#I didn't like this scene cuz it felt like he was blaming her :/

[loopyren]

can i say something about inukik & inukag lol

For context, I’m a latecomer to this series. I just finished it last month in the year 2023. And “Did Inuyasha love Kikyo more or Kagome more?” is sort of a weird debate for me.

Because it's sort of implying that "love" could be quantified or something. Like it’s something you can point your finger at and count. But from my, ahem seasoned expertise, that’s not how it works.

So I want to look at it in a different way.

Let’s get it straight. Love is not quantifiable. Inuyasha loved both Kikyo and Kagome the best way he knew how. He was genuine about both of them. His feelings were earnest and true.

But you can’t deny his love somehow feels... different between the two of them.

So what is it? What is this difference?...

*deep breath* please bear with me I need to get this out of my system

+

Inuyasha loved Kikyo. But their love felt transactional.

Kikyo showed him kindness, didn't try to kill him, treated him like a normal person for once. But... she was kind of in a sad place in life. In protecting the jewel, she felt robbed of a normal life. So, she asked him one day, "Will you become human and destroy the jewel? For me?" Kind of a tall ask, but I don’t blame her. She was feeling miserable. And Inuyasha's like, "Yes, of course!"

But then she died. And got resurrected. And Inuyasha's like “well shit, now I REALLY need to do something for her. She DIED because of me.” That's really what's driving his love (is it love anymore? idk) at this point. It feels like he's chasing to pay off his debt.

That's what I mean by “transactional.”

Okay, so Inuyasha loved Kagome too. But their love felt unconditional.

Kagome also showed him kindness, didn't try to kill him, treated him like a normal person etc. just like Kikyo. But she doesn’t really need anything from Inuyasha, right. She’s content with her life and all. So... she didn't ask for anything back. She just gave kindness to him and went on her merry way. Ok ya, sometimes she gets a lil grumpy (she’s human) but she always believes in him, trusts him to do the right thing, supports him when he's weak, yada yada... and like, that's it. Inuyasha even tries to make himself look like the bad guy, steals her shards, freakin’ pushes her into the well to get her to go home (cuz he didn’t want her to get hurt anymore), but Kagome comes back HUGGING him LMAO

Kagome is giving him literally nothing but love and trust and support. Not really expecting anything in return. She just wants to see him be his best and do his best. Encourage him during hard times. Even when she sees him with Kikyo lol… Clearly it hurts her and she realizes she caught feelings (oops), but she accepts that about herself and holds on to her desire to support him through and through.

She kinda says to him, "Hey… I know my place (in relation to Kikyo), but I still want to support you. I want to see you smile and be happy. Will you let me stay by your side?"

DAMN. Inuyasha says, "You’ll stay for me?" (well, in the anime in Japanese that's what he literally says, I replayed that scene like 500 times to make sure I heard it right). And she's like ya! Let's go!

CMONNNN. His brain is probably like “NO STOP! I OWE MY LIFE TO KIKYO!” but his heart is already saying “JFC THIS GIRL. I LOVE HER.” And he wants to do everything for her, not because he's indebted to her. It's not a transaction he needs to pay up. He does it because he really wants to.

So like, people making a ruckus about “Inuyasha Loved Kikyo!!!” vs “NO INUYASHA LOVED KAGOME!!” And I’m just sitting here going, uhh. I mean y'all both right! He... loved them both? Hello? And he loved very adorably for both of them. He’s such an honest lover.

But the circumstances in which he loved each girl are totally different. 

With Kikyo, the circumstances were pretty dire. They were both deprived of something important to them. Her, a normal life. Him, just basic love and affection. They weren’t able to love each other with no strings attached bc they both still had stuff internally to deal with (her: the need to be liberated & him: insecurity). But, regardless, they shared a special bond that can’t be replaced. That’s a given.

Kagome... gave him better circumstances to love. Her love made him feel light. It felt so good and positive. She taught him a lot on what it means to trust and love someone unconditionally. He could show her all his ugly and she accepts that about him. She helped him meet lifelong friends too, Miroku, Sango, Shippo... And he really treasures her for that. They also shared a special bond that can’t be replaced, literally no one can replace bc he basically screams out loud (in the Meido) she is his soulmate. :’) suh cute

I think at the end, yeah, Kikyo might’ve got some smooches and our InuKag friends are like D: But… I’m romantic ace so maybe I see it differently, but it’s just a kiss. I never doubted that the only kiss that would truly make his eyes light up, the only kiss that could cause his entire soul to leap out of his own mouth and stun him into silence, is a kiss with Kagome. And Rumiko Takahashi did that without actually providing us a kiss scene (in the manga). 

Takahashi made me trust Inuyasha like how he and Kagome trust each other. :((((

That’s... incredible. Standing ovation character building 👏🏼

[wlwmk]

Korrasami's shippers think that this

"like yes, korra is literally the most powerful person in the world, but the second asami uses her angry voice, she fears for her life. ( and rightfully so )"

- is a good thing... yikes yikes. why the fuck the Avatar would be afraid of Asami 🤦‍♀️

Oh man I hate that one scene with so much passion but these people making it about " Korra only scared of her lol " is the worst like- you don't care about Korra if that's your only thought.

Literally Korra just came back from years of physical and mental health struggling, which Asami perfectly knew since she's the only one who got a letter cuz Korra felt enough comfortable for her to be her only confident, but still she got screamed at while she was just trying to help her.

While on the other hand, Korra get criticized or even hated for the hell out of it when she did the same with Mako in the beginning of b2 while it was more understandable with how much she was going through at that time. Also she was a 18 yo teenage girl with the responsibility of the world on her shoulders, not 22.

Also in that same reunion scene, Mako got mad at Korra too, but him it was bc it didn't get any news from her for years making him dead worried but still.. look how gentle he is with her without knowing her condition beforehand? And his feelings were legit (both Mako's complain and Korra's self isolation are legit btw- how they're confronting it afterwards is the only thing which can be 'judged') but still, Korra didn't replied back to him too, understanding his feelings and even actually blaming herself for making him feeling bad. While we know how these two react when they're disagreeing and are genuinely angry., but here it wasn't it. But guess who got hate for literally reacting like a caring friend? Mako.

Anyway, if that scene was just taken like that and not romanticised I wouldn't care but it's just sounds wrong how people trying to turn it out.

You prob didn't asked for a rant, but there it is hoping you wouldn't mind 🫶🏽

[archangeldyke-all]

I got hated indie this so I didn’t want to say it, but yes their relationship was too fast for me in season one. I don’t believe that ppl connect with each other that fast lmao. They’ve known each other for five days and suddenly they’re like ‘what about us ?’ What us??? Genuinely have felt left out of the fandom and lesbian community cuz I just did not understand them; I remember going to the last episode before their rain scene on Netflix just to check if I posed an episode. The feeling a were so high for two ppl that only met last week.

But I feel like season two will actually develop their relationship and give sth more than just that (imo) shaky foundation. I get connecting as friends and like having a bit of a crush and sexual attraction, but they both looked like they were neck deep in love with each other at the end of the series which was wild and confusing to me. They’re he first animated lesbians I didn’t ship and I feel so bad 😪

I love your reading on Cait. I don’t connect to her character but seeing other ppl’s perspectives makes it easier to like do that. Cuz she genuinely is cute and means well.

(Also I wondered if it was just me but do you see like Cait’s narrative purpose in the story ? Like, I feel like one of cait’s purposes as a character in season one was to create (unintentional) chaos between Vi and Jinx, given what she symbolizes for high of them and such, and that genuinely irked me. Though I could just be overthinking it.)

And can I be 🗣️ anon ? I always be talking lol

omg same i hope season 2 gives cait and vi some time to uhh... reflect? grow? go on like a normal coffee date and learn each other's favorite colors? simple things. cait didn't even know violet was an orphan and she was already giving her the lovey dovey eyes, they definitely skipped a few steps in their relationship in season 1 (but i get it, they were going through some pretty big individual and shared traumas at the time, they didn't really have time to get to know each other)

i think cait's narrative purpose is probably to give us an insight to piltover and how the majority of citizens up top think about the undercity. cait is completely clueless that people two or three miles from her home are living in despair-- it isn't until she goes to the undercity herself and learns from vi and ekko that she starts to realize. i think she is meant to show how piltover's managed to turn it's back on its sister city for so long-- it's people just live in pure ignorance both about the issues zaun's citizens face, and the fact that piltover's to blame for those issues.

and of course you can!! i love getting new anons heheeh

[laugtherhyena]

If kinji successfully killed Kizuna. Just cuz i can. :3

This is the last ask-story for a while probably. I had scribbled down the idea for this fic after reading the new chapter and before work. So i am working on it now. :3

I also just need to finish a prologue concept for a project im helping on, so. Yeah.

-

Kanata hadn't slept much the night after the trial. The sight of Kizuna's lifeless body still haunted her, so much so that she couldn't even sleep for a few minutes without waking up screaming and gasping for air.

"I should've stayed by her side. I should've been more cautious..." she told herself, "it's all my fault."

The morning alarm went off, startling her out of her misery. Would she be allowed to talk with everyone again this morning? Why was she asking herself that... they probably didn't trust her, she had failed Kizuna, after all.

She forced herself out of bed. Each footstep felt heavy, each heartbeat felt like the last, and every sound was unbearably loud. Her stomach felt hollow, and yet she didn't want to fill it with food. She didn't want to do anything at all, for that matter.

Nobody knocked on her door. Not even Yamaguchi or Hatano, the two who had shown the most concern in the trial.

Maybe it was better that way. Maybe it'd be easier to grieve alone.

She turned on the lights to the room after feeling the walls a bit. She examined the room briefly, never having had paid close attention to it before. Nothing seemed too unordinary-- it was a room meant for the ultimate cheerleader, after all. however, what did end up catching her attention were a few spare yellow ribbons tied in bows around a hanger. Why they weren't by some sort of mirror was unknown to her.

Her fingertips brushed the satin fabric lightly, a hesitancy in her own movements that she didn't quite expect. At the same time, her thoughts were racing. Would Kizuna be fine with this? Shouldn't the ribbons be left untouched?

But the ribbons were all Kanata had left of the cheerleader. Maybe... maybe wearing them would help her cope.

-

May continue in comments if i ever feel like it/if i even can but. I got smacked with the "how the hell do i finish this" and got stuck.

Also the ribbons were in the closet because i dont remember the layout of Kizuna's room and i didnt want to have a super heavy investigation scene.

OUGH i love the idea of her keeping the yellow ribbons and wearing them, like how Teruya kept Haruhiko's glasses, what a nice touch.

I do feel like Kanata would blame herself a bunch over her death because Kizuna was her friend and her patient so she really would feel as if she's failed her after giving them girl so much hope for the future. Ayame would probably blame herself a little too just how she does over Kanata and Kakeru's deaths, i imagine she'd try to talk with Kanata during the investigation and apologize but Kanata really isn't in the mood to talk and just tells her to leave. She's not mad at Ayame she's just suffering and trying to focus on the awful task of performing an autopsy on the body of someone she cared for so much.

I never thought much about how Kinji's murder plan would have gone other than that he was bringing Kizuna back to the switchium and the spear was his weapon of choice. Unsure how exactly he was gonna kill her other than in a way that should kill people fast and then pose her body in a weird way (think like Chihiro in THH but not exactly like that you know?), but Kizuna is Kizuna and much like in canon she resists the killing blow long enough to leave a dying message.

Then once he's done (likely around the time Ayame, Yuki and Akane finished talking and are coming back to their rooms) he would approach them and tell them he hasn't found Kanata anywhere and that the door to the room was open, so they call the others to help search for her and the class scatters trying to find her, this leads to Kinji's leading a couple of them to where he hid Kanata and them getting her out of the locker just in time to hear the BDA announcement since another group of people found Kizuna in the switchium.

[bamber344]

OC in 15

thanks for the tag @seastarblue :3

Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

Gonna do Roxy because there is so so so much content of her for me to take from (but i'm gonna have to go digging lol), I wanna try and capture her transformation throughout the story :> Also including chapter numbers cuz i'm cute like that ig

-------

“Aww, you’re not scary, are you? You're just a big softie!” (Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting)

“You know you don’t have to pretend around me. It's okay to not be okay sometimes.” (Chapter 4: The Transfer)

“How do you feel about helping me threaten a potential cultist?” (Chapter 6: Girls' Day Out)

“I-I-I was s-s-so scared! I th-thought he was gonna k-kill me! He said he was gonna… Oh god, Sam. Thank you so much!” (Chapter 8: Downfall)

“Leif, when exactly did you do any studying? Because I can’t recall. I’d be surprised if you could point out Canada on a map.” (Chapter 11: Pack)

“Do you ever shut up?” (Chapter 12: Returning The Favour)

“You’re not a killer, Sam. You’re not a murderer. You’re just a sweet, too-caring-for-this-world girl who got caught up in a bad situation and did the best she could with the cards she’d been given. No one blames you for what happened, so please don’t blame yourself. I love you, Sam. I know you’re not the monster you think you are.” (Chapter 14: Blood, Sweat, And Tears)

“C’mon, Leify-poo. Kick my ass.” (Chapter 16: Working For The Weekend)

 “Alright, you fuckers,” - - “You want me so bad? Well, come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough!” (Chapter 18: The Last Days Of Childhood)

“Fuck yourself on a cactus, how’s that sound?” (Chapter 19: Pressure)

“I-it’s fine. Well, it’s not,” - - “But… what’s done is done. What else can I do?” (Chapter 25: The Long Road To Recovery)

“I don’t need you to protect me! I-I can… I can protect myself!” - - “I-I-I just…! Fuck! Why can’t things be normal?! This is all supposed to be over and done with!” (Chapter 31: Pulling Back The Veil)

“There’s probably something wrong with me. It’s just never really bothered me. My first kill was… the man who tortured me. I killed three other guards during my escape, and since then, I don’t think I’ve felt a single shred of guilt over it. Scared of the repercussions? Yeah. A little shaken up by what I did? Sure, but not once did I ever think I’d done something wrong. The world is a better place without those men in it.” (Chapter 34: Road Trip Blues)

“I’ve been surrounded before, and I’m sure you assholes remember how that went last time.” (Chapter 37: A Lazy Day)

“I’m here, Sammie. I’ve got you. I’ve got you, honey.” - - "I always knew you were just a big softie." - - “It’s okay, Sammie. It’s okay. I’m here, girl. I won’t leave you alone again.” (Chapter 40: Bloodmoon)

-----

May have gotten a little indulgent with what constitutes 'one' line of dialogue at the end there (those quotes were pulled from separate paragraphs) but sue me I wanted to highlight their relationship because I LOVE THEMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

felt good to look back over my past work like that :3

gonna tag uhhhhh @writer-of-worlds @3-2-whump @mindblowguy-blog and an open tag! (apologies if you didn't wanna get tagged, no pressure to play the game!)

[venbetta]

I took some time and actually watched Hazbin Hotel... I watched the pilot 6(?) years ago, and seeing the hellfire commentary from Twitter made me reluctant (rightfully so I guess).

But I say it was pretty alright. I feel like I have some complaints. I'm not a diehard fan at all, nor do I see myself in the fan base, but I feel like I can add my own input, I guess. These are my opinions and personal reasons, please be nice.

Spoilers/commentary beneath the cut (16+)

For starters, I think the concept is good, I like some of the designs for the characters, especially since they improved from the pilot.

I think I have at least 3-4 favorite characters, ranking them from my most fave:

Lucifer, Alastor, Vox, and Nifty.

... I didn't like anyone else. I'll probably explain that.

The only reason why I liked these four was mostly cuz they had some funny bits to them. I told my friend that Lucifer reminds me of Hunter from TOH??? And I said "Maybe it's cuz their both blonde and depressed." Lucifer just has that appeal for me. Vox didn't have much screentime, but I like his niche design and voice. Alastor is also cool. Nifty is just a cute gremlin that I fuck with honestly. Good for her. Everyone else I either didn't care much for or straight up didn't like...

Charlie annoyed me a lot, I know she's the MC, but I didn't like her. I get that she's supposed to be good, but her behavior in some scenes bothered me. Like in Ep4, I understand she was coming from a good place, but I couldn't help but feel agitated. I can't explain it. She has a savior complex which is her flaw, and maybe I just don't exactly understand it.

Of course, she's not the worst character (looks at Valentino and Adam), but she could improve. There were a few characters that I feel should've been written better, but the pacing made it hard.

I feel like the pacing was something I didn't like, but I can't blame it since it only has 8 episodes. The writer in me deflated seeing how fast things moved along, but I get why they sped it up towards the end. I wanna ramble about how the show could have gone if it had 24 episodes- but that feels like another post. Also, another thing that irked me were characters word vomiting.

Again if this show had more time to explore each individual character, it wouldn't have happened. I thought ep 4 with Angel Dust pouring his heart had good intentions to tell the audience that he's fucked up, it could've been built up more (if there were more episodes) until he finally blew up, similar with Husk. It's different because it's an animation, but you can still show and not tell visually about someone struggling. That's just me.

The excessive swearing isn't funny, I didn't find myself laughing that much except for Ep 8: Adam telling Lute to chill the fuck out, Alastor's mic breaking, and Lucifer saying "I'm gonna fuck you!" are the only bits I found funny. I've laughed at dumber things (my sense of humor is garbage, I'll laugh at a waffle falling over), but I didn't find most of the jokes funny.

I knew it was a musical, and I love musicals, but there weren't many songs I vibed with. Maybe a few, but not a lot. I'm a music person, and the songs just didn't feel right? Like the lyrics either felt awkward or general direction of the song didn't feel cohesive. I think I only like 4 songs in total.

The VAs were great, I recognized a lot of them, and I enjoyed their performances. They all fit their characters.

The animation was good for what was originally an indie project, and I hope the animators/artists were properly compensated. I know there was a lot of shit going on about Vivi allegedly not paying them but regardless, they did amazing.

I'm gonna be serious and say I feel like I didn't want to give HH a chance because I just didn't exactly care about it. My friends watched it. I saw Twitter's scolding opinions and hottakes on it, and I didn't want to hate watch it. But I was still curious. While I wasn't laughing through most of it, I think it's good. There's a lot that I'm trying not to say or get into because that would derail my commentary and make it about other discussions I'm not fully knowledgeable about...

I sailed the seven seas to watch this show, and I say it was sort of worth it. Again, I'm not a crazy fan, but anyone that likes it, good for you.

[murfeelee]

Witcher Season 3 (AKA The "Final" Season 🤣😂)

Alright y'all, back at it again with my 3rd Witcher tv show "review" or whatever. S1 | S2

Disclosure: I already told y'all that I've made peace with this being the Yennefer Show, and that I'll keep watching when Liam Hensworth plays Geralt in S4, because this show ain't been about Geralt or witchers anyway--it's about the mages, obviously. Like, I don't blame Cavill for leaving, cuz if I had to play second fiddle to Yenn when I'M the titular MC, but I don't have ANY scenes, ZERO speaking lines, and NOTHING to do in my own show, then yeah I'd quit too! So I'm not gonna complain about what I WISH this show was--it will NEVER be the books or the games (definitely not Game of Thrones). Missed opportunity.

All that being said, unpopular opinion, but IMO Season 3 kinda slapped? The 2nd "volume"/part was the best BY FAR, but I genuinely liked the vast majority of the episodes. I give S3 a 9.5/10, because I actually have very few complaints about this season overall, I'm shocked. (EDIT: I have DEEProoted suspicions about a lot of naysayers/hatewatchers who say the show's "unwatchable," just because it's got a multicultural cast/"agenda"--sounds like racism to me.)

THE GOOD

The MAIN PLOT actually went somewhere!!!! A wild Vilgefortz appears! ^0^ He beat the DOG SNOT outta Geralt, YIKES! XD

One of my biggest gripes about S1 was that the show didn't focus nearly enough on THE BIG BAD, Vilgefortz. Cahir got SO MUCH screentime doing literally NOTHING for 2 whole seasons, meanwhile the rest of Geralt's Hanse was NOWHERE to be seen, and Vilgefortz was just sitting in the cut looking pretty, like wtf?

And Season 2 was barely any better!

But yeah, S3 FINALLY gave us Vilgefortz's dastardly behavior I'd been waiting for. He effed everybody up at Thanned, as I expected--that's my special evil boy! <3 (Now that Ciri jacked half his face up I'm very sad--that man is absolutely splendid to look at. A moment of silence for the eye candy, it will be missed. U_U)

THANNED. ^0^ Hoooooooly god this was great, even better than Sodden in S1. Episode 6 is the best episode in S3--such a great battle; people were dying left and right. And MAMA TISS!!!!! She went OFF! O_O

It was so sad, but ofc this was all gonna happen--they had Tissaia allllll the way up Vilgefortz's butt, so OF COURSE she was going to be crushed when he INEVITABLY betrayed her. (I don't blame you though, girl, cuz he's SO DANG PRETTY! I'd be crushed, too!) But at least Mama Tissaia got that body count up during the battle--SLAY! The way Filavandrel was just.... 🤯

Speaking of the elves, Francesca and Fringilla were put on the backburner (after dang near dominating S2); but I like the way their arcs ended, even though I felt bad for them. Very good scenes; the mages & their arcs are the very best parts of the show, as usual.

LODGE OF SORCERESSES RISE! ^0^ Dijikstra & Philippa. 😍

These freaks--I LOVE them, your honor! 😅 I was so hyped to see Geralt break Djikstra's leg, but Philippa had me ROLLING when she was like "well, it's a good thing you like pain"--I DIED! XD These kinky mofos! They're hands down one of the best parts of the whole show--I LOVE how sinister Philippa is (her bird feathers are such a great touch--whoever was in charge of her costumes & HAIR 👌), and what a simp Dijkstra is for her. It makes me so sad to know how things go for them in the video game--I sided with Dijikstra to kill Radovid, and was so hurt when he went after Thaler & Roche. But....yeah, I did pick the option to break his other leg, so....oops? XD

So yes, I'm excited to see where this show goes with Philippa and Vilgefortz; how their schemes line up (or not) with Emhyr and the Fake Ciri; and how that effects the REAL Ciri and how she eventually ends up under Avallach (I hope we get to see him on the show!).

Speaking of Ciri, we FIIIIINALLY got to see some domestic Geralt, Yenn & Ciri--even if they are on the run from assassins; and Geralt's iced Yenn out cuz she tried to sacrifice Ciri to Voleth Mier back in S2. A lot of the fandom HATED that they made S2 Yenn betray them, but I think S3 did an alright job of not retconning her, per se, but patching things up. Cuz it's NOT a good look to have your (REAL) main character (LOL) hated by the fandom for betraying her own "daughter." So was the domesticity hamfisted? YES. But was it necessary? GOD yes, otherwise what's the point of showing The Last Wish? They're supposed to be a FAMILY, so for god's sake start giving them scenes to actually SHOW us that--stfu about "destiny"!

Probably another unpopular opinion, but I liked Episode 7 with the unicorn. These are the kinds of adventures Ciri NEEDED in S1, running around some stupid empty forests doing NOTHING is different from learning how to survive on her own in a strange wilderness, encountering strange creatures, and tapping into the good AND bad sides of her magic.

And oooooh my god, the GOAT has returned.

A lot of...hrm...interesting conversations were had as Ciri was hallucinating in the desert, with love of my life Grandmama Calanthe, as well as Pavetta & Falka. It's a shame that Ciri didn't get this kind of development MUCH earlier in the series. Too little too late? We'll have to see where Ciri's plot goes with the Rats in S4 to find out if her new whole Chaos/Fire magic arc is worth it.

AT LONG EFFING LAST, we're getting some HANSE ACTION!!!

I've been SO EFFING SICK of Cahir. I'm glad Ciri finally got closure with him from SEASON ONE, and that he's FINALLY in the Hanse now--took y'all long enough, ffs! And Milva's interesting so far, so I'm glad to see her around, giving Geralt & Dandelion grief. So in S4 all we need now is Angie, and YA BOI!!! ^0^

THE BAD

I wish Mistle and the Rats were better established--the whole Wyvern thing wasn't done very well or made much sense, and Mistle & Ciri should've had WAY more scenes. I wasn't feeling any chemistry between them, which is annoying, since Ciri's a lesbian in my TW3 game--is the show gonna go with hetero Ciri instead? Or is her love of Mistle gonna be what pulls Ciri out of the Fire/Chaos dark arc they're teasing for S4? 👀

What's annoying is that we already had a Dark!Ciri arc in S2 though, and EVERYONE hated it. We see Yenn reconcile betraying Ciri, but where's Ciri reconciliation for slaughtering all those witchers at Kaer Morhen? 😡 First she's possessed by Voleth Mier, now she's possessed by Falka? This show's great at focusing on Yenn & the mages, but leaves Ciri in the same ditch over & over--it's irritating.

Ep5 was a LAME way to end the first half/"volume," I hated that episode. The whole ball just bored me, with the dancing and singing--I get it--"all is not *clap clap* as it seems," stfu already. I didn't care. It was OBVIOUS Stregebor was being framed; WTF was that mop on Istredd's head; WHY was Triss the only one with a braincell who cared that students were going missing when apparently the school's SO strict; why don't these mages start TELEPORTING for once, and stop running around SLOW AF; how the HECK did y'all let HUMAN Dijkstra jump a WHOLE SCHOOL OF MAGES--this is an utter embarrassment. Usually the mages are the only thing this show gets RIGHT, so to see them all faceplant like this was just baffling & frustrating.

And again with the monoliths--how do y'all NOT KNOW these things are here!? Same with the one hidden in Kaer Morhen, like REALLY? NO ONE's medallion is going off? Omg. Istredd! You STUDY these things! Start TEACHING these drunk AF mages a thing or two--this is why Vilgefortz and Dijikstra wiped the floor with y'all on your own turf! 🤦

THE UGLY

The pacing was SLOW AF. Episodes 3-5 particularly dragged.

Everything with Cahir I wish was in S2 instead. That elf was GORGEOUS and I hated to see him go, but what was the point of all that again? I almost expected him & Cahir to start banging! (My perv brain; I need help, y'all. U_U)

Speaking of!

ALLLLLLL this mess about Dandelion & Radovid.

What "ripple effects"? XD It was UNNECESSARY. We all know Radovid's a disgusting genocidal racist psychopath and Dandelion's a womanizing old man--I'm not interested in seeing Radovid going through all this effort to seduce Dandelion, just to DOUBLE CROSS him to get to Ciri, like wtF? TBH, I feel like we were queerbaited, yeah I said it. 😤

And it's SO unfair how we have alllll these sex scenes with naked women's vajayjays & boobs all over the place--even Philippa got in on the action, hey hey hey! ;) --but we never get to see man-on-man action!? Wow, they kissed, SO WHAT!? Men never get full frontal nudity and it ticks me off, cuz naked women are just all over TV, meanwhile the dudes don't show SQUAT, and it's happened AGAIN.

Anyways, those are my only real complaints; otherwise I liked S3, it was much better than S2 IMO. Just don't expect too much--turn your brain off, and accept that this show doesn't gaf about Geralt (or even Ciri really) whatsoever. I'm here for Yennefer, Vilgefortz, and to see the Lodge of Sorceresses make themselves an absolute menace under Philippa so that Radovid literally flips his wig (that horrible weave MUST go in S4) and effs everything up for mages & non-humans.

[rigginsstreet]

This is the same anon. I just figured I'd explain why Jason went crazy on the Sinclairs since you said you weren't sure. Yeah, they were looking Eddie and they were pretty sure he'd be there, and Erica was clearly on some kind of look out so Jason had Andy keep her from possibly warning Eddie about their arrival while Jason went in to check the house out. Andy threatened to break her arms if she kept squirming. That was fucked up and I hate that the writers included that line tbh. A lot of people have been attributing that action to Jason, saying that he instructed Andy to tackle her, but we don't actually see that scene. I do think that Andy is racist, but we don't necessarily know that Jason is but people will treat it like it's fact. (I'm not at all saying that he'd not, I'm not even saying that he's "probably not" in fact he was probably supposed to be in the writing, but it can really be hard to realize the prejudices of your friends if you don't actively talk about it and a lot of people just didn't in the 80s. I once met someone online who I got along with great, but the second they found out I was afab they got super condescending so you wouldn't know unless you were a member of the group. sorry for the side tangent.) He probably was meant to be racist, but for all we know he just asked Andy to distract her and he's the one who went and tackled and threatened her.

The reason he points a gun at Lucas is because he walked in on him with Max in her trance state and he was trying to get Lucas to snap her out of it, but he refused. And tbh, he gave him a lot of grace with it. He tried to wake Max up on his own, gently, but then Lucas got close and tried to physically stop him and he freaked out. He pulled the gun but didn't even shoot until Lucas later lunged at him. Until then he uses the gun to threaten Lucas just to wake Max up. He really is just trying to help in that situation, as well as he can. I really don't blame people for viewing him as racist though. The imagery of an older white boy pointing a gun at a younger black boy could absolutely be very triggering, and other assumptions can easily be made about how the Erica situation went down, and those assumptions could very well be true. I have no way of knowing.

I don't consider myself a Jason defender, but I do get defensive of him when people try to compare him to Billy, but don't even acknowledge the fact that while Billy may have motivations, he still caused a lot of unnecessary harm. It bothers me so hard that they just ignore the fact he attacked Lucas instead of doing, I don't know, literally anything else. I don't really blame him for pushing Steve down at the entrance, but he slammed a little boy into a wall for... existing around his sister? When his sister was the one who made the decision to be there? Like, yeah, the fact she was there could be read as a little sketchy, but he really thinks Lucas is the biggest issue in that situation and targets him? That sounds pretty racist to me. So if people going to talk about the Jason with a gun scene, could they at least explain why he felt the need to target the one black boy in the group instead of the one present adult (or almost adult at least) Steve.

Can't we just view both of them as morally grey characters with interesting perspectives instead of pinning them against each other?

This got a little long. Sorry

The Lucas situation, to me, ultimately has nothing to do with him being black. I mean, maybe it started out that way when billy sees him and max in the parking lot, that’s definitely a valid interpretation, but like…billy would’ve treated any boy max got close to like that. At its core I think it’s about max and who she hangs around with. If her love interest had been mike or will the situation would’ve gone down exactly the same. It’s about max defying his orders. It’s about billy having to keep max on a short leash

The duffers are terrible at writing racism cuz they either go too big (originally writing billy saying the n word) or they make it so vague/a non issue (sweeping the season 2 mike and Lucas ghostbusters thing under the rug) that no one can tell what the hell is going on

I think what sparks outrage about Jason, at least from what I’ve seen, is that he so perfectly mirrors the exact type of dudes we’ve been seeing on the news these past few years. It’s the “upstanding middle/upper middle class christian” white dudes who are marching and protesting about making America great again. The ones who are out shooting people because they think they’re fucking John Wayne or something, main character savior complexes. Jason touches on something very present in our culture right now and I don’t even think the duffers intended for that to be the case. So like, I can’t exactly argue with people not giving him a lot of leeway because we are seeing in real time what harm those specific type of men do. And yes, there are plenty of billys out in the real world too but again, his writing is so vague and there’s so many other valid interpretations you can take from it that it’s not as touchy (well, for those of us who actually criticize the writing itself and canon precedent. Antis with a myopic view of things don’t care to take in all the nuance of billys situation and motives so to them he’s …worse than Jason. Or at least on the same level. Depends on who you ask)

[wtchwtch]

TT013_Transcript

TT013: The Last Few Days

This is a fanmade transcript, please let me know if you see any errors.

TT013

(Intro Music)

(Tape recorder sounds)

Mark: Hi everyone! Uh, Mark here. Uh... well the last few days have not been good, to say the least.

Um, uh, D, Cole, and I have spent almost every waking hour just waiting and hoping. I wouldn't say praying, but you could also, you know, you see what would, it's something like that. Well, anyway, I was doing that at the least. Um, I can't say for certain when it comes to the other two, cuz I mean, none of us have really seen each other since, uh, well since Jesse was abducted.

Um, honestly, it's a little complicated right now. We, uh, well I'm not sure if we're gonna continue with the podcast, and as you'd imagine, things have gotten a little, uh, heavier than any of us anticipated.

Um, I tried to call D a few times, but I mean, they're obviously busy, so no answer. Uh, and Cole, well, um... yeah, no answer as well.

It's been hard. You know, but in a hard time you have to be there for your friends. And I guess sometimes that means not being there as well, if that makes any sense. And I don't really know what else to say about that. I don't really think... I don't really think anyone's to blame here.

Well, I mean, Cole probably could have gone about it a little better, but I mean, how the hell was anyone supposed to see this coming? I mean, Cole didn't ask to have some lunatic stalk him.

I wanna say it isn't his fault and he did nothing wrong. He hasn't exactly been honest with us since we started, and I don't really know why. I mean, at least the little weasel keeps life interesting.

How is someone supposed to feel in this scenario? Like, I actually don't know how to act right now, or what to say.

Cole did what the tape asked, and I don't know... Something's just telling me Jess is gonna be all right. Um, you know, or maybe I'm in shock over the whole thing. It all feels very surreal. It's like someone died, but I was just talking to them and I don't really care yet because my brain hasn't come around to the idea that they're gone.

Mind you, maybe I just don't cry. Maybe something's wrong with me. I feel like I'm just, you know, standing, and staring at a coffin, waiting to hear the church bells and telling myself I should be crying, but there's just nothing there. Does that make sense? I mean, Jess isn't dead. She'll be all right.

I think she'll be all right.

I honestly don't know, and don't get me wrong, I'm worried... but what the heck am I even trying to say here?

Okay. When my grandma died, I couldn't cry, and this feels sort of like that. We were really close, which made it worse because I felt like I owed it to her to cry. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't do it. I was sad. Like really horribly, desperately sad.

I just remember trying to bring to mind the last words she said to me. It, it didn't work. I still have no idea what she said. I dunno. Maybe it doesn't matter, but that's what this feels like. It's like my chest is all twisted on the inside and I, I can't take a full breath. So it feels good to get it out, even if that's not what you're here to listen to.

Heh. Not exactly what you could call, uh, prime behind the scenes content, but there you have it. Bonded by trauma, we are, eh? Anyway, uh, En-, Entry? No, that's not right. Damnit, what you call this bloody thing. "Jesus, Mark. It doesn't matter. No one's going to hear it." Hah, suppose you're right, Mark. "I'm always right except when you're wrong and if I'm wrong, so are you." Blimey. You're almost definitely right about that.

(Mark Chuckles)

Mark: Jesus Christ. I need to go touch some grass. I've been sitting in the shed alone for the last two days, hoping to catch either of them coming or going. Bones are overrated, I suppose. Well, uh, bye for now? End of confession? Ooh, oh, we should do confessionals like on survivor. Uh Yeah! In this episode of 'The Shed', Mark, mark admits to eating D's leftover subway, but blames it on Cole. "Yes, and I'd do it again!" Tune in next week to see the exciting conclusion to-

Oh.

Hello.

Seriously?

You're joking.

Oh my God. Yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah. I'm leaving right now.

(Tape recorder sounds)

Mark: Tiny Terrors is an anthology horror podcast produced by Pulp Audio and licensed under a creative commons attribution, non-commercial share alike 4.0 international license.

D: This episode was directed by Cole Weavers with sound production and editing by Mike LeBeau.

Mark: To find additional information or to join our Paton for additional content and ad free episodes, visit our website www.tinyterrorspod.com

D: Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at TinyTerrorsPod,

Mark: Or join the Pulp Audio discord by clicking the link in the description below.

D: Rate and review us on Spotify and Apple.

Mark: And finally, thanks for listening.

[felikatze]

it has been five million billion years since Feli's Ninjago Season Review, but i just finished crystalized. so.

tldr. i watched the first part Some Time Ago and dont recall how i felt outside of "yeah i liked it", the middle section of the season rlly dragged, but the last bit was really good

iirc my main complaint with the nya rescue arc was how it absolutely TRASHED skylor. she BARELY had any speaking lines and was basically just there as a Back Up Zane to keep nya from melting and i hated that. however the last third of the season rectified this by giving her an actual cool moment when she rescues kai and cole, as well as an actual character moment.

like you have the pixane and jaya reunions back to back so kai's talking with skylor again, he still likes her, he tries to ask her out, and she rejects him on grounds of "dude do you know how long it's been?" and both sides here are understandable. like yeah considering everything that happened the past seasons kai rlly didn't have time for a relationship but also skylor is RIGHT to be frustrated he just wants to go back to like. s7. after so long. and it gives the sense that things between them COULD work but they need some time to be friends again first. i like that.

generally all the canon couples were great ESPECIALLY in the last third. the ice emperor as an insane comedy bit was fantastic actually and also rlly funny how pixal just didnt even grieve this time. she did that in s12 already she's just gonna go fix him up np. HOWEVER when her backup squad gets ready to roll and zane isnt repaired yet and she has this monologue abt how zane's sacrifice for her made her more than just a machine and showed her love and she loves him SO much and she gives him a lil kiss and leaves and then he wakes up. i dont CARE if true love's kiss is nonsense for robots it was CUTE i love pixane

"If there is a life after this for beings such as you and I... I will find you there." AURGH paraphrasing the quote here but do you SEE why pixal is my favorite ninjago character ever. i love her so much. my pixal stan instincts got reactivated i did nearly cry at that scene.

third couple jaya also has cute moments. the season shows a lot how they make each other stronger and cover each other's doubts and jay's encouragement giving nya the confidence she needs to regain her abilities is just cute. you can see a lot of skybound-isms esp in how the mechanic ends up goading her saying she's not a "real" ninja (like e.g. how she doesnt get a dragon form) but she kicks his ass anyway cuz it doesnt matter whether she has powers it matters that she gives her all always <3 yayyy

ok next up talking abt MY GIRL HARUMI YEEHAW.

i like her arc this season there's a lot of conflicting elements to her. first of that she for real just DIED is extremely interesting. there's always a juxtaposition of what harumi believed and what was actually true (her thinking lloyd never looked for her when he actually spent so long sifting through rubble the others had to drag him off cuz they had to go find the oni) and i think the climax of that being her hearing from the horse's mouth that the ninja (and lloyd) were never responsible for all she blamed them for was great. like already she was torn on lloyd and i feel like her in the jungle with lloyd seeing that she CANT win his trust back ever again like this did actually like. affect her on some level. she cant trick him anymore she has to live with the consequences of her actions and see that she fucked up. good. her dynamic with the overlord obvs parallels her dynamic with garmadon in s8/9 in how she's his right hand most competent underling whatever but whereas she admired garmadon she doesnt like the overlord and helps him out of fear for her continued existence cuz he DID give her life again and he could take it away just as easily.

but in that sense garmadon initially gave her "life" back too when her parents died and she needed something to hold onto so her opposing the overlord finally means she's taking the reigns and acting without some grand figure in mind but just for herself and what she believes is right

okay next up lloyd. lloyd is SO fucking bitter and angry this season which is a contributing factor to the dark (tiring) tone of the middle third and it does grate but it's understandable. i know some people dont like his new dynamic with garmadon cuz it basically retcons sensei garm who we all love yadda yadda but the new garmadon does have to be seen as his own independant character and if you do he's pretty compelling. anyway lloyd's anger. lloyd fucking HATES garmadon in this which is Delicious. obviously consequence of the hunted trilogy and i like that. lloyd is OVER grieving what could've been and what he lost. he hates what remains and he doesn't want anything to do with garmadon.

except garmadon is showing signs of change. that even though the good part of him remains dead that what's left can still recover and learn compassion and i think why that frustrates lloyd so much is that he hates that this compassion doesn't extend to himself. that though garmadon cares about other things now garmadon still doesnt care about lloyd. lloyd wants that young innocent part of him that always adored his dad to be dead and gone because becoming what was left of his father was his greatest fear for a LONG time now (firmly established in season 11!). but that part is still there. he still loves his dad and hates him at the same time and that's confusing and upsetting him.

christofern is a lloyd analogy obviously. like back in ye old days of the early seasons, lloyd was the only thing garmadon cared about and the catalyst for garmadon's first redemption. even when lloyd withers he comes back. he tries again. ninja never quit just like that damn fern never dies yeah <3

garmadon and lloyd are BOTH kings of poor emotional awareness in crystalized since garm is struggling to even understand compassion and kindness and love at all that he cant see that the part of him that loves lloyd isnt dead either. but the main part of him is just yelling "the green ninja is an enemy." lloyd gets FED UP cuz like if my dad called the girl who tried to murder me like a daughter when ignoring me i'd hate him too. but garm being so mean to lloyd to help lloyd with oni form is garmadon trying to care about him by making him stronger. and since oni form thrives on negativity garm is giving lloyd fuel. obviously this sucks ass and is bad for their personal relationship.

the interesting switch here is in the finale when garm gets lloyd to oni form by pretending to be dead cuz it shows on both their parts an awareness that they love each other. lloyd by showing anger over his father's supposed death and garm by knowing that faking his death would actually work. it means he knows lloyd still cares abt him. then again lloyd is SO fuckin right again to insult garm over this bcuz. dude. that is still emotional manipulation committed with few regrets and lloyd has had enough of that for a lifetime. king of getting manipulated and trying so hard to stay kind despite getting fucked over so often. pythor harumi garmadon. etc etc.

right what else. i cant fucking believe the season made ronin good again GOD BLESS in undoing some of the island's many sins. thank you for showing ronin isn't as selfish as he appears to be and showing up to help the ninja again cuz it's just the right thing to do. thank youuuuu

all the character cameos were great. again skylor (with some caveats), ronin, racer seven!!!! she was so fun!!! blazey hi!!! you're insane!!!!. using vinny's convo with garm from s10 (the best scene in march of the oni, actually) to springboard all of garm's redemption arc bcuz it DID deeply affect garm even in s10 and by extension making vinny a major supporting character. hilarious. fantastic. incredible. oh my god they were roommates.

i also always love the paperboys when they appear. can you BELIEVE they started out as "the random kid who broke his arm in skybound." ah how far they've come. thank you nelson and antonia for being great.

the other camoes at the end were EPIC N COOL like i do like that cole n nya succeeded despite thinking they'd failed cuz it plays into the never give up message but i AM disappointed that none of the cameos got ANY speaking lines cuz (voice actors cost money)

like no little quips no nice to see you again. not even vania fighting her dad? no benthomaar. the whole crew from across basically all of wildbrain era + some extras (how many seasons has it been since cole's dad appeared onscreen?) gave an incredible upswing to the dreariness but it just rings hollow when they dont even get to make noise. dead silent. eerie.

uhhh what else. again i think most of from after harumi and lloyd leave the jungle to wu meeting up with the paperboys fucking DRAGGED cuz it was just one loss after another after another after another and at some point its like DUDE WE GET IT YOU'RE INVINCIBLE. CAN WE GET THE MCGUFFIN ALREADY. but once wu got that upswing and the ninja all had their own little adventures it was good again and a consistently good time for the rest of the season i was enjoying it.

i agree that it def feels like lloyd's arc this season isn't rlly resolved at all. he doesn't embrace his anger or his heritage and is still firmly stuck on denying parts of himself. bcuz lloyd kept denying WHY he's angry and just dancing around it it only got worse. the other ninja had nice cap off points. the other one with the biggest arc is nya but her development mirrors s11 kai (as so helpfully pointed out by jay himself lmao) which ends with nya knowing once again that she doesnt need to be special to be needed and harkens back to ye old conflict "if I'm not a ninja and i'm not samurai x anymore, then who am i?" you're NYA and you're cool as hell that's what. she doesn't need to be anything as long as she can just DO what she has to do.

whereas lloyd is again still just. right in the middle of it.

i do like the ending of garmadon putting the fern in the ground bcuz again lloyd metaphor it means he acknowledges that lloyd's friendships aren't a weakness ("You need roots") and also symbolically he's letting go of lloyd instead of chasing the shadow of the child lloyd used to be. good stuff.

so. season has it's good moments has it's bad moments. it needed some time to find its footing but i like the callbacks to other seasons (A SUPRISING AMOUNT OF SKYBOUND THEMATICS??? a lot of this is skybound but better) and once it did find its footing it was really good.

master of the mountain is still my favorite season though.

[the-firebird69]

There's a lot of people out here who just block stuff because they want the way it was and it keeps happening wherever you go so you picked up we pick up the person and we find out who they are and you set them against each other and we get the job done usually it's like that but here you pick the people up and he said that against each other and it just perpetuates the problem not necessarily and now it works pretty good. An example is that they don't want other people helping him and they had this woman go to sleep in bells and nobody told anybody she's still there yesterday and nobody was keeping track of her cuz you guys are mean people and don't care about each other if you tried to find the right size of shoe for our son could not and he thanked her for helping him I'm trying to and said thank you very much for looking loudly and she felt okay felt good about it and she went into a little nook and she fell asleep and she dialed and she died of a mild heart attack and she to deteriorate and she is still in bealls storage area. And what you people do is try and hold it on our son like he had something to do with it and he feels bad for her and because she tried to find this shoes and he needs them and right now a whole bunch of police are going there and they're not Max and the max are going there after them and they're mad as hell

The state is sending people supposedly no DeSantis is to see who it is and the federal government and they want to know what happened and they are sending agents and are going to hold the sheriff off the federal government says on holding the state off. The feds have people here and are at the mall and they are in the back room right now and let themselves in and they're telling the employees at the front desk close the store and it's a federal crime scene no one is to be admitted and they are getting their stuff and leaving and ask people to leave the store local police are arriving and they're being met by the feds. And they're telling them they can't go into the crime scene. Recorded off and they found the girl or woman actually she's an older woman and she's small curled up in a ball on the floor and her knees to her face and her rear end on the concrete and completely Frozen in that position and they are taking her temperature checking and said she is deceased and that she is decomposing badly and needs to be removed immediately and they decided that she smelled pretty bad it's only been a day at 70 degrees and she's sick and full of bacteria and her body was half decomposed. The show in Chicago they're finally bodies everywhere and they're higher up so getting killed and they say that it's someone that looks like Garth and they found his sister killed and shot to the Head and it looks bad. We suspect Garth is killing people he thinks messed them up in the mall and he means reputation and things like that and he's an idiot and that's why people don't like him and that's why we don't like him he has a s***** reputation and he's a jackass so he did all that and they're going to arrest him in the TV show and he's going to jail and soon after prison and he'll keep getting arrested that's what they're saying.

The fence who came down we're not Max and they're looking to see what happened and they wanted to blame our son but they don't find anything it blames him and others are saying it too that he was just standing there minding his own business didn't have anything on him never does tapes don't show anything except them shopping. Didn't say this is taking the bus and they're trying to screw over for not getting stuff or something. And they start getting pissed off we don't have any room for these idiots they're having him take everything over because they are so damned obnoxious you need to shut them down so if it's notified the next of kin. They're calling them to come in so they can talk to them at the store they don't want to and I said this is a federal case and we need you to come down to the mall instead of okay so they're bringing their people down and a bunch of them and they're going to talk to them about it and they are investigating the scene. Please sheriff is sitting outside and they can't go inside because of the FBI and they're telling them you're returning to your station or other duties not to sit here I said no this address no this is our jurisdiction and suddenly the FBI is angry and upset and said we are going to arrest you on suspicion of complicity of homicides and or negligent homicide. And they brought him in and are going to the sheriff's headquarters right now. They're there at the headquarters in their securing all the tapes and the FEDS are going to come down on these people and nothing they do is worked and they keep doing it and they're going to arrest a bunch of people and the max are coming down and we are too as feds and we are joining their operation and they can't say anything it is a lot of us but we do see something I'm saying all sorts of crap I'm about our son and that is the sheriff and other idiots and they're getting arrested more shortly

Thor Freya

[siddiqtwd]

"This is Nabila’s.” “Jerry...”

[homielander]

hey! hope you’re doing well! <3 wanted to ask, what about cole’s depiction did you not like after hotd ep. 5? cuz i totally agree; felt like the writing in terms of his character was more compelling earlier in the season, and i am bitter with the timeskips basically robbing us of a lot of character dynamics (love alicole dynamics and cole/ali’s kids, but i wanted more!!) hoping next szn will be better esp since fabien said a lot of his scenes will be with a certain actor (i’m predicting ewan)

hello! thank you, and i hope you're doing great <3

we can't have any discussion about criston in this show without first considering his encounter with rhaenyra, and the dubious consent on criston’s part.... it's been discussed to death already, but i will reiterate: he only went inside her chambers to get his helmet. he asked her to stop. then he tried to go for the door (and was blocked from leaving). he was visibly uncomfortable. she was in a position of power over him. i'm not saying rhaenyra intended for him to feel this way, but that doesn't change that their perceptions of the situation seemed very different. i need people calling him an "incel" for hating rhaenyra to be sooo for real right now.

the problem is (and this has happened more than a few times on this show) that the writers clearly intended to communicate something different with that scene than what came across to a bunch of viewers. so i suppose based on what they intended to portray, criston couldn't resist temptation, slept with rhaenyra, then blamed her for his own poor decision. the issue is that it's difficult to show this considering we don't have access to criston's thoughts in a tv format, so after ep 4 aired i was pretty squicked out but decided to reserve judgment until we got to witness the fallout. and ooh boy what a fallout it was

when rhaenyra refuses his offer to flee to essos, there is literally no sign of heartbreak on criston's part (and i never got the impression that either criston or rhaenyra harboured any romantic feelings for one another, they seemed very friendly). instead, he's upset because he realizes rhaenyra initiated and pressed for sex when she didn't truly value him. for him, love is the one thing that might have surpassed the importance of his vows, and when he realizes rhaenyra doesn't actually feel that way about him -- that she put him in a situation where he felt pressured to taint the sanctity of his kingsguard station even though he told her it was the highest honour ever bestowed upon him or his house -- he stops deluding himself into believing that he feels that way about her too. that's why his dialogue in that scene explicitly spells out "i thought All That could have been worth it but clearly i mean nothing to you" instead of "my love and devotion was all for naught :(" (moreover, she refuses his offer by talking about her duty and her obligations, after undermining his, like, the night before. i'm sure he appreciated that lol)

i really think that scene on the ship was the moment the writers could have recontextualized for us whether their encounter was criston giving into long-held attraction or criston being violated (and subsequently doing his best to cope), and nothing about it gave me any reason to believe it was the first. (he felt immense gratitude towards her, sure, but that only intensifies the power imbalance)

so the issue is that post-episode 5, criston is bitter and resentful towards the woman who effectively coerced him into sex -- and he is villainized for it! (like that scene where he called rhaenyra a cunt... seriously? of course no one should be using that word offensively in reference to a woman, but how many times has daemon called women -- who have done nothing to him btw -- gross things only for every character who heard to ignore it?) it's the same deal with the madonna-whore complex they've attempted to show. i take serious issue with extrapolating that criston actually hates all women who are sexually promiscuous because of his feelings towards a woman with whom he had an awful experience (that, if it were up to him, never would have happened). it should be noted that the only woman aside from alicent and rhaenyra he's interacted with is the prostitute in 1.09, and he was perfectly polite with her. of course he has strict ideas about what rules women should abide by, but these strict ideas are not limited to the opposite sex. he's even more harsh with himself to the point where he nearly commits suicide when he breaks his personal code.

the other major part of his characterization that i hated after ep 5 is that he's been turned into, like... a dumb thug?? (also why does everyone behind the scenes describe him as a thug. that word for him bothers me a lot.) i'm specifically referring to criston in ep 9, which was supposed to be his crowning moment (pun not intended, but you know, he becomes the kingmaker!!) and ended up being a huge letdown. he randomly wanted beesbury to sit down and applied such force to the action that beesbury died over it, he drew his sword on the commander of the kingsguard because of an insult, and his scene with alicent where she mentions what he feels for her did somewhat give the impression that she was using him. (olivia cooke has since talked about that scene and i don't think that was intended. which is a common theme)

i can't really figure out a way to reconcile 1.09 criston with earlier criston, but the biggest problem here is that he hasn't been given enough screen time for the character to be fleshed out and have too many consistent character traits. he's shown the ability to be calculating (like when he provoked harwin into beating him up which resulted in the bastard allegations spreading), but he's also prone to emotional outbursts (though prior to 1.09 i would have just said killing joffrey in 1.05 was a one-time breakdown). he's definitely not supposed to be a blind dog that follows orders -- he immediately refuses when alicent asks him for the eye of lucerys -- but in 1.09 he lashed out at westerling for saying a bad word against her. (if there was more time devoted to his relationship with alicent, i think the green council scene would have played much better.) i'm not entirely sure what the writers are trying to achieve with him.

my impression of criston on the whole is he's a guy who deeply values his honour because it's what got him out of a period of his life when he was undisciplined and floundering (he mentions to rhaenyra that he had a wild youth in 1.03) and helped him, the son of a steward, rise to the position of kinsguard. but, that being said, his sense of honour is pretty unconventional. that's why we have him attacking daemon from behind in the tourney in 1.01, but only after daemon already used a dirty trick to beat gwayne hightower. that's why he is content following the orders of the green council in 1.09 -- because unlike harold westerling, who requires the king to be present -- criston is not doing any of it for aegon (the official monarch they’re attempting to install). he's doing it for alicent. alicent showed him mercy, alicent saved his life, alicent is the embodiment of the mother, alicent has ruled over the realm competently for some 6 years -- and he sees all of that and trusts her and really does think her leadership would be best! i generally just really like the characters in the asoiafverse who struggle with concepts like knighthood and honour, and i appreciate that from the get-go criston has been someone who makes the rules for himself.

so yeah he's so neat to me and i love him. also his little family unit with alicent and her kids is EVERYTHING. i'm desperately hoping and praying that we get more screen time and focus for him in the second season but i won't hold my breath </3

(also... super interesting that most of criston's scenes next season will probably be with aemond! i'm honestly extremely upset that the gang is splitting up already, but i really liked the chemistry between ewan and fabien in 1.09 so i am excited to see more of that!!)

[bridoesotherjunk]

Well, it's officially been a week since I first saw Venom 2. I'm going to start posting spoilers.

!!!!! As a reminder, I am tagging all my spoilers with these tags::

# Venom Spoilers

# Venom Let There Be Carnage Spoilers

# Venom 2 Spoilers

# Venom ltbc spoilers

------- Now, I'm going to start my spoilers with my honest review of the movie under the cut here. SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

I talk about several scenes in the movie in depth. Please don't blame me if I spoil things for you. I tried to warn you.

First opinions?

This one was not as coherent as the first Venom. It went very very fast and could have used an extra 20 to 30 minutes to pad some scenes and slow a couple things down. That post that describes Venom 2 as "venom with the brakes off" is accurate because it goes from 0 to 100 instantly. It needed to just slow down a little bit and have some moments for the audience to breathe.

That being said?

Absolute blast of a movie. Super fun, super silly. Incredibly gay. Venom is a hopeless romantic and an absolute moron. It was so fucking funny. I was laughing during almost the entire movie. The first chunk of the movie felt like me on a bad day in quarantine, stuck in a house with my mother and brother for weeks on end. Ready to kill something off the slightest provocation. (Tom Hardy managed to get the "pandemic locked in the house" stress perfectly right before the pandemic even started.)

Venom gets hit on by a girl at the rave and he gets scared and runs away while saying, "No, no, sorry, not my type" - CUZ HES GAY and LOVES EDDIE.

Venom's speech at the LGBT rave basically boils down to ""I'm totally fine, I don't need Eddie. Eddie was wrong. Eddie is a big mean poopyhead. I don't even miss Eddie at all." And then Venom immediately collapses and talks about missing Eddie. - Hopeless. In love. Gay as fuck. Just go kiss him already, you loser.

I really appreciated that this movie kept up with the cliche dodging in some aspects. --- Cletus tries to do the stereotypical "mysterious killer" thing that all these movies and shows do where he tries to give Eddie tiny clue and tiny hints just to get Eddie to keep printing his name in the paper and get attention. Venom completely fucks up his plan. Cletus gets PISSED about it, but it's so fucking funny in hindsight. Venom just went ""Nah, fuck you. You don't get the spotlight. Exposed, bitch."" And I loved that. I went in expecting to get the big scary, half riddle, killer speech from Cletus. And they just went "YEah no"

I LOVED SHRIEK. SHE WAS SO MENACING AND SO WEIRD. Her first comment upon meeting Carnage- ""That is so HOT"" -- HELL YES, GIRL. Hell yes! Monsterfucker queen in the movie herself.

Didn't like that Red wasn't a girl, but I guess maybe they were worried audiences wouldn't understand it. Carnage was Evil Baby (tm) the entire movie. So young and so full or Murder. 10/10

There's a scene with Venom and Anne that honestly? Really did not like. It was uncomfortable and I know it was played for laughs, but I just... No. Just no.

I was fucking celebrating in my seat after Eddie and Cletus's altercation in the prison. When Cletus just fucking stared and shouted, "Eddie!!??!!"" -- EXACTLY what I wanted. Oh my god, I wanted that so bad. Just a moment for the scary serial killer to finally be thrown off his game. He thinks he's so big and tough and can hurt Eddie however he wants and then suddenly his whole world kind of tilts after he bites him. I LOVE moments like that.

DAN WAS BACK. I LOVE DAN SO MUCH. MY BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY, I'M SO GLAD THEY DIDN'T KILL YOU. DAAAAAAANNNNNNN

The ending was fucking beautiful. Venom tries to sound all smart and philosophical while confessing their love to Eddie and Eddie teases them about it and gets all smiley and happy while they sit on a fucking tropical island and watch a god damn sunset together and their bodies sit in the shape of a fucking heart. Andy Serkis, Kelly Marcel, and Tom Hardy, I thank you for your service. Now give me a bunch of sappy/horny kisses in the third one and I will love you all forever.

The end credit scene? Yeah, I knew it was coming for like... a month or more. I already knew what they were going to do. I'm not stupid. I could see it. ... I have to wonder what the plan here is, exactly... Tom Hardy's Venom really doesn't seem like a villain to me. He's trying so hard to be a hero, he's just super bad at it. I would enjoy it more if they had Eddie be like the weird hobo uncle to Peter. -- I enjoyed the hidden pregnancy innuendo in the credits, though. They knew their audience. (Also Venom's fear of towel swans. Relatable.)

Also did a little celebration dance when we got Venom and Mrs. Chen together. This movie fulfilled two of my biggest wants and I am so happy about it.

Rating - 8.8/10. Very enjoyable. But still had some problems.

[iwasbored777]

On the topic of Chloe's "redemption arc", why are people so quick to defend Chloe as if she did nothing wrong or if she's "out of character" when she's always been like this? Like I'd seen people blaming marinette for Chloe's bs in miracle queen. Oh and Zoe, the girl is such a sweetheart but people will hate on her for "replacing" Chloe before and after she was introduced.

Fr Chloé has always been rude and harassed Adrien and humiliated everyone all the time and people forgot about that just cuz she had few sad flashbacks and cuz she was nice in few scenes. She just wanted fame and higher social status until Ladybug gave her that and Chloé wasn't any better or anything - she thought being hero is enough for her to prove how great she is without realizing that you need to be a good person even when you don't wear the mask. I know a big account here too that criticise everything in this show and they like Chloé and Marinette but hate Adrien and I remember they said how "at least Chloé and Marinette feel sorry when they do something wrong" Chloé felt sorry ONCE and she even didn't apologise to the person who actually deserved an apology, Marinette, cuz the gift she made was ruined, Chloé apologised to the teacher and got rewarded for being a b*tch to her classmate. And that is a lesson our kids need to learn? And she even yelled at Adrien when he didn't support her treating everyone badly in Queen Banana. She treated him and Ladybug the same - if they don't do what she wants, they're enemies to her.

And no one is responsible for her betrayal but her. She was the one who decided to turn her back on people who actually cared about her. Fandom should not blame anyone else but Chloé.

[depressedhatakekakashi]

I loved Kakashi long before any of his backstory started getting out- he was just so eccentric but also so protective that i latched onto him as a kid i guess, and then when the series revealed about Sakumo and showed scenes of them together i didn't know there would be something like that that i could relate to him, a family consisting of just you and your one parent that youre scared might go away at any moment- I wonder if leading up to the time of his death, Sakumo would switch between pretty much not seeing his son for days on end and just laying in bed not interacting with anyone, or he would hold him close so tight and constantly make Kakashi repeat that he would promise to would take care of himself no matter what happens, no matter what happens to Sakumo. "-you're so smart, i'm sure that you'll be better off without me."

Whenever Kakashi is at the academy or out on missions, he would have this dreadful feeling, that he should go home quickly, that whenever he's gone, even just on a short chore that something is gonna happen and they won't be able to stop it because they've already made their decision and were just waiting for the oppurtunity to do so. maybe i'm just projecting- but the fear of losing a loved one from their own self is so messy and why i couldn't blame Kakashi for being so angry of his father for essentially abandoning his young son, and that anger sticking even when you come to terms how much you still love your parent. My mother is still with me but i still remember her bad days whenever she'd either refrain from speaking to anyone or not doing anything, having to convince her to take a bath or go get groceries. And when she would list out the things i'd need to do when she's gone, holding me at night and whispering to me of how she promises that i'll be fine and that she's just a burden, despite being my mother and me not even ten years old.

anyways Sakumo and Kakashi feels T.T i cry everytime i remember them dammit

Oh hi anon, i see it’s make taryn cry time 😭😭😭

Ok but this is such a feeling. We could see in the short time we got to learn about Sakumo that he adored his son and wanted what was best for him. He’s the one that told Kakashi to watch Gai because he would get stronger. He’s the one who tried to make kakashi and gai friends from the moment they met cuz he knew his son could use friends

He wanted so badly for Kakashi to be alright and i have no doubt part of what he did was because he felt it was best for his son. He felt Kakashi would be fine without him

But the problem with that thinking is it’s so logical and ‘oh they’re strong they’ll be fine’ but it doesn’t factor in emotions at all

Did Kakashi survive? Yes. Was he ok? No. He was far from ok. He saw his fathers body on the floor of their home and had to be the one to report it. He lost the only family he had left and had to listen to people bad mouth his father at his funeral

He was far from fine. He was a broken kid who just wanted his father back, but who also saw how his fathers failure affected him and wanted to aboid that

Kakashi was very angry with his father and i don’t think the story ever properly dealt with that anger because it dismissed it as soon as Obito called Sakumo a hero, but sakumo failing his mission wasn’t the root of Kakashi’s anger. A five year old doesn’t get angry because of that

The root of Kakashi’s anger was his father left him. His father agreed he had failed and punished himself, leaving Kakashi alone, and Kakashi never gets to face that anger. Never has an opportunity to lash out at obito or his father (i say obito because when obito called Sakumo a hero Kakashi could gave lashed out and screamed ‘since when do hero’s leave their children alone?’ And shown anger not for Sakumo’s failure on the mission, but for being left behind)

There’s just so many emotions and i’m glad your mom never did that to you because i can’t even imagine the pain. As children we have to bury our parents one day, but there is very much such a thing as burying them too early and no child should have to do that