for IkSong, In the final episode Ikjun confesses to her one last time, and we are left waiting for Songhwa’s reply. As much as I love this pairing, I don’t think that the ship will sail or maybe not as quickly as we think. I believe Songhwa would meticulously consider the sacrifices to their friendship or other aspects and might not be able to bring herself to it, but I hope it’s otherwise. 

Lastly not forgetting Seokhyeong and Minha, another Professor+resident pairing. This one’s a bit ambiguous though, mainly because there hasn’t been much romantic development. To me, the most impactful scene came from Minha who had been irritated by continuous night shifts and was on the verge of a breakdown. She ended up remarkably saving a patient, starting off surgery on her own for the first time. Oh man Minha was such a lovable character, I remember feeling so bad for her but extremely proud of her for her accomplishment. Although Seokhyeong seemed a bit aloof and distant (which was intentional bc he’s an introvert) I think the backstory and all the hardships he faced with his family really made me feel for him. I hate to break it to you, but I’m not so sure if the ship will sail because of the phone call from his ex-wife and Minha’s somewhat rejected confession. But who knows, they might pull off a twist 👀

Apart from all these characters, there are more characters HHAHAH However, I think this is the killing point of ShinLee dramas. Unlike typical dramas which usually focuses on a main character and 2-3 side characters, they like to cast a diverse range of actors (especially those from theatre/musicals and lesser known drama/movie actors) while actually give their characters personality or a reason to be there. I’ve seen many dramas where extras or side characters were kind of irrelevant thus making me feel that they weren’t needed to build the storyline, yet ShinLee dramas hit different y’all. Every role, no matter how small, holds significance to the drama. It really seemed like a collaborative work that shows off every actors skills (and not forgetting staffs) and teamwork.

Anyways because there are way too many characters and too many scenes for me to mention them all, I’ll just talk about some honourable mentions heheh

1. Sunbin and Seokmin confession scene (ahh so cute)

I kinda sensed that they liked each other at the start but I didn’t know Seokmin would ask her out on a date at the end. Even though it’s kinda awkward that they are dating and working with each other though (both are in the same department) but hey the confession was cute and awkward and just warm and fuzzy 🥰

2. MAMA ROSA IS THE QUEENN

I think we all (would) love Mama Rosa because she’s a real one ☝️ (probably the coolest mother ever) She’s feisty, hilarious and kind to others. Plus her friendship with Ju Jong Su was just adorable and super wholesome. The scenes where they were supporting one another through tough times and hanging out with each other when they felt lonely always put a smile on my face. Oh and how Mama Rosa treated Gyeoul was extremely sweet. (as well as Seokhyeong’s mother) Despite her tough exterior, she’s a likeable character for being a strong but caring woman.

3. Just Do Jae Hak

I seriously love this guy so muchhh omg he’s so funny

Do Jae Hak has a funny amd clumsy personality, though it’s clear he’s been through a lot and is strong willed person. From admitting his indecisiveness to counselling Jun Wan on his love issues, there’s literally nothing to hate about him.

4. Uju and his dadd

The father and son chemistry between these two is so good omg. The scenes with these two are so adorable and heartwarming (not to mention hilarious) It’s amazing to see how Ikjun cares so much for Uju despite his hectic workdays while going through infidelity issues with his ex-wife. Uju is matured for his age and shows his love and appreciation for his dad too, making their interaction a great portrayal of a healthy family relationship💞

5. the food stealing the show🥘

Who doesn’t love food and when a show has great food scenes? Some of the best scenes are definitely when the 99s gather to eat. It really showcases each character’s personality with the tiniest details as well as highlight warm delicious meals. Just don’t watch this when you’re hungry at 2am in the morning guys you’ll be drooling all over your screens HAHAHA

Of course there are way more aspects, like Hongdo and Yoonbok, Ikjun and Iksun’s pigeon jokes and raps, or Jeongwon drunk crying in the chicken shop with his brother (who was his coach in Reply 1994 when he played Chilbong LOL)

Most importantly, I think it is the themes and messages that you get from the drama that really create such a lasting impression. Not only does it hit you in the feels with the hardships of hospital patients, or the hardworking doctors+nurses who are working long shifts saving lives, it also tackles topics of friendships through the possibilities of platonic and friends-to-lovers relationships. However I think the biggest lesson for me came from Seokhyeong, who learns to live his life doing what he want, with the people he treasures. Although the drama might seem slow at times (mainly because there isn’t really a main plot line/conflict occurring), but this drama would still bring you on a journey where you would laugh, cry and finish the series, begging for season 2 ✌🏻

[lokiondisneyplus]

SPOILER WARNING: Do not read if you haven’t seen Season 1, Episode 5 of “Loki,” now streaming on Disney Plus.

I think it’s when Alligator Loki ate President Loki’s hand that I realized I was in love.

To be sure, I was always into “Loki,” Marvel Studios’ third Disney Plus series and the first devoted to exploring a single character: the god of mischief as played by Tom Hiddleston. From the first episode, I dug the absurdist deadpan humor imbued by head writer Michael Waldron, and I was immediately smitten with how director Kate Herron employed ’70s sci-fi brutalism and a particularly British affinity for bureaucracy to build out the world of the Time Variance Authority.

“Loki” looked unlike anything I’d ever seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, an increasingly difficult prospect given there are now 26 discrete iterations of the MCU — soon to be 27 with the impending debut of “Black Widow.” As the show has progressed, that feeling has only grown more acute as “Loki,” in its exploration of its title character’s identity, managed to carve out its own unique personality not just in the MCU, but also in the grander landscape of sci-fi storytelling.

To put it as simply as I can, “Loki” is a cosmic-yet-intimate time-traveling romantic action comedy about how Hiddleston’s sexually fluid narcissist finally learns how to fall in love with himself — or, rather, the female version of himself who has lived a whole lifetime of harrowing experiences apart from his own. In doing so, the show has proven that not only can the MCU work on television, it can thrive on it.

Marvel Studios’ first Disney Plus series, “WandaVision,” was a fabulous first step onto TV, proving that the MCU, itself an experiment in creating an episodic series of blockbuster feature films, could shrink itself down to the scope of an American sitcom. Its exploration of grief and the restorative power of comfort TV could not have been more relevant to an audience enduring a devastating pandemic. But as it unfolded, the escalating mystery of what was actually happening on “WandaVision” — Evan Peters showing up as Pietro-but-not-actually-Pietro, Kathryn Hahn hiding in plain sight as Agatha, Elizabeth Olsen unwittingly responsible for almost everything on the show as Wanda — began to overwhelm it. Fans and major entertainment news outlets alike began wildly theorizing each week — it’s Mephisto! it’s Magneto! — and the pressure to achieve a Marvel-sized scale, service a wide ensemble of MCU characters, and resolve all its narrative strands made the final episodes of “WandaVision” feel, to some, misshapen.

Marvel’s follow-up series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” meanwhile, was at once more conventional and more ungainly, with five separate antagonists (John Walker, Karli Morgenthau, Helmut Zemo, Sharon Carter and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine) operating at cross-purposes and overshadowing the two title characters meant to be at the heart of the show and the exploration of being a Black man in America meant to drive it.

“Loki” avoids all of that, because it’s the first MCU show that understands to its bones that the best television is about its characters first, and its story second. The lasting pleasure of longform storytelling is allowing the audience a far deeper understanding of who is on screen than a two-hour movie can allow. That sensibility is already woven into the MCU: Watching Tony Stark, Thor, and Steve Rogers grow and changed over multiple features has been central to the franchise’s unprecedented success. But while Marvel’s conviction to make their shows the same way they’ve made their movies makes sense, it’s also had the paradoxical effect of making “WandaVision” and “FAWS” feel too overloaded with their characters doing stuff than just letting them be.

Each episode of “Loki” does just that. In Episode 1, Loki and Mobius (Owen Wilson, never better?) sit and talk about why Loki does what he does; in Episode 2, they ruminate on the nature of accepted reality while trying to solve the mystery of the variant Loki’s whereabouts. In Episode 3, Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino, an instant star) spend the entire hour walking through a doomed planet getting to know each other, and casually coming out in the process. Episode 4 is when the story shifts into a higher gear, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer emerging as its true antagonist, but even that episode allowed for several extended scenes of human connection, between Ravonna and Mobius, Loki and Mobius, and Sylvie and Hunter B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku, richer with each episode).

This week’s penultimate episode, “Journey Into Mystery,” introduces several new Loki variants, a critical new location in the Void (the purgatory at the end of time into which all pruned entities are dumped) and a blockbuster movie sized enemy in the monstrous, timeline devouring Alioth (re-imagined somewhat from the comic books). And yet, there’s still time for Loki and Sylvie to sit on a hill, share a conjured blanket and quietly express how much they mean to each other, and there’s also time for Classic Loki (the great Richard E. Grant) to get a deeply satisfying character arc. After explaining how his own existential despair at his lot in life allowed him to live well past his encounter with Thanos, Classic Loki’s encounter with Loki and Sylvie reinvigorates his sense of glorious purpose — and helps Loki to understand he’s more powerful than he’s ever allowed himself to be. It’s a full meal in miniature, and Grant makes the most of it.

All the while, Herron and writer Tom Kauffman work in all manner of delightful alternate reality Easter eggs, from the USS Eldridge (purported to have been part of an experimental cloaking and teleportation device in 1943) to the Polybius video game (purported to be a government psy-ops scheme). More notably, there are also some MCU Easter eggs, including the Thanos helicopter and the Living Tribunal that flit by quickly and appear designed to tickle Marvel die-hards and pleasantly mystify everyone else. And then there’s Alligator Loki, a flawless creature who should be protected at all costs.

There is one blink-and-you-missed-it moment, though, that could be something more, when the Qeng Enterprises logo shows up on the Avengers tower. In the comics, Tony Stark sells that tower to Qeng, which is secretly connected to the same Marvel boogeyman that’s haunted “Loki” from its premiere: Kang the Conqueror. The decrepit house Loki and Sylvie are stepping towards at the end of the episode also looks like it could — could — be Chronopolis, Kang’s HQ in the comics, although the TVA itself could be that as well. In any event, it’s been well documented, here and elsewhere, that Kang could be the entity who is really behind the TVA, especially since “Lovecraft Country” star Jonathan Majors has already been cast in the role and will appear in 2023’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

If “Loki” does introduce Kang in its finale, however, then the show is stepping onto its highest, thinnest tightrope yet. This is supposed to be a show about Loki, not about a villain that, within the world of the MCU, remains a total unknown. It’s a massive risk for any series to bring in a brand new character — let alone the Big Bad! — in the final episode, so this could be another example of an MCU series serving the larger franchise at the expense of its own story. That would be a shame. Sticking the landing, after all, has always been troublesome for TV because TV is so much more about the shared journey than the ultimate destination. And yet, if anyone in the MCU knows how to alight onto safe ground despite impossible odds, it is the god of outcasts, who lives to survive.

“Loki” streams new episodes Wednesdays on Disney Plus.

[strangertheory]

It's pretty much a given that Dr. Brenner will be returning. Do you think he's in the states still trying to track down El? I always suspected that he may have ran away to Russia so he could continue his experiments and research (maybe that's how the Russians knew about the Upside Down). I've been trying to avoid any BTS photos that could provide any major spoilers so there could be news I missed.

From the way that you contextualized your question, I believe you might prefer to avoid spoilers and any Stranger Things 4 leaks or rumors.

I am going to offer you two answers: one which is in the first part of this blogpost, and one which you can choose to read at your own risk which is below the “read more” divider and that takes into account my current thoughts on a few leaked photos and rumors.

I don’t believe that Dr. Brenner or the Lab was necessarily trying to track down El throughout seasons 2 and 3. Even though the Lab assured Nancy and Jonathan that the people who “made mistakes” in the past are gone (presumably they are referring to Dr. Brenner) the Lab and Dr. Owens seem to have a few different mysterious arrangements with Hopper. What these arrangements might entail have been implied but never openly stated. We do see Owens giving Hopper a birth certificate for Jane and telling him to “give it a year.” We see Hopper getting into cars and having shadowy interactions with people that we can only assume are affiliated with the Lab. But now that Hopper is gone and presumed dead (as of the end of season 3) is it possible that the mysterious arrangement that Hopper had with the Lab and/or with Dr. Owens would be nullified and that El would become the target of the Lab’s interest again? It’s quite possible. And perhaps Dr. Brenner, if he is alive and still doing experiments and research, might return and look to find El again.

I’d like to discuss a second hypothetical reason why I expect we could see Dr. Brenner in season 4, too:

In my opinion El’s conversation with Kali in season 2 foreshadows the return of Dr. Brenner, or perhaps it foreshadows the return of someone who might represent Dr. Brenner in some way.

"Now you're faced with the same choice, Jane: go back into hiding, and hope they don't find you. Or fight, and face him again."

"Face who?"

“The man who calls himself our father.”

Dr. Brenner was conspicuously missing from seasons 2 and 3, but we are led to believe that we haven’t seen the last of him yet. (Dead? Not dead? MIA?)

I theorize that Dr. Brenner will make a return appearance in season 4 because I have been waiting for the writers to reveal the secrets behind El and Will’s shared mysterious connection to each other that is implied to involve (among other things) the Lab and Dr. Brenner.

I believe that El now living with Joyce, Will, and Jonathan sets up the opportunity for this intersection of El’s and Will’s storylines to finally be explored and revealed to us.

I have considered a few very hypothetical ideas regarding what we might see in season 4 based on a few alleged Stranger Things 4 rumors and leaks. Keep in mind I treat all leaks as inconclusive information that is highly unreliable, and I try to avoid making many theories based on rumors and leaks. But! I cannot stop my brain from thinking about the information and ideas being passed around the fandom, and I do have a few ideas and hypotheticals that I’m happy to share with you.

Potential spoiler alert! For the rest of this blogpost I will be talking about a few rumors and alleged photo leaks that have been discussed by fans online over the last few months which influence my thoughts and ideas:

There were photographs leaked of alleged Stranger Things 4 filming in front of a movie theater that listed movies from 1982 such as The Dark Crystal. (1982? Yes! 1982.) This would mean that we might get flashbacks or scenes set before the events of 1983 when Will went missing and El escaped from the Lab.

If we will be seeing events that took place prior to season 1: it is very possible that we could see Dr. Brenner again in flashbacks that are relevant to either El or Will’s history with Dr. Brenner and the Lab.

Could we see Dr. Brenner in the present-day? Maybe, maybe not. El told Kali “Papa is dead.” But perhaps he either A) isn’t actually dead B) will still be a relevant character from El’s past within the story and we will get to see her or other characters interacting with Dr. Brenner in the past.

I believe that season 4 is going to focus heavily in addressing the mysterious connection between El and Will and I also suspect that Dr. Brenner is involved in that in some way.

To refer to the alleged leaked photograph of the movie theater again: the theater name suggests that it is located in “Lincoln Square.” There is a Lincoln Square in New York City and there is also a Lincoln Square in Chicago. We have characters who have connections to both Chicago and New York City in the series, and so it’s hard to determine the precise location of this movie theater. Regardless: we can say with greater confidence that, assuming these leaked photos were of filming for season 4, that this scene they were filming might take place in 1982 and show us events from characters’ pasts. I’ve considered the possibility that since Kali and El pursued a Lab employee (presumably living in or near Chicago in season 2) that it is possible that the Lab might have offices in that city as well as Hawkins. This is one reason I lean towards the possibility of seeing scenes set in Chicago at some point either in season 4 or season 5. (But who knows?)

In season 2 Will expresses his dislike for doctors and tells Joyce “No doctors. You promised!” and Hopper also asks Joyce, while she’s stressing over what to do about Will, whether she wants to “take him back to Chicago.” One can assume from the context of that conversation that Hopper is referring to medical treatment that Will had in the past.

Could Will have been a former patient of Dr. Brenner or another division of the Lab prior to his appointments with Dr. Owens?

I think it’s quite likely.

I’m not convinced that Dr. Brenner is who we think he is, however. I think there’s more to Dr. Brenner’s role in the story than we officially know (yet.)

To return to El and Kali’s conversation again:

"Now you're faced with the same choice, Jane: go back into hiding, and hope they don't find you. Or fight, and face him again."

"Face who?"

“The man who calls himself our father.”

If, as I suspect, Stranger Things is about a DID System and Will and El are both part of it: I have been wondering for a while whether the reason Dr. Brenner has all the Numbers refer to him as their father is because he is in fact actually their father in a more literal sense than simply being the mad scientist raising them to learn to control their powers.

If El is indeed an alter in a DID System, then perhaps “Papa” is actually an NPC or persecutor alter in the DID System based on whoever “real dad” is. Maybe El’s memories of being isolated and abused at the lab is a trauma memory that she experienced as an alter, and Kali is another alter who had similar traumatic experiences.

Maybe when we meet “Dr. Brenner” again he won’t be who he was before, but embodied by a different character who is chillingly familiar to El.

As I mentioned in this recent answer to another Ask: I am curious how El might react if she ever met Lonnie and whether she would recognize him as someone she knows or not.

I realize that my thoughts about Brenner might be a little bit hard to follow: this is because I don’t have any clear-cut expectations for when and how we will see Dr. Brenner again. What I described above is purely speculative and I wouldn’t even consider it a theory. It’s simply a few ideas. :) I’m a lot more comfortable analyzing what we already know about the series and finding hidden connections within the episodes and content that we already have available. When it comes to speculating about super-specific future plot-points I see it as a less exact science and (for me, at least) it can easily become fanfiction. I might have an opinion on the general trajectory of certain character relationships based on foreshadowing that we have been given, but the specific way that they will manifest themselves in the story is beyond what I can say.

Thank you so much for your Ask! Dr. Brenner is a fascinating character and there’s so much that we still don’t know about him. Discussing hypotheticals about Brenner always interests me even though I don’t feel especially confident in any one possible route the story might take and I relegate most of my thoughts about him to the “maybe?” section. But I do think we’ll see him again.

[aion-rsa]

Fargo Season 4 Finale Post-Credits Scene Explained

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Fargo article contains spoilers for the season 4 finale.

Fargo season 4’s finale, “Storia Americana,” wraps up an uneven season of FX’s crime series about as effectively as one could have hoped. The hour is thematically consistent, if a little short (which may have had something to do with the final two episodes’ abbreviated COVID-19 production schedule). In true Fargo fashion, the season ends with plenty of our main characters dead. Josto Fadda (Jason Schwartzman) is killed for not properly realizing the power of his own family (and for a simple misunderstanding with killer nurse Oraetta Mayflower), while Loy Cannon (Chris Rock) is killed for underestimating the power of another family.

All in all, “Storia Americana” tells a rather complete story…or storia. But then, Fargo showrunner and this episode’s writer Noah Hawley decides to give viewers one more post-credits scene for the road. The post-credit scene in “Storia Americana” brings back a beloved actor and character from the show’s second (and best) season, and ties him into the loose Fargo continuity in a rather effective way. Here is what you need to know about the post-credit scene from this season 4 finale. 

Midway through the Fargo season 4 finale credits, the black screen slowly gives way to a cracked asphalt road somewhere out in the American Midwest. Then the camera pans up to find a car driving down that lonely highway. Sitting in the backseat of that car is none other than Mike Milligan (Bokeem Woodbine). Mike was one of the central antagonists from Fargo season 2 – a charismatic and talkative enforcer sent by the Kansas City mob to deal with the Gerhardt family, Fargo’s most notable crime syndicate in the ‘70s. Driving the car is one of the two Kitchen brothers (Wayne and Gale, played by Brad and Tood Mann), who served as Mike’s bodymen. 

As Mike looks out the window, a scene of Loy Cannon’s son Michael a.k.a. “Satchel” walking down the road after escaping the Faddas fades in and is displayed beside Mike’s face. The implication here is clear. As many viewers have long-suspected, Michael “Satchel” Cannon grows up to be Mike Milligan. It turns out that being traded from one crime family to another, experiencing that new family trying to murder you, only to return home to one’s birth father just in time to watch him die is a compelling formula for how to create a murderer. 

Fargo, bless it, was never shy about dropping clues to Satchel’s ultimate fate. In the first minutes of season 4’s premiere, the show reveals that one of Kansas City’s earliest gangs is the Irish crime family known as “The Milligan Concern.” This set off some alarm bells for Fargo fans, who are presumably always thinking about Mike Milligan. They knew a guy named Milligan, and he came from Kansas City after all! 

Of course, the Milligan Concern was not long for this world, edged out first by a Jewish gang, and then by an Italian one. The name lived on, however, in the form of Patrick “Rabbi” Milligan (Ben Wishaw). Rabbi Milligan is so-named because he was traded by his Irish family to the Moskowitz Syndicate. After a few years, Rabbi helped his old family take out his new one and the Moskowitzes were annihilated. Then, when the Fadda Family came to town, Rabbi’s father humiliated him by trading him again instead of his younger brother. Rabbi then helped the Faddas take out his own family, including him personally executing his own father. 

Throughout the series Rabbi Milligan proves to be a valuable companion to Satchel Cannon, after Satchel himself is traded to the Fadda Family. If there’s anything that Rabbi knows, it’s what it feels like to be traded as part of a power-sharing agreement between two crime families. Rabbi and young Satchel a.k.a Mike Milligan grew close, and when the order came down from Josto to kill Satchel, Rabbi saved the boy’s life and the pair hit the road together. Rabbi saved Mike’s life once again, but in the process was carried off by a tornado (because Fargo). This sent Mike out on the road alone with only his motel terrier buddy Rabbit for company. 

Perhaps Mike had eyes on returning to a “normal” life when he finally arrived home and reconnected with his father. But any hope of that ended with one gunshot from Zelmare Roulette (Karen Aldridge). Mike then presumably found his way into the life of crime like his father. Unlike his father, however, he was unable to establish his own crime family. As the Fargo season 4 finale makes clear, the days of boutique little crime families are coming to an end. The Italian mafia has infiltrated just about every meaningful aspect of organized crime in every major city. Any other crime syndicates will serve at the Italian mob’s pleasure. And it would seem that that’s just what Mike Milligan does. 

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The adult Mike Milligan is a highly proficient negotiator, diplomat, and killer. The Kansas City mob is happy to work with him because he gets things done…and can deftly recite Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” from memory. Earlier on in Fargo season 4, a character named Joe Bulo was introduced to Josto. Joe Bulo is actually a character in Fargo season 2 (played by Brad Garrett), and it is he who convinces the Kansas City crime family to send Mike Milligan north to shore things up with the Gerhardts. It now seems clear that Joe Bulo being introduced this season was no accident and it is he who helps transition one-time Fadda family member Mike “Satchel” Cannon deeper into the crime world. And when Mike enters into that world, he adopts the name of Rabbi Milligan, the man who saved his life over and over again. 

Each season of Fargo is distinct and is intended to be appreciated on its own merits. Through four seasons now, however, the show has filled out its modest canon here and there. Season 2 previously revealed that Dodd Gerhardt’s helper Hanzee Dent (Zahn McClarnon) received plastic surgery to become Fargo mob leader Moses Tripoli. Season 3 also had some tenuous ties back to season 2, including the existence of Mr. Wrench. It’s this Mike Milligan reveal though that proves once and for all just how deep the Fargo rabbit hole can go.

The post Fargo Season 4 Finale Post-Credits Scene Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[parachutingkitten]

Which Ninja Has Really Had The Most Focus Seasons? Let’s Find Out!

I am not here to end the focus ninja debate, I’m here to perpetuate it. We tend to squabble over the little things when we talk about this. Who gets to open their eyes in the beginning of the episode? Who’s on the set boxes? What counts as a real season? Well, I’ve come up with a system to try and quantify some of this. Now, it’s not perfect, and you might disagree with what I put where, or even the structure of my system, but I think the results are a fair estimate of how much time the writers actually spend with each character. And also, there are some pretty interesting conclusions to look at, so if you want to know more, join me under the cut :)

(Fair warning, this is a lengthy one)

How Does This Work?

I have 4 tiers of points. Focus, half focus, sub focus, and misc. Focus is worth 4 points, and is for ninja who are the sole focus of a full-length season. Half focus is worth 3 points, and is for focus ninja of split seasons, or seasons that share focus ninja. Sub focus is worth 2 points, and is for ninja who have a large, season defining plotline, but aren’t important enough to be the sole focus. I use this category to settle a lot of the debatable seasons. Misc. is worth 1 point, and is for the focus ninja of a short/special, sub focus of a half season, and other little things like that. Whatever ninja earns the most focus points has had the most focus time dedicated to them (theoretically).

I will be including all of the seasons, along with the pilot episodes, Day of the Departed, and the Prime Empire shorts, because these are pretty solidly essential viewing when watching the show. I’m not including stuff like Wu’s Tea, and those original ninjago shorts cuz… well, first off, I don’t think anyone really cares about them, but also, they’re not essential, and don’t really have focus ninja anyway. For the record, I am counting March of the Oni as a special and not a season. And no, I’m not including the movie. Duh.

I’m awarding points to any character I feel earns one, but not villains. Of course, villains are going to get decent screen time, that’s how basic plot structure works. In addition to characters, I will also be awarding points to an ensemble category, for any seasons that do not have a focus ninja. Though, the ensemble can only earn points at the focus and half focus levels. The ensemble earning points for sub focus just… doesn’t make sense. Like yeah, the rest of the cast is there… in every season. That’s how having a cast of characters generally works.

I would also like to add that this does not take into account the quality of the seasons. There’s always a debate to be had that the highest scoring ninja deserves another season, cuz the ones they’ve had are bad. I’m just interested in quantity. Alright? And again, this isn’t an end all be all answer, it’s just a set of numbers based on my perception of each season. I just want to start some more informed discussion. 

And last but not least, spoilers.

The Breakdown:

(if you don’t care about my reasoning in assigning points, feel free to skip to the results) 

Pilot Episodes

Kai is the focus character in these. I don’t know that anyone’s gonna fight me on that one. This is a special, so 1 point for Kai.

Season 1

Now, this one’s a bit trickier, because Kai is still noticeably the main character, but compared to the pilots, his role seems pretty equal within the cast of the OG 4. The season is about all of them growing as individuals and as a team together. Kai serves more as an insider POV than a real pure focus. I’m going to dub this an ensemble season (4 points) with a sub focus on Kai (2 points)

Season 2

Lloyd is definitely central to the plot this season, and does do the whole final battle thing, but again, the season is more about the ninja training Lloyd than Lloyd himself. Additionally, Kai serves as narrator this season, and gets himself some pretty sizable speeches etc. Again, I’m going to give ensemble 4 points for focus, and Kai and Lloyd both get 2 points each for sub focus.

Season 3

This is a Zane season. He gets the final battle, and the big realizations, and the love interest, it’s his season. There are some sizable sub plots this season, but none of them big enough to give anyone sub focus points. 4 points to Zane.

Season 4

This is a Kai season. He has the angst and love interest; he gets the points. Now, some people might think Zane earns sub points because the plot focuses on finding him, but that doesn’t mean he got more screen time than normal. That’s a plot device, not character time. He has a good little mini arc, but like… so does Garmadon, and Lloyd, and pretty much everyone. Kai gets 4 points.

Season 5

This season doesn’t have a focus ninja. Lloyd does get the intro, but he’s possessed half the season. Again, that’s a plot device, not character time. I’m labeling this as an ensemble season, so 4 more points to ensemble. The two arcs that really define this season are Nya becoming the water ninja, and Cole becoming a ghost. 2 points each for sub focus.

Season 6 

This is a Jay season. This is undebatably a Jay season. 4 points for Jay. In fact, this season focuses on Jay to such an extent that they actively kick other characters out of the show in order to focus on him more. That’s getting him an extra point, cuz it’s kinda ridiculous, and this is my thing so I can do what I want. Now, this season focuses a lot on his relationship with Nya. He shares his title card with her. That’s not nothing. She has a sizable arc, and noticeable presence. I’m giving her 2 points for sub focus.

Day of the Departed

This is a Cole special. Do I really have to explain myself on this one? 1 point for Cole.

Season 7

Our first split season! This is a pretty clear-cut Kai and Nya season. I wouldn’t say one overpowers the other. They share the spotlight pretty well. 3 points each for half season.

Season 8

This is a Lloyd season. It’s his dad getting brought back, his angsty drama, his love interest, his season. 4 points for Lloyd. There are some other noticeable plotlines, but none of them big enough to award points for.

Season 9

Another split season, this time taking place in two separate locations. Season 9 in Ninjago is pretty much just season 8 continued. Same tone, location, conflict, everything. This half is still a Lloyd Season. 3 half season points to him. The half in the first realm is harder to pin down though. It’s mostly an ensemble season, but I do feel Wu and Cole’s relationship plays a big enough role to earn them some points, especially since it’s a multi season arc. I’m going to use the misc. category to award them both 1 point.

March of the Oni

This is a Lloyd special. I mean, they had some pretty good ensemble stuff, and them giving the intro to Cole was cute and all but... It’s Lloyd’s special. He dies and talks to God before being resurrected. Classic main character stuff. 1 point to Lloyd.

Season 11

It’s a split season again! But I would like to award full focus to the ensemble. Both chapters either focus way too much on side characters or split the time pretty equally between the core cast for it to be anything else. 4 points to the ensemble. But I would like to single out Kai and Wu as both having significant arcs. The first chapter spends a lot of time on Wu’s past, mistakes, and guilt. And Kai’s arc is put noticeably center, resolving in the last episode of the season. I’d like to give these two 1 misc. point each. To those who would argue that Zane needs points for his ice chapter… no. First of all, he was gone for the majority of the ice chapter, and was being used, yet again, as a plot device rather than a character. And also, technically, that would conflict with my no points to villains rule.

Prime Empire Shorts

These are weird, but most of them focus on Jay’s experience in Prime Empire, so 1 point goes to him.

Season 12

Now, this is, at least as of right now, a half season. It’s 16 10-minute episodes, that’s one chapter’s worth, so I’m going to award points accordingly. Now, a lot of people might think this is a Jay season, but the story doesn’t follow Jay’s perspective. That’s what the prime empire shorts were for. The story follows the ninja going to find Jay. And yes, based on episode descriptions, there is an episode where Jay fights a boss all by himself, but it’s not the final boss, and it’s only one episode where he’s on his own. I mean, Okino had his own episode this season, and this isn’t an Okino season. So, though I will award him 1 point for being a sub focus in a half season, I’m awarding 3 half focus points to the ensemble.

Results:

Chart version of the points awarded in my explanations above

Total points gathered by each person

Number of times a person was awarded any number of points

Number of times a person was awarded 3 or more points

Conclusions:

Well, there are several things I got out of this. Obviously, Kai scored highest in most categories. He was the main character of the pilot, so it’s really not surprising that the writers have ideas for his character. That being said, I do find it funny that, even though we would all agree that Lloyd is the series’ overall main character, he does not appear in the pilot. People watching the pilot to get a feel for the series would be missing the most important character. That’s just really funny to me. Additionally, the main character of the show did not score the most focus points. He was in the double digits though, so he really can’t complain too much.

The Times High Ranking Points Were Earned data refers to times a character got points for being the focus ninja of a season/half season. For all of the fuss people give about Kai and Lloyd having like 5 seasons, it’s really only 2 each that they have an undebatable hold on. And on top of that, they both only have one all to themselves. Kai having season 4 and sharing season 7, and Lloyd having season 8 and sharing season 9. They do have an absurd amount of sub focus on top of all that though, which is definitely what trips everyone up.

I was surprised Nya scored as well as she did, especially for joining the team late. In fact, if you take off the bonus point I gave to Jay, she would actually score higher than him. Even though she doesn’t have a solo focus season, she has a decent amount of focus in 3 consecutive seasons. Also, Wu made it on the board, which is good for him.

Again, unsurprisingly, Cole scored lowest in almost all categories. There’s a reason the Cole fans are pissed. The 0 high ranking points stat is really telling and seriously stings. But, the one thing he did score well on was times points were earned. Though he has little personal focus, the focus that he has is recurring and spread across the series. I would also like to add that he didn’t even score any points for his ongoing friendship arc with Jay, which did put his character fairly center stage for a while. I mean, though Cole doesn’t have any big focus areas, I would still say he’s got some decent development with several multi season arcs. He’s definitely not being totally ignored by the series or anything.

On the opposite side, one of the saddest things to me personally is that Zane was not only tied with Cole for focus points, but also was ranked lowest (lower than even Wu) in times points were earned. That means season 3 is the only point in the series when he held any meaningful and sustained focus. There are no shorts for him, or larger important plot lines, it’s just season 3. I mean, he was supposed to have more focus than Cole, right? We always rag on the fact that Cole doesn’t have a season, so he must have the least focus. Zane had his own season, surely he would have scored higher! But when you look back you realize that even though he’s had presence, the amount of meaningful stuff he actually does is pretty minimal. Seriously, writers, time to get this droid some sub focus.

Speaking of droids, I would like to bring up something I’m sure no one else was thinking about while doing this, and that’s Pixal. Pixal has been a part of the show since season 3 and has technically been working on the team ever since Season 4. By the looks of season 11, the writers want to include her as part of the main cast. They gave her a plot with Kai, Cole, and Jay where she basically led the defense of the monastery. She got her first solo episode in the ice chapter. Though the episodes aren’t out yet, season 12 episode descriptions seem to have her taking on a more active and offensive role and operating on equal footing with Zane. She is a member of the core cast now. Although she did join recently, it is interesting that a full-fledged member of the team didn’t score any points. Both Lloyd and Nya officially joining the team earned them some sub focus points. I just find it interesting that Pixal’s joining the team didn’t get her the same. Maybe there’s a more formal ‘joining the team’ arc for her coming in the future, but as for right now, she remains in this strange focus-less limbo.

My favorite finding though is that the ensemble category just dominated pretty much everything. Ninjago at its core is an ensemble show, and I honestly think it’s at its best when it just functions as one. What are some of the fandom’s least favorite seasons? 3, 6, and 7, right? These are all very clear-cut ninja focus seasons. I really think the fandom needs to stop forcing ninja labels onto every single season, cuz it really doesn’t do them any real service. It just makes you disappointed that X ninja is getting yet another season, or this X ninja season isn’t focusing enough on X ninja. Just enjoy the show for what it is! An ensemble show! The ninja shine best when they interact off of each other, not when they’re left to process their troubles alone.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Feel free to comment any other cool data connections I missed! I hope this did a little bit to enhance your perspective on focus seasons, focus ninja, etc. It also probably made focus sound like a non word, so I’m sorry about that one. I know this is a long one, so seriously, thanks for reading! 

[arenee1999]

The Consistency of The Doctor

Beware: Wall-of-Text (huge wall-of-text) and my thoughts on (and how I view) The Doctor and the regenerations.

Also massive Classic Who spoilers in case anyone cares. (There are some things I’m glad I didn’t know before I started watching it) And a non-specific spoiler for Spyfall part 2.

As fans of Doctor Who we put a lot of our focus on favorite or least favorite incarnation of The Doctor or The Master, favorite and least favorite companions. We sometimes lose sight of the show as a whole and that even though the Doctor has many different faces, it is the same character.

My first introduction to Doctor Who was in 2005 with the revival. I saw the commercial with Chris Eccleston proclaiming it to be “the trip of a lifetime” and I knew I had to watch it, I was hooked from that moment before it ever aired. I watched Nine and Ten and halfway through series 4 I decided it was time to go back and actually watch Classic Who. I started at the beginning with An Unearthly Child and worked my way forward and also watching all the new episodes as they aired. Life got in the way, while I kept up with the new episodes I had to put my Classic Who watching on hold. I had made it through season 13 before I had to stop. Rather recently I picked it up again. I now only have the Eighth Doctor movie and the Peter Cushing movies left to go and they’ll have to wait a few months.

Through all of this I came to realize, my “favorite doctor” tends to be whichever version I’m currently watching. I do have a ranking order, those that if I want to watch a random episode I’m most likely to gravitate to. Versions that resonate deeply within me for various reasons. My list is very much opposite from the majority of fandom and that’s ok. We shouldn’t all like the exact same things. How boring would that be?! (I do wish I could move on to the Big Finish audios, but there’s so many and they all cost money that I don’t have. I’m also very hard of hearing and tend to get lost in the sound of peoples voices and not be able to concentrate on what they’re saying.)

When I finished Survival, about a week ago, and then watched Spyfall just a few days later I really stopped to think about the different regenerations of the Doctor (and the Master but mostly the Doctor). If you pay attention, you can see the frame of mind the Doctor was in when he regenerated each time and see the threads that tie all the versions together. The First Doctor started out overly arrogant, cold and a bit of a bully. But he had had little interaction with anyone except other Time Lords at that point. Through his three seasons (sadly most of which are missing) he does tone down the arrogance and coldness a bit towards his companions but doesn’t have the right personality to really be friendly to them. When he regenerates we get Two, who is gregarious and happy. Two regenerates after having his companions stripped from him and his mind wiped. Consequently Three is reserved and focused on science. He is surrounded by friends, including multiple clashes with the Master (they’re best friends as well as enemies), throughout this regeneration without any truly dark stretches, which lets him regenerate into the fun loving Four. The Fourth Doctor spends the majority of his reign happy, even when he gets blisteringly angry it only lasts a short time before he’s smiling again. He regenerates while facing the Master and we get Five. The Fifth Doctor has an innocence about him, is softhearted and kind. At least, he is until Adric’s death. Then we see him close himself off a bit, become short-tempered and prickly. Cue the Sixth Doctor who has a porcupine exterior wrapped around himself as protection against being hurt but still has a soft center, if you can handle being stung multiple times in order to reach it. He’s bristly and sarcastic, some of his superior attitude shows through again but he still cares about his companions, you can see the anguish when he’s told Peri is dead and the sheer relief when he finds out it was a lie. He regenerates into Seven, who is once again softer and kinder but still with a rather large thread of steel running through him. If you’re paying attention you will see where Ten’s “Time Lord Victorious” attitude comes from. Eight (while I’ve not seen all of it, I have seen some) has the rough edges from Six all worn away. Seven was largely happy and carefree without massive trauma, which makes Eight more relaxed and softer. His growth and change happens in the audios :( but we see how and why he changes into the War Doctor. Who then turns into Nine. The Ninth Doctor is angry and broken after the Time War. He re-learns to see the beauty and the wonder of the universe through the eyes of Rose. Ten is happy and optimistic and full of energy, until he loses Rose. He never quite gets over that, there’s always a bit of melancholy running through him from that point and having to wipe Donna’s memory just exacerbates the problem. But when he knows he’s regenerating he visits his companions and sees them happy. He sees Donna getting married. He sees Rose smiling just months before their first meeting. So we get Eleven, who is a mix of exuberance and caution. He’s capable of insane highs and doleful pensiveness. When he regenerates it’s a special circumstance, because it shouldn’t have been able to happen. But he was given a complete new regeneration cycle. Twelve is a complete blank slate. He has no social skills, he doesn’t remember who or what he is even. When the memories return and all that loss hits him at once, he wraps himself in layers of armour as protection and lets the social ineptitude be his excuse for a myriad of sins. But Clara was already under the armour before he donned it and she shows him how to trust and care again. Which is why he nearly tears the universe apart to keep her alive and why he had to be the one to lose his memories of her. Then he spends 24 years with River on Darillium, finds Bill and loses her in the most horrific way and because of the machinations of the Master, no less. But before he regenerates his memories of Clara are returned and he knows Bill is happy with the final choice she made. (as an aside, we see bits of every previous Doctor in Twelve during his seasons, and it’s glorious) Which brings us to Thirteen. She is outwardly friendly, she is kind and optimistic but she is also reserved and reticent about sharing much about herself. And now she’s been hit with the Master’s actions to Gallifrey. I’m not sure I really want to know what is so bad, so horrific, it crosses over the Masters moral compass. And it better be horrific, if it’s not I will lose any ability to take Chris Chibnall serious as a writer or showrunner for Doctor Who.

I don’t really expect anyone to agree with my take, but maybe my view can give you a new way to look at the Doctor. Maybe a way to find the common threads through the regenerations. Maybe instead of blaming the actors for bad episodes or seasons, blame the weak scripts, the scripts with plot holes large enough to cram Jupiter through. The actors did (have done and are doing) brilliantly and can only work with the material they’re given. They’ve kept the Doctor consistent, even when it doesn’t seem like it at first glance.

[bowenandjohnson]

My Thoughts on Elite Season 3

Spoilers! Under the cut!

The Murder of It All

Well, I definitely didn’t see that final twist with the murderer happening, but I understood why Lu was the one to do it. She has always had the capacity for darkness, and even if it was an accident, Lu made the best unexpected choice. I’m glad Guzman was able to forgive Polo in the end--he needed that closure to fully move on and heal from Marina’s death. 

Did I like that everyone covered for Lu? Eh. I didn’t ever really enjoy her as a character. But the fact that everyone overcame their differences to come together as a team? That’s the real endgame that I’m sure the writers were going for. Forgiveness and growth is possible, which is a large theme this season.

Omar/Ander/kind of Malick

Ander’s cancer storyline hit very close to home for me. My father was diagnosed with cancer last year in February 2019, and has only been in remission for around four months so far. Seeing his struggle and his journey was hard. I know a lot of people are being hard on Omar, and I certainly condone cheating on a significant other.

However, many people don’t understand the pressure of being someone’s main support system like I do. It’s so hard and so draining on a person, and luckily for me, my dad had his wife, my brothers, and his parents. But for Ander, he only had his mother and Omar at first, before slowly starting to let Guzman and Polo in.

Omar is a 18-19 year old boy, and so I can understand why he had a thing with Malick. He’s young, his only major support system is Ander and Ander’s mother. His family (outside of his sister) disapproves of his life, and who he loves. His life was falling apart, and he was losing control. Malick could relate to being a gay Muslim with a disapproving family, so it makes sense why he would cling to someone who shared similarities to his own life. Omar made a mistake, and he realized who he truly wanted to be with.

I do wish he would have owned up to the cheating with Malick to Ander directly, but they only have eight episodes and a large cast to support. Overall, Omar and Ander are happy, in love, and returning to Las Encinas TOGETHER. Plus, Ander is in remission--thank God! And Yusef finally accepted that his son is gay and has a boyfriend, true character growth!

Carla/Yeray

Teodoro Roson is a goddamn asshole. I hate him, and I wish he were also dead. He manipulated and gaslighted his daughter for several more episodes than I wanted to see. Carla truly suffered this season, and I hated that. They broke down her character to serve the whims of a powerful, white man, and I hate that. Carla was such a bad bitch in s1, and she didn’t deserve this storyline. Ester Exposito did the most with the material she was given, however.

Yeray could have also been so much more as a character. They barely addressed how he was harassed in the past for his weight, and how that affected him still in the present. Though he didn’t love Carla, nor she him, he cared about her enough to accept her friendship, and help her take down her father for good. 

Those final interactions of the two talking about their relationship and how the two teamed up only showed me what could have been for the two in this third season. As one of the first black characters on this show, Yeray really got the short end of the stick, and he didn’t deserve to be an obstacle to a white girl’s true happiness. I did truly like him in the end, and Sergio Momo did the best with the material he had.

Samuel/Rebeka

I felt bad for Rebe throughout the entirety of her relationship with Samuel this season. She was a obstacle for “Carmuel” and ultimately used by Samu who helped to throw her own mother in jail. She deserved so much more. So much more. I’m glad she’s going back to school and she got her mother out of the drug business. PLUS SHE ADMITTED SOME ATTRACTION TO WOMEN!! Rebe/Caye for season 4, perhaps?

Samuel has also never been a favorite character of mine throughout the series, but I’m happy he got his brother free, he’s going back to school, and he’s single. That’s right--single Samuel may just be for the best. When Samuel is romantically concerned, there is always trouble to follow. He has never made it easy for any of his romantic interests.

Also, can we please get Samuel some therapy? They really needed to address his anger issues. Season 4 needs to get all these kids all some counseling, honestly. Two people have died that these kids were close to.

Cayetana/Valerio/Polo

Caye, Polo, and Valerio have never been my favorite characters on this show, either. I’m sorry, I guess I only enjoy five characters on this crazy-ass show. However, despite this relationship feeling like a rehash of s1, this relationship got Valerio away from the toxicity of his incest relationship with Lu and it helped him to succeed in school, and I felt like the dynamic was also evenly balanced between the three. Ultimately, I feel like Valerio grew enough to earn his “happy” ending helping Carla run the wineries and also pissing off Teodoro.

Caye also figured out FINALLY that money doesn’t equal happiness. I’m glad Polo broke up with her, and that she works as a cleaning lady like her mother did at Las Encinas. She helped a murderer, and in the end, she got an ending that I thought she deserved. I enjoyed her bonding with Rebe though after Polo died. They should date. The fraudster and “Narco Barbie” would be a match made in heaven in season 4.

Polo got his forgiveness, and he was fully charged with the murder of Marina posthumously. Alvaro Rico has always done a wonderful job portraying Polo over these three seasons, and I wish him the best with his future endeavors, this guy is a star.

Lu

Lu, Lu, Lu. She is, by far, my least favorite character from the show, and while I did enjoy some moments this season, her redemption arc was lazy and unearned. She never apologized to Nadia for releasing a sex tape of her, and that is what I had the most issue with. She didn’t earn Nadia’s friendship in the way that I would have wanted her to.

Sure, Lu grew. But did she grow enough? No. 

Have a nice life in NYC, Lu, with the happy ending you never truly earned.

Nadia/Guzman/Malick (part 2)

Nadia’s arc made sense to me this season. I know why people feel shortchanged by the lack of physical Guznadia this cycle, but there’s a clear undercurrent of love throughout all their interactions this season, and it makes sense why Nadia would pull back after being so violated in an intimate moment last season.

Malick makes sense for Nadia on paper: he’s nice, a good listener, and most importantly, he’s also a Muslim. However, Malick and Nadia’s relationship crumbles because he’s maintaining a facade: he’s closeted, and interested in hooking up with Omar, her own brother. Nadia is betrayed by this, of course, but the truth is: she wants a relationship that is based on love and respect. She’s done putting up a facade. 

She has that real connection with Guzman, the boy who offers to work at her family’s shop while she works on her scholarship applications, the boy who doesn’t want to jeopardize her dreams, the boy who loves her without expecting anything in return. At the end of the season, when she promises to come back for him, and he starts crying, that is the first time that he is certain of her committing to their relationship--and it is so incredibly beautiful.

Nothing will ever come in their way--not religion, not other people, not time or location. Their love will endure.

Guzman scared me in episode 2, when he kidnapped and tortured Polo. That moment felt so out of character for me, it took me out of the show for a bit. It was detrimental to the rest of his arc this season. However, I’m glad he grew out of his anger and frustration, and ultimately forgave Polo. He’s a supportive friend to both Samuel and Ander, and he reclaimed his “Mom Friend” title in the process. Can we please get the boy some therapy though? Please? Next season? I’m glad he gets to go back to school.

Malick also got the end of the short stick this season, and I wanted to see more of him as well. He deserved more than to be an obstacle to both “Guznadia” and “Omander.” Have fun in NYC, dude, I guess.

Thoughts on Season 4

Considering Guzman, Samuel, Rebeka, Ander, and Omar are all attending  Las Encinas to make up a year, it makes sense for season 4 to include them. Each season is a half of a year, so the also-ordered season 5 would be when they graduate. 

This way, other characters could guest and make appearances when they’re on break from college or something. It will be interesting to see how the show evolves in the future.

Overall, this season was a mixed bag, but I love these characters, and I will probably return to watch future episodes.

[amegatronfan]

Jame Roberts’ Instagram Q&A -November ‘18

Right. 

So.

- Back in MTMTE #15, when the original Rewind got locked in the Slow Cell with Overlord, he suddenly learned how to shrink while he transformed. This was not an ability he previously had, as shown in, for example, MTMTE #2, when Tailgate sees Rewind for the first time (before Swerve introduces him to CDRW) and remarks that he can see a “giant memory stick” in the distance. However, the fear that Rewind felt in that moment triggered his ability to shrink to the size we see him in, like, LL #25, for example. This helps him survive both Overlord and the shots fired off by Chromedome, and so he, along with Overlord, is recovered by the Galatic Council. Overlord is seen as too dangerous, so Rewind is chosen as the guinea pig for an experiment the Galatic Council are trialling; an experiment that would allow them to “punch holes” into alternate universes. Since they want to use Rewind as a weapon against the Black Block Consortia (and other enemies of the council, such as other Cybertronians), the technology is built into a suit of armour meant to resemble Primus (this suit of armour was built in the same vein as the Magnus armour, in that it made so that a small robo could pretend to be this big, famous robo and not, like, the sentai suit dealio I had originally envisioned when JRo was describing this. this was done because they rightly assumed that seeing Primus land in the middle of a battlefield would scare the royal shit out of everybody, most especially other Cybertronians, who have the cultural context to know who the fuck he is.) 

So, then, it worked, and Rewind made it into the past?? of another dimension (that wasn’t the Functionist universe), but then it malfunctioned and he got trapped there. He had fight his way back to the original universe by travelling through a bunch of other alternative universes (there would have been an interlude during the Mutineers Trilogy where we saw Rewind 1 travelling through the Marvel 2006 universe). At first, he was travelling back to the OG universe was so he could be reunited with his conjux (he met other Chromedome's along the way, but he wanted to find his Chromedome), but as he was travelling, he discovered Chromedome’s secret; that he had helped in the cover-up of Dominus’ murder, and so it became more complicated (he kinda wanted to avenge Dominus.) This would’ve all culminated in an issue where Rewind 1 finally made it back the original universe. As has been previously established, only one Rewind can exist at the one time, so Chromedome would've had to decide which Rewind would be cancelled out, all while Rewind 2 (and by extension, the audience) would’ve learned from Rewind 1 what Chromedome did to Dominus, which would’ve complicated things even further.

JRo came up with this idea before he began writing MTMTE, but by the end of season one, he was starting to become uncertain about this particular storyline, as Rewind, Chromedome and their relationship began to develop. Having Chromedome do this to Rewind started to feel wrong. After talking to his editor at the time (Carlos, I believe?), he decided to leave in the scene with Chromedome and Prowl, where Prowl threatened blackmail and Chromedome used Shadowplay to erase the blackmail from his memory, just in case he still wanted to go through with it. However, by the time it came to the final stretch of issues, he already so many other plot points to introduce, explain and tie up, he didn’t have time to do all three for Rewind 2 and his ultra-complicated, high concept adventures, and deal with the complications it brought with it to the cast, so he was forced to drop it.

So, with that out of the way, here are the more breezy answers:

- Megatron didn’t have a mentor who taught him medicine in the Warren, he taught himself everything he knows about treating people because he’s “the most ferocious autodidact.” (i stan a legend)

- Ratchet would still be the better medic though

- Megatron specialised in neurology

- Flame survived the events of LL #24

- The only reason Functionist Universe! Orion and Terminus were killed was because of time restraints 

- Making Drift and Ratchet’s relationship a romantic one started feeling right around their return in the Remain in the Light arc, but JRo didn’t really decide that they were definitely conjux endura until he began writing LL #25 

- Rewind’s colour changing pants are now (dubiously) canon (”Chromedome is fascinated; he might be an outlier.”)

- Admitted a couple of times, once again, that he wished he hadn’t killed Trailcutter 

- If a Cybertronian is gifted a vial of innermost energon and survives whatever near-fatal injury or illness they had, they have the option to either keep it, as a reminder of the love they and the donor share, or they can regift the donor’s innermost energon to them. If they do indeed die, the most common practice is to donate the innermost energon (as Ratchet did posthumously in #25)

- “Sorry, I’ve seen ‘Chromedome is a bottom’ on the screen and that’s thrown me.”

- When asked if he’d change anything if given the opportunity to rewrite the series, he admitted that there were “a bunch of things”, which included:

    * Spacing out events more, most especially near the beginning of MTMTE,            where so much was happening that it all felt “a bit busy”, and the Crucible           arc

    * Writing more stories about the tertiary cast (eg. Spotlight: Hoist) to really            sell the fact that this was a ship with 200 mechs on board (the main cast            would still have had their own quirky adventures going on in the                          background)

                * An example of such a story would’ve been having an issue focusing                    on the writer behind the Lost Light Insider

    * More stories with the Mutineer’s

    * Give the Scavengers an entire tradeback to themselves in Season 3,                  encompassing an entire arc he’d had planned for them

     * He wouldn’t have “decapitated Red Alert like that” 

     * Having the charisma parasites being followed up by Swearth “didn’t do              him any favours as they were three very high concept issues one after the          other”

      * Would’ve seeded more mentions of the Guiding Hand in MTMTE (though             not in Lost Light, which had enough, he felt)

      * More Star Saber (longer fights with different characters)

      * Way more Roller!

      * Show Cyclonus’ recovery from his injuries in #47 more as more of a slow,          arduous process instead of an “Oh, he’s fine now” dealio

      * Would’ve liked to pull off the Troja Major two-parter better

- [SPOILERS FOR IDW’S UNICRON SERIES]

When asked who’s death Megatron would be most cut-up about, Optimus, Soundwave or Starscream, JRo said he’d take Stasrcream’s the worst, as the two had “unfinished business” (the new Pacifist Megatron wanted to reconcile with Starscream). Though Soundwave was listed last on the “who'd Megatron would mourn the most” list, he also said that he’d be “proud of what Soundwave did”

- On a more lighthearted note, he said that Stan Bushs’ Dare was playing in Rodimus’ head during his “Til All Are One!” montage in the 2012 annual

- Cyclonus is, unfortunately, no longer rich, because much of his wealth came from Tetrahexian real estate (as stated in the prose story Signal to Noise, packaged in Volume 4 of MTMTE), and the value kinda dropped after Unicron, you know, destroyed the whole planet (though he also said it’s more than likely he and Tailgate invested in real estate on New Cybertron)

- Said that if Rodimus and Drift had been amica endura “no one would’ve batted an eye,” (and that they would’ve completed the ceremony off-screen)

- Rodimus was originally going to sacrifice himself in Crucible to stop the Omega Guardians from using the Warren to enter our universe and take it over. (”Even saying that is making me yawn”) Everyone would’ve thought Rodimus was already dead, and as such, another, unnamed character would’ve gotten credit for his sacrifice. Rodimus would’ve known this, and sacrificed himself anyway.

- “You’re all [unapologetic] shippers and I salute you.”

- As he stated on Twitter before, he’d have liked to include a scene between Cyclonus and Drift, where Drift proclaims his new respect for Cyc after seeing his Great Sword. This scene would’ve happened around the Remain in the Light arc. 

- “Are you guys still talking about Chromedome being a bottom? Oh my god.”

- In a fight between Drift and Cyclonus, Cyclonus would win.

- When asked who he’d ship Rodimus with, he said that Rodimus was an interesting case, as he’d actually be quite well-versed in the area of romance, unlike the rest of the cast, and that he “wouldn’t pine for people.” In the end, he ended up choosing Roller.

- Getaway didn’t make up the Conjux rites; they’re real 

- Rodimus’ flame abilities are not an outlier ability, but an upgrade he got along the way (he compared it to getting a really excessive tattoo). The ability is really painful and uses up a lot of Roddy’s energy.

- When asked what he hoped from the next continuity, he said that he wanted it to continue to be inclusive “in every sense of the word”, specifically pointing out the LGBTQIA+ representation as something he wanted to see continued. 

- “Yeah, Springer’s pretty hot.”

- First Aid has a crush on crush on Springer (as does JRo)

- Cyclonus is legitimately a great singer. It’s that his abilities are more of the operatic kind, meaning “he is not always appreciated by the uncultured”

- “[A fan] says that Lost Light is a love letter to fan fiction, which it absolutely is”

- When a fan asked why (to paraphrase) Roller was just so dang hot, JRo said that “Roller just has that effect on people thanks to Jack’s lascivious designs” (and before you go off and google it, lascivious is defined as “feeling or revealing an overt sexual interest or desire”)

- Drift’s wealth was made through bounty hunting

- Brainstorm and Chromedome might have been amica endura, but that Chromedome felt “burnt out” from his various failed relationships, both platonic and romantic. 

- No one even has a “Rung-shaped gap” in their memory after LL #24. They honestly can’t remember where the various matrixes came from, as is the case with all the things Rung was responsible for. They all blame it on memory creep and have each come up with their own contradictory explanations as to how and why these things happened. 

- When asked if Swerve liked The Big Bang Theory, JRo replied with a swift “No, he has a brain”

- Instead, he said Community was Swerve’s favourite show

- Cybertronian weddings are “very long��

- There was a lot singing at Cyclonus and Tailgate’s wedding

- Brainstorm and Perceptor’s wedding, meanwhile, “would be very complicated” because “they’d be trying to outdo each other in subtle ways”. It would “make for a good sitcom episode.”

- Roddy’s favourite meme is “the butterfly one”

- Rung’s favourite meme is “the woman looking confused with algebra in front of her face”

- Swerve is over memes

- “[Drift’s thighs] are certainly impressive”

- Swerve is “destined to have many friends”

- Whirl and Cyclonus most certainly became amica endura after LL #25

- Swerve got Misfire’s number in the end

- Though he said many times in the lead up the end of this continuity that this was his last time writing for Transformers, he said he would like to write a 12 issue series centred around a character he didn’t name, and then later admitted that he wanted to try to convince IDW to let him write another series. He also said that is there was ever a Grand Collecter’s edition of the series (that collected all the issues, prose stories, additional stories from other series etc into one or two hardback editions, for example), he’d write an additional prose story to make it worth people’s money

- Hoist confirmed the Lost Light’s resident furry

- “Tailgate is the cutest? Yes, he’s a little marshmallow.”

-  In his final days, before his execution, Minimus would’ve taken his poetry to Megatron so that he could read it (he would’ve also read Minimus’ poetry on the Alt! Lost Light, though assumedly under far less tragic circumstances)

- Getaway was considered the hottest mech on all of the Lost Light, with Skids as a close second. Together, they were “a hot duo.”

- Functionist Universe! Anode was a brilliant war general 

- Nickel had a girlfriend before her homeworld was destroyed 

- Rung can’t dance (we been knew)

- Crankcase and Con4Eva did hook up in the original universe

- “Does Rung know we love him? No - he’s very lonely” 

- No one in the cast likes all of the Shrek movies, but all of them like the first one.

- Chromedome and Brainstorm met each other the New Institute (which was my question answered :D) 

- Roddy would eat Doritos if he could 

- Not a single Transformer (in the IDW-verse) would like Trump

- The worst film that Roddy likes is Caddy Shack 

- Terminus would’ve never admitted that he was lying to Megatron

- Unfortunately, the song Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind & Fire never made it to the Lost Light

- “Who would make the best romantic partner? Depends on your taste.”

- JRo’s favourite superhero is Spiderman, his favourite TF toys as a kid were Hot Rod & Sandstorm and Nautica is his favourite character (from MTMTE/LL)

- Megatron, does indeed, both give the best hugs and deserves hugs! 

- “You’re a tactile, compassionate, thirsty bunch, aren’t you?”

- Tailgate, Swerve and Rewind would all play Fortnite

- Drift and Ratchet would’ve opened a “clinic” together (the question asker was unintentionally vague, so JRo was intentionally vague with his answer)

- Drift thinks that Ratchet was the one who made the first move, while Ratchet thinks Drift was 

- Ratchet and Drift would’ve been together for “decades and decades” before Ratchet died

- While Nautica/Skids still isn’t canon, he did confirm that Skids’ feelings for Nautica were romantic in nature 

- While Jack Lawrence bases many of the characters’ mannerisms on his own, he bases Rung’s mannerisms off of JRo’s, which doesn’t help his “anti-mary-sue argument.”

- I can’t remember the exact quote, but when asked what it’d be like to have Whirl as a roommate, he said something along the lines of “you’d have a crush on him even though you’d hate him.”

- In case it wasn’t clear enough in the text itself, Whirl rejected Ratchet’s hands because of a shift in how he saw his own disability. He no longer saw it, and by extension, himself, as a “deficiency” that needed to be “fixed”

- JRo pronounces “Omega” as “Oh-me-gah”. This is important information to include. 

And then the livestream ended with JRo saying we all “need a cold shower” after all this “fervent shipping” and went off to finish his half a pint of Corona. (what a legend)

Feel free to add in any answers or details I missed.

[rankakiu]

Thoughts of the Droid: Miraculous Ladybug Season 4 spoilers.

Hello, people of Tumblr! How have they fared in life? As always, I hope very well. People, a couple of days ago I learned about the existence of spoilers that reveal details of the fourth season of the Miraculous Ladybug series. Truth be told, these spoilers not only give me a bad feeling but also show in their entirety the creative problem that writers are going through, who, apparently, have run out of good ideas.

For example, we have that the characters of Kagami and Luka will be akumatized… AGAIN. What reasons will they have to be akumatized? And why precisely them, when basically there are other adolescents and even adult characters that we have not yet seen transformed into temporary villains? Not only that, but they also mention that it will finally be revealed which shipping will "win" in the future: whether Adrinette or Lukanette. Interesting detail, since at no time is Adrien and Kagami mentioned, giving you to understand that our favorite Japanese will end up losing. If you ask me, this “amazing” spoiler is everything, less amazing, for the simple reason that everyone in the fandom knew from the beginning that Marinette and Adrien are destined to be together.

But, most striking, for me, without a doubt is that they have announced a new character that will replace Chloé as Queen Bee. For those who have followed my blog and read some of my previous posts, it is no longer a secret that Chloé is one of my favorite characters in the series. So you can imagine my feeling when I hear this news. Basically, it felt like a good blow to the testicles (sorry for the expression).

It bothers me, yes, but more than anything I feel disappointed and ripped off with this change.

Why?

Well, I have the whole reasoning behind and this is where I will expand as much as I can.

First, the leaked video, even if they don't show an image, we have a lady (who I imagine is an animator or screenwriter ... or both) who describes the new Queen Bee as "She is sweet, she is not mean."

Who told you to say that line? Thomas Astruc!?

Returning to the topic, this is where I wonder: Is it really a mandatory requirement that the superheroes of this series are all sweet, kind and faultless people? (The latter is in doubt, seeing past chapters) Apparently yes, since people dislike superheroes who are dark vigilantes (Batman) or antiheroes who fight evil under their very dubious moral and ethical code, almost nonexistent (Venom, Spawn).

Oh, wait, those characters I just mentioned are popular, they have been since their beginnings and even though decades have passed, they are still very dear characters in popular culture.

With Chloé we had a bratty superheroine, pretentious and at all times she kept showing off and having a very high ego ... but still, she was a superheroine who was really able to risk her life for a common good. In addition, her personality made the dynamics of the team more interesting and entertaining. On the one hand, we had a Chloé who wanted to be a superheroine because of the emotion that it entailed. She sought to be a heroine for the attention and fame she obtained. Obviously, those two points are not commendable reasons to be a superhero, but these were eclipsed because more than anything Chloé sought to be a heroine to help Ladybug and feel useful, making a difference in the world for good. And now, with this new sweet girl, this dynamic will be forgotten.

Second, the spoilers mention that there will be more "secret siblings." That being the case, there is a possibility (remote but after all) that the new Queen Bee is a sister or cousin of Chloé. Here I will be honest and I differ with the majority of opinions I've seen about it: I would like the new Queen Bee to be Chloé's sister. It is one of the few ways I would accept, almost without questioning or protesting, this new heroine. The other way I would accept this new character is to not share any biological trait with Chloé, but to get to interact at a very personal level and, above all, to interact in a very good way, that is, despite their disparate personalities, get along very well and even be friends. Why not risk presenting this interesting scenario?

Right, the writers of the series do not like to take risks.

Third, the spoilers mention that Chloé will be akumatized… AGAIN. Which proves what I said above paragraphs: Writers are running out of ideas. If you ask me, it is already tiresome to see the same characters being akumatized over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Of course, they change the reason why they are akumatized and the name and design change, but that does not help to make it more interesting, to the contrary, it creates the problem that the characters do not grow emotionally and with that, there is no real development of their characters.

Bitterness aside, I'm really intrigued to know the reason why Chloé will be akumatized again. And even more so if it will be a different fourth Akuma or one of its three previous forms will return. One part of me wants her fourth akumatization obeys the reason to be replaced by a new heroine. If you ask me, it would be a good reason.

Fourth and most important to me: Replacing Chloé with a new heroine will cause the little development she has had to be thrown away. Those who are fans like me of the character, will not let me lie and it has been frustrating and a disappointment after another to see a chapter where Chloé is shown more deeply, after another chapter to see how it is again an unpleasant brat. 

I am going to tell you a little story and in the end, you will understand the reason for my disgust.

You see, I saw the Miraculous Ladybug series, back in 2017, about two years after its premiere in 2015. Don't believe it or not, the first season caught me the moment I saw that series. What I did was to see one chapter per day and when I finished watching it, it left me wanting more. To follow the story and its characters. As you may have guessed, Some of the chapters where they showed a little more of Chloé, made this character catch my attention and gradually become my favorite character. You cannot imagine my emotion when in those years they had confirmed that Chloé would have the Bee Miraculous and that she would be a superheroine named Queen Bee. Seeing the great results they had achieved with the first season, I assumed that in the second season I would see much more of Chloé and her training as a heroine. Which translated into more development.

Also by that time they had announced a special three chapters, "The Battle of the Queens" and whose chapters would be centered in Chloé. Imagine: more expectations were raised since it seemed to me that in three chapters they would develop Chloé better and that at the end of that special she would begin her arduous but satisfying journey to become a more dignified person and a trusted heroine. I am sincere, when I heard about this special, I did not want to see any other chapter, but only those three.

Finally, the day came when these special chapters were released.

You don't know a huge disappointment that I took away.

Wait about two years for a special that was disastrous from start to finish.

Do not misunderstand me, if there are extremely rescued scenes and moments, but they are very overshadowed by the mishandling they gave to those three episodes and something tells me that they did so on purpose to further sink the development of my favorite character.

The point is that, in my opinion, writers cannot or rather do not want to give the character an authentic redemption and development. And in fact, having this new Queen Bee has proved it that way. What bothers me most about this issue is that they are going to develop this new character, instead of giving it to Chloé. And this is where I wonder. And wouldn't it have been better to have the new character from the beginning be Queen Bee? Why did they give Chloé that opportunity, if, in the end, they weren't going to do anything significant with my favorite blonde? Why create those expectations if in the end all they do is destroy them in this outrageous way?

What was the use of seeing a Chloé feeling deep sadness and disappointment to see that her childhood friend did not arrive at school? What was the use of seeing a furious Chloé and then in bitter tears when her idol, Ladybug, told her she was a liar? What was the use of seeing a sincere smile emanating from her when she made peace with her friend Sabrina? What was the use of seeing a Chloé with fear of losing Adrien's friendship? What was the use of seeing how butler Jean comforted and encouraged Chloé? What was the use of seeing a Chloé crying bitterly when she learned that Adrien was no longer going to school? What was the use of seeing a Chloé, on the verge of tears when her mother did not consider her exceptional or even her daughter? What was the use of seeing a Chloé open her heart and feelings to Ladybug? What was the use of seeing a Chloé, fighting beside Ladybug? What was the use of seeing her as Queen Bee?

Just to give me false hopes and that in the end, all that development so little, but so genuine will end everything in the trash.

Maybe I am being a bit rude. Perhaps this new Queen Bee is a hoax, as it was years ago the supposed existence of Amber. Maybe it's just to distract us. Maybe now if they give her the development that Chloé needs. Maybe so. I want to believe it. I really want to believe it ...

But I don't have many expectations after this spoilers.

Moreover, I do not make expectations so high and hopeful, for the simple fact that lately, the series has left much to be desired with this third season.

If basically the writers give Marinette a vexatious and humiliating treatment, to the sweet Marinette, to Marinette who is “our everyday Ladybug”, to Marinette who has always shown to possess a pure and kind heart, to Marinette, a character so laudable that we need this way in our real world, to the character that Astruc insists on that you must support and not Chloé….

So what's left for me as a fan of Chloé Bourgeois?

This is all I have to say about it. Of course, when all these chapters that have announced the fourth season comes out, rest assured that I will make the respective reviews. In spite of everything, I will continue to stay with the series for a while, especially for the good times that the fandom has provided me and will continue to do.

With this, I feel that I have finally relieved myself.

Thank you for reading.

Greetings

Rankakiu

[turntechgodheadsgodsentturntable]

Okay. So, I binged all of She-Ra Season 5 in a single day. Never done that before. Took me 12 hours to watch just under 5 hours of footage (I calculated it), which isn’t surprising in the least to me. I have some very strong feelings about the show and its ending, which I want to share. Spoilers under the cut, of course. Obviously.

HOLY FUCK

THIS WAS THE BEST SEASON YET.

What, you thought I hated it? Yeah, no. Season 5 was great from start to finish. First impression is that there’s nothing wrong with it, but I’m also kind of a wreck right now.

So, the whole season can be broken into a few parts, which I’m going to comment on individually, as well as certain scenes that stood out to me.

Part 1: The Flagship

Episodes 1-3 are the early parts of Horde Prime’s invasion. This is just the Rebellion trying to figure out how to fight the threat of the True Horde, and Glimmer and Catra being trapped on the flagship (which never gets a name, for whatever reason. I’m going to name it the Empyrean, because why not). Adora tries to cope with not being She-Ra anymore, Glimmer and Catra try to not anger Horde Prime, and the Rebellion is generally not having a good time.

I like how we get to see exactly how Catra wants to change during these episodes. You can really tell she doesn’t want this anymore. Unfortunately this comes out a bit, uh, self destructively. Catra getting Glimmer out of the Empyrean was a really good sequence, especially as we don’t see all of the aftermath from her end. Leaving an entire episode between Catra rescuing Glimmer and the Best Friend Squad rescuing Catra was a really good decision, I think.

Speaking of, episodes 4-8 are Space! The reunited Best Friend Squad have a few adventures in the dark, unfeeling void that is space! Woo! I liked episode 4, with the star siblings, and Adora using the power of She-Ra again for the first time. The way she used it sets up the finale nicely, showing that the power is tied to love, not control.

Episode 5, to put it bluntly, is an emotional sledgehammer. Mind Controlled!Catra was terrifying to watch. The whole fight scene was impossible to look away from and painful to watch, and a good precursor to the later episodes. Adora using the full power of She-Ra to save Catra was really good. Like, there’s no other way to describe it.

Then, the chips start. Episode 6 was unnerving in all the right ways, and felt kind of like a zombie apocalypse episode. 7 and 8 were also fantastic in this way, and also set up some very good fight scenes later on. Also, Scorpia singing! Very good! Double Trouble was an unexpected surprise in 7 too, one of the few twists I didn’t see coming. 8 was unexpected in many ways. Catra’s magic cat was wonderful, as well as the Best Friend Squad warming up to her. Wrong Hordak was a great addition to the crew, and I like how the writers found a way to keep him with the Squad. He feels like a character that was written in for a single episode, then the writers were like “Hey, we like this guy. Can we keep him?” and then they figured out a way to keep him around. 10/10 would befriend again.

We return planetside for good at the end of episode 8, beginning the final section, Heart. Oh boy. Seeing the chipped characters was heartbreaking, but so cool at the same time. Horde Prime always being one step ahead and far more powerful than we thought was scary, regardless of the fact that we figured he’d be more of a threat than the old antagonists.

Speaking of, Scorpia, Mermista and Spinnerella made for very competent foes. Like, we knew how powerful Mermista was, and had a pretty good idea of how powerful Scorpia could be with her powers, but Spinnerella didn’t have much screen time in the previous seasons. Props to the writers for giving the minor characters some love (or whatever happened this season), I don’t know of many shows that would do that. Giving Netossa, Spinnerellla, Micah and Swift Wind some more time in the limelight really helped to tie the whole season together, similarly to what that one episode in season 4 with the Horde Cadets did.

Another thing they did well was how the chipped characters acted. They were so damn creepy and unnerving, especially with the sound effects that accompanied some of their actions. Being completely cold and careless towards the people they cared about, and acting the compete opposite of how they normally were really helped to drive home just how heartless Horde Prime really was, and that law and peace aren’t always the right things to strive for.

The chips also gave an absolutely critical secondary objective which lead to a party split in the final three episodes. The finale wouldn’t have hit as hard as it did if everyone had been together. Or maybe it would have. I don’t know. It’s midnight and I’m still writing this.

Anyways the finale was, of course, amazing. The episodes leading up to it really highlighted two of the major themes of the show, which are abuse and love. Having the main characters say “I love you” to each other just before the final battle may be a bit cliche, but it worked. Even if the relationships weren’t romantic, those words still hit hard. On the other hand, having Shadow Weaver in the final party really laid bare the relationship between Adora and Catra. They were both victims of Shadow Weaver’s abuse, in their own ways. Catra obviously became an angry person who hated herself and took it out on everyone around her due to being the one who was told she was worthless, but Adora? She became so selfless it was damaging to her and everyone else around her. The finale highlighted this really well.

Adora was ready to die for Etheria, but also didn’t feel like she had a choice in the matter. She thought that dying would be what was best for everyone, and didn’t even consider saving herself. Like, fanatical selflessness has been Adora’s primary motivator for the entire series. This girl doesn’t care about herself and what she can do or what she wants, beyond how she can benefit others. And it hurts people! It’s been hurting people since season 1! Adora being so selfless and trying to save everyone was what lead to her abandoning Catra in the Horde. Like, she was 100% right to leave the Horde, but she could have handled it way better! Adora abandoning Glimmer and Bow is 100% in-character for her, probably assisted by Shadow Weaver being in close proximity to her in the preceding episodes.

Speaking of Shadow Weaver, her character was handled pretty well. I don’t like her any more than the rest of you, but her role in the finale was pretty good. Adora and Catra briefly having their old “family” back helped to show how exactly Adora got to be so self-sacrificing. I’m not nearly coherent enough to explain myself well here, so I’ll just go straight to the finale (for the third time).

Adora and Catra going to the Heart of Etheria alone really helped to tie the whole series together. It started with the two of them, it ends with the two of them. Catra coming to save Adora is a direct mirror of Adora going to save everyone and leaving Catra behind, and one I am living for. Shadow Weaver sacrificing herself to defeat the tentacle monster was great, mostly because she died doing so. Redeemed? Hell no. Not as much of a jerk as you could have been? Hell yes.

Then the final bit, at the heart. Oh my god. I’m asexual, so I have no idea what all the lesbians out there are feeling, but my god! That love confession! The holo-memory scene with everyone happy in the future! THE KISS!! ADORA TURING INTO SHE-RA AGAIN AND OVERCOMING THE POISON AND ABSORBING THE MAGIC OF ETHERIA THROUGH THE POWER OF LESBIANS!!!! H O W DID THE WRITERS THINK THE FANS WOULD BE ABLE TO SURVIVE THIS?!?!

I have some strong feelings over this show, to say the least.

I’m going to post this before I pass out now. Good night tumblr.

[celticheartedfangirl]

My OUAT Rewatch -- S4E21 -- Mother

Link to Rewatch Review and Ranking archive

I. Could. Not. Stop. Laughing. At. This. Scene.

I had to share this first, because really it was the ONLY thing that entertained me in this episode.  

Ready?  Come on in . . . . . 

1.  NO BELLE.  Which is INTERESTING . . . given that ABC released THIS STILL before the episode aired:

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/120198358492/thechloris-belle-still-edit-mother-i

May 2015 me has ZERO chill about this:

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/118073110587/seriously-they-cut-belles-scene

Gee, wonder what happened to that scene?  I like to think it went something like this:

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/119391411687/delintthedarkone-were-all-gonna-need-a-lot-of

And nope -- not on the DVD, although I was spot on about the majority of deleted scenes being Belle scenes.  Shocking.  

Also, scanning my May 2015 feed, and there were a bunch of “well, maybe we’ll get it next episode” up-Adam’s-butt people.  HELLO!!!!  It’s season 4, do you have NO CLUE who these writers are yet???

See, this is why the fandom hates me.  :)

2.  REGINA god screwed the most???? REGINA?????

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/118082392897/you-get-screwed-over-the-most

3.  May 2015 me also has zero chill about THIS:

https://celticheartedfangirl.tumblr.com/post/118071793417/so-rumple-is-dying-and-we-have-to-watch-cs

4. The Maleficent/Lily reunion was VERY lackluster, especially now knowing that . . . spoiler alert . . . 

YOU WILL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN!

Say bye, Mal and Lily.  You were too beautiful for this fucking show.

5.  I really DO NOT APPRECIATE the scenes with Hook and Regina yelling at Rumple for reasons.  We get it show -- Rumple bad, everyone else awesome.  Way to rub it in.  But by all means, please keep THAT but delete the Belle scene.

Then again, it was probably Belle going into the shop to screech and scream at Rumple.  And if that’s the case, maybe it’s a good thing that one got deleted.  See: Season 6.  I have opinions.  

6.  I really think this is the point where Jane Espenson lost her mojo with this show.  She had been going downhill this season, but really she’s just entered full on hack mode at this point.  I still say Skin Deep was a fluke and was all Bobby and Emilie’s interpretation and NOT her actual writing.  

7.  Isn’t Regina knowing Cora was alive a RETCON?  Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I smell a RETCON here.  Am I right?  

8.  Dammit Regina, why didn’t you just erase the green bitch?  Great, now we have TWO fucking pets . . . . . . . 

Points tally:

40 points to start

5 points for Rumple in character in this one, FINALLY

5 points deducted for Hook

5 points deducted for Zelena

10 points deducted for NO BELLE

I got no bonus to give here, not even that hilarious lion tattoo scene.  Full 25 off this one -- are we done with this season yet?

Sigh .  .  . 

Total points:  ZERO

Follow #celtichearted OUAT ranking tag for more to come!

[adhoption]

GAME OF MORONES S8 E2

season 8 spoilers and bad jokes below

James Lannister is a moron!

do you kids like trolley problems? well here’s a fun puzzle for you: the mad king is going to burn thousands of people alive, including your father. you can a) let him or b) stop him by killing him instead. what do you do?

fine, that one was easy, so here’s an ADVANCED problem:

having done the right thing and killed the king, everyone is having a go at you for murdering the king. do you a) stay silent and let resentment grow and only bad things happen, or b) explain you’re actually a hero and let only friendship and good things happen. 

it’s a tough one! on the one hand, the unchecked resentment in the past has spiralled into literal wars. on the other, the one person you have revealed the truth to has literally fallen in love with you because you’re a hero.

so when approaching a dragon queen who wants to execute you for killing her father the king, it’s probably best to just not mention it

brienne: yeah I second that, let’s not mention the massive plot twist we found out about a few seasons ago, dany’s still on season 1 of westeros

three-eyed bran: well I watched it happen and could vouch for him but I’ll probably just share an in-joke about the time I watched him fuck his sister

Danny Targaryen is a moron!

context is important!

1. she is in a room where everybody’s father is dead after fighting everybody else’s father. 

2. literally last episode she told sam that she killed his father and brother by burning them alive (because they were bad guys) and expected his forgiveness. 

3. in this episode she mentions that the last guy she fell in love with and trusted was the guy who killed her own brother (because he was a bad guy). 

4. tyrion literally killed jaime’s father (because he was a bad guy) and jaime is still here. 

tyrion also killed davos’s sons by burning them alive, and brienne killed the love of his life, and she thought she killed the hound, but they’ll all chat together. it’s almost like they’re all murderers and they’ve been on the opposite side of wars for years and that stuff happens. 

but the reason dany can’t forgive jaime is that HE KILLED HER FATHER, (who was FAMOUSLY a good guy and not a bad mad guy at all).

also the consistency of which people are blamed for their families is nice. the lannisters are responsibile for what their sister/father/nephew does (although admittedly in the lannisters you are more likely to BE your own nephew). dany is not responsible for her father/brothers, but gets some comments about it. gendry’s dad literally threw her family out of the country and tried to have her killed and killed jon’s dad because he wanted to fuck his mum. he’s the eldest son and sort of heir to robert the usurper. nobody even notices him. well, arya notices his arms.

tyrion has made MISTAKES and must be PUNISHED. dany has never made a mistake and definitely wasn’t forced to leave the last place she ruled because she mistakenly slaughtered half the city and caused a terrorist group to rise up against her. also worth noting that she then married the son of one of the guys she killed, expecting him to instantly forgive her after she threw him in prison... and KILLED HIS FATHER.

after jorah says tyrion is a good boy she abruptly flips from 100% ‘tyrion is a moron and I need to fire him’ to 100% ‘tyrion is the greatest genius of our age and his unique precious brain must be protected at all costs’ and should never be risked in battle

jon, the heir to the throne who actually is precious and unique, a beloved ruler and leader of people, a successful military strategist, can be risked in battle. bran, who literally knows everything and actually is precious and unique, can be risked in battle. sam, who is every bit as much a book wizard and brought them minor pieces of knowledge like dragonglass and R+L, can be risked in battle. but tyrion once said something witty, therefore he goes straight into the nerd safe.

to be fair to tyrion, he has done clever, impressive things as a hand before. probably the most impressively clever strategy thing he did was when he defended king’s landing against assault from a larger army when taking command of the defence and leading from the front line. it therefore makes sense to preserve that mind by locking him safely away when the castle is under threat of assault from a larger army.

Samwise and Three-eyes are morons!

when in a room with soldiers who are literally facing death and have killed people and almost died in many fights before, and in two cases literally died, and a couple more bascially did, and who have lost many loved ones to death, it’s important to lecture them on what death is really about. is it about literally dying, being stabbed through the heart? no, you idiots, it’s about being forgotton. 

the night king wants to win this war and crush the world of the living. that’s why rather than targetting their strongest fighters and dragonriders, he will target bran, the boy in the wheelchair who says cryptic nonsense once per episode. why? because he has the best memory, and to crush the world of the living you need to crush all memory of it. which is somehow a priority over... actually crushing it, whilst it still exists, right now, whilst everyone remembers it and can see it. wiping all memories should be on the list, but only as a completist clearing up the loose ends. 

‘where should we attack first, the guard towers?’ ‘no, we need to get to the library first to rip up all their books’ ‘why?’ ‘because life is memory, and the books will remember them’ 'but... the living people are still alive. you don’t just need to remember them, they’re right here. when you’re ripping up books the living, breathing guards can just come and stab you?’

if it was like... bran can see them coming, he has powers, he can travel in time, they’ll want to eliminate him AS A THREAT, or they want to USE HIS POWERS FOR EVIL, that’s fine, that’s better. but not like this.

the episode had a lot of lazy writing where they’d thought of a Cool Quote ‘dying is forgetting’ and tried to find a place to shoehorn it in but didn’t really do it properly so in context it made no sense. 

same thing with ‘do you want to go anywhere else in your life, what’s on the bucket list?’ ‘I’d like to go back to naath’ (if you didn’t put on a northern accent and say ‘but you’re in the naath’ you’re watching it wrong’) with the sudden jump to ‘we’re a peaceful people, we can’t defend ourselves’ ‘we’re not a peaceful people’. cool line, but no mention of any threat or anything so it made no sense.

if it was ‘I was taken by slavers, it wouldn’t be safe to stay there, we’re a peaceful people, we can’t defend ourselves’ fine. or anything along those lines. but not like this.

other points

I always thought winter was the fourth season but it turns out it’s the eighth

arya is 18 and maisie williams is 22 but game of thrones fans were shocked to see her having sex, because none of them had sex that young.

“well we’ve shown orgies, we’ve shown rape, we’ve shown incest, we’ve shown paedophilia, this episode we’ve had a guy talk about sleeping with a giant and sucking her breast milk for months, but viewers only laugh, they’re immune, how can we shock them like we used to?” “show a 22 year old actress without a shirt on” “wow that’s messed up”

did she tell gendry to stick her with the pointy end

if the writers don’t play duel of the fates when she is wielding her double-ended lightsaber thingy they are missing a trick

beric dondarrion has the most ridiculous protagonist energies, handsome young lord the ladies fancy, known as the lightning lord, does great at a tourney and is sent to slay an evil giant, dies, gets brought back to life by god and becomes robin hood, leading a brotherhood out of nowhere to challenge the great powers of the realm, dies several more times and gets brought back to life because as well as being robin hood he is also jesus, of all the major character dying he alone has a Holy Purpose, so he journeys up to go beyond the wall to face death with his magic flaming sword just because of destiny, always talks like he’s the smooth action hero, he naturally fits the answer to every prophecy the others are bending the rules to get stannis or dany to fit, and when he talks to people they’re just like shut up beric

hang on let me catch up here: bran is technically the lord stark, but if he says he is a bird instead sansa is the heir to the north, plus she married ramsay so inherits it from him anyway, and she is also apparently lady of the vale, and tyrion is technically heir to the westerlands as jaime is a kingsguard, so that there’s a pretty sweet power couple if they decide they’re still married after all

also in theory gendry would be the heir to house baratheon and the stormlands, and if the lannister made the tarlys the lords of the reach sam is the heir to that, and jon is the targaryen heir to the crownlands, so we have the wardens of the north south east and west and the stormlands in one castle as well as the king of both the seven kingdoms and the north again, but almost none of this is mentioned or explored and they all keep following dany who is the rightful heir of nothing????? 

[heysnowflake]

20 Questions Book Tag

1. How many books are too many for a series? 

Honestly, if you’re really invested in the story, the universe and the characters, you can never have enough. However, I would say that J.K. Rowling- for example- got it right with 7 books. Going from one book to the next, it didn’t feel dragged out at all. I mean my favourite trilogy of all time, The Dark Elements trilogy, whilst I was left wanting more, I also felt that Jennifer L. Armentrout spaced out the entire plot satisfactorily; keeping it well paced. However, I am bloody excited to dive back into the world again with her new book Storm and Fury. So, all in all, it does vary depending on the quality of the series and the story being told, but I’d say 7 is a good number. 

2. How do you feel about cliffhangers? 

Whilst they can be BLOODY PAINFUL AT TIMES, I love when a book has me on edge like that- just throw my lifeless body off that cliff baby and let me dangle. But yeah, I would need to read the next book soon or lest my peers feel my wrath. 

3. Hardcover or Paperback? 

Whilst I do really love the look and aesthetic of a hardcover, especially in my flatlays, I prefer reading from a paperback. I find a book bounding in hardback too constricting and I can’t bend the book as much as I’d like. Plus, paperback are softer to hold in the hand and lighter in weight. If I really love a book, I’ll have them in both paperback and hardback, if available. 

4. Favourite Book? 

Oh for fuck sake, I knew this was coming! Let me at least give you a list: 

- Goblet of Fire by J.K . Rowling (probs my favourite of all time as I’ve read it 17 times and still want to read it again) 

- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (read it 7 times and still thinking about reading it again, what a damn book) 

- The entire Dark Elements trilogy (White Hot Kiss, Stone Cold Touch and Every Last Breath) by Jennifer L. Armentrout (read the whole trilogy twice and will be re-reading now to prepare for Storm and Fury)

- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (I’ve read it every Christmas for 6 years now) 

- Catching Fire by Susanne Collins (favourite from the trilogy, it built up so much from The Hunger Games)

- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Jaaaaaaaaamie, my god! But also Claire is one of the strongest characters I’ve ever read in any book) 

- Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardobe (a childhood fave, love me some Aslan)

5. Least Favourite Book? 

Easily Vampire Diaries 1. LOOK, I absolutely bloody love The Vampire Diaries television series, it’s in my top 5 favourite TV shows of all time. However, the show really took all the potential that the story had from the books and made it 1000 x better. This is one of the rare cases when the book/books are far worse than their screen adaptation. I mean, no spoilers for anyone interested in reading the books still but, Elena in the books is just so unlikable which is hard to think of when you see her in the show. Nina Dobrev’s portrayal of Elena is the complete opposite of the written word and thank god it is, and she does it brilliantly. Major respect for all the actors, writers, producers, etc. in the show, they did a wonderful job. 

6. Love Triangles, yes or no? 

When done well, abso-bloody-lutely! Most of my favourite books have a love triangle in them and they always keep me turning the page (and no Twilight does not technically count because it’s very obvious in the books that Edward was always the choice for Bella, the movies only changed it slightly to sell the story and strengthen the fanbase which, to be fair to them, worked and I went along with it xD). I would like to see a new version of the trope being done though, like the two fighting for the protagonist’s affection end up falling in love with each other or something, not THAT would be interesting. 

7. The most recent book you couldn’t finish? 

Probably Vampire Diaries actually, I just... I don’t like wasting time on books that I’m not enjoying. 

8. A book you’re currently reading? 

Literally just started reading 13 Reasons Why because I’m hungover from the series on Netflix. I am one of those idiots that actually like to watch the movie first (if available) before the book as I can visualize it better that way (other than that, I love dream-casting when reading a new book). Additionally, the Netflix series... oh my god. I have never physically and emotionally reacted to a show more. That season 2 finale, my jaw was LITERALLY to my chest and i had to pause at certain moments because I couldn’t believe what happened. Wow. 

9. Last book you recommended to someone? 

I think it was A Court of Thorns and Roses to my mother, she absolutely loves all the YAs, it’s a great thing to share with her. She’s now read all of the Court books so far. The bitch is further ahead than me! 

10. Oldest book you’ve read by publication date? 

Does the Bible count? xD I kid- kinda. I used to be slightly religious when I was younger, didn’t help that I was brought up in a primary church school. Now that I’m 22 going on 57, I label myself as more of an agnostic. I believe everything has the possibility to exist until proven otherwise, and I fully respect everyone’s opinions and beliefs on the matter (though people who deny the existence of aliens and ghosts perplex me). Anyway, to actually answer the question (I’m not a concise person), probably Frankenstein published in 1818. 

11. Newest book you’ve read by publication date? 

Probably When The Curtain Falls by Carrie Hope Fletcher, released in 2018. 

12. Favourite Author? 

Ugggh it’s between Cassandra Clare, J. K. Rowling and Jennifer L. Armentrout. Don’t make me choose. 

13. Buying or borrowing books? 

Buying always buying, I want to own my own library, which I’m starting off well now with around 400 and odd books. 

14. A book you dislike that everyone seems to love? 

The only book I’ve ever disliked is Vampire Diaries and I think a few people are obsessed with them so I’ll say that. 

15. Bookmarks or Dog Ears? 

Are... are you kidding me? Please tell me other people are using bookmarks? PLEASE!!

16. A book you can always re-read? 

Goblet of Fire, and I know I can re-read it because I’ve read that beautiful bugger 17 times! Still not bored of it. 

17. Can you read while listening to music? 

Oh hell no, I have to read in complete silence so that I can fully focus and enjoy each word. 

18. One POV or multiple? 

I personally prefer one POV, however one of my favourite fan fictions is written in a couple or more POV’s and it really added to the story and suspense and mystery. But, generally speaking, I prefer POV. 

19. Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days? 

Over multiple weeks more like xD I mean, it depends on my mood and how much I’m enjoying the book. The quickest I’ve read a book is in two days. The longest I’ve ever taken to read a book is three months. 

20. Book boyfriend? 

Multiple... but my main man has to be Roth from Dark Elements trilogy. 

[quilloftheclouds]

11/11/11 (... x7???)

You guys really love this tag game, huh? XD Tagged by @madammuffins, @bigmoodword, @shadeshadow234, @writeouswriter, @bookenders, @kaisha-writes, and @penzag.

Rules: Answer 11 (77 in this case??) questions, tag 11 people, write 11 new questions.

Taggin’ taggin’ @scottishhellhound​ @i-rove-rock-n-roll​ @capricious-writes​ @writerlyclaire​ @bookenders​ @kidsarentallwrite​ @inexorableblob​ @vieliwrites​​ @abalonetea​ @runningonrain​ @candy687​

Oof. It’s my own fault for letting these gather dust for so long. QUICKFIRE QUESTION ROUND. (And super duper long post below the cut.)

Okay first up I’m gonna post up my 11 questions for tagged people to complete up here so y’all don’t have to scroll all the way through my nonsense:

1. Put yourself in your wip(s). Are you dead? Why or why not? 2. What is your favourite kind of scene to write? 3. What genre is your favourite to write in? 4. What genre do you want to/wish you could write in? 5. Which of your ocs outfits would you consider wearing yourself? 6. What’s the worst thing you’ve done to your ocs (out of context if spoilers)? 7. What’s the nicest thing you’ve done to your ocs? 8. Does your writing style have any characteristic traits? What are they? 9. What are three things you think you’re good at in writing? (NO SKIPPING OF THIS QUESTION ALLOWED) 10. Do you listen to music/white noise while writing? What kind? 11. Come up with joke titles for your wips. What are they?

And now let’s get started!

Do you title your chapters, why/why not? Do they pertain to what happens in the chapter or are they random? I do! I may actually post them all up at some point, I had a lot of fun coming up with them, and I find them clever? A lot of them are puns, it’s great. All except the first and last chapter are titled with one word, related to the ocean or ships, alluding and symbolizing something that happens in that chapter. I made it a sort of word search, too, since every chapter title appears somewhere important in that chapter! As for why? I think it adds to the reading experience, especially with the way I employ them!

Do your main characters seem to have common traits or characteristics? Uhhhh, uh? Huh. Lemme see. I tried to be pretty creative and use a lot of variance in my characters, but sometimes they just... end up that way, whether I want them to or not. Dione and Phoenix are both tall? Both Phoenix and Colin can be pretty friendly and have the same sort of attitude towards certain things. Other than that, I’m not sure!

Why do you think this is? Honestly, it’s likely more coincidence than anything. Also because Phoenix and Colin both work on a ship’s crew, and they have to work well with other people because of that.

Do you borrow real life people or parts of real life people to insert into your novels? Why/why not? Yes. From me especially. Probably subconsciously from other people. It happens! But also, relatability. Accuracy.

Do you stick to a word count in your novels/chapters? Why? Used to, don’t now. It can really add to the tension if a chapter is very short. It can hold the reader in suspense if it’s very long!

What do you want your book to say to those who read it? What do you think your book says about you? Uh. I mean. I’m a simple writer who just likes sharing my worlds with the world, yunno? Maybe when I get further into writing it, I’ll realize what. (But I hope it shows I’m an interesting person that cares about representation and sharing exciting stories??? Mebe?)

If your WIP gets published and goes far would you sign over your rights for a movie adaptation, even if it means it gets butchered like the Eragon (or similar) series did? Ohhh gosh. Yeah no. I’d wait until I was sure it wouldn’t be. I’m not in this for the money or fame, I’m here for the enjoyment of it and the helping others through sharing stories with people they can relate to. Especially those that don’t have much to relate to already.

What is your favorite kind of character chemistry to write? Sexual tension, anger, resentment, jealousy? What about it do you like so much? I really like softness. Someone trying to cheer someone up, nice caring-ness and encouragement through humour and inside jokes. Gives me warm feelings. Oh. That sounds a lot like Colin.

Which settings are your favorites? Chill cafe, Gorey battle field? Why? I like natureeee. A lot. IRL and in writing. I especially enjoy fascinating, eccentric and magical seeming places even if they’re not magical! Think the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, or the Ice Caves of Baffin Island. That sort of thing.

What element represents your main character and why? HAH SPOILERS. Elements play a major part of OSS, my friend. How about I just put the elements, and you decide who’s who. Earth, Fire, Storm, Forest.

If you could pick an AU for your WIP (alternate universe) for a fan work, what au would you choose and why would you choose it? AKJHKDJSH I’VE ALREADY PLANNED OUT MY OWN AUs, MY FRIEND. My fave at the moment is magical modern spies. Because a lot of my characters are immortal and I love to imagine what they would be like in modern times! ...Oh wait, that’s not what au means. -u-

1. Who was your first OC? Of One Siren’s Soul’s cast, Celestine! Overall, that I can remember... a German scientist/mechanical engineer named Suin Omera. Ah, so many memories. 2. What was the first story you ever wrote? That I can remember... a little short story for school about a girl who lost her dad and discovered he had been secretly living in the arctic for a long time so she goes to try and find him? I don’t remember much about it. ^^’ 3. What book (or other piece of media) has most inspired you? AH. Most??? Literally the unpublished books of my two closest friends. @waterfallwritings​, I’m looking at you. >u> 4. How do you fight writer’s block? Badly. 5. What is your favorite genre to write in and why? Fantasy and sci-fi! Or a mix. You can find a more full answer here. 6. How would you describe your writing style? Uhhhh, I have a very action-y writing style? Unless the sort of mood requires, I don’t tend to use a lot of description and I more often focus on action and dialogue and character thoughts/narrative. It’s fitting to what I write, I suppose, because it’s an action packed pirate adventure, with a lot of focus on character. 7. In general, do you think you’d get along with your protagonists? Phoenix and Colin are nice. Dione maybe after a long while, since we both like literature and plants. Celestine... no one ever gets along with Celestine. 8. What do you love most about your WIPs? Oh. I uh. Wow. I only have one right now, but I like characters and their interactions and their thoughts on each other. But mostly I just love how far I’ve come already. That the wip even exists. ^^’ 9. What is your favorite character trope? Ah. Not good with tropes... I reblogged something on this a while ago, but that scene where someone spends forever taking out a comically massive amount of weapons from unexpected places on their person? That’s fun. 10. What is your least favorite character trope? Mmmm hmm. Hm. Mostly ones that discriminate or are based on negative stereotypes. Some of them can be done well, but not... many. 11. What’s an upcoming scene you’re excited to write? Someone’s gettin’ STABBED.

What was your first character like? See in an earlier question ^^^

What’s your most recent character like? Oh, this is neat. Who’s my most recent character? Uhhhh, um. I think it’s actually... I don’t have a name for them yet, but it’s a young siren that appears in book two that helps our main cast on their adventure!

Out of all of your characters, who’s the least human in appearance? Hehe. HEH. Oohhhh, this would definitely be Light. You don’t know who that is yet.

Who’s your worst character, and what would you do upon meeting them? Worst? The Scientist. Punch to the face.

If you could meet any of your characters, who would you choose? Uh. It’d be really cool to meet Forest! You don’t know who that is yet, either. ^^

Two of your characters from different WIPs meet! How do they get along? I don’t currently have another wip, but from my prospective wip at the moment, meeting... Celestine. Surprisingly it wouldn’t be the worst, because both would just start nerding out about each other’s technology.

Which out of your OCs just wants to live life out peacefully? George is so done with this trash.

Which one of your OCs is most definitely not living their life out peacefully? I want to say George again for the jokes, but the worst off at the moment is probably Dione. Sorry, Dione!

Is there any songs that make you think specifically of any of your characters? Ohhhh yeah. I’ll likely be making a full post for that at some point, and that’s also on each characters part of the wip page, but to save time, have this.

Which one of your OCs actually had a pretty good childhood? Dione had a relatively normal childhood, for the pretty-near equivalent of a princess. That is, of course, until she turned 24.

Who would have a fistfight with god out of spite? This actually happens. This ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN MY WIP. It’s Celestine.

1. What’s the weirdest thing you were ever inspired by for one of your WIPs?

Hmmmm, I mean tardigrades are pretty weird, right? Also awesome. They’re one of the most resilient known animals, able to survive both some of the highest AND the lowest temperatures known to have ever been survived by an organism? Awesome.

2. Do any of your OCs have famous face claims? If so, who are they?

Colin’s face claim is Booboo Stewart! He’s pretty famous?

3. What’s your favourite season and why?

Autumn. Pretty colours, perfect temperatures with a small jacket/sweater, and you get to experience the whole range of seasons from early Fall to late!

4. Do you have any superstitions?

Despite being a very logically, scientifically minded person... I am a Maritimer, and superstitions are huge. Never ever say before you go fishing that you’re definitely going to catch something. You’ll be skunked.

5. Rural, suburbs, city, in which do you live and which do you most often write about?

I guess I most write about rural, since... wait, what does the open ocean count as?? Anyways, I live in the suburbs.

6. What’s your favourite book series?

I dunno ‘bout favourites, but I like The Edge Chronicles by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell.

7. Is there a book/series that ever left you intensely disappointed? (Or one that left you pleasantly surprised?)

Uh... I mean, The Hunger Games was actually really good, but I was disappointed by the public’s focus on the love triangle?

8. What’s one of the weirdest/funniest out of context lines from your WIPs?

“Don’t tell me the boatswain has got ‘imself into the rum store again.”

9. A movie/show that made you cry? (Unless you’re dead inside)

AHHAH I AM DEAD INSIDE AND TRULY A FICTIONAL SOCIOPATH. But, I think Simon Birch is one I can recall getting misty eyed from.

10. What movies or books or shows do you think are criminally underrated?

Uuhhhhhh Treasure Planet is one? I’m not good at this one. OH. You wanna know some shows I loved way too much from my childhood? Hot Wheels: Battle Force Five, and Storm Hawks. I was a terrible nerd.

11. Which fictional character would you like to steal borrow from any world for a crossover with your own WIP?

Ehheee, honestly, I could work with anything, pretty much. But the magic system colliding with the Avatar from The Last Airbender? Ehehehe, that would be hilarious.

Do you own and fun socks? What are they? My best friend love fun socks, and for my birthday she got me some: I have two pairs, a black pair with colourful gardening tools on them, and one with little labelled garden herbs on them. They’re adorable and I love them. ^u^

How many notebooks do you have? What do they look like? How full are they? HAH. SO MANY. Most are sketchbooks, but out of notebooks, I have... three? One’s for schoolwork, one’s full of old writing, and one is for OSS notes.

Grab the book nearest you. Turn to page 70 (or 16 if it’s a tiny book). What is the 8th line on that page? How do you feel about it? Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson: I haven’t actually had the opportunity to start reading it yet, but here: “She’d never seen him at work, never experienced him as the type of person who could tend to another’s needs.” Considering I have no idea what’s going on... I have no idea?

Have you read any short stories? What’s your favorite? I’m not much of a short story reader, but there was a really cool one from a sci-fi compilation (that I can’t remember the name of). It was about time travelling and how it had already been invented, but because no one could ever go back in time, they could only go forward, no one had realized. It was kind of sad, now that I think of it, since the MCs ended up trying to travel back to their time when warned against it and they end up alone in the far future. Whoops.

Have you ever tried knitting? Do you still knit? What about other crafty things? What do you make? I tried it when I was back at home, but at the moment I don’t have the materials! As for crafts, I’m trying to get into bookbinding, card making... other sort of paper crafts. ^^

Of the books in your living space right now, which has the coolest cover? I’m sad now because I basically have no physical books here... aw. Um, The Cloud Collector’s Handbook by Gavin Pretor-Pinney is really pretty. Pastels and colourful skies and clouds are my favourite~

Do you know any camp songs? What did you used to sing in school, or at recess? Oh stars. I’m a Cub Scout Leader, my friend. OF COURSE I know camp songs. What did I used to sing in school? What’s the one with the “That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh/I like it, uh huh, uh huh” with the special clapping? That one. What’s that?

What’s your favorite fairy tale? How would you twist it? Well technically OSS includes some twists from The Little Mermaid, so does that count?

Are there any cool local events where you live? Ah, well daily we have the highest tides in the world. That’s pretty cool, huh?

What’s your favorite sea creature? Sea snakes. They’re deadly and pretty.

Do you like turtles? Why? Yes! YES! Turtles are adorable. Don’t put your finger near a Snapping Turtle’s mouth though.

1. If you could meet one author for lunch, who would it be?

Ooh, I’m bad about this. Say time travelling is an option: Roald Dahl. That would be amazing.

2. What are your thoughts on visual stories? (apps like Choices: Stories You Play, Episode, etc.)

Ah, I don’t really have much experience with them at all, so I can’t really say anything!

3. What was the first book to make you cry?

Have I ever cried at a book? Uhhhh... I may not have. Whoops.

4. Do you ever base your characters on people you know?

I mean, subconsciously probably? But I don’t typically think about other people when creating characters.

5. Name the worst book you’ve ever read, and tell me why it was bad.

Iiiii did not like Divergent. Sorry, that’s just a personal opinion. I guess it was too... dependent on a system that didn’t really make sense to me? I dunno, mate.

6. Do you have a trademark writing ‘quirk’?

I like short sentences in action-y scenes. Maybe that? I also really like using way too many em dashes and double line breaks to emphasize something.

7. Do you have any (un)helpful pets? (I couldn’t resist asking this one. Also, if the answer is yes, please send me photos.)

I don’t have any pets! I have planties though. Cute lil’ succulents.

8. What advice would you give to a person who is new to writing?

There are going to be times when you’re not happy with your writing! But any writing is helpful, because no matter what you write, you’re improving your skills to be better the next time. Plus, a first draft can be edited later! You can’t edit what’s not there~

9. Tell me your ideal writing environment.

My family partly owns a lake cabin out in the woods which we go to every summer. It’s so peaceful to sit in the hammock chair on the porch and write to the gentle lapping waves on the beach, the birdsong, and the swish of the tree branches around me. On a day with a perfect not-too-hot warm temperature, it’s very nice.

10. Sad endings: realistic, or unnecessary?

It depends how it’s executed! I prefer bittersweet ending to sad ones, since those tend to give me the most effective emotions. Certainly I tend to seek out happier endings instead, though!

11. You’ve decided to write under a pseudonym. What is it?

Ooh. Oohhhh, well. I’m actually thinking of changing my name legally. So that’s a thing. For a pseudonym, I think I would love to go with... hm. Gale Silver. Because I love puns and that hits on two major nature aspects I’m a nerd for.

what’s your favorite movie from your childhood? has this movie had an impact on your writing at all? have any movies had an impact on your writing? Hands down How To Train Your Dragon. I am a nerd who loves dragons and the music and scenery is gorgeous. Also just... so many of its themes snuck into my wip and I didn’t even realize until just recently. Whoops.

do you struggle to write for any ocs? why? are any of your ocs really easy to write for? Io is a little hard for me to write sometimes just because she’s so darn cold. Just. Apathetic towards everything, and super formal, yet at the same time very curt and to the point. I’m used to writing either a “formal” through super flowery language or a “cold” through Celestine’s mean snark, not just... Io.

do you have any big milestones coming up for your wip? (or blog? or work? or whatever?) I’M LESS THAN 2,000 WORDS AWAY FROM 50,000 IN MY FIRST DRAFT. YEAH MATE

what are your favorite writing resources for face claims, picking first names/surnames, etc? (feel free to just pick one resource to share but you’re welcome to share as many as you’d like!) Oh! I’m still pretty new to finding face claims and what not, but naming wise Wikipedia can cover all your bases sometimes. As I’m writing a historical fantasy, to find names that fit the time period, I’ll sometimes use this site.

if your ocs had a name for their group of friends, what would it be? (for example, most of y’all have noticed by now that the friend group for b’tzelem elohim is nicknamed “shalomies”) Okay but I still have such a love for that name. XD I call my group simply The Crew! Since, you know. They’re in a pirate crew by the end of the book. (My creativity knows no bounds.)

on a similar note, would they have a groupchat? (if your world doesn’t have technology, pretend it does!) Modern times, yeah prolly. Dione and Celestine would just have it muted except for emergencies, and Phoenix and Colin would just constantly be sharing memes and terrible puns.

how many languages can you speak, if any? how many can your characters speak, if any? I speak English and (Acadian) French! Trying to learn ASL at the moment. As for my characters? Hoo, boy. Without spoilers, Celestine is multilingual with four languages, Colin is almost trilingual, Dione is trilingual, and Phoenix... I think Phoenix can only speak English. Yeah that may seem like overkill, but in context it makes sense. ^^’

how much time do you spend planning/researching before starting your wip? Fun story about that! For one of my first serious wips, Soul Tied, I first came up with the ideas perhaps... six years ago? And I have yet to write a single thing. ^^’ For OSS, the story took maybe a month to completely plan out and outline, though I still do a lot of research and planning ahead as I write the first draft, too!

do you have a preferred area to write? (ie your bedroom, the coffee shop, the library, your kitchen, etc.) My desk in my bedroom!

what’s your favorite writing snack or drink? Ohh, I don’t eat while I write ‘cause I’m actually incapable of focusing on something while I eat, but I normally really like having apple spice tea or some other kind of herbal tea!

lastly, what should you be doing right now instead of this tag game? (ps: stop procrastinating even though, as i type this, i’m currently procrastinating) HAH. STUDYING FOR MY CHEMISTRY MIDTERM. IT’S FINE. NO.

Well that was long!