#Even then they’ll say we forced the writers or some bs

[stgivesmedepression]

It’s so funny how some midlevens will just straight up deny the liability of byler proof. Like they constantly talk trash ab parallels and how everyone who believes in them is “mentally brain dead”. Or like when I ask why they believe in mtleven, they say “just the show” but then they only use off screen moments that “probably happened” as arguments/evidence?!

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

The whole “keep people guessing” thing they’re trying to do with Merula is so annoying though. They’ve done it so often that people are getting tired of it. I hate to say it but even when they did it with Rakepick it wasn’t this level of irritating. I mean at least with her we’re not forced to still care about her and be encouraged to “save” her and bring her to the right side after she did something to wrong us. Unlike Merula, that’s exactly what they’re doing. She’s treated MC appallingly from ever since I can remember yet we’re still forced to call her a “friend” and look out for her, it’s total bs. We give her chance after chance no matter how many times she fucks up and whether players actually want to or not. They’ll probably do it again after ch 38 even though there’s literally no reason why they should. It’s just the same thing over and over again with her, I’m so sick of it.

For better or for worse, I'm gonna say that Merula is the single most important character in the game, apart from MC.

I'm not even talking as a Merula stan right now. The rose colored glasses are off. I'm looking at this critically, and analyzing the narrative, and it's clear to me that Merula is the character who the story revolves around the most, by far.

Jacob is also significant but he kind of stopped mattering much at all after he was rescued from the Portrait Vault. The idea of Jacob was central to the first five years of the story, a guiding light. But as an actual character, he offers nothing to the narrative that MC doesn't already provide at this point. (Apart from answers, but for whatever reason he doesn't want to give answers, and MC has stopped asking.)

All of the Year 1 characters offer significance to the main story, at least to some degree. Well, apart from Penny. (Seriously, if you ignore any and all sidequest content, Penny's actually surprisingly irrelevant to the tale of Hogwarts Mystery.) Rowan, like Jacob, is significant to the plot more in concept than in presence, but this time I think it was intentional. The Circle of Khanna, Rowan's death, was the first time they'd played a major role in the story since Year 2. Not that I'm saying this is a good thing, but a significant part of Rowan's death was how it furthered Ben's character arc. Ben is probably the second most important character after Merula - there's a reason the two of them, alongside MC, were the Circle's founders.

But Merula. Oh god.

She's established in the first two chapters. She's been a constant presence ever since, a thorn in MC's side. She literally has her own track in the OST. (Though it's shockingly underused.) The only other character who does is Jacob. (And his theme is dreadfully overused, to the point where it's just a general "emotional moment" theme now...) I think Merula, and her character, were always significant to the story the writers wanted to tell. And, yes, part of that story is showing us her human side.

Honestly, I know I compare Merula to Draco a lot these days, but it's not like there isn't reason to. The further we get into the story, the more I feel like Merula's character is almost written as a response to his, and/or a kind of wish fulfillment for everyone who was rooting for him to be redeemed. (Merula canonically has a hawthorn wand, same as Draco, which is noted for choosing people going through "turmoil" and "inner conflict.") Because I do expect Merula to be redeemed. Yes, even now, I'd argue that the signs are pointing in that direction more than ever. Which is also a good thing for a number of reasons, but among them is this: Merula as just a straight up one-note antagonist would get pretty boring after a while. Draco, as a one-note bully, had already gotten stale by OOTP, until HBP fleshed him out. Showing us another side of Merula is a good way to develop her as a character significant to the story.

The thing is, there's no way to show us another side of Merula if the heroes aren't willing to listen. As a result, MC and the Circle simply have to listen. This can be frustrating when the characters arguably have no reason to hear her out, and plenty of reason not to...but I think the writers are banking on the idea that after everything MC has been through with Merula, it's not unreasonable that they might have developed some amount of fondness for her, or pity, if nothing else. Even if it's just pity, just MC being a good person - I realize how irritating this is for people who are sick of her, but, again, something else I've said before is that Jacob's Sibling is not ours. We get to decide a lot of what is true about them, personalize them, but at the end of the day their lines and reactions are still pre-written by Jam City. I think it's clear that Year 5, and especially "About Merula" were meant to signal a change in how MC sees her. The player might not agree. But unfortunately, I think we all just have to go with it.

[paper-cuts-and-fresh-bruises]

So once again I’ve taken my time to collect my thoughts because wow, I am all in the feels right now (warning, long post). First things first, I am so oddly HAPPY that they didn’t give us a Nancy and Ace kiss, because beforehand yes I was wanting it and by all means I still do, but it made so much more sense with how everything played out. Plus, the proximity Nace had in the dreamscape was immaculate, and when dreamscape Ace said “knock ‘em dead”, oh lord that knocked me dead for a good minute. Plus, we’re in it for the slow burn, and part of that is letting it unfold naturally and gradually, not forced by circumstance or manufactured; make no mistake, the writers are invested in giving us everything we could want and more, but they know how to do it without falling in too deep into the rabbit hole, they have to take clarity in real time, we can only do that after the fact. I personally find that for once the writers know me better than I do, I’ve thrown out theories (some I’ve shared on here and some not) that I’ve had into the void with varying levels of accuracy, from none, to partial, to spot on (this last one being more rare personally). And honestly, I’m actually quite comforted at the moment with my trust in what the writers will do just in general, but obviously especially with Nace. For now I’m living on Kennedy’s words “just let it ride baby”. Plus, season 3 is the place to be for it to flow naturally like a river, give us that progression and have it happen.

Another Nancy x Ace feature I loved was Ace’s tendency to be more touchy (literally) and drawn to Nancy in the finale, because although make no mistake Ace has had numerous moments through the season in terms of his journey towards Nancy, Nancy has definitely been a bit more loud on that side of things although it does make total sense for the both of them. Nancy’s near death experience was definitely a catalyst in the journey for Ace to acknowledge those feelings, I mean the eye contact when Nancy woke up was astoundingly loud. Also, going back a bit for a second, aside from the fact I am so glad that Nancy dumped the dumpster fire that is Gil, I am also so giddy at what Ace said to Nancy because it was so sweet but I also adore his clear affirmation to Nancy that she can do it and that her breaking up with Gil was all her, she has the strength and as can be seen she proved that. Also quick note, aside from the back rubs and hand holding, his concern when the blood was draining, MY HEART. On top of that his “I feel like I left something behind” is giving me everything, and btw I can give you an eye witness description Ace, plus any additional info if you’d like. Coupled with Nancy’s speech she was rehearsing at his door, the girl has it bad for our boy, he just needs to gain clarity in return.

Other things I want to mention, I know we kind of talk about who Nancy’s gonna be with next but I’m gonna throw it out there and say no one, at least not until Ace comes along, at which point they play the game of awkward interactions and figure things out. The Nancy we’ve known up to this point has jumped from guy to guy, but we understand at this point that that’s down to her avoiding her trauma, which she’s now not only in charge of but has to face head on, which means not diving into just any guy’s arms, she understands at this point that it’s not healthy and it’s not helpful. As a result, I think she’s gonna fuel her time with other things; this will obviously include investigating, but maybe even hanging out at Ace’s house whilst he’s on the “romantic” trip (also I really don’t like Amanda defending Gil, I can understand defending family to a certain degree, but girl “he got dumped for no reason” is complete bs, did you even ask or just assume? Ace is right about all he said, and as someone with a brother myself I’ll say it doesn’t take having a sibling to know that, you didn’t even acknowledge Gil’s toxic behaviour properly when Ace called you back). I feel like even though Ace encouraged the trip that he’s already not feeling it, because his feelings are elsewhere *hint hint* right now, it’s more of an excuse to run from what (or who) he’s feeling different about, but when he returns we’re gonna get a lot of juicy content (I don’t think they’ll waste much time doing this for season 3). 

The episode really went there, addressing a lot but not making it feel rushed. Which whilst we’re on the subject, aside from Nancy’s whole ordeal, it’ll be interesting to see if maybe there’s a solution for finding a way to separate George and Odette (I’ve had this theory in my head that Temperance might be the devil they have to make a deal with), though if they do I want it to be a case of Odette being freed and her moving on, because Bess deserves to find someone (as they hinted in the interview for the finale) and not just be dragged back because whilst it was cute for a bit, the whole Odette thing was definitely messy regardless of her noble choice to not resurface again, but also give George her life back where she isn’t having to rush milestones and Bess can get the screen time (which btw I think they deliberately scaled her back this season to serve the other plots better so that they could do more for her in season 3, to give the writers credit where it’s due). Another thing, from the interview as far as the Bobbsey’s are concerned, as far as I know they’ll be taking a backseat, which has me intrigued as to how they’ll be used if they do turn up. On top of that, I loved the reference to Nancy and Ace’s feelings as “nothing casual” which leads me to the last bit of this long post (I will likely make more posts but I’m trying to control myself).

For the longest time I’ve shipped Nancy and Ace, like day 1 type stuff. And part of me just thought it was my brain working overtime and wanting it to be that way, especially when season 2 rolled around and we got all this CONTENT. It could’ve been the writers just latching onto us. But as it turns out I and the rest of us Nace shippers have been right in what our eyes saw this the entire time. They looked at Ace (Alex Saxon) as a love interest for Nancy (Kennedy Mcmann) the moment they had him cast. It’s such great validation because in season 1 amongst other scenes, especially when they went to the library and there was that look between them when they read the emails, I was like...am I? are you seeing this? the seeds were being planted. Anyways, that’s all that’s on my brain right now (surprise surprise), nevertheless I can’t wait for what’s next overall, but obviously I and the rest of us will have to. Luckily though it’s not a whole year we have to wait so we are truly blessed. Looking forward to what’s in store.

[tellywoodtrash]

immj2 30+31.12.20 lbs

30.12.20

lmao ep starts off itself with vansh and kabir ka staring match.

vansh steady in first place, not having blinked for................ like 3 minutes now? this dude a fucking freak.

while riddhima gazes adoringly at him thinking bhagwaan ne mujhe itnaaaaaaaaaa achcha pati diya hai. pft. idk what the hell sins you did in your last life riddhima, to get a husband like this one in this life, but it had to be something reallllllllllll bad. like stealing from little orphans and kicking puppies or some shit.

thankfully dadi is here to put an end to this chutiyaapa.

countdown blah blah, no1 currrrrrrrrr.

itna pheeeeeeeeeenka happy new year. bhai-behen ho kya???

now we talking.

he just says some trite shit like new kahaani that will be remembered for ages blah blah and gives creepy looks. dude why can’t you be normal on oneeeee bloody day?

ahaana also giving random creepy looks seeing vansh/riddhima hugging. and she goes and............

i think i watch this show and rrahul a little too closely ki i instantly knew this isn’t his hand and thus it’s not vansh’s hand she’s holding.

yupppppppppp. bola tha na.

damn they make a hotass couple of shady bitches.

ok wow i’m really feeling it. wish kabir wasn’t a sociopath who is incapable of feeling attachment (“love” is too strong a word) for anyone but his mother.

lmao his reaction when ahaana tells him ki riddhima didn’t believe any of the pattiii she padaofied her about vansh.

ok but how do these two know each other??? matlab yeh le aaya hai issko? i thought vansh le aaya hoga?!!?

mereko kya kaunsa manhoos le aaya? i’m just here for the attractive ppl pressing their bodies up against each other. keep on keeping on, #KaHana

he’s warning her against ever double-crossing him and dude the angry/hate-sex vibes here are *~~~ExQuISiTe*~~~~

the way she’s confidently gazing at him all sexy tells me she’s a much more seasoned player than riddhima and i already love her more than the damn lead of the show.

damn. that’s a gnarly period you got riddhima. that’s an unusual amount of flow. go see a doctor about it, sis.

i’ve heard about ppl making art with menstrual blood and all, but this is fucking ridiculous.

anyway of course the dumbass goes investigating it. and got fucking attacked in the storeroom and SOMEONE HUNG HER UP. LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS MESSED UP HOUSE DUDE????/ WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU STILLL LIVE HERE????

Chehra Appreciation Break

asadkjasldjlaskdjlsakjdlas the way he’s yelling for everyone and interrogating them of their whereabouts coz riddhima’s missing.

lmao ishani and ahaana’s reactions at this temper tantrum are fucking amazing.

dang what’s with the suuuuuper orange lower half of his face???? ugh. the foundation woes are back now that the beard’s growing back in.

anyway he went barrelling off to find her after some more chabaaya hua dhamkis at his fam. ahaana already regretting moving into this pagaal khaana.

this scene is so fucking disturbing to watch that i don’t even wanna fucking cap it. but she was legit getting HANGED and he managed to get there in the nick of time and save her.

how, you ask? BY SHOOTING AT THE ROPE, INSTEAD OF JUST.......... DOING SOMETHING NORMAL LIKE RUNNING AND PUTTING THE STOOL BACK UNDER HER FEET TO STABILIZE HER. THIS SHOW IS JUST FUCKING BATSHIT INSANE, MY LORD.

this poor girl, my god. i don’t think i’ve ever watched a tellywood FL be tortured to the extent that this one is on a daily basis. it’s fucking ridiculous. there’s no redemption for any of the raisinghanias at this point. she just needs to fucking leave (and file several domestic violence cases against each and every one of them, except dadi.)

anyway she tells him whatever went down today, starting from the period blood fiasco onwards and he’s........ vibrating in anger. cool i guess.

some promises and shit about how who ever did this will pay, time for “humaara khel” and .......... dude. you say this shit every single time. and nothing changes. i don’t give a fuck anymore about your stupid promises. move the fuck outta this hellhole with your wife if you really mean it.

seedha jaake ahaana ke sar pe bandook taan di. based on what evidence? only the Good Lord above knows, coz vansh and the writers sure don’t.

no literally based on what is he accusing her and pulling the trigger??????? idgi??????

almost shot her and is saying “riddhima pe kharonchh nahi aani chahiye, baat ishq aur vishwaas ki hai” and ahaana is giggling and literally what the fuck is going on i’m so confused.

ahaana saying wowwwww, you want revenge also, and she shouldn’t get hurt also.

MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!! I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE’S THE ONE WHO BROUGHT AHAANA IN!!!!!!!!!!!!

literally what the fuck is this dude on???? badla chahiye, par dard nahi hona chahiye. bhai, kya phoonk ke aaye ho, humein bhi toh thoda de do.

ok this is tooooo fucking convoluted a game. riddhima thinks kabir is the one attacking her. but it’s kabir + ahaana. kabir thinks ahaana is on his side and brought her into VR mansion, but ahaana is double agent who was actually planted in kabir’s nazar by vansh to fuck over BOTH kabir and riddhima. i think?????????

ahaana be like re devaaaaaa, what fucking madness have i gotten myself into????????????? the things i have to do for health insurance coverage during a pandemic.

———————————————————————

31.12.20

first 5 minutes is some new year ka naach gaana bs. fwding.

ok this fucker is a legit motherflipping crazy. he just wants to keep torturing riddhima for god knows how long.

even ahaana is alarmed.

did he do absolutely noooooo research after the cliff chhalaang? like....... this revenge shit is so dumb at this point, when he knows she brought in vihaan to stop kabir from ruining the family, and took a second fucking bullet for him?!?!?!?!?!?! they shouldn’t have written the second gunshot plot point, coz now he looks like a reallllllllll unappreciative fucker for whom literally no good deed is enough.

WHAT PYAAR AND VISHWAAS, FUCKER???????? LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?????? YOU’VE PLAYED THESE GAMES WITH HER FROM THE VERY START OF YOUR MARRIAGE AND MAYBE TOOK A BREAK FOR A WEEK OR TWO IN BETWEEN - WHEN SHE GOT SHOT THE FIRST TIME AND DURING ISHANI’S WEDDING. THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT??????/ LIKE.......... THIS MAKES NO BLOODY SENSE. THIS CHARACTER IS JUST SUCH A SUPREME DOUCHEBAG, MY GOD. THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NO REDEEMING HIM WHATSOEVER.

also can’t say rrahul’s extra chabaaaaa chabaaaaaaa ke bolna is making this enjoyable to watch at all.

all i wanna know is what ahaana has on him that he’s indebted to her and thought her worthy enough to join forces with. SPILL SPILL SPILL SPILL!!!!!!!!!!!! what does ahaana get outta all this?!!?!?!!!!!!

riddhima on the other hand running around wondering whom vansh is gonna murder. SIS YOU JUST GOT STRANGULATED CAN YOU SIT DOWN FOR A HOT SEC AND REST?!?!!?!?

ahaana is like bro you gonna ruin riddhima’s life, and he’s like yeah, that’s what i want. jesus christ, dude. just divorce her then. why prolong this shit out like this????? truly psychopathic.

riddhima hears his voice and heads to the pool area..........

............. isn’t that his shoulder there behind the tree? is she fucking blind???????? HOW CAN SHE NOT SEE HIS 7 FOOT TALL HULKING ASS BEHIND THAT PATLA SA JHAADI?????? HE’S LITERALLY THERE LIKE........

........... she left. god. she’s really really REALLY stupid. like pretty sure these crimes against her count as extraaaaaaaaa bad....... like, pick on someone with your own brain capacity, vansh? leave the simple minded sis alone!

the only gift that’s acceptable from you rn sir, is divorce papers. and a self-filed restraining order promising to stay 3 whole districts away.

yikes, that beard is notttttt growing in well.

“tum mujhe apne saare stress de do.” BITCH YOU’RE HER BIGGEST STRESS. ASSHOLE. I HATE YOU SO MUCH.

“tumse door jaake jaaonga kahaan? abhi toh bohut kuch baaki hai.” fucking dieeee, you psychopath.

lmaoooooooooooooooo her face when she doesn’t understand wtf this gift is supposed to be. i’ve been there sis. trying to fake enthusiasm for some reallllll bad gifts from men is truly painful.

also she’s so dang cute when they let her use her face properly!!!!!! har waqt bechaari ko bass rulaate rehte hain iss show mein.

one ainvayiiii gift ke bahaane some random cuteness.

sis gazing at him some more thinking omg he loves me soooooooo much.

she remembered ahaana’s warning, and is like no she was lying to me!!!!!!!!! stupid stupid stupiddddddd. no matter whoever planted her, you should believe that sister over your haraami misters. motive jo bhi ho, bol toh behen sach hi rahi thi.

yuck that looks ugly af. why the hell would you want that on your bedroom wall? esp. when your bedroom is already so goddamn fugly.

anyway he’s gaslighting her some more about ahaana blah blah.

riddhima like i’ll prove it. le, iska jee nahi bharaa. she wants to do more jasoosi and go get stuck in random traps that try to kill her.

vansh promising he’ll throw ahaana and her partners out if she can prove it. meaning you’ll........... throw yourself out?????

whatever man, idk and idc anymore what this fucker does. i’m just here for the faces.

threatening notes planted in all these ppl’s rooms. everyone instantly like OMG VANSHHHHHHHHHHH DID THISSSSS. lol coz who else does this chutiyaapa of leaving random messages around like this.

but nope. chachi saw riddhima’s earring lying there and knows it’s her.

isko bhi mila.

lmao kabir rueing the day he set eyes on riddhima coz jeena haraam kar rakha hai ladki ne.

riddhima like mwahahahahhaha they must have got my notes and now they’ll come attack me! behen, woh toh note ke bina bhi roz karte aaye hain...............

there. promptly got jumped.

surprise, surprise.

lol attitude toh dekho behen ka. wish she was the lead of the show instead of riddhima.

[gra-sonas]

malex as important as echo? since when?

They have been important since the pilot, but imo they are not treated with the same importance as Echo.

I’m grateful that she fought for the kiss, that there never was a shadow of a doubt that Malex had history, and that their love is far from over. I’m also glad she’s finally acknowledging that Malex actually are as important as Echo.

But the fact is: so far they've been treated very differently from Echo. And not just in the sense that Echo are front and center on billboards and in promo pics (ahead of S1 they used romantic!Echo pics to promote RNM, long before they even got together on the show), while we had to photoshop our own Malex promo poster with a pic Jeanine shared bc there isn’t a single official Malex promo pic.

So far, Malex have been denied any attempt at an adult relationship (I don’t count those few off screen days between 1x02 and 1x03 they supposedly spent together, if anything they reconnected and fuckedmade sweet love, but it wasn’t a relationship), while Echo were in a relationship for almost 2 seasons (sure, Max was dead for a hot second, but Liz didn’t stop loving him and focused everything on bringing him back).

Malex got thrown into a triangle, while Liz/Kyle and Cam/Max ended before Echo even started, and their love for each other hasn’t been challenged by other possible romantic partners since.

Malex had an entire season of one of them in a relationship with someone else, and in all likelihood they’ll go through at least half, maybe an entire season of the same with the roles reversed in S3.

Echo so far got lots of romantic screentime, while Malex mostly struggled, “broke up”, were forced into a triggering threesome, and overall have been denied real happy moments. In the S2 finale Michael stated “It’s a sad story, me and Alex.”

He isn’t wrong tbh, the writers have done everything in their power to keep them miserable and pile more trauma on them (hello Caulfield), when so far they didn’t even have a meaningful discussion about what happened to them all those years ago, and how they could possibly overcome it.

Which is also something that is often forgotten: Jesse and the shed happened to them, they didn’t bring that onto themselves, but the shed, and subsequently Michael’s role in the cover up of Rosa’s murder, made them carry a weight the size Echo never had to deal with - in fact Max, who decided to cover up the murders instead of calling the police (Michael’s suggestion), didn’t face any consequences other than “losing” Liz, which, all things considered, was unpleasant, but not exactly traumatic.

Michael on the other hand lost so much more that day/night:

a real shot at starting a better life by going to university, and towards Isobel he carried the burden of the lie that it had been him who killed the girls to spare her the pain.

the ability to play guitar, the one thing helping him to make things go quiet. His crippled hand a constant and painful reminder of what had happened in the shed.

Alex. The shed incident made Jesse force Alex to enlist. And due to Michael handling the murder cover up trauma badly (+ his abandonment issues stemming from his childhood), he didn’t even get to say goodbye (his decision, but still)

Don’t get me wrong, Echo’s love is not without complications, they are not together atm for a reason (or rather a number of reasons), but Malex have been deemed “unhealthy”, “not good for each other”, even “toxic” from the beginning, and we’re constantly told they have to develop further (apart from each other) before there’s even the possibility of them getting a shot at a relationship.

Because that’s what people who are in love do? Instead of trying to make things work, they decide to date other people for a while to get better for each other? I don’t think so.

It also makes no sense since the issues that are keeping them apart won’t ever be properly addressed or solved while one or both of them is/are in a relationship with someone else. It’s also unfair to the third party. It shouldn’t be their job to “fix" their partner so that they can move on to the person they actually love.

The mantra of Malex “not being good enough” for each other [yet] is one that is repeated ad nauseum by the writers and even some fans to justify that they still haven’t started their journey of getting together (all in the name of “but it’s a TV show, it’s how they work”. Yeah,  well, I call BS on that. It doesn’t have to be like that. They could tell an amazing slowburn story without involving other romantic partners for either of them. I’ve read a million fanfics where that was done rather beautifully).

Malex are always reduced to their shared trauma (which is actually QUEER trauma caused by homophobia, something the show has also failed to address in detail yet), and no matter what they do, it’s never good enough for them to earn a shot at a relationship. Even now, after Jesse’s finally dead and they destroyed the shed together - a symbol of their shared pain - and Alex sang his heart out and declared his love for Michael, they are sent in different directions again.

The bar of when they will finally be “good enough” for each other is constantly moved. They are measured against some unspecified “relationship ideal” they never seem to be able to reach. On a scale of 1-100, how far do they both have to make it to be deemed “good enough” for each other?

It’s a writing choice to keep them apart. Probably bc it’s less work than writing a meaningful “moving towards each other” story. Instead  there’s yet another relationship thrown in the mix as an obstacle (CAMs words, not mine) that has to run its course before they can start their “moving towards each other” journey (maybe, no promises, I’m sure they can come up with another dumb reason to delay that).

Either way, are they important? 100% yes! Are they as important as Echo? To a degree. They are undoubtedly the second OTP of the show. But the way their relationship (or rather lack thereof) is treated, differs vastly from Echo, who don’t have to jump through a million hoops to be together.

And so far it doesn’t look like S3 will change that.

[threewaysdivided]

I saw your conversation about Sam Manson. I was talking to Imekitty about this, but I’ve noticed a few things that (sort of) make Sam’s relationship with her parents seem more like teen-drama than actual hardship. If you look closely, she’s got a lot in common with them: outspoken political-activism, possible shared-interest in vintage clothes, and no shame in saying they don’t like certain people. Also, after the Fentons, they were the first to volunteer to use the Ecto-Skeleton, risks and all.

(In reference to this post.)

It’s been a little while since I rewatched DP so I’m not well-placed to do a detail-analysis implication-breakdown right now, but yeah - that fits with the overall impression I remember getting.  To me they came across as being sort of old fashioned set-in-their-ways conservative and snooty, and maybe a bit too Pleasantville -  but more often in the way of parents who do genuinely want good things for her and to be able to be proud of her despite not really understanding her interests, choices or friends and being very bad at expressing it.  Plus she seems to have her grandmother fully in her corner a lot of the time.

I really wish that the writers had committed to one or the other; either making it clear that Sam’s martyr/ persecution complex is mostly just regular self-inflicted teen-drama BS and giving her an arc addressing it, OR fleshing out the idea that she faces a lot of judgement/ pressure/ control/ nonacceptance in her home life and that her negative traits are a bi-product of defensive/ coping mechanisms resulting from that strained dynamic, rather treating things with Roger Rabbit Rules.  

(Which isn’t to say that a person can’t have similar interests/ personality traits to, and positive interactions with, their parents while still having a strained, broken or even abusive relationship with them on a deeper level, but the show never really goes hard enough in either direction to make it work.)

As mentioned the last post, this is kind of a consistent pattern across DP - the writers tend go with the low-effort first answer for whatever is Funny or Awesome or Convenient in the moment rather than putting in the work to find a solution that’s consistent with the characterisation, themes and world-lore overall.  There’s enough internal contradiction in the show that I don’t think it’s actually possible to take every canon detail as canon without fundamentally breaking things.  And in some ways that’s kind of cool; it makes the series more open to interpretation, and trying to distinguish authorial intent from authorial incompetence and come up with theories that account for as many pieces of canon as possible is really satisfying.  But, you know, it’s also kind of bad writing in general.

I think the thing that bothers me about Sam’s characterisation in particular is that - where it tends to be more obviously out-of-character when it shows up in other places - there’s a pattern to the inconsistency with how the writers handle Sam:

Throughout the series there’s a double standard in how Sam sees herself/ seems to expects others to act, compared to her own behaviour:

Despite being pro-pacifism she’s okay with smacking Tucker and encouraging Danny to destroy the trucks she doesn’t like

Sam values self-expression and is a feminist, but derides other girls for wanting to express themselves in a conventionally feminine way

Sam doesn’t like being forced to conform to others’ values but is okay with forcing others to conform to hers

Despite being anti-consumerist she shows very little discomfort at, or awareness of, her lavish home life and material belongings

She encourages Danny to take the moral high ground towards his bullies but has no problem antagonising and getting into petty verbal spats with Paulina herself

Sam stalks Danny and his love interest out of jealousy/ protectiveness but threatens to end their friendship when he does the same

In Mystery Meat, when Danny tries to express his discomfort/ anxiety, Sam hijacks the conversation to complain about her own parents instead of listening.

In One of a Kind Sam photographs Danny and Tucker hugging in their sleep, without their knowledge, with the stated intent of putting it in the yearbook, then uses it to blackmail them into silence. 

Side note: this joke is also tacky on a meta-level because it boils down to “male intimacy ha ha toxic masculinity no homo amiright?“ Would have been nice if show didn’t use low-key sexist humour as much as it did.

Instead of expressing that she’s hurt by Danny’s “pretty girls” comment in Parental Bonding, Sam retaliates by pushing him to ask Paulina out - a move she knows will most likely result in him getting publicly shut down and humiliated.

Then, after getting the result she wanted, she comes over to gloat and insults Paulina, rather than dropping it now that her point’s been made, which is what ultimately sets off the episode’s subplot.

In Memory Blank Sam permanently physically alters Phantom’s appearance to better suit her tastes while he’s not in a position to understand or give informed consent, then lies when Danny notices and asks about it later.

To be clear this definitely isn’t the be-all-and-end-all of her character and it’s not there 100% of the time - there are plenty of moments when she is loyal and generous and helpful and sincerely kind and where her stubbornness comes in handy.  But it’s the aggregate pattern of all these small instances that drives a crack through the foundation of her character integrity; producing this insidious undercurrent alternate-reading of Sam as someone who, at a deep level, just doesn’t respect or recognise that the emotional needs, pains, opinions, autonomy and boundaries of others are as real and valid as her own, and who responds to criticism with passive-aggressive hostility.

Again, I think that’s why people are so quick to point out that line from Phantom Planet, even though we all know the episode was a complete mess.  None of the examples above are particularly bad in isolation - you can’t really point at any one of them and say “oh no, bad girl” without sounding like you’re making a mountain out of molehill and irrationally hating on her just to hate on her.  It’s an uncomfortable slowburn pattern of subtle micro-transgressions that accumulates across the series - a “you might not notice it but your brain did”.  And it makes sense that it would be the worst-written episode that amplifies and brings that regular bad-writing undercurrent close enough to the surface for people to consciously recognise and use it to articulate those frustrations.

To wit: Not because it’s most telling of her character but because it’s most telling of the specific bad writing that regularly hurts her character. 

And again, from a storytelling point of view, it’s okay for Sam to have flaws.  She’s a teenager!  She’s learning.  She’s allowed to be egocentric and self-important and do things that aren’t the best at times.  It’s okay if these are her character weaknesses and a source of conflict with the rest of the cast.  But again, for that to be satisfying something really should have come of it.  It would have been nice if the writers were willing to have any self-awareness about these flaws being flaws that a person should recognise and grow past in order to have healthy relationships with others.  But they didn’t - because it’s easier to keep her as she is - to the point that they’ll actively bend the narrative to roll back or skip over moments that would have necessitated that growth.  So, even though they call attention to her flaws, the writers end up rewarding and enabling them instead of letting her learn.

And again, this isn’t meant to hate on Sam.  Hanlon’s Razor in full effect: it’s clearly a result of authorial/editorial incompetence rather than deliberate malice.  I know this isn’t the intended interpretation.

My preferred reading of Sam Manson is that she’s a Rosa Hubermann/ Hermione Granger/ YJS1 Artemis Crock-type character.  Someone who’s passionate and forceful and maybe a bit abrasive and hard to love at a glance, but whose core nature is compassionate and sincerely kind and loyal-to-the-death for the people they value.  I wish I could 100% like her without caveats; to be able to say that even if I don’t agree with her flaws I can at least understand that they’re a valid product of the life she lives, that they make her who she is and that she’s trying her best to be a good person who will get better despite them.  

But I can’t because the writers don’t give her that.  They’re always prioritising other things over the integrity of her character.  They don’t give her background enough time and context to make her negative traits feel resonant with it (because that would take time away from the Wicked Cool Radical Ghost-Fighting Superhero Action™) and the framing and plotting doesn’t give her chances to recognise or grow past them (because that would mean character development and those negative traits are an easy source of cheap conflict).  The writers just don’t seem to care all that much about Sam - her actual character, who she is, how she came to be that way, what she wants or how her negative traits would actually play against Danny and the others.

And that sucks.  Because she has a lot of potential to be a well-rounded and great character.  I’ve seen plenty of fics that seize that potential and roll with those gaps and the result is very good.  I wish I could like her canon depiction without feeling like I have to actively ignore a bunch of latent behavioural red flags as the price of entry.

She deserved better.

[hereisisa]

So I just read a statement from a fan claiming the ending is made for children and that the ending is joyful? Huh wtf did I miss something. I call bs

Ok I’ve answered to a similar ask in a short way but I keep getting similar messages so I guess I’ll sit down and write more on the subject.

Let’s say there are 3 ways to see this movie:

- occasional viewers’ way. They take their children to the movies once, they like it or not, they all think there are too many songs, and forget about it right after.

- the stans’ way. The ones who excuse whatever smart or stupid decision the writers and disney wanted, and everything is perfect, everything makes sense, everythins is right for the characters just like they wrote it (and if it’s not they’ll force themselves to accept it, one way or another).

- the critics’ way. Find your inner critic, and run with it.

Guess where am I?

And mind you, I’m not considerind my opinion of the same value as a movies’ critic, cause I’m not an expert, but as a fan I certanly know the characters and that’s why I think my opinion is valid too.

That said....

I’m not gonna waste time on the “occasional viewers”, even if THEY are the majority and their opinions on the movie are frequently surprising and interesting...simply because they’re not here, on tumblr, to discuss the movie.

The Stans. I do not want to offend them, this has to be clear, but the blind acceptance of whatever Jenn+Chris wrote doesn’t sit well with me.

I’ve never shipped canon, I don’t care about what the majority think, I do not feel the need to belong to a big group of people who share the same mindset.Once I’ve found those 2-3 people I agree with, my social media life is complete.

What I do not like about stans is the “If you don’t like it then you didn’t understand the movie or you don’t understand the characters” point of view.

Like acceptance of canon put them on a pedestal of omniscience in everything Frozen-related.

So this attitude generally pisses me off, but I usually ignore it and move on with my fandom life.

Now, let’s go back to your question: the end is good for children and joyful. Oh boy.

Let’s see it first from the STANS’ pov:

Elsa is free, runs free on a free sea, free of her burdens, making magic, talking to natives, and without a care in the world. She smiles. It means she’s happy and as a viewer I have to be happy too.Anna is a Queen, she’s smiling. It surely mean this is what she always wanted it, and she doesn’t care if her sister doesn’t live with her cause she can always write her a letter, right? Plus, she’s engaged omg omg omg omg!!!!!! Who cares about anything else????

There is an happy music, everybody smiles, let’s be happy!

To me, this is the superficial and dumb way to see it. Eating up whatever disney cooked for us, and saying thanks at the end.

It works for some children, the ones who “ok....the movie was sad, but they smile so...I guess it’s ok?” and the stans. Most kids are even smarter than that.

My way to see it:

Elsa smiles: of course, why on earth would Disney make a movie where the lead character is depressed at the end? lol They want me to believe this is an happy ending, they wouldn’t write her troubled or sad. I hope they’re not saying I should be happy cause Elsa is happy....Google the word “retcon” and see how it applies to this movie.

Elsa is free: she was free already in the first movie, after “let it go”, now she simply knows where her magic comes from. Good thing, but it doesn’t make her “more free”, it gives her more knowledge. And of course let’s ignore how this “freedom” comes at other people’s expenses.

Elsa is happy: why? Because her parents died for her?In the end she’s running free, on the free sea exactly where her parents DIED? AHAHAHAH THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL I’M SO HAPPY!!! Elsa smiles so let’s be happy!!!! Because she doesn’t have responsabilities anymore? YAY! She can wake up and talk to squirrels and go for her run! Wow! Who needs a job? (what a good message for kids!)Because she she is free to not care about anything else but herself and her magic?

This is the good message for children?

“Accept and show yourself” RIGHT.

But also:

“Forget your responsabilities”“If your parents died for you it’s ok because hey you were a gift so who cares if they died cause you couldn’t control your gift!”“Follow a voice for all the movie ignoring your sister and don’t pay any permanent consequence!” What an happy life! “Leave your family behind, they’ll be there to pick up the pieces while you’ll be freeeeee”AHAHAHAHA who cares right? Elsa is smiling and she’ so happy so I’m so happy!

Just because the movie ignores the consequences, I don’t have to ignore them too. I have a mind, and I use it. I’m not a parrot.

And for ONE good message the kids may get, there are way more that are problematic, and are ignored.Again, I’m not dumb I have a critic mind and I can’t ignore them.

Anna is Queen: Not once, not even once in her life she mentioned the fact that she wanted this. She didn’t have a choice, she became Queen cause she was the SPARE, and this is her destiny. Not her choice. Congrats!! I’M SO HAPPY!!!

Anna is alone: she’s not! she’s a boyfriend she can’t even comunicate with!! That’s all she need!! Plus it’s not like she needs a family! She has a dick now! It’s all she wanted! We saw her playing with dolls and all Anna wanted was a marriage! She would have married the first person who asked and she almost did!! And now she will!! I’M SO HAPPY!!!!If this movie made one thing clear to me, is that Anna would litterally marry the first one who ask her cause getting married it’s her dream. Period. I’M SO HAPPY FOR HER THIS IS PERFECT!!!

Anna can see her sister: Suuuuure, when she’s done playing with squirrels or being a pillar of a METHAPHORIC BRIDGE she may travel back to Arendelle once in a while, and then go back to live in the glacier where she almost died happily alone, talking to spirits and snow creatures! What an HAPPY LIFE! Anna wants this. Sure. Because Anna would DIE for Elsa and if this is what makes Elsa happy, then Anna would accept it.

Nothing and no one will ever convince me that this is what Anna would choose,  if ONLY SHE COULD HAVE A CHOICE!

I could go on and on for days, but you get the point, anon??????

If we accept the “happiness” these character show on their faces at the end as a dogma, without questioning WHY they are happy with a critic mind, if we ignore the RETCONS, the plot holes, the negative messages, the cut or changed storylines.....well yes they seem to be happy at the end.

But can you?

I can’t.

Accepting this would mean I’ll have to ignore everything I know and I like about these characters from the first movies and the books, and I love them too much to do that.

There are good things in this movie, like the origins of Elsa’s powers, some Elsa+Anna scenes, but the end is not one of them.

It is joyful, if you ignore dozens of things (I’ve listed ONLY A FEW).

It has ONE good message for kids (if you ignore all the negative ones).

But I’m not a stan, and I will not do it.

[milankyuubi]

Is there still hope that SnowBarry will be endgame?!

I been thinking of how we can actually get snowbarry to happen as endgame. Because lets admit it. The current writers etc etc are stuck on westallen and will not let it go. EW also seams to be big CP stan. And him not putting Danielle on his banner does not look good.

At the end of S7 the actors contracts expires as far as I know. And thats big deal since we may see some actors leave the show.

Personally I have heard rumors that Grant wants to focus on some other stuff. But I doubt CW will let him go. I see them making a new contract with 3 more seasons at least. Especially after CW is ending Supernatural and Arrow. And some other shows may get axed in the meantime (there are rumors going around that Batwoman, Supergirl and Legends may get canceled after current season).

So Flash is one of the biggest project they have. I don’t think they’ll let go of The Flash without any fight. I do see CW throwing more money at GG to keep the show going.

Carlos has stated in 2018 that he will not be leaving the show. Now we don't know what will happen in the future. But I can see him going for 3 more seasons. I don’t know if he has any other project in the works. But it would be strange if he refuses guaranteed pay checks if he doesn’t have anything already set. lol

As for Danielle. Based on her social media and the fact she gets to direct (and being first woman to do it) episodes I can easily see her going 3 more seasons. Yes she is pregnant, and we will probably get some episodes without her. But she still seams excited for the show. Being excited and happy at the chance to direct more episodes. And still finds time to do live chats on twitter when the episodes air.

I can see all 3 of them Grant, Danielle, Carlos  definitely returning. Especially if they get bigger paychecks. lol

Now you may wonder how does any of this have with snowbarry. Well imo I don't think Candice will renew her contract for 3 more seasons. She may do at least 3 to 5 episodes in season 8. As a means to wrap her character up. But why would she do this. Well you can tell she is not that happy with how they portray her character. Especially the journalism aspect. She seams excited every season for it, and it does not happen. She did the same in 2018 when they were talking about upcoming season 6. Yet so far,  everyone are just hyped for the crisis. And her part so far is no different then season 5. And people are like "a little to late".

We also have to admit that many people (that sadly includes some snowbarry fans, and comic book fans) have been terrible to her on social media. But I have also heard that she is not that easy to get along with others on the set. Plus she is known to get her stans attack other cast members. Like when she purposely cropped the pic of her and Danielle Nicolet and posted only pic of her online. Which led many on social media to attack DN even more. She did this instead of trying to help her cast member. And I don;t even have to mentioned her attitude when it comes to DP, it’s already well known. Plus majority of her fanbase are just terrible human beings. Going against GG and his wife, attacking everybody who do not praise the ground she walks upon. heck that same fanbase is currently dived. half of them are praising EW. While others are attacking him with their usual bs (racist etc).

She also doesn’t seam excited for the show at all. I heard she doesn’t want to promote the show the way others (DP for an example) without getting extra payed first. And she is known to be even rude to her own fans by rudely refusing to live chat when episode airs. To busy doing fantasy football, posting nude pics of her self when she was a child and underage and probably doing NBA players if what I heard is correct.

So I do think after 7 years she her self would want to get out.

I also don't see Joe's actor staying for 3 more seasons. Maybe recurring role. But his character has already peeked right now in season 6 (his talk with Barry in episode 4).  And while I do like Joe. The positive thing is that the show will no longer focus on west drama.

You'll also ask: Well how does this get us snowbarry? Well lets remember we are talking about CW here, the masters of romance and drama. lol There is no way they'll let Barry stay single for long. They already did Linda and Patty. So the question why will they chose snowbarry? Well lest not forget that Tom does enjoy to direct a lot scenes with Grant and Danielle. There is a reason snowbarry fans refer to him as "our captain". :D Grant did expose some interest of exploring snowbarry back in the day, but was forced (his words) to rush westallen. So I don't think he'll be against it.

Danielle does seam to be the biggest snowbarry shipper. lol You can see it in her past and some currents interviews. She will definitely say yes to snowbarry happening and being endgame.

The actors do have some power of writers decision making. Danielle did scrap the whole Caitlin/Ralph romance immediately. So if 3 of their main casts and with little help/support from us snowbarry fans on social media, there is a great chance of writers etc accepting it.

Lets also not forget that the writers intentionally or not. Have been giving us a slow burn snowbarry for 5+ years now. So a lot of development is already there. The dots have been placed. All they have to do is slowly connect them during seasons 8 and 9. And make it endgame in the finale season. And this is not just me wanting my ship to happen. But I do honestly think it would improve the show quality if you remove westallen/west drama from the show. And I have to say this unfortunately because I know many will come screaming racist (as always happen sadly). This theory of mine is not based on skin color or anything else. So lest not go there at all!

Of course this all depends on Candice's decision.

I reposted this comment here from snowbarry yt video, where I originally posted it. Of course I changed some things do to new info being out in the meantime.

[fuckyeahcarlosandlidia]

Carlos & Lidia and The Obsession: victims of a terrible storyline

So I made a rewatch of a few scenes, because seriously, guys, for the life of me I can’t find a logical explanation about this storyline.  In general, the season was terrible, so that in some way kinda reassures me, it wasn’t just Lidia and Carlos and the triangle BS, but still, it’s my personality to try to find answers and try to understand. So here’s my interpretation of a few facts, and I really hope you’ll share with me your opinions about it.

They clearly built up the season in order to get exactly the ending we got.  They wanted Lidia and Carlos to separate, they wanted this angst, they wanted Carlos to fail, and they wanted a new start for the triangle as well.  With two seasons to come, they had to find new stories and new dynamics. Because the show isn’t coming to an end. 

Said that, they didn’t do it in the most predictable way which, I don’t know, could have been Lidia realizing she still loves Francisco and then as soon as he wakes up, she dumps Carlos, because that’s what she wants. No, they played with her feelings and with Carlos’ feelings. They wanted the audience to doubt about the real reasons Lidia couldn’t help but being there for Francisco every single day and night, they wanted Carlos to doubt as well. That’s why she wasn’t clear about her feelings when Carlos proves how insecure he was.  “That bullet was for me, and I think you would prefer if it was me in his place. You still love him, don’t you?” She doesn’t say anything because they didn’t want her to say anything right there.

Lidia is obsessed about Francisco’s conditions, it’s her frustration. She believes he’s in such a state because of her, because of what happened with Eva and she just can’t see anything else. She neglects Carlos, her family and by doing that, she leaves him alone with his doubts and fears as well. Vulnerable and exposed for his obsession to start, for people to play with his fears. Carlos has spent a year being patient and understandable towards her but constantly missing her in his life the way she was supposed to be. And he did everything in his power to be supportive and loving and caring. And I think he reallytried to do anything to make her happy, to make her feel better, but it never seemed enough. But the writers wanted us to wonder if Lidia was still in love with Francisco and they kept going on with that for awhile.

Then everything changes around episode 5. That’s the point when Carlos’ obsession increases and Lidia’s disappears, and she starts letting go and finally she opens up about her feelings to Carlos. She finally realizes that he has always been there for her and she hasn’t, but unfortunately it’s too late because the good intentions Carlos may have had on telling her about Francisco fades away the moment he sees her so upset and finally so close to him. Also, there’s another moment in this very same scene that just makes something click for Carlos. It’s when Lidia says that she hopes it’s not the last time Carlota and Oscar see each other. There’s pure fear on Carlos’s face, and it’s something I noticed even in 4x01 when Lidia tells him about Marga and Pablo’s divorce.

From that moment, it’s Carlos’ downhill. The morning after they made love and Lidia is completely happy and so tender with him, he asks her to marry him and he’s not satisfied with her answer. “Let’s think about it” even though it’s crystal clear she’s very touched by his words. And it’s exactly right after Oscar gets arrested that Lidia realizes there’s no reason to wait, that life is now and that it’s worth to live it now. Everything can change in a minute and when she says yes, let’s get married, she’s completely happy and sure. She admits once again about her obsession on Francisco, but she makes it clear to Carlos that what she truly want is him, their family. The problem here again is him. It’s him that completely lost himself. It’s him who has been captured by his own obsession.

Another interesting point that to me proves that Lidia had no intention to leave Carlos at all and that everything she did for Francisco was just something moved by her true desire  that he could be fine is exactly the moment she sees him again.  Lidia herself said that now she can truly be happy, and of course she doesn’t know what Carlos is doing behind her back. She says that because now that Francisco is alright, she can get free of this bargain and move on with her life as well. The only memories we see of them are the ones of them as kids at the station, nothing else. Sure, he has just this memory of her, but it’s also because, IMO, their relationship has always been connected to that, to them as kids. 

Another thing I liked is that Lidia corrects Francisco when he calls her Alba. She tells him that her name is Lidia, and that was really good to hear  because it implies many things. But the very moment that made the difference was her reaction when he tells her that Carlos was at the hospital when he woke up. Lidia can’t believe it, she tells him he must be confused, and that’s what she repeats three times, to Angeles as well. She says it right there to Francisco, she says to Angeles “Carlos is the father of my child, my best friend, he couldn’t do anything like that” and even when she learns the deal he made about Eva, she still can’t believe it. When Francisco tells her that, she even starts shaking. 

When she goes home to take Eva away and she starts fighting with Carlos, showing how much he hurt her, telling him that she thought they were a team, that she has always seen them together, that was just sooo painful because you can see, you have the real proof that Lidia would truly never leave him. She needed Francisco to be fine because he’s someone very important to her, but she had no intention to leave the man she loved and chose. It was her obsession that made her make mistakes.  The thing is that she found the chance to free herself from her obsession, Carlos didn’t.  Carlos completely fell for it, and he let it devour him. And that’s the very reason why she leaves him.  He gave her a reason to leave, he gave her a reason not to see her anymore. The way she yells at him through the tears “you won’t see me anymore!” And that’s when she decides to go back being “Alba”, to go back to her first love, a safe choice, because he didn’t break her heart.

Obsession is a disease, it makes you distort reality, it makes you not see the reality and sometimes makes you become someone you’re not, and makes you do what you’ll never do.  With Carlos, they did that, mostly with than with Lidia. I still think it was forced, it was something they deliberately decided to do because as I said they wanted to change the dynamic in the triangle, and by doing that, they destroyed both. They obviously destroyed Carlos because they made him do huge mistakes and they destroyed Lidia, in the end they made her switch her partner, forgetting the growth she had in 3 seasons. 

I honestly don’t know what they’re gonna do next, I imagine they’ll keep playing with the triangle because that’s their favorite thing. What I’ll take from this, and as I said I would like to hear your opinion as well, is that clearly Lidia had no intention to leave Carlos, he was her choice,  the father of her child, her best friend, her partner, the man she wanted as her husband for the rest of her life. AGAIN. Sadly, they made him sabotage himself because of an obsession that was increased by others as well, but mostly because the writers wanted to hit him to go with this storyline.  Or else, there was no way they could do it.  Because for 3 seasons, Lidia has always picked him.  And no matter how many difficulties they have gone through, he never went that far with lies. And this season everything was made to destroy Carlos.

What I can hope for season 5 is that they re-build Carlos as the man he has always been. Far away from his mother and even from his sister, who really didn’t help him at all.  If that’s a fresh start for everyone, it must be for him, too, and maybe if Lidia saw how changed he is, she can forgive him and understand better why he did what he did. They will see each other again, for sure, the story isn’t over and letting go right now is too soon. Sure, now there’s room for disappointment, anger and sadness because they totally played us, disrespect us and the characters. God, their own characters! For something they thought it was cool.  Their protagonst, the leading lady, the one who’s supposed to be the main character in a feminist show. 

But as I said, I’ll try my best to keep the optimism alive, because I care about these 2 too much, and because I think there’s still hope, for real. Oh, I forgot to say in my previous post how wonderful Blanca and Martiño are.  The chemistry, the feelings that they can give to us are just magical and I’ll never get tired of saying this.  They’re truly beautiful together, even when they fight.  And no matter how many mistakes Carlos does,  Martiño has such a face that makes it impossible to mad at him, because he’s able to make you feel the pain with just one look. 

Sorry if it’s too long, but I had many things to say:D

[legobiwan]

Master and Apprentice: An Overview of Themes

Okay, so as many of you may have surmised, I adored this book. There’s so much to talk about in it and the ramifications of some of the themes play all the way up to the Sequel Trilogy. 

To be honest, I’m not even sure where to start with everything I want to talk about, but I’m going start here with this basic outline of things I noticed and will dissemble from there over the next few days, weeks, whatever. 

Lineage

“You inherit your parents' trauma but you will never fully understand it.”

So I will preface this part by saying that I am a huge fan of Bojack Horseman and this theme comes up again and again and again in this show. (As does the difficulty, but possibility, of breaking that cycle.)

This book is heavy on the behaviors and prejudices and patterns that get passed on through generations, or in this case, lineages. Dooku’s preoccupation with prophecy touches Rael, which touches Qui-gon, which touches Obi-wan, and of course, ultimately plays a huge role in Anakin’s life. Not only that, but Dooku’s restrained, demanding manner seems to have  rubbed off on Qui-gon, who seemed to be constantly measuring up Obi-wan to an impossible metric and thinking it in his presence, which meant Obi-wan likely felt all of this and presto changeo we have a talented young Jedi who feels he is unworthy. This book really illustrates how Masters are as much parents as teachers, and how whatever issues the parent is dealing with gets passed down and processed, whether it be through rebellion, imitation, or a host of other reactions. Hell, the book mentions Yoda’s master (albeit not by name). I am *dying* to know who they were and what happened there. 

Performance Art

Okay, so one of the initial main culprits is a group of performers who end up being branded as terrorists. First of all, this made musician-me CACKLE, period. But beyond that, there is a running theme of a performative aspect to government, to ceremony (Fanry perfects this), even to the Jedi themselves with their rituals, with their idealistic Code versus reality. Sidious was perhaps the best performance artist of the entire GFFA. And prophecy, to a certain degree, requires performance, requires actors to ingest a script and accept it as truth, and finally meet its demands of life’s stage. Is it foretold because the events must happen or because the actors choose to make them happen?

Prophecy

Which leads me into the thorniest topic of this book. Dooku was obsessed with prophecies. Qui-gon became obsessed with prophecy, to the point of breaking a thousand laws to get Anakin to Coruscant. And then Obi-wan was so devoted to Qui-gon, despite everything, that he told himself he had to believe in the prophecy, for Qui-gon’s sake (back to family issues there.)

How many of these prophecies ended up being self-fulfilling because of the actors involved? (Namely, Qui-gon.) Even when Qui-gon realizes his mistake is trying to control the future instead of accepting it, he goes ahead years later to manipulate circumstances so Anakin can be a Jedi. That’s not accepting the future, he cheated at dice to change the future, to control it. And that action set off an avalanche of consequences I doubt Qui-gon prepared for. In short, Qui-gon is a very fallible character here and shows a fair amount of egotism in terms of his relationship with prophecy. 

I mean, the Force showed Qui-gon that he was “meant to misinterpret” his vision? I don’t even know where to start with the sheer audacity of that statement. Qui-gon doesn’t report his vision to the Council, because he thinks they won’t understand, thinks they’ll get mired in some minutiae of governance and not do anything substantial. And yes, the Council does dither, even Obi-wan notices it, but those controls are there for a reason and Qui-gon just runs roughshod over them, because he thinks he alone has the answers, that he alone can change the future. 

And it kind of comes back to this whole Lineage issue where Dooku had this attitude that he alone knew the truth. I mean, he defects to the Sith partially to rid the Republic of corruption, and look at his Padawans - Rael and Qui-gon, both iconoclasts, both skirting the edge of...something, and it’s almost laughable that Qui-gon gets so upset with Rael’s disregard of certain parts of the Code (the killing of his Padawan part, of course, but also the celibacy part) because Qui-gon lies and cheats and pulls cons across the galaxy and disregards swaths of the Code at will. And you have to wonder, is this because Dooku was too independent, and if Dooku was that independent, how did Yoda’s training of Dooku play into that? 

Then again, while family and upbringing play a huge part in a person’s actions and personality, they are not the only thing, they do not dictate the future. Nor do prophecies. And Qui-gon clings so much to these prophecies, just as Dooku did (and Dooku’s prophecy of choice, he who learns to conquer death will through his greatest student live again is just...it explains a lot as to why Dooku was so devoted to teaching, was so exacting on his students ((although I will never let go of the headcanon that Dooku actually enjoys teaching, because I feel that a personality like his needs someone to impart knowledge to)). 

Prophecy, more often than not, becomes self-fulfilling prophecy, which is an interesting paradox. Prophecies are read, believed to be true, and are enacted by the actions of the very people (beings) who read them in the first place. 

And thus they become prophecy. 

I mean, no wonder Yoda wanted to burn the “sacred texts” by the time The Last Jedi rolls around. Prophecy becomes a way to abnegate responsibility for one’s actions, to deny, whether it’s Dooku seeking to avoid death, Qui-gon proclaiming he is a vessel for the will of the Force, or even Obi-wan claiming Luke as the Chosen One in Twin Suns. (Although, I wonder about that last one, as Obi-wan is naturally skeptical of prophecy. I mean, the Jedi do have the Force and are granted visions, but then again, they make decisions. They choose to turn to the Dark Side, choose to bend to the will of a hazy future which claims no specific actors...and I feel like Obi-wan’s references to prophecy are more an expression of familial love, of tribute to Qui-gon rather than a true belief that Anakin was "the” Chosen One. Obi-wan believed in Anakin himself above all else, even his better judgment.)

The Jinn-Kenobi Express

So...what is going on with these two?

In many ways, this is more of a Qui-gon book than an Obi-wan book, although we get plenty of insight to Obi-wan’s character. And one of the things I really appreciate about Claudia Gray is the fact that she seems aware of the Jedi Apprentice series, the kind of dynamic that created, and weaves this story in a way that does justice to those interactions and the limited time we see Qui-gon and Obi-wan together on screen. 

And the thing is, Qui-gon is kind of a jerk to Obi-wan. From page two of this book, his is questioning Obi-wan, wondering why he hasn’t reached a certain point in his abilities yet (all while deliberately holding him back in areas like lightsaber combat, which is an astounding illustration of Qui-gon’s complete obliviousness to his own actions and ramifications of his actions). And, let’s be honest, Obi-wan is an empath - he wouldn’t be such a talented negotiator and diplomat if he weren’t (because, before anything else, you need to be able to read people, to know and feel their emotions in order to succeed at deals, treaties, and diplomacy). Obi-wan knew Qui-gon was questioning him, could feel it and this harkens back to those JA books where Qui-gon is kiiiind of a total douche, at times. And Obi-wan - rebellious, independent, self-esteem-lacking, so wanting someone’s approval Obi-wan...just falls right into this. It’s kind of an unhealthy dynamic, which resolves itself after Pijal, only to relapse all over again when Qui-gon finds Anakin and pulls his BS on Tatooine. 

Here’s the thing. Qui-gon is not a bad person. I don’t hate Qui-gon, he has good motivations, he wants to make things better. He cares about Obi-wan, seeks advice from his old Master (not knowing Dooku has fallen, my god), tries to free all the slaves he encounters, wants to buck every piece of Jedi and Republic law in order to make the galaxy right. And, you know, I get it. I really do. But there’s idealism and then there’s trying to do the right thing within the systems (no matter how terrible) we have created and inching forward to change because to do otherwise would be to fight yourself in a paper bag. 

Qui-gon is the living embodiment of the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

And Obi-wan knows this, knows Qui-gon is fallible, knows that his devotion to idealism, to prophecy is dangerous and yet he goes along with it anyway because Obi-wan’s greatest failing is his attachment. Obi-wan (the empath) cares too much and he can’t let go - not of Qui-gon, not of Satine, and certainly not of Anakin. 

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.“ I mean, I’m not a Kylo Ren-stan by any means, but he’s not wrong. At least, not in a broad sense, not in the way that might have allowed Obi-wan to make some clearer-headed decisions about everything from his relationship with Qui-gon to Anakin to the Council. 

In Conclusion

Dooku cared about his students but possibly feared death and thus possibly made his students his vessels to achieve the goal of immortality, despite enjoying teaching.

Qui-gon cared about Obi-wan as much as he did the betterment of the galaxy but was terrible at expressing it and put too much faith in himself, the Force, and prophecy. 

Obi-wan cared almost too much about everyone but himself, replacing self-esteem with rules and the Code, devoting himself to the memory of Qui-gon and his wishes in his guilt over his survival of the encounter at Theed.

And this writer cares waaaaaay too much about these characters and will most definitely be writing more about this book because, to quote Obi-wan flying a ship in the middle of a ship: AAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGHHHH

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 6 “So That’s How It Is”

This is a re-posting from Nov. 17th, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks! 

Real talk: that episode was 100% not what I wanted to see and honestly not what I thought we’d be getting after the tone of “The Lost Fable.” Yet here we are.

We start off with the gang having just finished Jinn’s vision, which surprised me a little bit. RT tends to delay gratification—Want to know how people will react to this plot point? If that person survived? Gotta wait a while longer!—so I was expecting to begin with the villains, if not push this confrontation an entire episode. Yet we kick things off with a voice over from Yang, highlighting the exact part of the story we knew she’d hyper-focus on:

Yang: “Salem can’t be killed. You all heard her too right?”

And we’re immediately back to where we were emotionally in episode two—which frankly drives me a little nuts. The entire purpose of getting glimpses of the team throughout the vision was to see their reactions to the events: Qrow lifting a hand towards Ozma, Ruby looking ill at Salem trying to kill herself, Blake and Weiss heartbroken over Salem’s grief, Yang horrified at what the gods were doing to them. On the one hand I agree that it’s incredibly realistic to have them lashing out like this. Put a bunch of teenagers through that much trauma, chuck a now fallible mentor at their feet, and they’ve got themselves a scapegoat they can’t resist. On the other hand, Team RWBY + co. has been portrayed as staggeringly better than this in the past, so it rings as at least a little false to me that they’d go this far. Not that they wouldn’t be angry, but that out of the six of them—including Oscar now—there’s not a glimmer of empathy alongside the anger. I understand entirely that we ended on the worst note possible (more manipulation by Jinn), but that doesn’t erase the fact that this is a) a large group of b) incredibly compassionate people who c) just spent 99% of that vision witnessing traumatizing events that weren’t Ozpin’s fault and feeling for him then. Bypassing one moment of sympathy for him or even hesitation at cutting him further feels less like realistic teenage fury and more like the writers deciding to ignore a large chunk of their characterization for the sake of drama.

Because what they witnessed aside, this is still Ozpin. He’s still the headmaster/friend they adored, still the man who taught them in Haven, still the huntsmen they fought beside in one of their worst battles to date. And here he is now after having his entire past ripped from him, back on his knees and crying. That’s an image that the protectors in them shouldn’t be able to brush aside so easily, especially when each of them has been through a piece of Ozpin's existence. Weiss knows what it’s like to have people more powerful than you pulling the strings. Yang understands anger that drives you to choices you’ll later regret. Blake has already fought against unimaginable odds (see: Oobleck’s lecture about how she wants to change the world but has no idea how to do it yet. That’s Ozpin). Ruby is familiar with being the eternal outsider—“I don’t want to be the bee’s knees! I just want to be a normal girl, with normal knees”—and Qrow, as he’ll mention in a moment, knows what it’s like to have nothing and no one. Ozpin was there for him then, but he won’t do the same for Ozpin now.

Let them have their anger, but let them act like themselves too.

Yang: “There was so much you hadn’t told us! How could you think that was okay?”

Yang in particular has a lot of displaced rage. She has since she was a kid and now Ozpin has become a very easy target to direct all that towards. Still, it doesn’t change how mind-numbingly frustrating it is to see these kids twisting every piece of information that comes their way. How could he think that was okay? Ozpin already gave you his answer. He said straight out that he doesn’t want to reveal all his secrets because the last two times he did that (Raven and Lionheart) he was betrayed and, presumably, that’s happened numerous times before. Yang insists that he can tell them his secrets. They’ll stand by him! But oh look, they wrenched the secrets from Ozpin forcibly and now they're not standing by him.

The girls are liars and hypocrites in this moment. Like I get it, they're also traumatized teenagers, but that doesn't change the fact that they're pulling the same shit Ozpin is currently getting all the flack for.  

I’ve mentioned before that there are a hundred reasons why Jinn’s answer to that question is complete BS. Even ignoring our audience-knowledge of how jinns tend to operate, we have the in-canon fact that she can’t answer anything about the future. Her answer regarding Salem's defeat is null and void in light of not knowing how the situation might change—how can she possibly say that Ozpin or another will never win? But even ignoring that too we have the additional fact that defeating Salem never was and never will be the true goal. Uniting humanity is. Keeping people safe from the grimm is. These are things everyone agreed to long before they even knew who Salem was. What? Did Team RWBY think they were going to wipe out the grimm in their lifetime? That they’d drive creatures to extinction that, as far as they know, have existed since the dawn of time? No. They were just planning to make the world a better place for as long as they could. They’d already agreed to a fight against an “impossible” to beat enemy. Fundamentally nothing has changed.

Yet Ozpin understands that suddenly learning that a Big Bad is immortal knocks a huge dent in everyone’s hope. He knows—largely from experience—that laying out the situation with no context or nuance (as Jinn did) will make people give up. And we already see it happening, not just in their reaction towards Ozpin, but in casual lines like Blake’s, “I just want to get this stupid relic to Atlas.” No doubt one of Ozpin’s greatest fears is that learning the truth will alienate people from fighting at all. It did for Raven. It did for Lionheart. And now it’s doing the same for the girls, with them acting like they just want to get the powerful relic out of their hands and then leave Ozpin to fight this war by himself. Though I don’t actually think the girls will give up (that would be a very different kind of story), that line is not reassuring right now and just re-emphasizes that Ozpin was right to be wary.

We also see it in Qrow’s exchange with Ozpin:

Qrow: “No one wanted me. I was cursed. I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world. I thought I was finally doing some good.”

Ozpin: “But you are—”

Qrow: “Meeting you was the worst luck of my life.”

No one is letting Ozpin finish. Yang demands to know why he kept his secrets and then cuts him off before he gets out more than an “I—”. They let him admit that he doesn’t have a plan, but no space to explain any context surrounding that statement. Here Ozpin tries to tell Qrow that he is doing good, he does have a place in this world, the existence of Salem does not suddenly negate everything else they’ve accomplished… but Qrow doesn’t let him get that far. At this point they’re not interested in listening to anything Ozpin has to say. This isn’t a conversation anymore, it’s an emotional witch hunt.

So is it any surprise that Ozpin eventually nopes out of there? Qrow has just punched him and, far more damaging, delivered that gut-wrenching line about how he’s the worst thing that ever happened to him. Again, context always matters. Two friends fighting and saying cruel things to one another? Not great, but survivable. Ozpin and Qrow aren’t just two friends though. Qrow is currently Ozpin’s only friend.

Let’s recap: His children are dead, his first host is dead, the original version of humanity that he knew? All dead. Who Ozma once was is gone, the gods he knew abandoned him, and the one remaining tie he has to his past is his genocidal ex-wife who’s hell-bent on killing him. Every host Ozpin has had since then has passed away or merged with him in some horrific amalgamation. His friends at Beacon are either out of reach or don’t know about his reincarnation trick and think he’s dead too. Raven sided with Salem over him. Lionheart, a friend for decades, sided with Salem over him. The children he’s traveling with are out for his blood, including the child he’s forced to share a body with. The one person he had left was Qrow… and Qrow just gave the biggest “fuck you” possible. Keep in mind the abuse coding from last episode and fill in the blanks of a couple thousand years. Then Ozpin told Salem the truth and was murdered along with his children. Now the truth comes out and he’s chucked into a tree and screamed at. Ozpin has been conditioned to expect nothing but violence when he bares himself emotionally… and people keep proving him right. He’s currently the lowest he's been in decades and there’s no one here to help pick him back up.

“Maybe you’re right," he says. Maybe I am the worst thing that’s ever happened to you all… so I’ll leave. As much as I’m able to, anyway.

The real kicker though? That’s just met with more anger. “That bastard!” Yang yells. “Tell him we’re not done yet!” Ozpin quite literally can’t do anything right in their eyes. Keep secrets to protect people? You’re evil. Spill secrets? You’re evil. Stick around to defend yourself? How dare you. Leave because you’re obviously not wanted? How dare you.

And you know what I just realized? At least one of the reasons why this arc feels so extreme to me? Because our characters are currently acting exactly like a large portion of the fanbase. For years RWBY viewers have demonized Ozpin and complained every time he came on screen, waiting for the day when the show would finally prove that he’s irredeemable trash. Except when that day came we actually learned that he’s a flawed, mortal man who was manipulated by a bunch of dick gods. Instead of acknowledging that hey, maybe we were wrong about his character, a huge portion of the fanbase has spent the last week grasping at straws in order to continue hating him. Ozpin has been sacrificing child soldiers to his war for millennia. (False). Ozpin has done nothing but lie to the cast since day one. (False). Ozpin raped Salem during his first reincarnation and was super abusive towards her. (False??)

Now we have this kind of mangled “justification” made canonical. Fans and characters alike are currently determined to make Ozpin their antagonist—no matter what.  

So Ozpin basically has a panic attack while still trying to give them what they supposedly want: a world where he’s not around to mess things up. Yet the girls’ hypocrisy is revealed once more. They despise every decision Ozpin makes… but still want him calling all the shots.

Weiss: “He just left us?”

Blake: “What are we going to do now?”

Newsflash, you can’t have it both ways. Lucky for them (since no one is willing to take on the responsibility that Ozpin has been shouldering) Maria steps up and announces that they need to put off this conversation until they’ve found someplace safe. Because grimm. Which is what they should have done in the first place and would have if Yang hadn’t thrown a temper tantrum. She starts yelling at Maria too—“Lady, I don’t know who you think you are”—which just further demonstrates how Yang is willing to take her anger out on anyone and anything that crosses her path. It’s not healthy. It’s certainly not fair to those around her and I really hope someone addresses this soon.

Maria: “I’m still coming to terms with the fact that this is Humanity’s second time around!”

You tell ‘em! Poor Maria was thrown into the deep end of the pool with no life preserver and she’s the only one managing to keep a level head. God bless this woman.

(Please don’t be evil, oh please don’t be evil.)

Maria: “If we don’t move we die and I’ll be damned if I’ve lived this long just to die out in the cold!”

And how long is that exactly? Long enough to have lived through the Great War? Inquiring minds want to know…

Ruby agrees though—beginning to segue back into her role as compassionate leader—and at her word everyone packs up the rest of their stuff and heads on out of that awful spot. Salt and burn the earth, girls. Leave it behind.

Except just when I think the emotional punches are through we get this horrible moment between Oscar and Qrow. Oscar tells Ruby, in an intimate moment of confidence, that he’s afraid he’s just going to be another life of Ozpin’s. Ruby immediately showed compassion again once Oscar switched back (reaching for him when he winced from the punch) and here she’s her old self again, reassuring him that no, he’ll always be his own person. That's the Ruby we love.

Then Qrow breezes by and denies it. “Don’t lie to him,” he says. “We’re better than that.”

Wow.

That was not okay. By any stretch of the imagination. Goddammit, Qrow, you’re the adult here and honestly I don’t give a damn how much you’re hurting right now, that doesn’t give you the right to take your anger out on an innocent kid. Oscar didn’t ask for this and the idea that he exists only to be Ozpin’s host is just blatantly untrue. You’re being cruel to him for cruelty’s sake which, I’d like to point out, we’ve yet to see Ozpin do. Despite all the trauma he’s suffered, he’s never taken his grief out on the children around him like that. He’s also never claimed to be above lying as Qrow just did. With the point being only that this group is making a LOT of mistakes right now while refusing to allow Ozpin his own.

With that lovely piece of advice we turn to the villains… which frankly felt like some much needed breathing room after “The Lost Fable” and these last five minutes. The fact that the villains’ plot-line is taking place in the past means that nothing revealed to them is news to the audience. Cinder’s alive? We knew that. Ozpin reincarnated? Obviously knew that too. The focus is instead on how they react to this information… and it turns out the answer is “Pretty damn violently.”

Before that though we see Hazel, Emerald, and Mercury arriving back at Salem’s palace (the same one that she and Oz once lived in together). I’ve already come across jokes about how Hazel is now the dad of the group, and while obviously this is just meant as a silly acknowledgement of some really flimsy compassion we see from him, Emerald does look to Hazel when she gets off the ship, clearly seeking reassurance after Cinder’s (presumed) death.

Tyrian is waiting to greet them and he’s his usual, creepy self—minus half a tail. Really though, he seems to have recovered quickly from Salem’s wrath last volume. He taunts Emerald about Cinder and when she threatens him he just cuts himself on her blade. Not gonna lie, I love Tyrian more and more as the series goes on. He’s the wild card of the group and as such remains endlessly entertaining.

Mercury is supportive of Emerald, helping her calm down a bit in the face of Tyrian’s taunts, and really all of this is a nice contrast to what we’re getting with Team RWBY: the villains are supporting one another while our heroes tear each other down. Remember all those references to how Salem’s victory will be in dividing humanity? Yeeeaah.

She’s obviously displeased with the report. Hazel tries to take responsibility for the defeat and, uh, this happens:

Look familiar? I’m getting very worried about what that intro shot of Qrow and the grimm arms is going to mean.

So Hazel is tortured for a while until Emerald admits that it was Cinder’s fault they lost. It’s all some really horrible mind games on Salem’s part: ask for an answer and torture the guy who provides you with one, get Emerald to call out the one person she cares for, casually drop that this person still lives, intimidate Watts for questioning her. Tyrian is the wild card, yes, but we know now that his ramblings about his “Queen” aren’t so random after all. Salem is still playing the part of the God we saw in Jinn’s flashback and her followers treat her accordingly. They do as she says out of fear. It’s what Salem lays out in the trailer: they can have their own desires, but only if they don’t interfere with her own.

Hazel drops the bomb that, oh yeah, your ex also reincarnated already, which puts an interesting twist on Salem’s anger. Meaning, I wonder if she’ll be more forgiving of their failure now that she knows they were unexpectedly facing Ozpin in Haven. Regardless, she’s not happy about the news.

At all.

We leave her letting one hell of a draft in and return to the gang. Yang bitches about how the path hasn’t led anywhere and Maria asks if she really doesn’t have anything “better to do than harass a defenseless old lady?”

More real talk: does Yang have experiences that explain her current attitude? Hell yes. Does all this make for compelling characterization? Absolutely. But right now I don’t like her. Having a reason to be angry doesn’t excuse the harm you do when you direct that anger towards those who don’t deserve it. From her pointing her weapon at Qrow to harassing Maria, I don’t think Yang is acting like a very good person right now and I haven't enjoyed her time on screen. An understandable development? Again, yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s acting like a brat and encouraging everyone else to do the same.

Of course, as soon as she challenges Maria the path leads them to a farmhouse. Not that Yang is ready to apologize for her attitude (another big difference between Ozpin’s mistakes and others’: he’s constantly apologizing for his). Weiss notes that the place looks deserted, but at least it’s better than staying out in the cold.

…Is it though? That farmhouse looks creepy as hell and I don’t trust it. To say nothing of the fact that we’ve got that sewer place from the intro right next door.

And that’s where we end up, the gang walking into this abandoned, potentially grimm-infested farm while they’re all pissed at each other and the gate squeaks ominously closed behind them. Oh yeah. I’m feeling real good about the next episode.

(Not.)

Other Details of Note

I’m intrigued by the fact that Jinn seems to have dissipated immediately after finishing her story, both because personality-wise she seems like the kind to stick around and gloat, and also because they’ve still got one question left. We saw Awful Facial Hair Oz ask his questions back-to-back, so unless Jinn streamlined things for convenience’s sake there doesn’t seem to be a wait period between each question… I don’t know. Narratively it makes sense (wanna clear Jinn out so there’s no distraction from the Ozpin bashing), but in-world the rules governing these relics seem a little murky.

So Salem knows Cinder is alive. I wonder if that’s connected to the grimm arm she gave her. If Salem has ties to Cinder that she hasn’t bothered to explain yet. Hmm. Wonder if she can control Cinder’s arm like she does the other grimm…

Salem also mentions the Sword of Destruction and intended to go after it before she heard that Ozpin had already reincarnated. Will that be the next relic on the list then?

With the exception of Ruby fighting the sewer grimm and everyone facing off against someone off screen, we’ve hit on most of the imagery from the trailer and intro already. I’ll be interested to see what the rest of the volume holds since it looks like that vast majority of that material is being kept carefully under-wraps.

Still looking forward to reconciliation. Still putting a lot of stock in that one image from the intro lol

[appleb18]

Modern Cartoon LGBT Representation Rant

As modern cartoon shows are trying desperately to represent LGBT and be part of the community, however, most of them failed to do it well. So many problems that writers and the fandom are doing wrong to show it and look I know they're trying their best and see that but there aren’t doing it well. So these what I’ve been seeing for three years and why they don’t work

Long Rant 

1) Minimizing the Gay

Most cartoons represent gay characters by showing them less and not making them into an actual character is one of the many problems have with LGBT representation in cartoons. Having them to appear only once and then that’s it which is so BS and doesn’t even count.

For example, most gay characters are shown in the background like Star vs The Forces of Evil - “Just Friends” showed two characters from the same gender kissing, however, it’s impossible to notice it because there some straight characters kissing as well

Then they two male characters with a child in the holiday special and season 2 finale. Many people may see it as LGBT rep but some people will see it as brothers or friends.

Then there are cartoons that show a gay character for only ONE episode and it’s irritating. Such as in Steven Universe, Mystery Girl first appeared in “Last One to Beach City” and then that’s it, we don’t see her again. We don’t anything about her and don’t see her dating Pearl in recent season

Also in 6teen episode called “Role Reversal” Nikki friend , Jean is a lesbian and she admits it to her and she’s dating someone else. However like Steven Universe, she only appeared once than that’s it but at least they confirmed that she’s gay.

The reasons why they're created because the fans can be excited that their gay characters on the shows. Why can’t they just make them an actual character then just leaving them in the dark? A good example of showing gay characters is Tweek and Craig from South Park

They don’t kiss, be stereotypical gay like being fabulous or doing makeup, their just your normal elementary school boys. In the episode “Tweek x Craig” at first they didn’t want to be in a relationship because they didn’t think they're gay and the more they push it back, the more realistic that they're in a relationship.

They even made Craig’s dad in denial that’s he’s gay but he cares more for his son happiness than his grudge

They got back together. Instead of being a one-off thing like South Park intent to do most of the time, they kept it and they're shown on screen together as a couple. Calling each cute nicknames like babe or honey, hold hands and support each other.

So how the hell is Tweek x Craig represent well than most cartoon shows? I know this show is made for adults but this is well done than most I’ve seen. Cartoons should focus on fleshing out the character then just show their gay. That brings me to...

2) Seconday Characters

Somewhat similar to first point however it’s the supporting cast and this is a lot worst because they appeare in episode and show that their gay but won’t give any hints that they are like a kiss or a hug.

An example of this is in The Loud House, Clyde parents are both males but the show doesn’t say that their gay. To be honest, I don’t see them as parents but as friends like Raven Home

Another example to this is Clarence, where Jeff parents are both female but again, we don’t see that if their lesbians by there’s no hints that they are or not

It’s getting dumb that they say their gay but they wont show it like come on, if you want an LGBT character than present it. Stop telling us if they are and show the audience by they hug, it’s not that hard.

3) Effects on the Story 

Another problem I’m seeing is its impact on the story. I really don’t if romance comes to the plot but it has to work because if it doesn’t then it’s just being shown out of context and doesn’t do much with the story. Unfortunately, most cartoon shows fail to do that and it forced

An example of this is they made Korra and Asami a couple at the end of the Legend of Korra. The writer did it on the last couple minute so they won’t potential backlash and they even have to announce that their bisexual couple

Then we have to buy the graphic novel to see more of them as a couple without proper hints and development between the two. You’ll probably be thinking that they did hint that they love each other but really most of the scenes of them together were FRIENDSHIP, not romance. 

Then there’s Steven Universe. Every time that there are Ruby and Sapphire episodes, it doesn’t fit the main narrative of the story. It just feels out of place to the plot than anything else For example, in the episode “The Answer”, Garnet tells a story of Ruby and Sapphire met but the does it relate to the Cluster arc?! Nothing, that’s what it is so they can push LGBT rep

And the whole wedding between Ruby and Sapphire in “The Heart of the Crystal” bomb which by the way is also a waste of time for plot. The wedding was nice but again, how does it relate to the Pink Diamond arc?!

The only that doesn’t feel out of place is Adventure Time. When they add LGBT to Adventure Time, it doesn’t feel force like look at the Marceline and Princess Bubblegum relationship. We can see it develop from being neutral to lovers 

It works for so many reasons such as they’ve been friends for 100+ years but PB work got in the way, leaving them to depart and never talk to each other since until Varmints where they finally talked about it and start hanging out more.

Also the many hints they might love each other like PB sniffing Marcy shirt 

Marceline wearing her sweater from “Stakes”

I can write more about why Bubbline is an amazing ship but you can read it here. It may have been a slow one but I rather have a good romance than a force that doesn’t take time away from the plot.

4) LGBT Propaganda 

Whenever creators announce that they’ll be LGBT in their show, I find it as their desperate for views, for example, the Dragon Prince announce that they’ll be LGBT rep in the show 

Really? Your telling people that there will be LGBT in the show? 

Then there’s Voltron where the writers were hyping Shiro x Adam to be gay but they killed him off like are you kidding me? You’ve been hyping Adam ever since SDDC and then he died, what a waste.

Conclusion

Look, while I don’t mind cartoon shows showing LGBT rep and I support it, however, the way they’re doing it is poorly done and I wish they could’ve done it better than minimize and force LGBT. Modern cartoons could’ve made it simple like a hetero love story or it doesn’t have to be romance, it could be just a character that’s just gay. I hope that in the future that writers could make it better. 

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 15X13

Based on the promos I expected not to like this week's episode and unfortunately I was right. First off, what month was this supposed to be? It was February last episode but now it looks like summer. I hated DeLuca in this episode. He continued his previous behaviour of being creepy and stalking Meredith around the hospital while being a real jerk. At the beginning of the episode Meredith tells him she wants to speak to Maggie about dating him and rightly so and DeLuca is all about himself and what he wants and shows zero regard for her or Maggie’s feelings or wishes.

The one bright spot in this episode is that Teddy and Tom’s relationship progresses and it’s a real joy to watch. There are also some great Alex and Jo moments from the fact that they can’t keep a plant alive and it’s hilarious to Jo being overjoyed for Alex when his picture is put up on the Chief wall. After seeing this Bailey decides to throw a fit because she gave up her job and now she doesn’t like the results. So Webber comes in with some wisdom. We get to see Derek’s picture up on the wall of Chiefs and we get a Mark Sloan reference. I miss them.

We get some adorable Jackson/Harriet and Owen/Leo scenes before finding out from Amelia that Betty has run away from rehab. Meredith then tries to talk to Maggie about dating DeLuca but Maggie doesn’t hear her because she’s distracted because her med school bully has just shown up as a patient. Maggie eventually decides to recruit Jo to help with the case because she’s a good person and doesn’t want to be the person that kills her. Maggie also has some fantastic lines about her nemesis.

Maggie struggles to find a way to save her nemesis’ life because her condition is so dire and Meredith shows up to offer help and support. When talking over the potential procedures Meredith makes a suggestion and Maggie replies that that’s not how the procedure is done. To which she replies, “Right, but I’m not asking how it works. I’m asking can it be done?” This is why we love Meredith. This is why she wins awards.

She also tells Maggie she’s got her back where her nemesis is concerned and they decide to do the procedure together. After they successful complete the surgery Maggie and Meredith have a nice heart to heart about DeLuca. Which is what they should have done about Riggs. Maggie gives her blessing and then tells Meredith she’s got her back which is very sweet.

Jo goes at Meredith for standing up Link and she’s totally right! Link deserves better and her dating DeLuca makes zero sense on every level. I really don’t know why they are pursuing this storyline or how anyone can root for them when DeLuca’s behaviour is so creepy and off putting. At one point Meredith is in the process of teaching Qadri when DeLuca decides to be SUPER creepy and stare at her until it distracts her from her work and then leaves. What a creep! Meredith then sets boundaries with DeLuca because he’s being completely unprofessional. He proceeds to act like a child and then gaslight her. She then calls him on his BS and he’s forced to admit she’s right.

The main patient storyline for this episode is that someone fires gunshots at a parade and a young member of a Scottish highland band is injured. His Dad is understandably beside himself. The episode uses this case to show why common sense gun laws work and how other countries have done it. Canada has similar laws to what the patient’s Dad describes and were better off for it. The young marching band player lives and everyone is relieved. Then there’s another case with a female patient who is polyamorous and is married and has a boyfriend and Teddy sees herself in some of her situation with Owen and Tom.

Betty / Brittany’s parents arrive and it’s a complete disaster. The don’t know about Leo and the situation escalates from there. Also they have a very strange dynamic. Betty’s Mom does most of the talking for the whole episode. Her Dad barely says anything. After they find out about Leo she also asks for permission from Amelia and Owen to hold him. We also find out that their last name is Dickinson not Nelson. So Betty Nelson’s real name is Brittany Dickinson. That makes Leo’s last name a lie too.

Amelia and Betty’s Mom have a heart to heart and Amelia has some great words of wisdom for her about her daughter. Towards the end of the episode we circle back to to the baby Leo situation. Betty’s Dad whose been mostly silent for the entire episode chooses this moment to speak up. He announces they’re going to take Leo with them despite the fact that her Mom said they were getting the hotel room for if Betty shows up. He thanks Owen and Amelia for everything they’ve done and says they’ll take it from here despite the fact their drug addict daughter is still missing.

There are a LOT of things wrong with the conversation that takes place here. First off, you can’t just take a baby from a hospital without proper documentation. That’s child abduction. The nurses/day care workers can’t legally hand him over to people they don’t know. He doesn’t even share their last name because Betty lied. By law they have to call child services even if they are family. Laws differ from state to state and country to country and I’m not an expert, but this is pretty basic stuff that standard across the board. Also you can Google it pretty easily. There are a lot of great resources out there. Which apparently not a single writer on this episode used.

Owen completely flips out and even though his approach is really aggressive he is right here. Leo doesn’t know these people. They are complete strangers to him. All he would do is freak out. Suddenly changing his environment with people he doesn’t know would be traumatic and definitely NOT in the best interests of the child. Betty’s parents don’t seem to care about this at all. Also Owen’s legally fostering him. He can’t let them take him without getting in trouble himself.

The Dad then starts yelling about how he doesn’t want Leo with another drug addict revealing that Betty’s Mom is a complete bitch for betraying Amelia’s trust and a truly horrible person. Amelia confides in her about her own struggles and why she’s been so motivated to help Betty and Leo. Betty’s Mom decides to tell her Dad who goes ballistic and uses that against them. No one wonder Betty ran away. Who wouldn’t? They’re horrible parents and people.

He’s completely out of line! Also Leo’s at daycare. He’s not with Amelia and she’s not legally fostering him. Owen is. Also Betty’s mom says NOTHING during this entire exchange. Which is very weird. It’s starting to seem like Betty’s Dad is abusive or at the very least controlling. I wonder if that’s part of why Betty ran away? Owen tells them they can’t take Leo and he’s not going to let them. Owen’s really aggressive here, but he is right. Legally he can’t let them take Leo and it IS kidnapping. Again Betty’s Mom says nothing and Betty’s Dad pulls her away saying they’ll be hearing from them.

How has no one called child services by now?!?! That should have been everyone’s first step here. They are going to have a field day! I hate how child custody is so inaccurately represented in media. There are so many misconceptions. Though courts usually side with biological relatives (which is stupid) they just screwed their own case by attempting to kidnap their own grandchild. That makes them a flight risk which a court would definitely have to consider. Which means Leo could get pulled back into the system again. The one whose hurt is Leo and they don’t even care. What jerks.

Then Owen decides to crank the stupidity of this situation up to 11 and yells at Amelia as if this own thing is her fault. Which it’s not. It’s the mother’s fault for betraying her trust and being such a horrible person, the father’s fault for not understanding child custody laws, and it’s partially Betty’s fault for lying. Amelia hasn’t done anything wrong here except not go through the proper channels when she took in Betty. However, seeing as she lied about everything that might not even helped in the long run.

Now he’s acting like she’s on their side when she was just trying to help. At least she can see the nuance of the situation. Owen’s being a real ass here. She asks him to not take it out on her and he completely ignores her as usual. And then proceeds to blame a 14 drug addict with horrible parents for the fact that he may lose access to the child he’s been fostering. Classy. Amelia deserves so much better than this and so does Teddy and Leo and Betty.

Bailey tries to take her job back because she’s mad. Alex isn’t having it. He tells her no. They signed a six month contract and he’s got two months left. Alex lays down the law here and good for him! He should. Bailey concedes mad, but proud. Then there’s a great scene with Teddy and Tom where she tells him that her and Owen are good friends, but that’s it and that what her and Tom have is so much more. He invites her inside to help devour his crispy bacon BLT like a true gentleman.

Meredith pages DeLuca to the Attending’s Lounge and he’s an ass once again. He acts as if Meredith owes him something. As if Maggie is a stupid roadblock instead of a human being. He’s behaviour is what is truly unbelievable. In the end she decides to actually go out for him. God knows why. Now we have to keep enduring this nonsense for several more episodes when we could be getting to know Link (or some else) a lot better. Their kiss is awful. It’s so awkward and gross. Ugh.

Onto next week’s promo. Good news: Link’s back! Bad news: It look like Betty over doses! And it looks bad. It looks like Betty might actually die! We also see Amelia sobbing which is heartbreaking. She's been through so much and Betty's been working so hard.

That’s all for now folks!

Until next week.

Au revoir!

[hellyeahsupermanandwonderwoman]

Rant Of the Day.

I'd like to tell DC Comics and the current crew writing Superman & Wonder Woman comics to go f yourselves. Just because I like Superman with Wonder Woman does not make me not a fan of Superman or Wonder Woman. Newsflash. I fell for Diana as a character without the need for a love interest. Thirty years away from Steve Trevor did wonders for her because it was about her. Not only some clichéd fairytale bullshit that lulls some fans into some false sense of security or keeping harbouring misconceptions about what constitutes love. The first man you see is your first experience. Don't feed me bullshit he's the reason for her being and needs to keep her grounded. The fuck you all trying to say about Diana? If a man is there or not there , she can't be who she is and she has no sense of self, identity or compassion? I don't care where in the world you're from, if your ass is blessed with gifts and opportunities ...you always have choice and responsibility to use them to better the world. To take up the mantle to be a good person or in her case a hero. We're all the same end of the day in terms of our dreams, hopes and fears etc. Don't come tell me in 2018 because Diana is of another culture she has nothing to teach us. That she needs only a blond US soldier to give her humanity. Steve stays what he is though, right? Whether he's with her or not. They don't dilute his morals or background as to a reason he needs to be with her. Same with the bull DC tries with Superman and Lois. I can appreciate Superman as a hero and person without having to be a slave to the cliche he needs her only to ground him and so forth. Know why? Because I like the character Superman and what HE should represent if written well. Not because he screws Lois. Do these idiots not recognize that many factors makes up a person's identity? Not just who he romances? And Lois? Does she stop being what she is because she needs to screw Superman only? She couldn't be a good decent hard working reporter as a single woman or with a regular hard working human partner? I guess not. See how ridiculous these reasons DC keep trying to bring up sounds? They call them "core conceits" of the characters at DC. They're conceited alright! And dumb. And calling SuperWonder fans not real fans...well y'all can fuck off. There are versions of Superman that are cringe worthy and stuck in a rut. Rebirth is one of them. Why? Because it presents everything that is reactive. The hero is more about his self and maintaining his comfiness and never earning anything. He's a Superman would sit for years and watch the world burn because he's got a family. He'd rather picnic and road trip and preach that you should be celebrating unethical wars and judge celebrites. Never mind he is a celeb. But he gets to lie and hide as normal while they can't. So I guess that's ok. He really isn't motivated by much but his own circle which nowadays ...moved from one to two. He lives billions of years and to ensure he's happy he plies Lois with immortal juice. So how does she ground him as a human again? Its funny the contradictory bs DC forces on readers. I hope he at least shared some of that with people who are worthy of it. But maybe he didn't because giving your wife alone stuff to prolong her life has to bring up some ethical concerns. I hope he at the very least cured cancer and all those horrendous diseases and not only worked on immortal juice. But those things are secondary to Rebirth Superman. DC can take a hike with that Rebirth 1960s bs. We'll keep our money until someone at DC can stop insulting our intellect. DC publishes works and merch with SuperWonder and yet insult the fans left, right and center. They don't at least show some diplomacy or respect for us. It's not rocket science to know readers respond differently to stories and we all do not have to like the same thing. If you're writing your core conceits go ahead, just stop insulting people your greedy asses take money from too. Rebirth Superman and Wonder Woman are not even selling that well for them to be talking so much shit. Just look at the charts. In June they'll reboot but not reboot with Bendis. And I have 0 interest in anything being written off Rebirth Superman. He's not my idea of Superman. The character is wishy washy and retro. Red trunks are back is a perfect metaphor for how stagnant Superman is. Rebirth Wonder Woman is just plain awful. Awful mess. I don't even know who she is. Definitely not my Wonder Woman. Know why Batman sells well? Because the writers like their character and believe in him and know he's not who he is because of who he screws or don't screw. Only Superman needs one woman only else his ass is useless and go evil and stop caring. Fuck the world. Fuck the billions of people all over. Fuck those that are real proponents of truth. That live life without lying and priviledge. That are truly fearless. That dont have safety nets. That lose much but still able to inspire. No. They don't matter. I can love and adore my partner but hell you really think I have the nerve to elevate him or her to the heights of a real fearless heroes like a Mandela, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Jesus, etc? Hell, no. Real sacrifice defines them. A supporting character is a supporting character. You think they're that great? Then prove it. Earn it. Don't come tell me shit to try to push your hyperbole and agenda. Write your damn story. If it's good will speak for itself. If it's crap or people still don't see what is so great about the person you're trying to pimp, that is on you. Not readers. Don't shit on fans for your bias, acknowledge you have bias and maybe you need to realize that you can't dictate how audiences respond. Else all you at DC is doing is making statements that is just empty bs. Thus ends my rant of the day.

[han5o]

The trip that changed my life

I’ve been getting so many messages from people asking me how I went about my travels to Los Angeles/ NYC, how I could afford it, how I went to the events I did and most importantly how I made such extraordinary friends. 

Firstly, going to NYC has been a dream since I was about 12, it’s all I would go on about in school and it was always my number one dream location. With a bunch of research, and as I grew older, I realised Los Angeles might be more of a match for me and for my field of work. So I decided in January 2017 that I was going to to to LA for one month in the summer. (I worked full time at Timberland as a supervisor, so this is how I saved up money to go).My job was okay but standing in the most quiet store in town barely serving any customers for 8 hours was the most draining thing ever. But totally worth it. My two best friends actually came a long with me on this trip for a little holiday and because they wanted to support me. (best friends in the world, thank you Pryia and Serena). I spent the first week being a tourist, I knew absolutely no one there. Even prior to this I would message girls on Instagram to hang out, but I’d either get ignored, or plans would fall through. So I came to LA literally knowing no one. Funnily enough, when you’re in a place like Los Angeles and you’re foreign - it’s so easy to make friends. People can kind of sense you’re not from here so conversation comes easy. 

I started out renting air b&bs. When I was finally on my own, I had an air b&b in Culver City... stupidest place for me to get an air b&b but I had no idea what Culver City was. One of my closest friends from London was in LA and we went for dinner a night before he left. Through this, I met one of my closest friends from Los Angeles who was a model (Sarah) - so OBVIOUSLY I asked if I could shoot her and we exchanged numbers. Rule number one, don't be afraid to socialise and talk to people and actually listen. I’ve met so many people who really force networking and go straight in with ‘what do you do’ and all this crap. I find that so unbelievably demeaning seen as we’re all human beings and work isn't the only thing that makes us important. Really get to know someone and ask them how they’re doing, before asking them what they do for a living and how they did it.   

After meeting Sarah and agreeing to shooting, I started messaging girls on Instagram and telling them that I’m in Los Angeles and I’m ready to shoot. My messages were really laid back and polite, I don't like to make models feel like they're being forced to work with me. I always state ‘ if they’re free’ or ‘if they're up for it’ that I’d like to ‘hang out’ and make some ‘art’! Lmao. Shooting for me is really time for me to get to know someone and to just hang out and have some fun. I hate making it seem like a meeting or a time slot of 2 hours etc. So my beautiful beautiful Tiarra was probably the only girl to message me back and  shoot with me that week. She was the first girl I shot in Los Angeles and it was truly the best. If any photographers are reading this, the sunlight you get from Los Angeles is the most magical thing. I’d never ever had sun like this in London when I started shooting so it was literally like a movie when I’d shoot outside. 

So to cut the story short, I started shooting more girls after that. After you post a set of photos from Los Angeles and they're GOOD. People start to notice you more. Logically, Tiarra posted the photos, so more girls would follow me and message me and enquire shooting. So it all went up from there, I guess. Los Angeles is a massive city, but everyone in the industry knows of eachorther. So once you shoot with one or two girls, you can just go up from there. 

I went to shoot Sarah from the first meal, and through this I met two photographers on that day and we all went for dinner as a group. I was still living in my Culver City air b&b but I had already decided that I wanted to extend my stay... The sun in Los Angeles is so captivating and you truly feel like you’re living a dream every single day you’re there. I didn't want to come home at all. Me and Sarah started hanging out every single day and through this I ended up going to Hollywood Hills parties, I met some people that she knew who became one of my close friends during that trip, and we went to the nicest food places. So yeah, I guess I got really really lucky in finding someone who I now call my best friend and basically taught me a lot about Los Angeles, who to look out for and the best places to go. 

At this point I had made a bunch of friends and I managed to stay with one of them for an extra month, beyond my stay. *disclaimer* this trip would not have been possible without my best friend Alice who works for British Airways. I was on her staff travel so this meant I could extend my trip for free - as long as it was up to 3 months as this is the maximum amount of time you can stay on an ESTA visa. 

I began shooting with so many more girls as they found me on Sarah’s page and Tiarra’s page. Eventually, I realised that I was actually really good at what I do. So I became way more confident in messaging girls that had way more of a following or social ‘status’ in Los Angeles. Cause truly, I’m a brit, so I don't care how many followers you have or the fact you live in Hollywood. I knew my work was good and as soon as I realised it - I started making the best work. Like I said, being foreign really allows you to make friends in a heart beat. Especially being British, haha. Americans love love hearing us talk. It even got to a point where I was at a party and I had a circle around me just listening to me talk. They’re really fascinated by that shit its hilarious. 

I woke up at early hours of the morning, made use of the sun around me, made use of the people around me. The main reason I got all the opportunities I did, was truly because I was REAL. I could spot fake people in Los Angeles so so quickly. Like, I truly got one of those girls that come up to you with the most annoying American accent, talking about themselves and their Instagram and their success, again and again. Like, those people actually exist. You just have to filter them out. Most people you meet in Los Angeles aren't actually form Los Angeles, most of them are really out doing what I’m doing. But just living there permanently because they can.

You sort of need to go into a room of people you don't know, and be remembered. To the point where, when someone says they’ll message you, they actually will. A lot of people just lie to your face and tell you they'll reach out, but they don’t. So don't be upset by it, because every single thing happens for a reason. 

Downtown Los Angeles was where I would stay for the rest of my trip. And at this point I’d met my best friends of the trip. Downtown Los Angeles is basically like a community of friends and family. Everyone knows each other. Everyone's so polite, and everyone has your back. It’s by far one of my favourite areas in Los Angeles and the place that I can now call my home. My closest friends are form there and without them I wouldn't have met all the incredibly people I know now. 

It’s sort of like Dominoes, you meet one or two people, and then you meet a whole bunch of people from different backgrounds and areas. And all you have to do, is be you. No ones afraid to share friends, the people I met wanted me to feel at home and wanted to make sure they introduced me to the right people. As I would witness this, I came up with an idea to then introduce everyone I had met through my trip to each other. All the girls I met up with on Instagram, all the guys, everyone I’d meet at parties or events. I decided to set up a shoot that brought everyone together to hang out and network. Artists met photographers, models met writers, designers met videographers... and so on. This was the least I could give to the people that offered me a home, irreplaceable memories and growth. So again, you have to take matters into your own hands. Be a good person. Give back. And this shoot was so much fun, I had seen all of the people I had met come together and meet each other! Such a beautiful thing to do and I do recommend photographers to do the same thing. 

If I had to talk about every single experience I had, then this would probably be a book. But the best advice I can give to young people in my shoes, is to fucking go out there and get out of your comfort zone. I literally shat myself before I was coming out here. I had so many doubts, I thought I’d be sitting there wanting to come back home because no one would talk to me. I knew of people who went travelling and absolutely hated it, so that was constantly in my head too. But little did I know, I was out there to improve my skills and really confirm my one passion for film and photography. There was no way this trip was going to be a fail with my mindset and my passion for film. The uber drivers in LA bloody become your friend!!! They too have stories and passions, so networking literally comes from every single angle in Los Angeles. 

If you’re holding a camera, someone will ask you where you got it from. If someone likes your top, they'll tell you they love your top. If you look unsure about something, someone will ask you if you're okay. Underneath all the craziness of Hollywood and LA, it truly is the nicest place I’ve been to. 

It was through being my complete self and being aware of other beings that I managed to go to NYC for the weekend and stay with the nicest group of people I had met in LA. NYC was a complete dream and thats definitely for another post. But the principle is the same, you let people know you're going there, and you make time to meet up with new people.

Be polite. Always listen to others - be a pleasure to hang out with. Because thats honestly how I went to the parties I did, why I know the people I do, and why I managed to travel to the places I did. You learn so much more about yourself, especially when you travel alone. This is the one thing I recommend every single person to do. Go somewhere new, on your own. Make new friends. It’s so nerve wrecking at first but then it becomes almost like a hobby. I love love meeting someone new and hearing how someone is feeling other than myself. 

I had planned to go to LA for one month, and I stayed for 3 months. I literally left on the last day I was able to stay hahaha. I ran out of money after one month but luckily I had savings to pull me through. I travelled with mostly uber or my friends car but I then realised how easy it is to use the metro... to literally go anywhere for $1.75!!! So for anyone going to LA soon, just use the metro!!! So so cheap, instead of paying $20-30 to travel to places for twice the time. 

But yeah, to sum up, be yourself and go out of your comfort zone. Don't be afraid to introduce yourself to people and be polite. That’s literally what made my trip for me. Most of it was probably fate, I’d literally meet people and I’d go to a cool ass event that night and see someone famous or someone I’ve been following for a long ass time. Then I’d think to myself, wow, the world works in beautiful ways. At the end of the day, this was a dream I’ve had since before I was a teenager - I’d dreamt about it for years and years. I’ve written about it for years and years. And the fact that I was living it was extraordinary. Like people were obsessed with my work.. my work went from okay to really fucking good. I found my style eventually and most importantly I found myself. I found out who I want to be and the kind of artist I want to be. 

And lastly, I found out that Los Angeles is where I need to be for my early 20′s. It’s definitely not where I want to stay for my whole life, but it’s where I feel my complete self and its where I am the most motivated and productive. 

I won't stop travelling the world and I won't stop making a community at every single city I go to. I’ll always try to make friends and I’ll always listen to others and learn about everyones culture. I want my art to be present in all of my favourite cities, and I know that after each city I go to, I would have found out a fraction more about myself. 

Just book your ticket. Don't even think about it. A change of scenery does wonders for the soul. And even if you don't have that much money, you can definitely blag it. I even did a car boot sale before I left to raise money. Sell shit on eBay, clean some cars, work extra shifts, or get another job. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

So here’s to being young, here’s to being in love with my craft and here’s to more travelling in 2018. 

Lots of love,  from your dreamer, Hana

[jules85]

Season 6 thoughts

The chips have fallen, and the team is split going into the winter break. Here are some things I would like to see, don’t want to see, and how I think the season might play out. Basically, this is just a ramble of thoughts I have on Arrow.

I want to see OTA being a formidable force. These three have gone up against Malcolm Merlyn, Slade Wilson, Ras Al Ghul, Damien Dahrk, and Prometheus. Not to mention Aliens, Immortals and N*zis. Surely they have learned a thing or two, right?

This leads me onto Agency. Last season Adrian Chase delighted in telling Oliver how he was 10 steps behind. It’s time for the team to be proactive instead of always being reactive. I’m not expecting the evil villains to be foiled in one episode. I know we have 23 episodes to cover. However, Team Evil has the bunker bugged. I really need to see this discovered by OTA quickly.

Too many coincidences occurred in 6x09 for them not to realise this. The phone going off just as Thea arrived, Cayden knowing the amplifier was tampered with. I need Felicity to figure it out and for the team to play Team Evil at their own game.

This also could lead to the classic bait and switch scenario which I think will happen. Anatoly made a point of saying how Oliver always pushes everyone away. This will be the season where that doesn’t happen, but Team Evil thinks it does.

Under no circumstances do I want the team to reunite because Oliver can’t handle it by himself. If they even try to make it look like he can’t take on 1 or even 20 lackeys by himself, I will call bullshit. Oliver Jonas Queen is a beast. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. They depowered him back in season 4 to make others look good, they absolutely cannot do that again. Oliver needs to bring the team back together, not because he can’t do it alone, but because he doesn’t want to.

The man is 10 years into this story, it’s time to see him becoming the Green Arrow because he chooses it. He gave it up for William, but this season needs to see him embracing both sides of himself. Inspiring the city, his son, and his team. The time for vigilantes is over. The city needs a hero.

Also, I’ve seen a lot of differing opinions about Oliver’s reaction and response in this episode to the betrayal. I can see all sides, however, I look at it like this. Oliver just got married. He is raising his son. His personal life is flourishing right now. He has his own family. And we all know how protective Oliver gets about family. Magnify that by 100 and we can truly understand the intensity he is feeling right now. In the scene where Felicity jokes about waiting for him if he goes to prison, Oliver’s expression says everything. He is terrified that he is going to end up going to prison. Leaving his son. Leaving his wife. A wife who told him that her greatest fear in life is losing him. A son who asked him not to be the GA because he doesn’t want to end up alone. For so long, Oliver didn’t think that he deserved to have love or happiness in his life. Now he has embraced it. He has become a father and a husband. I don’t think this is about his fear of losing them, but of how they will feel if they lose him. He’s important to them. They need him. They depend on him. That’s new for Oliver. So he is going to do whatever it takes to ensure that doesn’t happen. If that means spying on the team then so be it. Sure, he understands why Rene did what he did, and is able to give him a second chance. It’s called character progression. We’ve seen a lot of that with Oliver this season, but when it threatens the ones he holds dear, or it threatens to take him away from the ones he holds dear, Oliver will close ranks. He’s been burned too many times over the years by people he trusted. Now he has too much to lose.

In my heart of hearts, I truly believe that Anatoly is either playing Cayden or will later reunite with Oliver. Those two have been through too much together lol.

Thea is going to get back in the suit. She talked about Roy, she mentioned that she wasn’t strong anymore. We know Roy is coming back. My hopes are that he will inspire her to become Speedy again. That she’ll want to fight alongside her brother again now that it’s just him and Diggle. That we’ll see her back training and then ultimately back being her badass self.

I think I was right about BS filling the Malcolm Merlyn role for the team. They’ve tied her to Quentin just like they tied Malcolm to Thea. So I think she will help the team sometimes, and betray them when it suits her. The only way I can see her being fully redeemed is if Dinah leaves or is killed off. They can’t have two Canary cries on the team. I don’t think they’ll kill Dinah, so I think it’s option A.

My reaction to the newbies quitting was of joy. I don’t hate the newbies. I’m just not emotionally invested in them like I am with OTA. To think that we’re getting OTA back with married olicity and a possible return of Speedy in the suit is everything I want for this show.

The scene between Oliver and Dinah played hollow for me, because they have no relationship. They’re associates. They’ve had maybe 2 or 3 scenes of any meaning since she joined the show so I didn’t really feel what the writers wanted me to feel. It was the same with Rene and Curtis. I don’t think they’ve done a great job of tying these characters to Oliver’s journey IMO. So my reaction to them leaving was exactly the same as Oliver’s at the end when he just turned around and was all business. So my hope is that this is all part of the masterplan. Make me love them. Make them a family the way OTA is a family. Get us to a point where the talk of a betrayer amongst the ranks is met with the same response as it was in this episode amongst OTA. Oliver, John, and Felicity have all been through so much together. They’ve had their own trust issues. Even this season John lied about his injury and the drugs. Oliver got mad but then forgave him. He saw reason. When the news of a betrayer in the ranks was broken, John and Felicity were never even a consideration for Oliver. That’s where I think we’ll end up for the whole team by the end of the season. Well, that’s the aim. It’s on you, writers. Make me care.