#I can already tell the arc between him and Adam is gonna hit so close to home

[corvidaeconundrum]

The Lovers - In life, one must find their commitment, and in love, one must choose. How much will you owe to the union you sacrifice yourself for? Find love, find strength, but do not lose self in the pursuit of balance.

I'm not sure how many details I did or did not get right considering the ref has not been colored yet, but I'm hoping I got somewhere in the ball park. This was awesome to do ( @mustangs-flames )

[chidoroki]

In Defense of TPN S2

Okay, so before y’all start throwing your salt shakers at me, let me explain. Yes, I’m just as upset and annoyed with how the second season decided to cut out so much content that us manga readers were finally hoping to see: no Yuugo, Goldy Pond arc or GP Resistance, Lucas or Glory Bell escapees, Adam, poachers, or Cuvitidala Search. Since this season also (sort of) reached the 2047 time skip, we were also denied of the Paradise Hideout, Jin, Hayato, Ayshe, the Seven Walls & Imperial Capital Battle arcs and Alex due to the anime’s so-called “original story” idea. While some manga events still took place (B06-32 getting blown up, the trio’s reunion, Norman’s time at Lambda, the cursed blood and the Grace Field raid), they were all significantly changed and barely held the same emotional impact, as we see very little to no build up to these moments. Several volumes were skipped completely and despite others being touched lightly, we unfortunately missed out on major character development for everyone, most notably for Emma, but also the lighter side of things such as chef Ray, medic Anna, Rossi learning morse code, Minerva!Norman, etc. There’s honestly so much of the main story to talk about and I totally understand why we’re all so ticked off, especially since that darn slideshow did absolutely nothing to calm our hearts at the end of ep11.

However.. I’m not gonna stand by and say this season was worthless. Highly disappointing given everything I just mentioned of course, I get it, so don’t curse me out just yet. People can trash talk it all they want and I’ll sympathize 110%, but I personally won’t do so. I love this series too much and that’s a huge reason as to why I didn’t drop this season. Usually whenever I start a new series, it’s because I become interested in a character or two. I find that no matter what happens in that series, whether the story intrigues me or not, I’ll continue it if only to see more of that character. If the story is good, it’s just another plus for me to stay addicted, so while this season totally missed their chance to adapt the wonderful source material of my favorite series, I stayed to watch Emma, Ray and all the other children I’ve grown to love over the past two years. Another reason why I stayed on this train wreck was because of how thought provoking it became as turned into yet another guessing game for me. After first watching the OP and even more after ep3 aired, I kept wondering what would they include or leave out. How would they handle this scene if this and that were already changed? How would they fix this problem if so and so isn’t here? It felt like I was watching season one blind all over again; seeing all these little clues sprinkled everywhere and yet not having any idea on how the story was going to continue or end got me excited. That’s why I came to love this story in the first place, so having the chance to feel that again alongside characters I love so dearly.. it was fun for me (until the slideshow punched me in the face). While many people will look at this season and declare the manga and first season are both superior (which they are, I agree), I’m still sitting over here like “oh look, more content!”

With all that nonsense out of the way, I thought I would go ahead and ramble about everything I believe the second season did well enough, because if I can take any heat off this adaptation then you’re damn right I’m gonna try. So if you’re wondering why on earth a manga reader even mildly enjoyed this season, it’s honestly just the little things such as a decently adapted or improved panel/scene, any new, interesting elements the anime may have included, or other personal favorite moments of mine.. which there were a lot of.

So no negativity past here kiddos, we’re gonna be as optimistic and lively as an orange antenna.

(mild manga spoiler warning, I guess? but I’m sure it’s nothing y’all haven’t heard us readers mention/complain about already)

- If you’ve read any of my reactions to this season, you would know how much love I have for “Identity.” Not only is the song still an absolute banger, but the opening sequence itself is fantastic. From the contrast between human vs demon, the cameos, the symbolism, the match cuts, the build up to the chorus.. just everything. I could talk about it endlessly and watch it several times over and still be impressed.

- Lani’s stupid fall.

- How clearly it shows Emma’s condition becoming progressively worse.

- Her scream.

- Ray’s apology, especially how soft his voice was when saying “sorry, Emma,” and the smile he gives after she tells him not to worry about it.

- And his entire promise to keep everyone in their family safe. Oh I was so happy to finally hear him say that.

- This exchange between Don and Gilda.

- Rossi and those darn faces he gives us. This boy is such a mood.

- How involved the younger kids were so they don’t feel like they were just.. there, which served as a reminder that everyone from Grace Field is smart, not just Emma and Ray.

- How pretty the demon forest looked at night when all those odd creatures started glowing (even those darn goowee).

- So happy with how this panel was adapted. That smirk of his is everything.

- The fact they remembered a small detail such as the bell.

- Knowing now that they cut so much out of the manga, I’m glad we at least got the hug.

- The ending sequence gave us a small look at Sonja and Mujika’s travels by themselves. “Magic” is also so very calming to listen to.

- How the children hug both Emma and Ray, as manga only had our girl receiving the hugs.

- Sonju & Mujika’s voice actors fit them perfectly.

- How impressed Ray was when he first tried their cooking. No wonder he was so eager to learn how to cook.

- Sonju’s story about the demon world from ch46-47 practically adapted word for word.

- While the manga also shows us how frighted the duo is upon learning they’re living in the worst case scenario, it’s seeing them and their hands physically shake that help push this scene a little bit more (not that you can tell this by a still frame but trust me).

- Their synchronized smirks and how well their excitement was not only animated but how genuine and real it sounds too. Emma’s laugh and the fact they made Ray of all people sound hopeful is fantastic.

- They kept the small Ray from this panel and made him better.

- I just love seeing him be optimistic.

- The entire scene when Emma & Ray are both scolded by the younger kids for acting so recklessly is perfect.

- They kept this tiny comment of Nat’s.

- Finally getting chef Ray and hearing how confident he is with his cooking skills already.

- Seeing other children like Dominic pick up archery and be surprisingly good at it.

- Anime pushed Emma’s quick learning ability further with archery by showing us how easily she could land a bullseye even after hitting something midair.

- How well they animated Emma’s first kill, from following the arrow as she pulls it back to when she releases it as it flies towards the bird’s eye.

- The fact that this scene and the next both used a water droplet to symbolize death just like we saw during season one with Conny and Norman’s shipments are so satisfying.

- The gupna scene and how well it emphasized Emma’s reaction to taking a life and how upset/bothered she was in doing so. The addition of a butterfly helps as well, as it’s another way this series tends to convey the idea of death. (you remember how many the OP had, right? tons.)

- I only just noticed that Ray is seen looking at a similar butterfly in the following scene as well.

- The anime doing this panel justice. Ep2 is probably the episode that follows the manga the closest and did real well in regards to that.

- Ray beating Sonju at chess.

- Chris knowing exactly which way to go without using the compass, which makes sense as he was seen mapping out the surrounding area in the previous episode.

- The kid’s adorable little freak out.-

- Giving us a better idea on how large the reference room of the B06-32 shelter truly is.

- Finally being able to hear our boy Nat play the piano. The fact that his first song is named “Nat King Cool” as a possible reference to Nat King Cole is also great.

- Rossi being an accurate representation of the manga readers while watching this episode.

- Chris being his cute self.

- Seeing Ray’s sleeping face after the manga denied us so many times by hiding it.

- It’s.. close enough. We love our chef.

- I love the idea that Nat plays a couple songs before everyone goes to sleep. That’s so precious.

- SHE!! With her hair down!

- Rossi teasing Don and the fact that just mentioning Gilda is enough to scare him.

- It remembered that Gilda has a tendency to count all the children.

- The level of confidence Isabella has in her kids.

- Ray being oh so close to shooting a human with an arrow.

- This hug.

- Chris leading the group through the underground tunnels, which he also does in manga but we learn earlier in this ep it’s due to all the time he’s played down here.

- Because of his extensive knowledge of the shelter’s layout, Chris also guides everyone to one of the secret entrances to escape after he realizes the intruders are only stationed at the main two.

- Ray’s first demon kill is smooth as hell.

- Curse this scene for being so dark because that damn smile Isabella gives us is amazing.

- Since Andrew was cut, Chris and Dominic survive the aftermath of the shelter’s destruction without any injuries.

- Although we weren’t expecting to see their older 2047 selves this soon, they look good okay?

- The emotion in her voice throughout this entire scene (probably the closest we were ever gonna get to Emma doubting herself in ch109/114 too).

- Please just let me enjoy this moment when Ray noticed her negative thoughts and stepped in to help just as I expected.

- Vylk and that goofy smile of his.

- Watching the duo communicate without words during the chase through the demon town.

- Our girl clearing this jump effortlessly.

- Norman’s squishy cheeks.

- Ray’s slap could’ve been better, I know, but at this point I’m happy they still included it.

- The fact we can see Ray’s face during the reunion hug this time.

- And this hug.

- Remembering the small panel of Ray noticing Emma’s bluff.

- Finally hearing this conversation because both voice actors do a wonderful job with it and thankfully the dialogue is on par with the manga as well. Also that one moment when the shadow falls across Emma’s face like that.

- Gilda comforting Alicia after her nightmare.

- The scene is very dear to me so of course I appreciate every little panel we can get.

- How carefree Ray sounded with his “Nopes.”

- How I only realized just now that this panel was also adapted.

- Okay so who’s brilliant idea was it to have the sun rise towards the end of this conversation as Ray helps Emma regain her confidence? I just wanna personally thank them because it was a genius move and I’ll treasure it forever.

- They kept Barbara’s slip-up.

- Like our demon friends, I think the Lambda crew’s voices fit them rather well, although Zazie’s was totally unexpected, like dude you’re 5, why is your voice so low?

- Another “it could’ve been better but at least they included it” moment.

- Vincent’s smile here cracks me up and I don’t know why.

- Barbara’s anger.

- The short snippet we get of the ch126 conversation when the duo was visiting Chris.

- The table from Barbara’s outrage was never magically fixed like it was in manga, so we get this nice shot of Norman reflected in the broken surface.

- The trio’s conversation about the royals and cursed blood follows manga relatively well.

- Anime did this panel better, I’m sorry. Thank you for showing my girl getting angry.

- This frame of Ray.

- This comment of Norman’s that made me wanna slap him.

- How Norman’s face is constantly in the shadows during this scene, which is something his office at the Paradise hideout probably wouldn’t have given us, so hurray for this location instead.

- How he and Emma bicker over how many days their deal should last.

- When the camera shifts in and out of focus during Barbara’s seizure.

- How this scene hid Norman’s face until they revealed the demon the crew killed.

- It really is the small details that make me happy.

- This smile of Don’s.

- I’ll take all the hugs I can get.

- Emma and Gilda’s little headbutt.

- Why does my boy look so grown up and handsome here? Hello??

- I suppose I have to give credit for Peter’s voice actor too hm?

- Actually making Smee a bit more relevant.

- Since the fight against Legravalima was cut, this shot of Zazie is the closest we’re gonna get to seeing him without his paper bag, but it does improve on that one panel of him at the start of ch153.

- Seeing more of Norman’s time at Lambda as well as the aftermath of the explosion.

- While this scene pales in comparison to its manga counterpart, having the sun set behind him while Norman delivers his famous line was still a decent touch. It’s a nice contrast to the sunrise in ep6 and I enjoy it very much.

- Wild demons managing to somehow successful jump scare me not once, not twice, but three times in a single episode.

- Emma getting back up to protect her family despite her injury. (i mean, it’s no ch93 comeback but oh well)

- Ray getting in another decent shot at a demon.

- This face of his.

- Seeing just how quickly the drug causes the demons to degenerate and all the chaos it causes.

- Actually showing Norman attacking a demon rather than just saying he killed Yverk off panel in ch153.

- Hate me all you want but the anime did this panel better too.

- The ch153 discussion is more or less the same but the fact they added in Norman looking to Ray for help and just having him snap back instead was priceless.

- Sonju’s grin.

- The scene when Norman stops Zazie’s attack may only last like five seconds but it’s wonderfully animated and I find myself replaying it countless times.

- How to make the manga readers and anime-onlys panic with just one sentence:

- Isabella being clever as ever by leaking false info into the radio the escapees have to lure them back to Grace Field.

- I just think Emma looks so mature and pretty here?

- Had Norman actually apologize to the demons.. or was just about to anyways.

- Demon Emma is precious and must be protected.

- The adorable mixup between both Emmas.

- I haven’t a clue on where or how the kids managed to gather all the supplies to create several hot air balloons and explosives.. but they did, somehow, and I’m impressed because I’m assuming that all happened within a day.

- Ma’am, could you be any more smug?

- Simon! And he ends up surviving!

- Having Sonju fight alongside the Lambda crew.

- Which reminds me that this is possible since the Imperial Capital battle didn’t happen (yet, in this timeline), so the three of them never received their injuries from Legravalima either.

- The smoke bombs, only because I remembered how Sonju used them back in ep1 while rescuing Ray so it’s nice to see them being used again.

- Showing Norman actually use a bow and arrow this time. He also hits his target on the first try through a smokescreen.

- Ray having enough strength to knock out two demons with a simple metal pipe. In ch169 he’s seen holding down a grown man so yeah, I can believe this as well.

- Having Jemima, Yvette, Rossi & Mark disguises themselves as shipments in order to rally up the other Grace Field kids. Mark’s face and the noise he makes upon seeing Naila again is also precious.

- Peter actually falling for Vincent’s trap.

- Getting one young child to listen to you is hard enough, but Emma manages to get about 183 of them (yes I counted, give or take the four who also disguised themselves) to follow her orders in no time flat.

- Phil helping with the plan to lead all the children to the elevator.

- It made me nervous upon seeing it but they made the Day & Night ceiling real pretty.

- I knew the reunion was coming and still cried.

- Take all my hell yeahs.

- I could listen to her say this on repeat and be overjoyed every single time.

- She’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll point at gun in your face.

- Getting to witness someone shoot at Peter since no one did so in the manga? Wonderful. Having that person be Isabella who literally lands a perfect shot not even a full second after he pulls out that disc? Perfection.

- Mujika and Vylk bringing in hundreds of civilian demons as reinforcements.

- James!

- Those real quick shots of the ancestors because I had given up on thinking we would’ve seen them at all since the Seven Walls arc was skipped.

- I’m actually surprised they kept his death in and it’s as harsh as the manga.

- Ray confronting Isabella with the addition of this line.

- This panel being animated along with Emma’s thoughts from ch177 towards Isabella even though that chapter’s major event didn’t happen.

- I certainly can not forget about this hug.

- At least anime!Emma told the boys her plan before reaching the door, or didn’t keep it a total secret? If not then I’ll praise the boys for accepting her crazy idea regardless.

- Boy, do you know how much I love you and your smirks?

- SHE. STAYS. ALIVE!!!

- Vincent and Norman’s little fist bump.

- Different but close enough. Still cute though.

- The amount of emotions this one shot makes me feel is limitless. Catch me crying tears of joy over it for the rest of my life.

- Having Phil not only getting the chance to see a train but to ride one as well.

- This pretty shot of Gilda.

- As well as this beautiful one with Emma and Mujika.

- They gave us older Phil. Not sure how much older but he’s still adorable.

- Lastly, the goddamn soundtrack! Of course we heard a bunch of the songs from season one, but the new ones such as “The Evil-Blooded Girl” and the Arabic version of “Isabella’s Lullaby” are absolutely fantastic. I still have to listen to full soundtrack but from what little bit I heard of such songs such as “Nat King Ballade,” “Crisis,” “Norman’s Lament,” and “The Temple Ruins,” I’m sure every track is an absolute joy. I’m so happy we had Obata back for this season.

And that’s the end of it, I guess? Of course it’s not a perfect list, as the majority of it was just personal favorites of mine but oh well. (this is just as long as ray’s birthday post too, oh lord)

I’m not gonna be one of those manga readers who continuously nag people to go read the original source material, because that’s annoying and I understand that some people just might not be up for it. They might watch a series, take it all in and then move on to the next one. Others might want to find out about every little detail and invest more time into the story. It’s totally fine to enjoy a series your own way and you shouldn’t feel pressured to continue something you’re only mildly interested in or feel bad that you love something others might despise. Just do whatever makes you happy. If you wanna check out the manga and see why us readers love it to pieces, then I promise it’s worth it, especially if you enjoyed the anime or wish to see more of any character.. or the entire story. If the manga ain’t for you, then I hope the anime did something for you. It definitely could have been better though, I can’t argue with that.

Whether you’re anime-only or manga reader, can we all still hope for a remake? This season had more flaws than any amount of praise I could give, but if years down the line we get the FMA: Brotherhood or Hellsing: Ultimate treatment where the next anime adaptation follows the manga perfectly, you know I’ll be all for it. I’m too deep in this TPN hole and I’ll probably never leave.

[cosmicheromp3]

let’s talk about snowbirds don’t fly for a second, shall we: the arc where roy’s addiction was first introduced, and how it actually affected the relationship between roy and ollie.

people’s perception of snowbirds don’t fly and the events surrounding it is so... weird, to the point where it often makes me wonder whether they’ve actually read the comic (and roy’s appearances right after, but i realize those might be less known) or whether they’re just going off a few very specific panels and inaccurate recounts – usually from people that will twist anything in their favour to call ollie a bad guy.

because, if you pieced together what most people seem to think happened – and this is what i was expecting to find once i decided to read it myself –, in snowbirds we should see: roy, not yet an adult and still under the active care of ollie, starts using drugs, and oliver’s so caught up in himself and negligent that he doesn’t notice what’s happening. when he finally finds out, he lashes out, hits roy and kicks him out of the house, leaving roy without a home. this makes their relationship crumble, and roy starts hating ollie because of it. they don’t speak to each other, and leave in awful terms.

and... in many aspects, that’s so far from the events you'll see if you actually go read green lantern #85 (snowbirds don’t fly) and #86 (they say it’ll kill me... but then won’t say when!). i’m assuming a lot of misconceptions happen because of a) writers with a grudge against ollie who retroactively, and unfairly, painted him in a bad light, and people took this at face value, and b) retcons that came with the new 52 reboot – but, i'll be honest, i don’t care enough to go read that mess even for this post. in general, i’m pretty sure we all agree that we ignore out of character comics; let’s not make roy and ollie the exception to that, yeah?

first i want to get something out of the way, that i feel like i need to mention even though there’s probably people that have talked about it better than i could. when we analyze this comic we should keep in mind that the characters in the story were meant to fill specific roles for the sort of... PSA comic that dc was trying to make, and in the 70s, at that. considering this, both roy and ollie are plot devices.

the creative team behind the story (o’neil and adams) have said that they chose roy to be the average “good” teen who fell into drugs – as a way to say “this could happen to anyone, even to this reputable superhero”. ollie was the caring but imperfect parent who missed the signs – not abusive but distant at the moment, he was meant to be more like a nudge to parents to pay closer attention. it was written to play as a sort of “this could happen to the best of us” situation. and in that context, ollie is made to react in a way that is at most "not ideal" for the standards of its time: he hits roy, and denies to himself that roy’s addiction is a real problem that needs to be dealt with delicately. this is used to send the message of “don’t react like this”.

that isn’t exactly the point of this post, and i don’t want to downplay the harm ollie did with his reaction or absolve him of any blame. the point of this post is: people seem to think that’s where the storyline ended, that was ollie’s final reaction, and those are the terms in which ollie and roy parted; which is just not true.

instead, ollie hitting roy happens in the very first page of green lantern #86 – we have an entire issue in which ollie is faced with his initial reaction and made to confront his mistake (which is more than we can say for, um, other father superheroes that have hit their children. i won’t name names.) the only moment you could read as him “kicking roy out” – which is the phrasing i’ve seen applied to this – happens the very next page, where ollie tells roy to “get out”.

the thing is, roy was not living with ollie at the moment. there was nowhere that ollie could kick him out from. “get out” means just that: get out of this room (and ollie didn’t intend anything more than that with his words.) the comic makes a point of stressing that roy is, by that point, independent, and old enough to be living without a guardian.

ollie, right after roy leaves, thinks: “but he shouldn’t need attention–at his age”. ollie is in the wrong here because of his close-minded view of addiction and because he’s not considering that, though a legal adult, roy is still young and needs care, but it still shows that roy was largely on his own by then. ollie’s reaction is definitively negative and a rejection, but can’t in any way be seen as “kicking roy out”, because it isn’t. (note, also, how ollie’s first thought is that he failed roy, but his denial and stubbornness get in the way and he shifts the blame. he’ll eventually have to get over this and change.)

we see that ollie plays the role of the father that reacts poorly, and he is directly contrasted with the adults who do take responsibility for roy – hal at first, and dinah after, are the ones who play the role of “this is how you should react.”

hal finds roy without knowing what happened between him and ollie, and his first reaction is to take roy to a doctor; he immediately recognizes that what roy needs is help – and will later say so to ollie. when roy refuses, saying he wants to kick the addiction on his own – to prove himself to ollie, because even though he doesn’t think ollie was right he still values his opinion and their relationship, but i’d say there’s something he’s trying to prove to himself, too –, hal recognizes that he doesn’t know anything about drug withdrawal or addiction, and he’s receptive to roy, asking him questions and listening without judgement.

so he takes roy to dinah, who is the one that (very kindly, might i add, because dinah and roy weren’t that close at the time) cares for roy while he goes cold turkey. roy, possibly rather unrealistically, though i’m no expert, kicks the addiction in the span of a few pages. before the ending of this arc, roy has already gone clean.

there’s a one week timeskip there, where we assume that out of the characters featured in this story, roy only interacts with dinah, and ollie’s been with hal. then, before the conclusion of this story, roy is given a place to confront ollie and call him out for his mistakes. roy calls him out for turning his back on him, and he gets to tell him – and show him, punching him in a scene where it’s implied that ollie completely deserves it, unlike the opposite situation that this issue started with – about the pain he’s been in. we are given, in text, a moment where roy can express to ollie what he’s been going through, what he did wrong, and how it affected him.

(this is a moment where the intentions of the comic are very clear, not only because roy practically turns to the camera to deliver the PSA, but also because of the wording: roy told ollie that he turned his back on him, and in the same page he talks about society turning its back on drug addicts, same wording twice. ollie and roy are both meant to represent something other than just themselves, even if this happened in continuity and ended up affecting their characters in the long run.)

and ollie – unlike in that first page, now ollie is shown to listen and understand. he’s not in the same place or mindset he was in when everything started. in the beginning, ollie thought that there must be something inherently bad about a person who does drugs, in a reflection of society’s – and parents’ – views of the issue. and that shows in his initial denial and reaction: ‘how could my son, who’s a good person, do this?’ then, in this scene, when roy tells him he beat the addiction, he answers “good boy” – roy immediately rejects this notion, and emphasizes that there’s more to it than his own goodness: what’s important is the help he received, namely from hal and dinah, and a caring environment. ollie, at the very least, begins to understand this, and in doing so understands very clearly what he needs to change about their relationship if he wants roy back.

this means that ollie starts undergoing character development in this one issue alone. the thing about ollie, in regards to his relationship with roy, is that he has made mistakes and the narrative acknowledges it; but, when well written, he realizes and admits it, making a point of learning from his mistakes. roy knows that ollie has fucked up, too, and doesn’t let him off the hook for it, but he also recognizes that he makes an effort to be better. especially after snowbirds, this informs their relationship a lot.

by the end of the issue they’re not hugging, and roy is leaving on his own, but that’s completely of his own accord. and these are the last panels in the entire issue:

the whole original comic, but mostly these panels specifically, is what makes me wonder about people’s perception of these events, and the misconceptions i previously mentioned – because i really am confused as to how you could reconcile these two opposite readings. unless, you know... people are speaking without ever touching the original comic. (i don’t want to blame anyone for not reading older comics, but please, if you’re gonna speak, especially if it’s to shit on a character or call them abusive the way people do with ollie, do it in an informed way.)

so, right after the events of snowbirds, because roy was allowed to speak up and ollie was made to listen, at least as much as can be expected through his stubbornness, they’re in much better terms than people usually think. if you look at roy’s chronology, he interacts with ollie in his next few appearances (barring the teen titans ones), teaming up as they normally would, with the one difference being the emphasis that’s put into the fact that roy has grown away from ollie – in the same way as any young adult would grow away from a parent. there’s also roy’s resentment for ollie’s actions, but this resentment is portrayed as deserved and it doesn’t turn their interactions into something negative. it’s still clear that they both care for each other, and there’s certainly no hate.

[from action comics #436/2]

this first one takes place a few months after roy goes his own way. roy is in the middle of working a case when ollie gets involved, and they work on it together. green lantern #100/2 is their next appearance and has a similar plot, this time with dinah working with them as well. in both of these, they still work well together, are able to communicate in action and have each other’s backs.

in the action comics issue, ollie insists that roy is still welcome by his side, and that he should still feel free to ask for help whenever he needs it. roy refuses in the way that’s shown in the panels above – saying that he needs to “be a loner for a while” and build a life of his own (though it’s not an exact parallel, because ollie is ollie and takes “loner” to a whole other level, the wording here reminds me of the way ollie tends to leave on his own whenever he feels like he needs to find himself). you’ll see that these interactions aren’t hostile at all – quite the opposite.

world’s finest #251/3 might be the one where their interactions are the most tense, and that’s mostly just in the end. when they’re done with the usual superhero team-up, ollie shows willingness to talk to roy:

“i can’t help out. roy’s back, and, well– we’ve got a lot of talking to do.” through these issues, we realize that ollie has learned: his previous mistake was not paying enough attention to roy, and not showing him that he could always count on ollie (both in noticing roy’s addiction, but also before, in not taking enough care so roy wouldn’t get to that point). he tries to make up for it every chance he has, but it’s always on roy’s terms. everyone is aware that ollie is the one who was in the wrong, and it’s up to roy to forgive him or not, but no one ever pressures roy to do so. when roy doesn’t want to stay and talk, ollie accepts it.

ollie atones again and again, and their relationship isn’t magically fixed and they don’t go back to being close without effort – effort which rightfully has to be done, again, mostly on ollie’s part. but they never, ever go so far as to hate each other.

then, in green arrow (1988) #75, ollie feels so bad about what happened between them, about the way he screwed up, he essentially says to roy that he wouldn’t fault him for wanting to shoot him. “so go ahead. god knows, you’ve got plenty of reason.” roy has been brainwashed here; he breaks through it because of ollie’s words. 

and, after this whole ordeal is done, this is how they part ways:

by this point, roy already has lian and a life of his own. he’s gone back to being speedy and then arsenal, he’s in the titans again and he will become a renowned hero in his own right. he might have forgiven ollie a long time ago, but now that he has found himself – like he set off to do at first – he seems more prepared to make amends and see where he stands with him (maybe i’m attributing more consistency among these issues, that happen years apart, than we should actually give them credit for, but i can’t help trying to find the common themes.)

after these, which are the most immediate interactions after snowbirds, we have multiple instances of them being close again. it’s in every small moment they have together, really, but off the top of my head, a couple that are illustrative for their relationship are green arrow: the archer’s quest and justice league of america (2006) #7, even though they don’t directly interact in this last one. i was gonna include panels from both, but this is getting long enough; i urge you to read them, especially if you followed along reading the issues i’ve mentioned, because they’re great. what i am gonna include, cause it’s amazing, is this panel from justice league of america wedding special.

in my opinion, these misconceptions around ollie and roy not only are a disservice to their characters but also mean that people are missing out on what i think is a really interesting relationship. it’s almost rare to see a relationship evolve in a way that feels so organic in comics, not only because the interpersonal conflict here is shown to have real, tangible consequences but also because the characters are allowed to grow in a way that is gradual and natural and even satisfying.

ollie and roy's relationship might have never been the exact same after snowbirds – but which father-son relationship stays the same after the son grows up? and i think it's a testament to the strength of their bond that without ever ignoring these events (because, as i’ve shown, they’re very much acknowledged again and again) they not only never stop loving each other, but are also able to keep building something meaningful going forward.

[moirai-au]

Not exactly shippy but 12 with Chase and Marv?

Timeline: early in Arc 5: The Orator

@immabethehero @bupine​ @tabbynerdicat @i-maybe-exist @its-ethan-bro @sandinthetardis @honestlyitsjustkenna

He’s running.

He doesn’t remember what he’s running to, or from. But he knows that if he stops, bad things will happen.

The black void echoes with disincarnated whispers, rising and falling like the tide. He can’t pinpoint their origin, and the words don’t make sense to him- he’s not certain they’re even words at all. And when he tries to focus on them, their meaning edging his awareness, so close- it trickles away like sand through his fingers, scattered to the winds.

There’s a pressure, somewhere around his head. The louder the voices, the stronger the pressure grow, bordering on painful before receding.

He hears a clock ticking, and laughter. It’s devoid of mirth, of light, of life. It makes his hairs stand on end. 

Something is wrapped around his wrists and neck, digging painfully into his skin- strings? Someone is screaming. Why are they screaming? It’s too loud, too close, the strings rub and burn and he can feel white-hot spears digging into his shoulder and he wants it to stop, he wants everything to stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop

s

 t

  o

   p

“Wake up!”

Mars’ eyes flew open, wild and unfocused. He arched off the bed with a choked gasp, his limbs tangled in his bedsheets and flailing around violently.

“Mars! Kid, it’s okay, calm down, you’re safe!”

He stilled, blinking into full awareness as his blind panic died down; David was standing over him, his hand squeezing his shoulder, his face twisted by the type of concern only a father would have. Mars looked around; he was in his room, the light from the corridor the only thing allowing him to discern his surroundings.

He took a deep breath, falling back onto his pillows, then grimaced; his throat was sore and dry as sandpaper, and he was drenched in cold sweat. Again.

“I heard you scream,” Dave said quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Another nightmare?”

Ah. So the screaming had been his. No wonder he felt like he’d swallowed a cactus. “…Yeah.” the mage admitted. “Always the same. The others?”

“Downstairs. I don’t think they heard anything, this house has pretty thick walls. Good thing I was walking by.”

Mars nodded. Good. The last thing he needed right now was more people crowding him.

“Kiddo… what’s happening here? What’s wrong?” Dave asked. The mage rolled his eyes at his paternal tone. “Don’t call me that, you’re not that much older than me. And nothing’s wrong.”

The man stared at him with a deadpan look.

“I’m not lying!” Mars exclaimed indignantly, “That’s the thing! Everything’s been… normal lately. I don’t know why this is happening.”

“Well there has to be something! That’s the third time this week. You can barely eat. You look exhausted. For all I know this has been happening every night.”

The mage stayed silent. That alone told Dave everything he needed to know. “Fuck…” the dad sighed. “This looks bad. And you’re freezing. Are you sure you’re not sick?”

The mage blinked, porting his attention on the feeling of Dave’s hand on his shoulder; it was warm, very warm, almost too much for comfort. So either the snapback-wearing man was sporting a freak fever that was somehow not bothering him, or Mars’ body temperature had dropped abnormally low while he slept.

He growled, rubbing at the dark shadows under his glassy yellow eyes. “I’m not, believe me. Cecil checked already. Twice.”

Dave’s expression softened at the mention of his partner; the whole… thing between those two had come as a surprise to Mars, given how hostile the German had started off towards the recovering alcoholic. But he’d found that he didn’t mind. They seemed good for each other.

“Wanna come downstairs?” Dave asked, “Ollie and Aster are watching the Exorcist. Well,” he chuckled, “Ollie’s watching. Aster keeps complaining about how ‘inaccurate’ it is, so that’s pretty fun. I can make popcorn and hot cocoa.”

Mars hummed; that did sound nice. He could already feel the iciness leaving his body at the prospect. He opened his mouth to acquiesce, but froze up in sudden horror when something brushed against the edge of his mind.

The whispering. It circled around him, taunting him, making his previous panic come back with a vengeance. The cold feeling settled back into his bones, his spine, his fingertips.

This wasn’t right. The voices had never followed him into the waking world before. They weren’t supposed to be real, they weren’t supposed to exist-

It as at this moment that Marvs understood; they weren’t going to stop. The dreams, the voices, the feeling of dread… they weren’t going away. Not this time. They’d just grow stronger and stronger, louder and louder, until the mage eventually broke.

Unless he did something about it. Now.

“Mars?” Dave’s voice rang out, snapping him out of his reverie. “You with me?”

“Yeah,” Mars replied distractedly, “Yeah. You know, I think I’m gonna pass on that one. I’m pretty tired, and I don’t think that weird-ass dream is gonna come back tonight.”

“You’re sure?”

He nodded. “Positive.”

“…Alright.” David relented, getting back on his feet. “Just know that- we’re here for you, yeah? You know you can tell us anything. I’m not letting this go.”

Mars stared ahead. His fists were gripping the bedsheets tightly, his knuckles going white from the strain.

They’d try to stop him. He knew that. He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let them get roped into this.

He turned to face Dave, and smiled. “I know,” he said, “and I’m grateful for that. For all of you.” He raised his arm to rest it atop Dave’s own, the one still squeezing his shoulder comfortingly. “I’ll tell you everything tomorrow, okay? I promise. I just need a little more time. To figure it out.”

Liar. Liar. Liar.

“…Okay,” the older man relented. “I’m holding you up to that, okay? I trust you.”

A spike of guilt threatened to make Mars cave, but he resisted. You shouldn’t, he thought. “And I trust you,” he said instead, shifting into a more comfortable position and closing his eyes. “G’d’night.”

He heard Dave bid him goodnight and leave his bedroom, gently closing the door behind him. He didn’t move as he listened to the older man’s footsteps going father and father away, until he could no longer hear them.

After about two minutes, he opened his eyes, slitted golden orbs gleaming with determination. He threw his covers off and got up swiftly, rummaging through his closet to throw on some jeans and a warm, clean winter jacket. He then grabbed his mask and fastened it around his head, the familiar feeling alleviating his anxiety somewhat.

He took a deep breath and focused, summoning his magic; his fingers twitched and glowed a vibrant cyan for a moment, his power slowly reaching out to cover the whole mansion.

Once he was satisfied, he breathed out in relief and walked out of his room, no longer worried about any commotion he might cause.

He walked by Cecil’s room; he could hear quiet snores through the half-opened wooden door. He leaned over and took a peek inside: the doctor was out cold, slumped over the stacks of paper sitting on his desk, a half-empty cup of coffee spilling its contents onto the floorboards below him. 

Cecil. The father he’d never had. The one he wished he’d had, deep down. He clenched his jaw, closed the door, and kept going.

As he went down the stairs, he caught a glimpse of Dave sitting in the kitchen; the man was fast asleep, him too slumped over the table, his phone still grasped in his hand. A steaming mug of tea sat next to his head, the sweet smell almost bringing tears to Mars’ eyes. He teared his gaze away and pressed on.

The TV was on, still displaying horrific images from the Exorcist. Aster was curled up in front of it, way too close to the screen in a way that would’ve made Henrik scowl. His clawed, black fingers twitched every so often, a strained expression on his face despite the deep state of unconsciousness he was plunged into.

Mars let out an airy chuckle; who would’ve thought he’s end up rooming with a literal demon from another realm. Weirder yet, befriending him.

…Well, sorta. The fiend was still an unhinged asshole with a moral compass like a russian roulette. But at least they weren’t worried about him stabbing them in their sleep anymore, even without the Deal. So that was good progress.

Finally, his eyes landed on Oliver, sprawled out on the couch in a small, messy heap of limbs; the hero had ditched his iconic jacket and jeans for a pair of grey sweatpants and a red, comfy-looking hoodie, with “Yeah I’m AFAB. Assigned Fucking Awesome, Baby” written on it; a gift from Dave. Ollie loved it.

Mars’ throat seized up as he lingered on the vigilante’s still form, on the slow rise and fall of his chest. Ollie. His first friend. The one he loved like a younger sibling at this point. The first new face he’d seen in so long, the one who’d dragged him out of the bubble he’d locked himself into.

He hoped he’d thought of taking his binder off this time; that airhead always forgot.

As he left the room and approached the door leading to the back of the property, he reached out with his powers and turned the TV off; Cecil had always been adamant about saving power.

He unlocked the door, and the freezing wind hit his face. For a split second, he hesitated.

The whispers doubled in volume, as if sensing his indecision; like a siren’s song, they dug their way into his brain, in his stomach, under his skin, filling him up until he could no longer wait.

“I’m sorry.” he murmured, his slitted eyes squeezing shut in pain and regret. “I’m so sorry.”

He felt sick. He hated himself for doing this. But he needed to. He needed to do this on his own, or he’d go insane. The call was too loud to ignore, the need too strong. He didn’t know where he was going, but somehow, he knew his feet would lead him there.

He took a first step outside; with a dull sense of surprise, he found that he couldn’t feel the cold anymore, not even the freezing snow under his bare feet. In fact, he realized, he couldn’t feel much of anything.

He took a few more steps, slow and slightly unsteady. But they soon became more assured, strides larger, faster, like fueled by a mysterious force that beckoned him far, far from his home, far from his family.

And as his gangly form grew smaller and smaller, heading for the woods behind the property, the back door swung on its hinges and came shut with a quiet click.

For a few more minutes, complete silence reigned in the mansion. Then the heavy blanket of magic keeping everyone asleep disappeared. And five pairs of eyes flew open in perfect synchronicity.

Aster snarled, jumping to his feet and looking around wildly. Ollie sat up on the couch, still looking a bit dazed. “Wha… Aster? What’s happening?”

“Magic!” the demon shrieked, “Fucking-” A string of clicks and growls, his body twitching in agitation as he paced. “Stupid Scars knocked us all out! I can still taste his magic in the air!”

“Mars?” Ollie asked, cocking his head in disbelief. “But-”

He was cut off by a groan coming from behind them. They turned around; Dave was stepping out of the kitchen, rubbing his forehead and wincing in pain. “Shit… I think I banged my head on the table. The hell was that about?”

“David?”

All heads turned towards the hallway; Cecil stepped into the room, looking confused. “I think something’s wrong. I was going over my notes and-”

“You woke up without remembering falling asleep?” Ollie interrupted, “Yeah, us too. Aster says Mars did it.”

Dave blinked, dumbfounded. “That’s- why would he…” he trailed off, something dawning on him. He looked at each person in the room, his heartbeat picking up. “No…”

“Um, guys?” Oliver tried, starting to piece things together. “Where’s Mars?”

“Scheiße” Cecil whispered. He took off suddenly, running to the mage’s room. “No, no, please no-”

“Please tell me he didn’t.” Ollie shook his head in disbelief as the German disappeared down the hall, his face going whiter by the second. “Please tell me this dumbass didn’t pull this shit on us again.”

Dave was frozen, eyes glossed over staring into nothing; the kid had been right in front of him, mere minutes ago. He had known Mars’ words sounded strange. Final. But he’d ignored it. Turned a blind eye to it.

If this was on him… if he’d let him slip away…

Cecil came back not a minute later, looking like he might crumble at the slightest breeze. He looked up, a haunted look in his wide grey eyes. And when he spoke, it felt like a giant hammer fell on them all.

“He’s gone.”

[avengerscompound]

Positive - Chapter 2

Positive:  A Bruce Banner Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bruce Banner x F!Reader

Word Count:  1235

Warnings:  Angst to the extreme, unplanned pregnancy, miscarriage, smut, past child abuse

Synopsis:  After a bad reaction to antibiotics makes you sicker than you should be, Bruce asks you to take a pregnancy test to set his mind at east.

When it comes back Positive you have to then weight the pros and cons of having a child when the pregnancy is so high risk.  It doesn’t help that while Bruce would rather you terminate, Hulk is adamant you don’t.

Chapter 2

“Hulk gonna be daddy?”  Hulk asked gently placing a finger on your stomach.  He had a look of pure joy on his face that had crossed it as soon as you had said the words ‘I’m pregnant’.  Somehow it made it worse.  The fact that the Hulk wanted this baby while Bruce was so against the idea he’d retreated into the Hulk.

Now you were going to have to tell the Big Guy that you didn’t think you could keep it.  Even though you there was a large part of you that wanted to, you knew Bruce’s concerns.  You thought some of his worries were more trauma based than reality-based.  He was scared of being like his dad.  He didn’t speak about it much, but you knew his father had been violent.  That he’d beaten Bruce even as a toddler and that he’d ended up killing Bruce’s mother.  There was no way that the Bruce Banner you knew could ever do that.  He was gentle and loving and never got jealous or mean.  The thought he could even remotely like that was absurd.

He worried about the Hulk too.  It was another unfounded concern you thought.  He was used to seeing the Hulk in situations where he was fighting for his life.  Where he was trying to save people.  The truth was he did like to fight.  He liked breaking things.  There was so much more to him than that. He was gentle and protective.  He loved puppies and bright primary colors.  He knew there was a time and a place for fighting and while he had his little temper tantrums, they only ever involved balling up his fists and sulking unless he was provoked into more.  The way he gently touched you now told you he would protect any child you had with his life.

The thing was any reason Bruce had not to want kids was valid really.  It wasn't fair to force fatherhood on a man who had said so firmly he didn't want to be a father.  It's not like he'd forced you to have sex with him.  In fact, it had been you that had pursued him in the first place, reassuring him he had nothing to worry about.  That he wouldn’t ever be put in this situation. He could simply not want kids and that should be enough.

For the same reason, he couldn't insist you terminate.  It was your body after all.  Your say.  If you wanted to have this baby then you could.  The Avengers benefits program was pretty extensive and you knew the others, they would all help you out. Between Tony and Thor alone you'd have two very excitable uncles who would always be there for a mini Bruce.

If it was just a case of him not wanting to be a dad and you wanting to be a mom, well that could be easily resolved with a breakup.  Not ideal, but not agreeing on children was a big issue.  It wasn’t just that though.  He had one big green extremely valid concern that could be passed down to his kids.  What did it mean to be pregnant with a Hulk?

The thought of a fetus Hulking out inside you was quite frankly terrifying.

This was going to be the hardest decision you were ever going to have to make and unless Bruce came back you were stuck doing it alone.

“I don't know, Big Guy,” You said sadly, stroking a hand along the back of one of his large fingers.  “I don't know what to do.”

“Hulk want to be dad.  Hulk good dad.  Protect baby.” Hulk said hitting himself on the chest.

You began to cry again and he curled a hand around your back and drew you into a hug.  “Don't cry.  Hulk here.  Hulk protect tough girl too.”

You hugged him tightly, glad at least you weren’t totally alone.  You weren’t going to be able to have a proper conversation about it for a while but Hulk was at least good for hugs.

The door suddenly burst open and the Hulk pushed you aside and balled his hands into fists as he squared his shoulders.  Tony stood in the doorway in his Iron Suit hand held aloft, the repulsor glowing blue.  Natasha stood behind him on the left while Thor was on the right.

“Hey Big Guy, what’s going on?”  Tony asked.

Hulk bared his teeth, not liking that he was being threatened with no reason.

You stepped forward putting a hand on Hulk and holding the other up at Tony.  “Stand down.  Everything’s fine.

“FRIDAY said there was a code green,”  Tony said pressing the arc reactor that made his suit bleed away from his body and return to the casing.  “What happened?  Why’s the Big Guy here?”

“Not that we aren’t pleased to see you, friend,”  Thor said pushing past Tony and patting Hulk on the arm.

“We just… we got some news.  Bruce couldn’t handle it.”  You sighed.

“What kind of news?”  Tony asked.

Natasha’s eyes flicked around the room.  You knew she was trying to figure out what happened.  You moved subtly, trying not to draw too much attention to yourself.  You picked the pregnancy test up from the table and slipped it in your pocket.

“You’re pregnant?”  Natasha said.  It wasn’t so much a question as an accusation.

You groaned and flopped down on the couch.

“Hulk - dad,”  Hulk said proudly.

Tony moved into the room and sat down beside you, taking your hand in his.  The gesture, coming from someone who normally just tried to talk a problem out almost made you cry again.

“I thought you two were careful,”  Natasha said.

“Thank you for that thoughtful piece of commentary, Nat.” You snarked.

“I just meant… How?”  She asked coming in and sitting on the lounge chair.

“I don’t know.  The antibiotics were making me sick, maybe I was throwing up my pill?  It’s not perfect anyway.”  You said.

Tony put his free hand on top of the hand he was already holding.  “So … I’m taking it Big Green being here is because Bruce isn’t exactly for the idea.”

You barked out a laugh.  “I’d say that is pretty accurate.”

“What do you want to do, my lady?”  Thor asked.

You shook your head.  “I don’t know.  I need more information.”

“Worried about the fetus Hulking out?”  Tony asked.

“Among other things.”  You agreed, letting your head fall on his shoulder.

“We got your back okay?”  Tony assured you.  “Whatever you need.  If you and Bruce can’t…”

“Don’t need Banner.  Have Hulk.”  Hulk rumbled.

“Alright, Big Guy.  You’re gonna be a great dad.”  Tony said, squeezing your hand.  Hulk huffed and nodded his head.  “Whatever you need,”  Tony added.

“I need my boyfriend to come back and deal with this is what I need.”  You snapped, the tears coming again.

The Hulk lumbered over to you putting his hand on your back.  “Banner coward.  Hulk here.”  He said gently.

“Thank you.”  You said.  “I’m really tired.  I think… I think I just want to go to bed.”

Hulk scooped you up in one large hand and you only really had the strength of conviction to laugh weakly.  “I can still walk, Big Guy.”

“Hulk take you to bed.”  He said firmly.

Tony stood up and patted your arm.  “I’ll get some experts in.  See if we can get the biology worries off the table.  I’ll come see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Tony.”  You said.

“Good luck,”  Natasha said with a frown as she followed Tony out.

“Everything will work out.  You’ll see.”  Thor said, closing the door behind him.  As the Hulk carried you to your room, you tried very hard to believe him.

// NEXT

[mycarlydotcom]

Top 10 iCarly Episodes:

Well, coming off the heels of re-watching iCarly in it’s entirety, again, I feel it suitable to reflect on what I feel are the best episodes in the series. Keep in mind, these choices are just my personal opinion. This is all in good fun, so if you disagree, share what your favorite episodes are. I’m not gonna break down everything that happens in each episode, there’s no need. If you’re reading this, you’re already an iCarly fan, and know the episodes. I’ll just be listing my choices, and discussing why I chose each one. So, lets get started…

Honorable Mentions: iFence, iBloop, and iLost My Mind

There are honestly plenty more episodes that can be talked about here, but for the sake of keeping things as concise as possible, I narrowed this section down to three.

Season 1, Episode 22: iFence

This was originally in my top 10 when I was choosing my list, but in the end, it was edged out by what actually made the number 10 spot. This episode is funny, charming, and all around enjoyable. Even this early in the series, it was a nice change in formula to see Freddie take center stage. I’m also a huge a sap for any kind of heartfelt interactions between characters, and there is a brief, platonic one between Carly and Freddie during this episode that totally hits that soft spot for me. I’m also the biggest supporter of the Sam and Freddie pairing, so the moment where Sam is cheering on Freddie while he’s fencing his rival is my favorite thing ever.

Season 3, Episode 14: iBloop

Just a fun watch. I honestly wish they did more of these throughout the series. One per season would’ve been a nice treat for the viewers. I know there is a squeal in the latter seasons, but it’s not quite as good. Regardless, seeing the actors who play our beloved characters, goofing off on set, and flubbing their lines is just fun. I love it.

Season 5, Episode 1: iLost My Mind

This last honorable mention is probably not gonna be a popular choice, but it’s my list so whatever. I know, the “Seddie” arc is not remembered fondly by most iCarly fans. Heck, even some of the biggest “Seddiers” out there don’t like it, and I agree that the arc is poorly executed; but, I don’t think the whole thing is bad. It spans across five episodes, from iOMG to iLove You, and in my personal opinion, the arc is good until the third episode, iDate Sam and Freddie. It falls off a cliff from there on, but I’m adamant in my choice to include iLost My Mind as an honorable mention. All in all, this is an overall cute episode, with a sweet ending, and like I mentioned earlier, I’m a total sap for that stuff. That said, it could be a lot better, and that’s why it didn’t crack the top 10.

Alright, now that we’ve gotten the honorable mentions out of the way, let’s move on to the top 10…

10. Season 6, Episode 10: iRescue Carly

I know, I know, this is an odd choice to include. It’s one of the last few episodes in the series. Around this time it was very apparent that the show was winding down. The episode plots were weaker, the bloom was off the rose, and iCarly’s best days were admittedly in the rear view. That said, the show was still one of the most popular shows on Nickelodeon. It may not have been in it’s prime anymore, but it still delivered an enjoyable product to the fans that loved it. But why did I choose to include this episode specifically? Why did it edge out some arguably better episodes from when iCarly was at it’s peak? I’ll tell ya why. Sam Puckett.

It’s no secret that I love the Sam Puckett character, and this episode is nice culmination of the wonderful girl we get to watch her blossom into throughout the series. When we are first introduced to Sam, she is essentially an irritable bully who is mean to most people, except for Carly. At first, it’s even questionable as to why Carly considers this troublesome delinquent to be her best friend; which Carly even acknowledges in the very first episode. But as the series progresses, we learn that Sam isn’t a bad kid, she’s just a little rebellious is all. It’s acknowledged that she grew up without a father, a dysfunctional mother, and a perfect twin sister that most people prefer over her. Her attitude and demeanor is the byproduct of the surroundings in which she grew up, but underneath that rough exterior, Sam has a heart of gold.

The aggressive behavior she often displays can easily be interpreted as a defensive mechanism to protect herself. She has plenty of acquaintances, but doesn’t truly let many people get close to her, and that’s by design. At the start of the series, Carly, and by association, Spencer are the only ones shown to have a legitimate connection with Sam. Freddie would forge that connection shortly thereafter, as the two transition from enemies, to frenemies, to friends, and Gibby would also follow suit later on; but Sam’s inner circle doesn’t really stretch beyond that.

As we follow the rebellious blonde throughout the series, we are made privy to a plethora of moments where Sam drops her guard and displays her compassionate side. This episode captures that side of her beautifully, as she goes to extreme measures to protect her friends, especially Carly. It’s a nice bow on top of her character arc, as we see just how much she’s grown.

9. Season 2, Episode 7: iChristmas

Carly’s miniature arc of taking what she had for granted in this episode is wonderfully told. It has a good message while still skillfully sprinkling in the comedy the show is known for. My favorite thing about this episode is how it displays just how important Carly was to everyone around her. She is the literal glue that holds everyone together, which is made very apparent at the end of series when she leaves for Italy.

8. Season 2, Episode 20: iTwins

Turns out Sam has a twin sister who doesn’t live at home. She is the opposite of Sam in every possible way; she’s well behaved, gets good grades, she’s super friendly, and is a total girly-girl. Honestly, based on what we know, she is the total antithesis of not only Sam, but their entire family.

In this episode we are introduced to Melanie Puckett. What a totally fun concept this was. It’s honestly baffling that they never revisited the Melanie character. She is seldomly mentioned after this episode, but we are never graced with her presence in the series again. I would’ve loved to see her to become a reoccurring character. There was so much potential for fun plots involving her; but even in a one off episode, she left a lasting impression, and secured this episodes’ spot in the top 10.

7. Season 2, Episode 17: iReunite with Missy

Much like I mentioned during number 10, there are a plethora moments in the series where Sam drops her guard, and this episode is chock-full of that. It’s heartbreaking when Sam realizes she can’t do anything to stop Missy’s evil plan to steal Carly as her best friend. The “I’m her best friend,” line Sam shoots in response to Missy during the Groovy Smoothie scene gets me every time. She legitimately sounds upset, and is practically helpless in the moment. Then there is scene towards the end where Carly finds out the truth about Missy, and reconciles her best-friendship with Sam. It’s there we are shown again that Sam has a huge heart buried beneath her attitude when she forgives Carly despite having every right to be upset with her.

This episode is also a total smorgasbord of Sam and Freddie moments too, and I can’t help myself, I love it. From their little spat at the start of the episode to Sam at her most vulnerable when she comes to Freddie for help with the Missy situation, it’s just swimming in cuteness between them. Then of course, it’s revealed at the end that Freddie did help Sam without telling her, and it gives me all the feels. The “You care about Sam,”  moment in which Carly calls him out for helping Sam is just my favorite thing.

Maybe I’m a little bias because this episode is so centered on my favorite character, but I don’t care, it’s just great.

6. Season 1, Episode 5: iWanna Stay with Spencer

Starting to notice a trend? Like I mentioned earlier, I’m a sucker for the episodes with sappy, mushy, heartfelt moments in them, and you’ll see that continue throughout this list. This episode hits me right in feels as we just how strong the bond is between Carly and her brother, Spencer. It’s incredibly touching when Spencer is giving his Granddad the rundown of how to properly take care of Carly, and I always get a kick out of the “dinosaurs are cool,” line when Spencer mentions he only gives Carly dinosaur shaped vitamins.

5. Season 4, Episode 9: iOMG

Oh the “Seddie” arc…yes, it’s bad. There are just so many issues with how Sam and Freddie’s relationship was written. If you’re a supporter of their romance like myself, you know how unbelievably frustrating it was to see how terribly the writers fumbled their story. It was exploited merely for shock value, and the actual story that deserved to be told was never a priority. But despite the major issues within the arc, this episode that kicked everything off was wonderful.

In the honorable mentions section, I stated that I think the arc is actually good until the third episode, iDate Sam and Freddie, where everything starts crumbling apart, and iOMG is a testament to that opinion. I absolutely adore the subtle attempts from Sam to get to closer to Freddie, and how awkward she gets she finds out the PearPad app revealed her mood as “in love.” There are definitely minor flaws in both this episode, and iLost My Mind, but they don’t deserve the bad reputation they have simply because the episodes that followed them fumbled the ball. The cliff hanger at the end of this episode and the mere potential it had for a great story to be told is enough for me to include it on this list.

4. Season 3, Episode 3: iSpeed Date

If you haven’t noticed yet, beyond the trend of mushiness that is apparent on this list, there is also a trend of episodes that involve some kind of heavy implications with Sam. Here’s another one. 

I love and hate this episode lol. I love that we get more glimpses of Sam’s vulnerable side, but I hate how sad I feel for her as the episode plot plays out; which is a testament to the episode. Not only does she embarrassingly get turned down by Gibby, who she never wanted to ask to their school dance in the first place, she also walks in on Carly dancing with Freddie, unbeknownst to them. That dancing scene at the end has so many implications, and is surprisingly heavy for a kid’s show, honestly. You are left feeling so many emotions for the main trio as the episode concludes. There is a sense of pity for Sam as it is very clearly implied that she’s bothered by what she sees, but happiness combats that feeling as you proudly watch Freddie share that intimate moment with Carly he so desperately wanted for so long. It is happiness, sadness, confusion, and suspense all wrapped up into one scene, and it is fantastic; as is the entire episode.

3. Season 3, Episode 9: iSaved Your Life

Surprised at all? Why would a Sam and Freddie supporter, like myself, rank an episode centered on the pairing of Carly and Freddie in the top 10? Well, simply put, it’s a fantastic episode regardless of personal preference, and I cannot ignore that. There is a reason this was the highest rated episode in the series when it aired, and it’s because it’s fantastic. It scored an enormously high, record setting, television rating for the premier and that is nothing to scoff at. But beyond the record numbers it scored, I chose this episode because I honestly like it. There is a lot to unpack when discussing this episode…so strap in.

Yes, this episode revolves around Carly and Freddie, but it is still an integral part of Sam and Freddie’s relationship in major ways. As the plot unfolds, Freddie goes through a miniature arc in which he finally obtains what he craved for so long, a romantic relationship with Carly, but he ultimately decides to walk away from that relationship when it doesn’t turn out how he envisioned it. This is a crucial moment in Freddie’s overall journey as his character slightly changes from here on out. He practically abandons the constant adoration for Carly that was a staple of his character until that point, and we don’t see it again until Season 6, where it begins to be teased that those feelings still linger; but before the “Creddie” resurrection of Season 6, this episode essentially served as the metaphorical shutting of the door on his childhood crush that never felt the same for him.

Now as one metaphorical door shut, another was opened, one that led to a potential romance with Sam. Obviously, this romance had already been seldomly teased several times in prior episodes, as well as this episode itself, but it was now free from the shackles of its opposition. This admittedly has a lot to do with my personal enjoyment of the episode, and I’ll probably discuss the implications it has between Sam and Freddie in another post at some point. That said, I still enjoy the story told between Carly and Freddie, and I won’t pretend not too. Couple that story with the subtle allusions to Sam and Freddie’s possible romance, and I can’t help but love this episode.

2. Season 2, Episode 8: iKiss

Well, if the last episode I chose came as a surprise at all, I’d be willing to bet that this choice is the exact opposite. What can I say? I love Sam and Freddie to pieces, and this is the first episode centered on their connection. I’d venture to say this is my most watched episode of iCarly. I always re-watch the balcony scene, and it gives me all the feels. That kiss the two characters share at the conclusion of the episode is so well done, and captures the awkwardness of adolescence brilliantly. You literally feel their confusion as they lock lips with each other. The tension between these two constantly argumentative characters is released into a kiss, and you witness them subtly realize there might be a reason behind their sometimes hostile behavior toward one another. Of course, this is not stated outright, but it is absolutely what you’re intended to infer from the scene. It is shot in a way that makes it clear that both Sam and Freddie want to say something more after the kiss, but just don’t know how, resulting in awkward banter before they ultimately retreat into their own solitude. I could honestly write an essay breaking down the every little minute detail in that scene, it’s just so wonderfully done.

The general arc Sam goes through in this episode is also wonderfully told. Early in the episode there is a moment where Sam refers to herself, Carly, and Freddie as all being “friends,” before immediately backtracking and saying that Freddie is merely a “coworker.” There is an obvious denial of any kind relationship between them, even platonically, but we as the audience know better than that. Then of course, Sam later finds out that Freddie has never had a real kiss, and publicly shares that information on iCarly as a prank, but it practically ruins Freddie’s social life. That moves us into the second phase of this arc, in which Sam realizes that her actions have consequences. Carly berates her for being so harsh to Freddie, in a moment that terrifically displays why Carly is such a wonderful character, and Sam is left to harbor the guilt of her choices. This carries us into the third phase of her arc where she faces her emotions head on, and apologizes to Freddie. Even without the kiss that follows, this arc Sam goes through is a tremendous display of growth for an otherwise, closed off, defensive, rebellious teenager. That alone is testament to the excellence that is this episode.

Like I said earlier, I could write an essay on this episode. There is just so many little details that make it so great, and I absolutely love it,

1. Season 6, Episode 13: iGoodbye

So, here we are at number 1, and it’s the series finale, iGoodbye. Is this even a shock? This final episode of iCarly is so freaking good, and there was no way it wasn’t going to claim the number 1 spot for me. Even with the fact that Sam and Freddie get no closure, and just have a general lack of interaction at all during the episode, I still rank at number 1. That’s how good it is.

So, I guess I’ll start with the Sam and Freddie issue since I mentioned that first, just to get the one negative out of the way. This is single flaw this episode has, but it is a major one, and I have to acknowledge it. While they may have a few little moments here and there, Sam and Freddie have an extreme lack of interaction throughout this episode, and it’s incredibly disappointing as a viewer. Of course, to a fan like myself, these two ending up back together would’ve been the ideal outcome, but I digress. Even disregarding the idea of them getting together, the simple fact that they don’t even have a final moment together, even just as friends, is criminal.

But, I ranked this at number 1 for a reason, and it’s because it is fantastic even with that flaw. This finale is a love letter to fans of the series, and is an emotional roller coaster throughout. There are numerous tear jerking moments that tug at the heart strings amazingly hard for a kids show. From Spencer forsaking his long lost love, Audrey, so he can take his little sister to her last dance, to Carly and Sam on the elevator during the final scene, and everything in between, this episode is emotionally beautiful. Both of Spencer’s moments with Carly and Sam respectively are two of my favorite moments in the entire series, and they give me all the feels. The goodbye he and Carly share before she leaves for Italy genuinely makes me cry every time I watch it, and the moment where he gives Sam the motorcycle before telling her she has “a good heart,” is so touching. I adore that “good heart,” line so much, as it validates my favorite character as a good person deep down. 

I could go on forever about this episode, but I actually plan on reviewing it as a standalone specifically, in a follow up to myreview/look back at the whole series. So for now, we’ll wrap this list up. iGoodbye is a beautiful finale to a wonderful series, and easily secures its spot as the best episode of iCarly for me.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 3X19 - A Curious Thing

You ever feel like A&E regret giving some episodes some titles in hindsight? Because this one would’ve been PERFECT for Season 7, or Wonderland too, I suppose. And the title itself is only mildly fitting, too. ...I don’t even have a joke, that’s just weird. XD

Anyways, there’s a review under the cut, if you want to check it out. There might be smart things and there might be dumb things, but you’ll never know until you check it out, right?

Press Release

Zelena threatens to kill Henry if Hook - whose lips have been cursed by the Wicked Witch – doesn’t proceed with kissing Emma, which will drain all of her magical powers away, and things begin to heat up between Regina and Robin Hood. Meanwhile, back in the Fairy Tale Land that was during the past year, Snow and Charming go in search of Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, to see if she can help them defeat Zelena, and the curse that will ultimately send the Fairy Tale characters back to Storybrooke is cast – but from an unlikely source.

Main Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness

Past

This segment is such a big contrast and parallel filled segment to the “Pilot.” Think about it:

-Regina breaks up their official wedding, Zelena breaks up their official pregnancy announcement

-Snow and David go to see a Dark One in the “Pilot” and they go to see an ultra light being here.

-They think through all of the alternatives before realizing they have to go with the suckiest option.

-Snow and David end the “Pilot” holding each other, both on the brink of collapse of exhaustion and death and here, they end the segment full of life and hope.

Otherwise, the story here was pretty good! It had a well put together story with a bouncing pace, lots of funny moments, and great character moments. It’s great seeing all of the EF characters come together on this smaller scale for the mission at the beginning, as all of their quirks and skills are put on display! It allows for everyone to feel in on the action and allows for the later focus on Regina, Snow, and Charming to feel more organic.

Present

I like Emma snapping at Henry. I don’t like that she and Henry got upset at one another, but I think the moment was well written. Henry is tired of being lied to, something well established in the past, present, and future as something of a trigger for him and Emma’s been established as hating the idea of Henry getting swept up in the drama and danger that their fairy tale life exposes them too. It makes for a very interesting conflict that while framing Emma as in the wrong, and rightly so, doesn’t paint either of them in an all-that-good, but also not an all-that-bad light. It’s complicated and it’s an important moment for them and it makes the apology work so well.

Regina being the one to break the curse worked so well for me! Her connection to Henry was a constant presence throughout the season and the kiss itself worked nicely within the narrative. I also like how it was (I hope I can say this right) not a case of either Regina or Emma being the better mother than the other, but a kiss of circumstance. Like, either mother could’ve done it, but since Emma already got the TLK in Season 1, it was really satisfying to see Regina get it here!

I’m trying to think of what I think of Killian during this episode. You see, I like Killian’s actions for being wrong, but the result of being backed into a corner. I also like the resulting resentment from Emma, Snow, and David, BUT (And I know this is more of an issue with the next episode, but bear with me) it makes the easy forgiveness in the next episode feel disjointed. BUT that having been said, I like that side of the disjointment too because they’re in a middle of a crisis and crises on this show have a tendency to bring out everyone’s more cooperative side and what happens in the next episode (From what memory serves) fits the buildup of most everything else from the season. So you see where I’m at, right? I’m confused, but not necessarily mad. Like, this part is hard to watch as a Killian fan, seeing everyone turn on him, but it’s in the same vein as the consequences of Emma lying to Henry about Neal in Season 2 were: It’s well written, but I don’t like seeing my favorite characters in such a position. ...Did ANY of that make sense?

Insights - Stream of Consciousness

-I love how Zelena’s plan is dependent on Snow and Charming wanting to get it on and have another kid and she’s 100% right about it. XD

-...Is it just me or is Zelena putting her hand on Snow while whispering to her just a liiiiiiiittle hot?

-I love these little bits of Regina and Grumpy’s dynamic. Grumpy really is the voice of the people and while I adore the family dynamic that Regina is forming with all the mains, I do like seeing a character who has little reason to like her point that fact out.

-THANK YOU REGINA FOR GIVING A LITTLE DEFINITION TO WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE WITHOUT A HEART!

-Is it weird to anyone else how Henry calls Regina “Madam Mayor?” Like, I know he doesn’t have his memories, but why not Mayor Mills?

-He’s been through a lot of tough stuff.” “And a lot of good stuff.” I really like that mini debate between Emma and Regina!

-I remember reading a fic of Rumple taking Killian hostage for this conversation and it being the best thing ever!

-Nooooooootttt a good idea telling your enemy the name of the first person you’re gonna attack. Just saying.

-”Where you come from, people bathe in the river and use pine cones for money.” REGINA’S SASS IS SO FUCKING EN-POINTE!

-I like how Henry knows he can’t handle a seven hour car ride just yet and makes a plan for that.

-Killian, your idea is so fucking stupid, but that smirk is so fucking adorable that I just can’t even. XD

-”Why do women keep their shoe boxes?” Solid question, but mine is why is she keeping her shoe boxes in a fucking suitcase?!

-Emma’s fuckstruck face at seeing the book appear crack me the fuck up! XD

-The entire scene with the snowbells! OMG! XD

-”If pure of heart, then she won’t hide.” Yeahhhhh. The revelations from 4B make this REALLY uncomfortable! XD

-That having been said, the fact that Regina can’t get through and her resulting reaction to that is funny as fuck!

-Okay, now that the auction is a thing, I can’t look at props and not think of them as lots! XD

-Do you think if Snow didn’t have a pure heart, but the baby did, she’d be allowed to pass through the door?

-”There has to be another way to enact it [The Dark Curse].” Give it four seasons, Snow. There will be...in TWO ways, no less! XD

-”I’ve got GPS on his phone.” I fucking love those small moments where technology beats magic! XD

-...I realize that if Killian’s plan worked, he and Smee would basically become co-parents until Zelena’s defeated. SOMEONE MAKE THIS A SITCOM!!!

-That second “mom” in Regina’s direction...it just did stuff to me. Beautiful magnificent stuff. *Cries forever*

-Wow. The effects of Emma’s light magic on Zelena are REALLY weird...but I still like it! It’s like something out of a stage play with the lighting and the smoke and the close shots on Zelena’s hands make the whole thing really unique!

-The contrast to the first and second curse casting is really something!

-I Disney Ship Henry/Pizza!

-Okay, this Regal Believer content just makes me wanna cry of happiness! Seeing Henry and Regina bonding like this is so cathartic!

-Kind of forever a little salty that the most we get out of Robin and Henry bonding is that handshake.

-There the CG people go having all sorts of fun again! :D

-UM! So Neal can talk to birds! We should talk about this!

-Yo! You can’t hit me with all of these Neal feels in a row like this!

Arcs - How Are These Storylines Progressing?

The Wicked Witch - FUCK ME! Zelena’s fucking hardcore! Like, whether in the past or the present, I feel like the stakes of her villainy continuously rise with each and every episode! And this episode really shows us her power in regards to her army. Like, there are monkeys coming from EVERY direction here! It makes for something genuinely intimidating!

Emma Accepting Home - I like what we see of this arc in this episode. Now that Henry’s on the verge of getting his memories back, Emma’s anxieties come back so fiercely and they’re appropriately further compelled by the threat of the monkeys and the exposure of Killian’s lie.

Regina’s Redemption - This is the penultimate moment of payoff for Regina’s redemption this season and it’s fantastic! The buildup has been pretty solid, with Regina fighting so hard for and alongside all of the heroes, especially Henry!

Neal’s Death - I love how basically as soon as the story is able to, Neal’s death is addressed and gracefully acknowledged for Henry.

Killian’s Redemption - Killian’s plan is pretty stupid here. That having been said, the entire time Killian’s enacting this stupid plan, Henry’s safety and happiness is his top priority, as is Smee’s, a bit. “Don’t stop, no matter what you hear.” Like, Killian’s willing to fucking DIE for Henry’s safety. Just, this episode shows both Killian at his best and worst.

Favorite Dynamic

Emma and Henry. Regal Believer was really close to taking this spot, but I loved all the friction between Emma and Henry here as well as the love between them. I talked about it before so i won’t repeat myself too much, but that fight just does so much to show all of the stress these two have been under for the past half season. The lying and anxiety have just been building up on both of their ends and the way it comes out is absolutely heartbreaking! But you can tell that there’s still a lot of love there between them in the way that Henry trusts Emma to believe in magic and the storybook.

Writer

Adam and Eddy are today’s writers! They did a nice job here. The storytelling is tight, allows for a good variety of characters to get focus (Like, I’m kind of amazing that basically all of the mains plus Zelena plus Robin plus Neal get at least one standout moment). The balance here is so good! And the story in terms of being payoff works so well because it’s so in sync with the setup of the previous episodes.

Rating

10/10. This is just a good clean episode. It has a story and tells it well!

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Outlaw Queen - “What I’m doing is saving your ass.” The reaction to this line is not only hysterical, but it shows me what I love about this pairing. Regina just begrudgingly respects Robin for his utter gall, and it’s just this stark and cool moment. Honestly, I just love how Regina reacts to Robin’s sass. And in the present, that sass from both sides makes for something honestly pretty sweet and cute.

Swan Queen - Now this might be just me, but anyone else notice that borderline jealous expression Emma had on her face when post-makeout Regina came in? XD

Rumbelle - I love how Belle gets through to Rumple for just a few moments in the past. It makes me think of the beginning of the Margot/Tilly scene from “Is This Henry Mills?” and it’s just heartwarming to see Rumple so gentle. He speaks so softly and it’s...it’s just fucking nice.

Snowing - David...you fucking dork with that fucking flower...I love you… AND SPEAKING OF DAVID, DUDE! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE THAT FUCKING CUTE WITH YOUR WIFE JUST AS YOU’RE ABOUT TO “DIE!” NO RIGHT! That speech! That FUCKING speech was too amazing! AND SNOW’S GOODBYE! She can’t even look at the heart she’s gonna crush because she wants to treasure those last few seconds with him! Finally, the heart sharing. What a beautiful and smart resolution to the casting of the new curse. And it’s so romantic and personal to the two of them and their journey. It’s a simply iconic Snowing moment!

Swan Fire - Neal and Emma put in so much effort into preserving each other’s memory -- Emma’s literal memory and Neal’s eternal memory -- here! <3

-----

Sorry that this one is both late and not super strongly written. I guess I just wasn’t in the zone here. But thank you for reading all the same and to @daensarah​ and @watchingfairytales​. I’ll have something better next time as we explore “Kansas.”

Season 3 Total (179/220)

Writer’s Scores: Adam and Eddy (49/60) Kalinda Vazquez (26/40) Andrew Chambliss (34/50) Jane Espenson (28/30)* David Goodman (29/40) Robert Hull (30/40) Christine Boylan (20/20)* Daniel Thomsen (28/30)*

* Indicates that their work for the season is complete

*Links to the rest of my rewatch will no longer be provided. They take posts with links outside of searches and I spend way too much time on these reviews to not give them that kind of exposure. Sorry for the inconvenience, but they still can be found on my page under Operation Rewatch.

[itshansolo]

my review of the last jedi

spoilers, very much so

It’s easy to understand why the critics love this film. It’s very different from The Empire Strikes Back, it’s got some excellent acting, surprising moments and good action scenes. For people who get paid to analyze films as their own entities and do so countless times a year - and as such probably don’t remember much about The Force Awakens aside from “Han was killed as Luke showed up in the last few seconds” - that’s all it takes for a 10/10 experience.

The film ends on a high note, so you walk away from the theater in ecstasy and still absorbing what you just saw. But the euphoria doesn’t resist 10 minutes of critical thinking. For a film that praises itself for digging deep into its characters, The Last Jedi is surprisingly superficial. Presumably, one of the first questions Rian Johnson asked himself was “what is Luke Skywalker doing on that island?”. Turns out he feels guilty about what happened to Ben Solo and the Jedi order he was building. Wait, you might say, I thought the previous movie had already made that clear? That’s because it did. The Last Jedi was supposed to be Luke’s movie and we get no insight whatsoever into his character that we didn’t already know or make educated guesses about.

Except for one thing. Turns out he tried to kill his nephew when he sensed the darkness inside him. Yeah. Exactly. He didn’t give up on Darth Vader of all people, but he was ready to slaughter his teenage nephew. There is no plausible explanation for this. That was before shit hit the fan in the Skywalker household, so any psychological trouble that might excuse his odd behaviour when Rey finds him does not excuse this.

That’s not the full extent of Luke’s iffy characterization. We all remember how he went against his masters’ teachings and faced Darth Vader with nothing but compassion under his sleeve. So tell me how does it make sense for a Force Ghost Yoda to appear and lecture him on all that was wrong about the old ways of the Jedi? It doesn’t. Their respective beliefs were flipped.

In the last few months, the powers that be have repeatedly stated in interviews - as a weird badge of pride - that each director is entirely free to come up with the story of each film, with nothing but the previous instalment as a starting point. Long story short, the trilogy is being written as they go along. And it shows. Snoke was nothing but a plot device. The Knights of Ren are nowhere to be seen. There’s no explanation for how and why the Skywalker lightsaber ended up in Maz Kanata’s possession. Maz, by the way, has the most inorganic introduction I’ve ever had the displeasure to watch. I just have to presume it was in Lupita Nyong’o’s contract to be in at least two films.

If Lupita’s contract might explain Maz’s atrocious cameo, Benicio Del Toro can only be a close friend of Rian Johnson’s with a lifelong dream to be in a Star Wars movie. The character, whose name we do not learn, is completely useless and badly portrayed. The necessary skills that he has could have been easily transfered to Rose. As a side effect, the whole Canto Bight detour - also a waste of time - could have been thrown out altogether.

Speaking of Rose, she’s one of the few elements that actually work in this film. Kelly Marie Tran is excellent and the character is immediately likable. We learn more about her than we learned about Rey in two goddamn movies. Her storyline with Finn, as mentioned above, could have used a little trimming, but I have to disagree with critics who claim it’s the biggest/only weakness of the film. The sheer charisma of Kelly and John Boyega carries the storyline. 

The truth is there a lot of weakness and they are spread out. Case in point, the dynamic between Amilyn Holdo and Poe, my least favorite part by far. Rian Johnson came up with the character of Amilyn and Claudia Gray borrowed the name to write a different character in her novel Princess of Alderaan. Those who have read this book know that she’s the Luna Lovegood of Star Wars and her charming personality completely vanishes in the film. She’s virtually a different woman. Did the story group of Lucasfilm and their supposed responsibility for continuity in a galaxy far far away take a vacation while Claudia was writing the book?

It’s clear that Holdo was introduced in the movie to prop up Poe Dameron’s character development, but the trouble is that such development is not necessarily welcome or well done. I don’t know how a movie that lasts two and a half hours can feel rushed, but here it did. Poe and Holdo’s altercation is truncated, confusing, almost impossible to get invested in.

Did you notice how I failed to mention Rey until now? You may think Daisy Ridley was just being humble when she kept saying in the press tour that Rey is not necessarily the main character. She wasn’t though. Rey does not feel like the main character at all. As a matter of fact, Poe feels more like a protagonist this time around. And that’s saying something, considering his character was supposed to die early on in The Force Awakens.

I’m not gonna ramble at length about the godforsaken topic of Rey’s parentage. I’m just gonna say that, aside from being almost comical how The Force Awakens missed the mark when introducing the child of literal nobodies, The Last Jedi takes its sweet time to settle the debate once and for all, as it continues to tag people along like Lucasfilm and Disney have been doing for two years. As soon as Rey and Kylo have their first bizarre Sense8-esque Force meeting, my seatmate whispered to his friend “wait, are they siblings?” and I wanted to take a bullet to the brain right the fuck there. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WOULD HAVE MADE SENSE. Mere seconds after one of their Force connections, Luke has a similar scene with Leia. You know… Leia. HIS SISTER. At some point, Kylo tells Rey that he knows she’s gonna join him eventually… because he’s seen who her parents are. Geez, Louise. I wonder why the identity of her parents would compel her to get closer to Kylo. Maybe because they are HIS PARENTS TOO?? No, that would have just been too good.

And it doesn’t end there! Remember that teaser in which something sinister is calling to Rey and Luke yells “RESIST IT”?. That was awesome, wasn’t it? Who was calling to her? Snoke? Kylo? Turns out it was… a cave. A cave in which Rey has a borderline psychodelic experience that involves mirrors. She asks to be shown the face of her parents and the music intensifies until… we see Rey staring at her own reflection. That’s brilliant, Rian. Keep building up the mystery only to reveal later on that her parents were alcoholic junkers that may or may not remain nameless for eternity (and Rey shall remain just “Rey” forever).

I’m still trying to figure out the purpose of that cave scene. This goes back to how disappointingly shallow the movie was. We were supposed to learn some pretty interesting lore about the Force and what did we actually get? We learned that the Force doesn’t belong to the Jedi (duh)… and that’s it. Are you serious?

Let me get into what I did like about the film. Like I said, John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran are a tour de force of charisma. They’re the most endearing pair and just plain fun to watch. Although Finn has been criminally demoted from his leading man status, his confrontation with Phasma (who’s Phasma again?) brought nice closure to his arc as a former stormtrooper.

I know many of my mutuals and followers cannot stand Adam Driver. I have side-eyed some of the things he said recently myself. But the guy is phenomenal in this movie. I caught myself looking forward to his appearences, because he is simply magnetic. I have no idea what’s gonna happen to Kylo, but I’m invested either way. The one thing The Last Jedi taught me is that speculation is pointless, because fans put way more thought into the story than the powers that be. That’s depressing, but it’s the reality of the situation.

I think my favorite scene in the whole movie is Kylo and Rey in Snoke’s throne room. The tension was palpable. The way Kylo ended Snoke had everyone in the room on the edge of their seats and the battle against the Praetorian Guards right afterwards was simply breathtaking.

Carrie Fisher is so Leia in her last appearence. I’m pretty happy with her send off, all things considered. She felt way more at ease in the role when compared to The Force Awakens and we gotta give Johnson some credit here, even if I want to strangle him most of the time. The infamous Superman scene is pretty awkward, but it was about time she showed some badass Force powers. The old hologram from A New Hope being what motivates Luke to finally help Rey was a stroke of genius. Such a simple plot development, but literally no one saw it coming. There wasn’t a single dry eye in the audience.

LUKE AND LEIA REUNITE! Well, sort of. But it was enough for me. Which brings me to Luke projecting himself across the galaxy. It sounds cartoonish on paper, but boy did it work! If you didn’t get goosebumps when he became one with the Force to the sound of Binary Sunset, something is wrong with you. The shoulder wipe was LEGENDARY. Some of the humor didn’t work in this film, but most certainly did, especially Chewie and the porgs (which are adorable and thankfully not overused) and Luke hitting Rey in the hand with a stick when he asks her to reach out.

As a standalone film, I give The Last Jedi an 8 out of 10. But as a follow-up to a seven-part saga, it’s a 6/10 with a pinch of generosity.

[mysteriouslyzealouspandalov-blog]

Jon and Dany's relationship has always been the endgame, says 'Game of Thrones' director

New Post has been published on https://relationshipguideto.com/must-see/jon-and-danys-relationship-has-always-been-the-endgame-says-game-of-thrones-director/

Jon and Dany's relationship has always been the endgame, says 'Game of Thrones' director

Dany and Jon, sittin' in a cabin…

Image: hbo

The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones Season 7 was arguably the most stressful installment since the Red Wedding — North of the Wall, we saw one of Daenerys’ beloved dragons die, before being resurrected by the Night King, while back in Winterfell, Arya and Sansa escalated their cold war to nuclear levels, all thanks to Littlefinger’s puppeteering.

With only one episode left this season — and only six episodes to come in Season 8  — we’re rapidly approaching the show’s endgame, which means that characters we love are probably going to start dying again, and alliances will be forced to solidify or shatter in the face of the Night King’s advance on Westeros. 

SEE ALSO: Prepare for a super-sized ‘Game of Thrones’ finale and start freaking out about the cryptic episode title

With that in mind, we spoke to Alan Taylor, director of episode 706, “Beyond the Wall,” to discuss the developments of last Sunday’s episode and the tensions rising heading into the finale — including the fact that George R. R. Martin was apparently dropping hints about his ultimate plan for the story way back in Season 1. 

Taylor on location in Iceland

Image: helen sloan/hbo

The last time you directed on the show was in Season 2 — has the experience changed much since then?  

Yeah, it’s funny; it’s very, very different, and yet the same. The first two seasons, it had by no means the scale of audience attention that it has now, and when I came back after being away for a while, I sort of thought I’d be returning to the same enterprise. When I came back, I was immediately struck by how much bigger the whole thing has gotten. It was always big — there were always two units functioning simultaneously in different countries, so it was always a certain scale — but now instead of one bunker you walk by on the way to the stage, now there’s 10. 

The main difference, I think, is probably the certain story elements, like the dragons. The visual effects are a huge part of it in a way they weren’t before. If you’re doing one shot on a frozen lake with a dragon, it’s actually seven shots that are being stitched together in various layers, shot in various ways to compose into the story beats, so it’s a much more complex machine now than it used to be. But the funny thing is that the spirit remains the same. It still feels like an indie production. People are still completely unpretentious, including the actors and how they do the work. It still feels scruffy and rough and ready. It’s got the worst craft services of any production I’ve ever been on — it’s got two crackers and some cold tea. [Laughs.] It hasn’t gotten bloated at all. It’s still lean, but the finished product is huge.   

How long did that final battle on the frozen lake take to film, all told?

Oh boy. I’d forgotten how many days we were there on that frozen lake, but I can tell you it felt like roughly forever. It was getting up pre-dawn every day, going to this quarry that was outside Belfast. The crew would be there already, sweeping whatever rain and stuff had happened off the ice and restoring the snow on our set, which was huge and 360 degrees. 

I remember the DP — who is brilliant, Jonathan Freeman — despairing because he realized one day we had bright sunlight, which is horrible when you’re North of the Wall, and fog, which is impossible to shoot in, and snow and rain all in the same day. He’s trying to pull a coherent vision out of all those elements. Coupled with the fact that when Dany arrives, she’s sitting on a huge styrofoam green thing on top of our [island], and you’re shooting three layers of shot … any time anybody goes through the ice, you know you’re going to be shooting that later in a dunk tank on a sound stage. It was huge and insanely complex. We were there for weeks, and I know that the investment of my time was something I’ve never experienced in television. I think from my first scout of that location to finishing the episode took five months, which is way into feature film territory, not television.  

I honestly had no idea you filmed the ice lake battle in a quarry in Belfast instead of in Iceland until I saw the behind-the-scenes video from filming.

Yeah, that was tricky. We knew we were going to be running around in Iceland for the most part for the first half of the episode and then have to find a way to transition to our ice lake, and we were lucky to find an intersection in this gorge that we were in in Iceland that could believably take us to this new set, so that worked out. We had to shoot the frozen lake close to home, because there’s too much prosthetics and pyrotechnics and stunts that we couldn’t do that remotely somewhere on location. We had to do that somewhere near base camp.  

I’m so fascinated by the biology of the dragons – can you talk me through the process of what happened to Viserion after the Night King hit him and we saw that explosion from his throat?

A tremendous amount of thought went into them from the early stages. It was very important to David and Dan that the dragons be quintessentially believable. They had a huge disgust for dragons that had four legs and wings. Many times you see dragons rendered that way, and their point is that nowhere in nature do you see a creature that is built that way. So they were adamant that they had to have large hind legs and that the wings had to be elements of the four legs. 

Beyond that, the biology of how you blow fire and what’s the pilot light like on the inside of the throat … One of the fun things here, and there’s a lot of debate as to how much we could do it, was when he gets stabbed through the throat, he’s trailing blood as he falls. He’s also trailing smoke and flame as he falls. So he looks like a jet fighter going down. We were mindful of what the reality would be if you punctured one of these guys there. 

And then a lot of thought went into the logistics of the scale of it; how much room is going to be required to arc around, how much ice will it tear up when it hits the ground? And besides all that, trying to make sure that it had a chance to play emotionally. One of my favorite shots is the one where Viserion sinks below the ice, and it’s the one time we take a long time with the moment and let it stretch. We’re in a full battle at the time, but we had to let that moment hang long enough… and the visual effects department did a wonderful job of realizing it, you feel the mass of the creature. It feels so lifelike in death. I think it really worked well.  

There’s also a lot of effort going into giving them moments of character. There’s a tiny moment that probably not many people noticed, but when Dany and Tyrion are walking out to the dragons when she decides she’s going to go off on this mission, they’re just waking up from a nap. You see three dragons raising up in the foreground, and one of them shakes his head side to side. That’s because our storyboard artist, who’s kind of brilliant, who has two dogs, knows that when her dogs get up from a long sleep, they shake their head. You can see, I think it’s Viserion in the background, doing that gesture. It’s little observations like that to make sure the dragons are fully alive.  

We see Jon and Daenerys share a moment of intimacy on the ship, but then there’s that subtle shift and Dany pulls away and shuts down on him – what’s going through her mind in that moment?

Certainly those who have read the books or are reading the books know that we’ve been heading in this direction for a long time. I’ve mentioned before that it was a revelation to me about the scale of George R. R. Martin’s thinking that he came to visit the set in Season 1, when none of us knew what we were contending with really, and said a few things that made it clear that, for him, this whole epic thing — this story he was telling — all came down to these two and them getting together. 

Of course, back then, none of us knew that. We didn’t know that Robb Stark was going to [die] – he seemed like he was the heir apparent, and the fact that this bastard sidekick brother and this girl on a whole different continent were going to turn into the core of the show, we didn’t see that coming yet. 

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I think we’ve known for a while that Tyrion is making fun of Dany, because he sees what’s coming. I think there’s a bunch of things at work in that scene, and they pulled it off wonderfully. It’s just the right level of swooning for each other but drawing back. It was one close-up of Emilia that really tells that story very well, where you see her, she’s going over the edge, and then she forces herself back when she pulls her hand back. It’s probably because she’s got a lot of responsibility. She can’t be falling like this. Tyrion has already made fun of her for this, so she’s got that motive to draw back. I think everybody understands it’s pretty inevitable.  

The tension in Arya and Sansa’s relationship is almost unbearable right now. How did you and Maisie approach that final scene between them from Arya’s perspective?

All my favorite scenes are the scenes between the girls. I think it’s probably because I have two young daughters who spend a healthy amount of time hating each other’s guts. Watching these two feel each other out and test each other and feeling the balance of power shift back and forth between them was a real delight. I remember reading the script and thinking, “Oh my God. It’s eight pages, and they’re just standing there. What are we going to do?”  

We blocked it in a way that felt like it had a little bit of momentum to it, and there’s a nice thing where they’re turning the tables on each other. [In their first scene together, where Arya confronts Sansa about the letter] each one takes some time with the bloody carcasses hanging behind them… you really feel that they both have a case to make. What I also like is they’re both legitimately lethal at this point, and we know that Arya can kill things at the drop of a hat. I think we’re starting to realize that Sansa has gotten somewhere quite dark. She’s learned a lot from Cersei, as she says at one point.   

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I love the fact that that tension is there, and I just wanted people to feel that you weren’t sure who was going to kill who, but it was quite believable that either one could kill the other. There are things like the dagger in the scene between them and the fact that Brienne is being sent away to clear the deck so there’s no police in town. The idea is to build up the expectation as much as possible that one of them is going to die, and hopefully surprise people by what happens.  

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.

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