#I love tragedy as much as the next gal but I think calm happy ending is the right way to launch the new new doctor. he really got it right

[thealogie]

I'm so in awe at how much I enjoyed the DW specials and how much it returned me into the Who brainrot, never thought it would've been possible. I even saw the leaks early, way back when they appeared first and thought: ugh, sounds so stupid and like a pathetic grab for ratings and like a waste of Tennant and that poor SexEd guy. But it turned out to be such a joy. Only the first ep didn't completely land for me, but it still gave me some major (reluctant) hype which I was sorta ashamed of at first. But WBY has blown me away, I rewatched it 4 times now and always find smth new to feed the brain sharks, it's becoming unhealthy how much I like it. And then this fucking conclusion, such a fountain of brilliant stupidity and, again, joy. I don't wanna even think about canon-shmanon, it was too good and authentically DW to pick it apart. And all the BTS, it's just so fucking wholesome. I mean, I'm used to Tennant being a wholesome blorbo for 20 years now, but he just adds and adds to all his skrunkliness and decency and joyfulness in these BTS to an unbearable amount. But Ncuti! And Catherine! And even RTD with all of his trolling and nepotism and giving zero shits! All this is just so perfect in the DW way, I'm honestly bought and paid for, shut up and take my stupid fan adoration.

Honestly RTD’s stupid power trip and over-obsession with his little tropes are a feature not a bug to me. It’s so hilarious. I imagine this is how people felt when he clearly went on a power trip at the end of season 4 too and threw DT a big Viking funeral within the show. And he said “I see why some people wouldn’t like this…ok watch this now….” And did something so much funnier and more self-indulgent

[clementineviolet]

my informal review of twdg episode 5

i’m warning you, this is extremely long

holy shit

let me just get this out of the way and rank the possible endings. 

first, lemme rank them by my personal character preferences, as in, the characters i want alive and happy are alive and happy: 

ANY ENDING WHERE CONRAD IS ALIVE (this is partly a joke but also not because when i saw conrad’s back in the final scene after exiting the church, i fucking SCREAMED)

kate and gabe alive, david dead: this entire season, I’ve felt this desire to keep Kate and Gabe safe and happy. I had to replay LOL but I’m very happy that I ended up with them alive and happy. 

gabe alive, kate missing, david dead: While I’m confused as shit about where the hell Kate is, there’s hope she could be alive, so this ending is up there

gabe and david alive, kate dead: KATE’S DEATH IS SO SAD DONT TALK TO ME JAVI JUST SILENTLY HAVING TO PUT HER OUT OF HER MISERY FUCKING DESTROYED ME AND THEN HIM SCREAMING BYEEEEEEE

gabe alive, kate dead, david gone: SAME AS ABOVE BUT DAVID IS GONE AND AS MUCH AS HE’S AN IMPULSIVE IDIOT, I LOVE HIM AND AFTER LOSING KATE, GABE NEEDS ALL THE FAMILY HE CAN GET

gabe and david dead, kate alive: this is it, the BAD ENDING. oh my gawdddd yall I don’t want my young nephew to dieeeee. WHAT THE FUCK LIKE SERIOUSLY

now, endings by level of just really fucking well-done, whether it be heart-warming or heart-breaking

gabe and david dead, kate alive: god. what a heartbreaking ending. gabe either having to kill himself or javi choosing to do it for him. gabe either giving clem his cards (and asking for multiple hugs ;__;) or getting a kiss right before its too late. GOD. it was so sad. one of the saddest deaths in twdg history

gabe alive, kate missing, david dead: I think everyone has mixed feelings about david, I know I do... But I think that’s a good thing! As someone with a sibling, watching David die in front of Javi made me tear up even though I spent a good chunk of this game wanting to wring David’s fucking neck... “Te quiero Gabriel, te quiero Mariana, te quiero Javier...” THAT got me. And Gabe stepping up to be the one to put him out of his misery. Augh. Pain. 

gabe and david alive (or david missing), kate dead: from a story point of view, having kate die is fucking sad but (especially if javi loved her), it’s especially tragic and full-circle-ish. And I just love how the relationship between Gabe and Javi is even stronger because of this tragedy

kate and gabe alive, david dead: While to me the happiest (aside from David’s very sad death...), it seemed a little too good to be true

The more negative parts of the episode

Ava’s death was a disappointment. She wasn’t an important character to Javi, but she was to Clem and to David... it was a let-down. 

Tripp’s death was better because he was meaningful to Javi, but they really glossed over his sacrifice.

I wish I could have seen a scene where Tripp and Eleanor reunited. I think the writers kind of left us hanging regarding their relationship? I was hoping Tripp would be able to talk to her again and Eleanor would try and give them a chance again

I wish Eleanor had gotten a scene at the end of the episode, even a brief one where she is walking with Lingard if he’s alive or just helping heal people up. I would like to have seen how she’d react to Javi and his group saving the day after all, and especially to Jesus’s suggestion that Javi take charge in Richmond.

Neutral parts of the episode:

They are setting up Clem’s journey for the next season with the lack of AJ, but I wish there had been something...

No Clem flashback scene! I’ve loved the flashbacks, but surprisingly, until I started writing this review I didn’t even realize we hadn’t played as Clem, not even once. I felt fully comfortable in Javi’s shoes and I’m sad to leave his POV behind! However, I am happy to be returning (assumedly) to Clem as the playable protagonist...unless they decide to pull a Tales from the Borderlands and give us 2 more equal protags (CHRISTA AND CLEM CHRISTA AND CLEM CHRISTA AND CLEM) 

The first part of the ep seemed kinda low stakes to me. I only started feeling like “ohhhh shit people I love are gonna die” when David ran off with Gabe, but thankfully I IMMEDIATELY felt dread when the Go after Gabe vs Go with Kate choice came up

POSITIVE/FAVORITE PARTS OF THE EPISODE: 

THE COMPLEXITY OF OUR CHOICES. HOLY SHIT. I was NOT expecting how complex it would be? I don’t think anyone was. I still see people who are confused about what prior choices determine whether Clem chooses to stick with Javi, or whether Clem chooses to split up, or she chooses to go after Gabe or go with Kate no matter what. I also have no idea what triggers each of these decisions on Clem’s part. 

I like how the consequences of each of our choices is not immediately obvious when it comes to which ending we get. Like, in season 2, you know that if you killed Jane, you’re getting a Kenny ending or you can leave him behind. But if you go with Kate first, is she gonna die? Is Gabe gonna die? Is David gonna die? IT BLEW MY MIND

The little consequences of our past choices, such as: 

Clem calling us out for betraying her to Conrad in episode 2

Rufus from episode 1 showing up in episode 5 if we don’t kill him, but he’s bitten and his gal is messed up about it. Or seeing how Rufus’s death in episode 1 broke this poor gal

Lingard showing up at the end of episode 5 and telling Clem where AJ is.

CONRAD! CONRAD! CONRAD CONRAD CONRAD THE DETERMINANT FUCKING GOD. SO GOOD. FUCK. 

Gabe’s death. It’s fucked up of me to enjoy his death but it was well-fucking-done. 

One of the most poignant scenes early on in the ep was that moment on the rooftop, where David and Javi had a heart-to-heart while standing on the ledge. It revealed so much about David - how he’s a traumatized soldier, pretty much, who believes he’s living off borrowed time. He’s got PTSD. He’s afraid he’s losing his family. He’s afraid of who he is, who he’s becoming.

THE JAVI-DAVID FIGHT SCENE. COME ON. Keeping your Pa’s promise is the BEST way to go. Honestly just so good. 

I’m just gonna go ahead and say the David scenes in general, because goddamn. Javi and David’s relationship was fucking complex and it was real

Clem and Gabe’s friendship moments. I KNOW I KNOW HOW FUCKING HETEROSEXUAL OF ME (IM A FCKING LESBIAN CALM DOWN) but I thought the scene with Javi calling out Clem and Gabe’s mutual crushes and giving his blessing was really damn cute. 

Jesus and Javi flirting, obviously, we all know how I feel about that already. Telltale got Jesus SO FUCKING WELL. I absolutely love when they tackle comic book characters. 

There’s probably so many things I’m forgetting but its midnight and I’m on an emotional rollercoaster. I’ll expand more in my general season 3 review