#I think she's one of the most underutilized characters ever I will DIE on this hill

[datcravat]

It seems there's a new lawyer in town!!!

[tillythemenace]

RTTE SEASON 5 REVIEW

I wanna say a lil something about this season since it’s the one where I left the fandom for (and mostly I watched it drunk so I legit didn’t remember shit) but so far I liked it. I thought I was gonna hate it, but apart from the OBVIOUS reasons it was kinda bad AKA Viggo being back, Krogan being a Ryker 2.0, The BIG TRAITOR REVEAL, and mostly filler season, I liked the moments in between.

I’m a firm believer that RTTE should’ve ended at the end of season 4 (yes there was some loose ends but if they wrote it like an actual finale it would’ve worked just fine) cause the last 2 seasons feel like thing were just shoehorned in, like they forced so much stuff to happen cause they had 2 spare seasons and it shows… like S4 FELT like a finale: Viggo and Ryker die, Dragon Eye destroyed, Berserkers secured, allies secured, The Edge secure, Hiccstrid established, Krogan functions just fine as a cameo and nothing else, etc etc

Again my enjoyment for RTTE comes down mostly from my love for Snotlout (he really is the best character and MVP of this show dont @ me) and the twins, Everyone was still tolerable, we got the GAYEST EPISODE TO DATE, Snotlout legit telling TB he loved him like?! Jesus 😭🙌 My hc is that after that EP, Snotlout and Fishlegs started dating cause holy shit after that they DO ACT LIKE BOYFRIENDS (legit they act like HICCSTRID before they “started dating” and even AFTER they started dating) and I love that, Hc, they became boyfriends after TB and somewhere in S6 they broke up idc idc

I like Astrid and Hiccup for the most part ngl, they were not TERRIBLE, (apart from that ONE EPISODE where they tried to gaslight me into hating them but then I used my brain to figure out it was pointless forced drama and they truly did nothing wrong), Hiccup making a second Dragon eye was… a choice…… like he’s a GENIUS don’t get me wrong, I can suspend my disbelief that he would be capable and I’m sure he did know how to make one himself, but idk another continuity error, like are u telling me now that there’s 2 Dragon Eyes and BOTH need to be obsolete by the end of this show???? Ok…

Even Stoick and his relationship with Hiccup AND ASTRID, I enjoyed that SO SO MUCH, it was really in character. Toothless as usual is a non character sadly…..

Heather and Dagur were super underutilized sadly, the more I think about it? The more I think Dagur should’ve stayed dead (AND I ADORE HIM) and Heather taken over, I DIDNT LIKE THAT HEATHER WAS NOT THERE WHEN THEY WENT TO SEE OSWALD! Like Wth Dagur and HICCUP? Fuck u for keeping it from her. It should’ve been her, literally replace any scene Dagur has w Heather and nothing will change. As much as I ADORE DAGUR AND I DO ADORE HIM, between him and Heather? Idk make them BOTH a team instead of separating them OR actually use them in a meaningful way. Cause another thing that will never not piss me off was HEATHER HAVING THE LENS AND NO ONE FUCKING NOTICING IT UNTIL NOW! Felt so HARD like a retcon and the writers wrote themselves into a corner, it feels so much like they just also forgot she had it for the first 4 seasons and decided that it was suddenly important for the plot which was so cheap imo and infuriating. (Since season 3, Heather being w the riders is not a bad thing but in S4 we barely see them still after she left, either make her super important and use her - something you HAVE for all the show actually- or don’t, cause she feels like nothing but a plot device now and not a character)

Now I know the BIG TRAITOR REVEAL was coming (I didnt watch it the first time cause I hated it) so I just wanted to actually know how they played it out and it was not AS BAD as I remember, but I was just mostly laughing at the absurdity lol when they made it so obvious by then it was so funny.

Now Viggo being alive is smth I’m still meh about, I dont love when shows do that, BUT I enjoy his character too much to be mad tbh, I have NOT WATCHED SEASON 6, like EVER, not even back then, so I have no idea what to expect with him. I am EXCITED.

Mostly this season did feel like they were resetting and rewriting so much stuff to make things make sense, and most of it was filler, which fine I could watch like 1724983 hours of the gang just doing NOTHING, so filler? Is not a bad thing for me. That’s why I liked it. It was not as bad as I remember. Some things sure were so ABSURD but funny. Made NO SENSE, but I already know a lot of it is not canon so I’m not mad anymore. I just enjoyed it for what it is.

I’m excited to FINALLY WATCH SEASON 6! I never have and honestly my refound love for RTTE has me super excited to watch it for the first time. 🙏

[skyward-floored]

It’s “appreciate yourself” hours! Pick five pieces of writing/art that you’ve done that you love and talk about them! ❤️❤️❤️

Sorry this took so long! Trying to pick five made me realize I have... a lot of writing. Like a LOT. So I kind of just did whatever came to mind, even though I know there’s stuff I’m proud of that isn’t on this list haha

This is kind of two in one but they’re on the same fic so it’s ok. I’m proud of this whole fic, but I particularly like how the Link’s Awakening and Skyward Sword chapters turned out. Link’s uncle is an underutilized character and him giving Link a very needed hug just felt so cathartic after what I did to him. hug that poor guy. And the Slyward Swprd one is honest to goodness one of the fluffiest things I’ve ever written, but it sort of proves I can write fluff and I’m proud of it because of that?? Also because that was my first time writing Groose and I think he turned out well. I’d change some things if I wrote it now but it’s still good :)

I know I haven’t updated it in over a year but I’m really proud of the Twilight Turns (true form au fic). Making Midna get her true form earlier and seeing how that changes the game is fun (and hard oof) to write and fun to play with. Is it a little unrealistic? Maybe. Did I have fun making Link nearly die in quicksand, and then make Midna panic so hard she ended up kissing him which sent them both on a spiral of “wait whoa wait do we like-like each other”? Yes. Yes I did. I think the bit in the most recent chapter with the chu jelly stuff is one of my favorite parts, but I’ve worked hard on the whole thing and I’m proud of it. I need to update it so badly ackkk

Ooh and this thing with Lost! Again, I really like the emotion I managed to pull through in this, and showing the hero’s spirit actively fighting against the darkness even though Link felt like he couldn’t do anything was just fun. He’s fighting back harder than he thought! His spirit tells him he’s doing a good job and hugs him because he can tell he needs it!! hurt/comfort babey :D

This downfall Incredibles au thing I wrote I’m pretty proud of— I struggled with it up and down, but I think in the end I finally got the emotions across that I wanted to :) especially the bit where Legend is panicking because he thinks he’s about to lose his mom, it hit hard hehe. And I always welcome an excuse to make Malon be cool while also loving her family/the Links.

This hdw au fic about Volga and Impa actually talking was really fun to write, I think their dynamic came through wonderfully, and making them address some of the misunderstandings and decisions they’ve been living with for years was interesting. I haven’t really done that kind of thing before. Also making Volga be a Dad and protective of his family without him really realizing it was fun. Especially since Link ended up hearing a solid half of the conversation, and they don’t know he did. I love this silly au <3

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

Listen, I love Gravity Falls, I think it's one of the best shows ever made, but man is it ever frustrating listening to Alex Hirsch lament about not being able to give Wendy her own spotlight episode on the audio commentaries.

Wendy is my favorite character and even the most die hard Gravity Falls fans will admit that she was massively underutilized.

I think the biggest issue with Wendy as a whole was the fact that Hirsch and the other writers didn't have any long term plans for her as a character.

In season one she's just the girl that Dipper has a crush on, a lot of episodes revolve around Dipper's one sided crush on Wendy. Once Hirsch realized that there were plenty of folks within the fandom who unironically shipped the two, he quickly put the kibosh on that aspect of Dipper's character. As he clearly had no intention of Dipper's crush leading towards anything serious.

What's also annoying is that Wendy's break up with Robbie at the end of Boyz Crazy felt like a set up for a personal subplot for Wendy, but it doesn’t lead to anything.

She's just magically back on good terms with Dipper and Stan in Gideon Rises.

In season two Hirsch tries to salvage Wendy's character by having her play a bigger role in episodes like Into The Bunker and Society of the Blind Eye, but as the season progresses, she goes back to being a supporting character who only occasionally shows up whenever the writers remember that she exists.

[eemcintyre]

"Seawolf: The Pirate's Curse" (2005) review

Surprisingly, honestly... why did I enjoy this? I guess after a couple of major misses for me in the form of "The Kidnapping" and "Beyond Forgiveness", my expectations were appropriately low, but this one actually had some likable characters and humor, and that always manages to rope me in. I have a soft spot for fun, silly action fare like this bc of childhood shows like "The Greatest American Hero", I think.

So, the title never makes any sense... what was it supposed to mean? what curse?

First and foremost, I must say TIG is looking oh-so-very pretty and rugged here- the necklaces, the bandanas, the curly-q hair, the tank tops, the sweaty, the ARMMMSSSS 😩

Initially had absolutely no clue what was going on in the beginning; a bunch of people with weird ass outfits in the dark and I was just like please no don't let that be him in the damn fucking cape and eyepatch and o n e l e g; I was like he can't possibly have one leg the whole time, right?? 🤨

But yeah I was definitely experiencing the "dear God what did I get myself into, cheers to another awful mess" 🫡🥂

Why does half the audio sound dubbed (particularly everything that comes out of Rachel's mouth)? Also props to Rachel for being the most emotionally unaffected person ever bc her reactions were so disproportionately calm to what would happen if my bf was constantly disappearing overseas and totaled my gorgeous pink car

We're getting some very Max Parrish-type hooting and hollering up in here; a concise summary of Thorpe is that he's basically if Max had a boat and was an alcoholic instead of a drug addict

We get another hallmark of TIG's movies with a slew of incredibly cringe one-liners that elicit a physical reaction of pain from me, but for every few there was actually a genuinely funny one here and there, so I'll allow it this time...

The whole "I'm a pirate, my father was a pirate, etc." speech had me ROLLING and NOT IN THE WAY THE WRITERS INTENDED I THINK BC HUH??

When he met Helene in that random room full of paintings I was sure we were supposed to take it that the mission was smth art theft-related. but no she just has a passion for maximalist design ig.

Why does the camera get randomly shaky for no reason? Very avant-garde of them

Am I the only one who thinks that Carlos looks like a Walmart George Clooney? Someone else pls tell me I'm not insane

Always throws me off-guard but it's such fun to see TIG in an uncharacteristically light scene like the one where he's dancing in the parade and surrounded by the circle of dancers in the bar. At least he seemed like he was having a good time in this movie 🎉

Ramon and his lil book and the bar scene of Thorpe and Helene drunkenly arguing w each other and sitting on the side of the road was what really started to sell me

anD THEN HE FKIN DR A G S HER ASS 😂

Plus I cannot go without mentioning my appreciation for the way he was holding her knee 👀💕

Love how he spends the majority of this movie just dressed like someone's hot dad who works out, in his cargo shorts, tank top and goatee- oH WAIT IT'S BC HE IS A HOT DAD WHO WORKS OUT IN REAL LIFE

Love how Carlos and all the other villains are devoid of personality or motive except for ~money~, like "the Colonel" doesn't even have a name!!!

Was genuinely stressed that my boy was going to clock himself in the head when he was swinging that rope trying to scale that building

When Helene straight-up PUNCHED HER SISTER IN THE FACE like these ladies have some beef and I need to know where it stems from

This film is another great example of TIG's grossly underutilized comedic potential- a là the map reading scene

Hilarious how Carlos just shrugs like "I don't care, whatever I guess" when who he believes to be Marlena says she wants to say a dramatic goodbye to Thorpe

Ok but how did he not die?? Thank goodness but how??

Even more hilarious how the Colonel, who has had nothing but hatred and murderous intent for Thorpe throughout, is just so touched by Thorpe's being a ✨ big softie with morals ✨ that his vengeful compulsions are soothed and he's content with taking the gold like "hey bro, we're square now <3" and just fuckin walks away

Good on them for giving the treasure back to Mexico

Was legit concerned for too long there that they weren't actually going to end up together and I was screeching

DO THEY ACTUALLY USE THE SAME SHOT OF THE BOAT AT SUNSET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOVIE AND AT THE END?? lmaooo

Honestly, I think they could have leaned even more into the humorous aspect and the treasure hunt part of the film; made it a bit more of a National Treasure/Indiana Jones sort of thing, and I definitely would have liked some more character development, esp. for the sidekicks and villains, but overall, I award this film an unexpected 6/10. I had a good time 🙃🩷

[klarolinedrabbles]

thoughts on hotd s2?

lordy I wouldn't even know where to begin, please narrow this question down lmfsksks. I hated S2, it was overall imo, absolutely awful. Why was Aegon the most interesting this season like hello????

It makes me really resent that they made certain narrative choices for him in S1 making him someone I personally will never root for cause otherwise he would've wound up being a surprise fave for me this season. Went into S2 wanting Helaemon(d) and came out of it, wanting Helaegon x20. Helaegon has it's interesting aspects. Justice for Phia and Tom having to beg for scenes together. And again, had they not made certain choices that impede me ever wanting it to succeed, it's something I in better circumstances would've liked.

Helaena was CRIMINALLY underutilized this season literally wtf. ALTHOOOOUGH, the last we see of her in S2 was absolutely fabulous. I love anyone and everyone who dog piles on Aemond cause he's the absolute worst and I am counting down the days till that mf gets a sword through his eye. It cannot come soon enough.

SPEAKING OF SOMEONE WHO CANNOT DIE SOON ENOUGH, LAAAWD JESUS, SER CRISPIN GOOOOO AWAAAAAAAAAY. Every second that man is on screen is a struggle. I do not care that he and Alicent are shacking up, I do not care that he seems to legitimately love her???? Like it bores me to tears, I just do not care.

Gwayne Hightower MVP, the actor is wonderful, such witty lines, good line delivery a n d interesting, how unfortunate that to see more of him, we also have to endure more of Criston. Separate the two and now we're cooking.

I, for all that is good and holy cannot stand Alicent. Don't get me wrong I despise all the dudes on team green 100x more and do sympathize in certain aspects as far as she goes, but she's not a character I like in any capacity.

Rook's Rest was the only good whole episode of the season, I said wtf I said. The dragon fight sequences were so good, I loved it despite hating the outcome because the side I'm on took the L.

Absolutely loved Aemond getting an absolute dumbass moment in taking out Aegon, the only other dragon rider on his side---for now---of any use to him. He gets heralded as this great strategic mind that imo he never has been. Let's have a chat on how Aegon was the more sound strategist in the beginning of the season??? Everything he wanted his council to do was the correct move given how everything turned out, but the angle was instead how much of a joke King he is. Which I don't understand this far in anymore as an approach tbh. Like I said, it's wild that he was one of the best characters this season and that's an awful pill to swallow cause fuck Aegon forever.

Otto absolutely losing his mind at the stupidity of the side he's on was excellent television. The way he just disappears was stupid though like some clues or something up until where we see him in the finale would've been great. The Daeron exposition was also not good writing.

I'm also just so tremendously sick of the Rhaenyra | Alicent kindred spirits or whatever it is they keep trying to maintain like if ya'll don't cut that shit out and let it tf go. I'll be a Rhaenyra loyalist forever but maaaaan they did her no favors this season. Jace and Baela not having substantial progress in their relationship nor much screentime is a Choice. And it's a choice that I do not agree with. OH BUT NO ONE FEAAAAR, WE GET WHAT SEEMS TO BE AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF ALICENT/CRISTON SCENES/REFERENCES.

Exiling Daemon to Harrenhal to have his Eat, Pray, Love journey after blood & cheese was certainly something. I think for the most part it worked well and I both liked and appreciated the intent. Daemon's arc basically being conquering his own inner demons and reaching a narrative place where he's realized and accepted that he's fine to not have the throne for himself but rather to support the one who does? Chefs kiss. It was great. Did it need to last all season long though??? No. The plot dragged a substantial amount, and what was a great narrative decision got a bit repetitive and boring by the end of it tbh. He is the best character of the entire show though; argue with the wall.

All in all, absolutely awful season. I haven't liked Ryan or Sara since their post S1 interviews and the writing of S2 has really solidified how dog shit they are at their jobs. The pre-S2 production delays makes a shit ton of sense now, not that it helped this show any.

Scenes I did like; PAPI CHULO CREGAN STARK, the first green council in 2x01 where it's mentioned how fucking dumb it was that Lucerys died, both Rhaenys and Daemon scenes lmfsksks, loved every Rhaenyra and Jace scene, all of Rook's Rest was great to watch, Helaena reading Aemond for filth on the balcony of her room was iconic, put that shit in the MoMA, Daemon seeing Helaena in his delulu spooky moments, I actually really liked the Helaena/Aegon scene in 2x01 where he's looking for Jacaerys. Ser Criston can get fucked but the scene where he realizes how lost the war is across all sides now that the dragons are truly involved was excellent. The Baela and Corlys scene was also absolutely fabulous. Daemon and Rhaenyra reuniting in Harrenhal uwuuu, and also the last sequence of the season, with Ramin Djawadi KILLING it as always with the soundtrack, was top tier.

[seoafin]

I think Akutami is just going for a tragic end. Like, it's obvious he hates Gojo, and ending the series with Gojo being the last standing would add even more to the "Throughout the Heaves and earth, he alone is the strongest."

Which SUCKS bc even gojo wanted the kids to get strong!!! He wanted strong allies so he WONT be alone!!! Akutami could have kept him in there longer, and have the kids actually do something, since they couldn't fall back on gojo anymore. I wish Yuji had that win against Mahito, instead of Kenjaku just absorbing him like a Pokémon. Or better yet, NOBARA. LET HER GET A WIN. SHE COULDVE WON, AND SHE SHOULDVE. Killing off Yuki, for what? Sidelining shoko and miwa and every other female character except Maki?

And what was the point of the culling games? Bringung in military forces? If Gege has a plan and is somehow able to tie this all together I'll be impressed. But only if he finally utilizes his female characters the way they should have always been, like he did for Maki. He did SO good with her, what happened to the rest?

Sorry I'm still ranting, but to add on to Akutami's misuse of his female characters-- Shouldn't women in the jjk universe have an advantage?

Momo was talking about how woman in jjk need to be perfect, just to be accepted. Disobedient woman in the zenin clan can have their mouths sewed shut. Adding in the general woes of being a woman, wouldn't that lend for greater storage or a more unique type of cursed energy?

Add THAT onto what our female characters have faced. Miwa lost Mechamaru, and she even tried to go up against Kenjaku even when he warned against it. And he almost used that Uzumaki cursed thing (i believe) on her. Her brother is in one of the colonies. (Honestly I feel she's one of the most underutilized characters). Nobara isn't from a great clan like Megumi or freakishly fast and strong like Yuji, even if we haven't seen I'm sure she has some problems with feeling left behind, that little girl in her still searching for a grand escape, her Saori. Momo already has spoken of the troubles of women sorcerers, so I'm sure she's been battling this image and ideal for a while. Do I even need to mention Maki and Mai?

NO BUT I DO NEED TO MENTION SHOKO.

"I was there too you bastards." Like??? She was in the generation with the two greatest sorcerers! She bore witness to it all!! What about Riko??? The Star plasma vessel, who im sure wouldve completed the trio of the strongest sorceres had she lived, and then there's Shoko, again.

Why is it that even when Akutami uses his female cast they always end up as some sort of character growth or regression or stepping stool for the male cast? Yuki and choso. Riko and gojo/geto. Kenjaku and Tengen (who I think is female). Angel and Megumi. TSUMIKI and Megumi. Nobara and Yuji. Like????

no i agree it just doesn't make sense. like is the whole point of jjk not gojo ushering a new age with strong allies??? why would akutami bring him back when the students have barely begun to actually do anything without gojo's help. AND NOBARA'S STILL NOT BACK???? ig this is confirmation that she's never coming back ugh. akutami killing off characters when he has no more use for them is so detrimental to the narrative. i truly believe nanami should've survived. but oh well :/

i just feel like his unboxing reiterates how dependent everything is around gojo! it's to the extent that other characters begin to become static because of how much everything revolves around gojo's strength. i was really looking forward to the students getting more of a spotlight.

the thing about akutami is that im pretty sure it's not even as intentional as other mangakas. akutami follows a pretty perfunctory story structure and when it comes to utilizing his characters he seeks to have his characters perform a single purpose and then when he doesn't need them they're gone. instead of dynamic characters we get flat characters or they just die before they ever really get a chance to shine (nanami). it sucks all around tbh but i do think gojo is going to die. akutami's kinda sick like that so. i'd also rather gojo die than any students LOL

[inamindfarfaraway]

You know how some people say Ashlynn is boring? I agree that some aspects of her character are underutilized, like her knowing her mother will die prematurely if she follows her destiny and so will she in her daughter’s story, so there’s that to consider morally and emotionally in the destiny debate. These kids need to have more crises, Mattel! They’re too well-adjusted! I still like her because a) sometimes it’s just nice to see a good person in a happy, stable relationship and she and Hunter are really sweet, b) her untapped potential can be tapped in fanfics, and c) having less quirks makes her an excellent straight man in her dynamics with other characters. Remember this conversation?

Briar: Apple is our friend, right?

Ashlynn: Yeah.

Briar: We want her to be happy and safe, right?

Ashlynn: Yeah.

Briar: So we have to poison her!

Ashlynn: …What.

Briar: We need to poison her birthday cake, preferably magically, and make her think Raven did it. That way she’ll think Raven is embracing her role in their story, which will make her so pleased.

Ashlynn: We’re going to poison/curse Apple and then lie about it, framing an innocent person and giving her a totally false sense of security?

Briar: Exactly! She’s going to be so betrayed otherwise!

Ah, Chapter Two.

Anyway, back to the question. I just realized that it makes sense on a meta level for Ashlynn’s personality to be kinda nondescript. Cinderella is one of the most famous, popular and enduring fairytales ever, with countless adaptations all over the world and similar stories found in many different cultures, because it’s applicable. Downtrodden people wishing some magical intervention could give them a night or three off and let them escape to a life of love and prosperity is a constant of human society. The heroine is a vehicle for those people to imagine that through. Kind, resilient, lovable, and that’s basically it. Ashlynn, and her ancestors, are better suited for their tale in-universe if they’re the real life equivalents of generic self-insert characters!

[patentedsun]

What went wrong with Team 8? Part one: Hinata

Disclaimer: I'm not going to revisit Naruto to type this down. This is fueled by childhood memories, the wiki, and anger.

And FUCK kishimoto for packing team 8 to the brim with potential for everything and just simply not doing a single thing with it. You build them up as a group of weirdos; a shy, meek, quiet girl and a strange, cold, and even quieter boy foiled by a confident loud-mouth who loves them both. You give them a specific skillset, and a beautiful colour scheme, and throw them into the forest of death to become literally like the first team to outright kill someone. but okay, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's start from the top.

Let's get into the characters first

Hinata

was the love of my life during childhood, and you know what I give full credit to Kishi for her design because it's impeccable. Especially the eyes. Her fucking eyes. I also loved that she had short hair despite being built up as very traditionally feminine. I also loved that she wore baggy clothing despite being curvy. Like, you know, she was almost right there as a character and not an object. Like, so close. Also her colour scheme in general was gorgeous, the pale grays and lilacs. She was adorable as a kid and beautiful as she grew up.

I think Hinata would've been the perfect answer to the plague of Strong Female Characters who spat on kindness and stared at empathy with contempt. Like, she was so fucking sweet. She had quiet, calm hobbies. She liked flower pressing. She liked cinnamon buns. She was soft spoken. She was kind. And with all that — not despite, don't get me wrong — she was determined to her core. She never shed those parts of her on her journey to become a ninja, hell they weren't even really treated as flaws.

Her character flaw was her issues with self esteem, and do you know how underutilized that plot point was? We indirectly relate to most of the Naruto's cast's backstories; no, our entire family wasn't murdered but there's a lesson underneath it all that we can take. But Hinata? Being told by those close to you, by authority figures, that you can't amount to anything? Being undervalued your own family? Being gripped by crippling self doubt? These are almost 1:1 comparisons with a thousand realities. Hinata, despite her self doubt, her anxiety, her fears, still puts her foot forward and tries her best to improve. She puts effort; so much effort until her palms are literally bleeding.

Oh, and that's where the problem lies. Because her effort isn't for herself, it's for fucking Naruto.

Now, you can argue, Naruto was merely an inspiration for her. And initially, this was definitely true. She looked up to him, and she found strength in him, and she used that to better herself. But as the story devolves, as she's shoved more and more to the side, she's demoted from a symbol of determination to a symbol of one sided love. And oh boy I will fucking get there in a bit just you wait.

All her dimensions? Gone. Naruto Naruto Naruto. She can't do anything if it isn't linked directly to him. She lives for him. She fights for him. She would die for him. There is nothing about her that's related to her, it's all about Naruto. She's not living for herself anymore, she's not improving for herself anymore, and any meaningful lesson that derives from her story is immediately gone. It’s one thing to use someone as an inspiration in your own journey, it’s another thing completely to go on that journey for them. All of her key moments in the show revolve around him. Rarely, if ever, did she get to shine in a situation completely seperate from him, and when it did happen I’m pretty sure they happened in anime only fillers. The closest we got was her battle with Neji, where her incredible bravery was brought into the spotlight. Here, Naruto was just a booster, but her actions were all her for her. She fought with him despite her immense fear, despite the guaranteed loss. She got up, again and again and again and again. And that was the closest she ever got to being a well written character.

Hell, in this fight, you can even say she was the inspiration for him. Like, on a surface level, yes she definitely was because it was seeing her get beaten down that made him so determined to beat Neji, but on a deeper level, I think it really solidified the respect he had for her.

I do understand the iffyness of like... Woman character existing and getting hurt only to drive male characters own story forward. Especially in this case, when this entire Hinata centric fight ended up being a character arc for Naruto and not for Hinata. Like? I'm not saying the way naruto's fight with neji was built up was badly written, but Hinata eventually becomes so decentralised from the entire Neji storyline. Their relationship felt more developed in the fkn rock Lee spinoff than in the actual manga/anime.

The second closest she got to a Moment was the entire Pain fiasco and even that was just... Exactly the same thing lol. Hinata, in an astounding feat of bravey, faces off against an opponent she's sure to lose against, and ends up getting near killed to fuel Naruto's rage and character arc. Like I firmly believe she shouldn't have even been part of that fight because she was literally just... Used by kishi for naruto's sake. She should've been part of the squads going around helping everyone else instead, that would've been way more in character for her. Also that confession really just went... Nowhere. And Hinata was never seen to be bothered by the fact that she poured out her heart to a man and never got a response. Like, look how loyal she is! Definitely not a creepy byproduct of the author's views for sure! Peak romance really...

As the series continues, you’ll observe that a lot of her shyness (NOT her lack of self confidence, we will make that distinction) manifests around Naruto only. It’s a cute symbol of a crush. She’s still soft spoken around her teammates, but she’s obviously very comfortable around them. Around them, she’s her own person. I will forever remember that scene where she’s training with Shino, and she gives it her absolute all to beat the shit out of him, and quote on quote says, “Now you’re getting serious,” when Shino fights back. It’s a small thing, but such a stark contrast from what you’d expect from a character who’s built up as a meek soul - of course you’d extrapolate that as assuming she also hates violence but nahhhh. You best believe she was dead set on becoming the best ninja she could be, and bringing her teammates along with her. 

This is definitely different from when she was a kid and lost her heiress title for refusing to beat up an even kidder kid who also happened to be her little sister and like... come on... of course she was hesitant. She was a child. The only thing she heard back then was constant criticism towards herself even disregarding that, she’s too kind of a soul to hit her own sister like that. It’s different once she gets her own team. She gets praise, she gets support, she gets love, and they are her equals and partners. Her self confidence blooms with them, and she has a wish to grow stronger.

This is a point I want to make: Hinata’s journey is self confidence should never be credited to Naruto and Naruto alone. He was just her inspiration; but who was actually beside her when she took all those steps? It was just herself, her sensei, and her teammates. They were the ones who trained with her, who did missions with her, who cared for her, who supported her, who believed in her capabilities wholeheartedly. I really hate the implication throughout the series that it was romantic feelings that changed her. No way. Her other relationships were far more crucial to her development. 

Also um yeah I doubt the depth there is to her character ie her soft spoken character being separate from her self esteem issues were like, intentional. More like Kishi just drooled over the idea of a super submissive female character who's shy and uwu with big boobas and is peak wife material... Or something.

[devilsskettle]

okay i want to shut up about fear street more than anyone else wants me to shut up about fear street but i just thought of another reason why it drives me up the wall thinking about how underutilized and underwritten ziggy is in the 1994 part of the plot line: in a movie series where one of the main themes is cyclical forms of violence and trauma, where there’s a focus on characters resolving the conflicts of their narrative parallels from the past, even if the writers didn’t expect the audience to identify with/care about ziggy as an adult, she is a representation for our protagonists of their potential futures.

for sam, this is pretty clear, since it’s the narrative reason why they go to her in the first place (seeing the witch and temporarily dying, she represents the hope that there’s a way to break the curse).

for josh, she is a perfect parallel to the stakes for him of trying to save sam - losing his older sister as she sacrifices herself to try to save the people she loves. i was actually surprised that these characters didn’t sympathize and identify with each other more, like in the mall scene when josh is like “too many people have died i’m not going to let them take my sister too!” and ziggy and martin just stand there like. okay i guess. that was such a weird writing choice to me lol i was like why wasn’t that a moment for ziggy to identify with him as someone who lost a sister like this. make it make sense. (also i’ve seen some people say that in interviews, it’s been said that cindy and alice are meant to parallel the relationship between sam and deena, so i think that would situate ziggy and josh as playing comparable roles in each plot line as well).

for deena, i think she’s the most apt reflection of her potential future out of all three main characters. first of all, they’re the most similar in terms of personality: cynical social outcasts convinced the world is fucked who actually care a lot more than they let on. and again, she is living the consequences of what the stakes are of trying to break this curse. the main risk for deena isn’t that she might die, it’s that everyone she cares about will die and she’ll be trapped alone in a town she hates, just like ziggy. 

this would also mean that adult ziggy would play a similar role to the kids in 1994 as nurse lane did for her in 1978. like. god. do you ever think about how nurse lane was the one person who was nice to her and cared about her, and ziggy was the only person who noticed that something was wrong and she was the only one who didn’t write her off as crazy and violent like her daughter when she attacked tommy and instead actually sympathized with her, but no one believed nurse lane, and then no one believed ziggy about what really happened during the camp nightwing massacre, and how they both had to live not only with the loss of their loved ones but also the doubt and mockery of everyone in town who thought they were just crazy. anyway. ziggy similarly is the only adult in town (other than, eventually, martin) who believes and is willing to help the kids in 1994 at the expense of her own safety, just like nurse lane tried her best to protect the kids at camp at the expense of her own reputation (and if she had succeeded in killing tommy before he became the nightwing killer, she would probably have spent the rest of her life in jail or a mental institution, which she had to have known - so she also was willing to sacrifice her freedom, and as ziggy puts it, ruin her own life. god i am sad about this)

oh and also the motivation of ziggy to help these kids in the first place (we assume) comes from a place of self identification with them and trying to save them in the same way she wishes she could’ve saved her younger self and her sister. so like. i want to see that play out in part 3 if that’s the intended interpretation 

so going back to the focus on resolving the conflicts of their narrative parallels from the past, the kids do this for ziggy, cindy, and alice as much as they do it for sarah fire and hannah miller. sam does this…. just by surviving lol, josh does this by not only believing in the curse but also unrelentingly telling others the truth about it (and miss queenofairanddarkness actually seems to believe him), and deena does this by breaking the damn curse and (presumably) becoming less cynical and self-defeatist in her world perspective. and ziggy does this for nurse lane, effectively warning the kids about the dangers of the curse and helping them fight it, where nurse lane was unable to stop the events of camp nightwing, and (as we see at the end) giving her closure about the death of her daughter. she also, i think, plays the same kind of parallel role to sarah fier as deena does in different ways, both as a social outcast who is scapegoated for other people’s wrongdoings as well as her relationship with nick reflecting the relationship between sarah and solomon. like deena and sam, she also is connected by sarah by bleeding on her bones and seeing (some of) the truth about the curse 

anyway. all this is to say that these movies had the potential to do this effectively, and i’m not even saying that they should’ve set aside a huge amount of time from the plot to explore this concept, but there’s small, easy changes and additions that i think could’ve been made that wouldn’t ultimately change anything about the movies but would’ve made such an impact on the overall quality of the writing. first of all, there’s this big time jump from ziggy’s story to the 1994 “present” which is fine and expected and i wouldn’t expect them to try to include a whole lot about what her life is like in between, but we don’t know anything about her present day life, except that she has a dog and a lot of clocks and that she might be an alcoholic. we don’t even know what her job is. we have no idea what she’s been doing for 16 years. it takes maybe two extra minutes at the beginning of her introduction in part 2 to show a little bit more of her daily life, or a line or two to give us an idea of what that might look like. for character development/relationship building purposes, she needs to actually have a conversation with other people lol. she shares how much silent screen time with martin in part 3? another criminally underutilized character but don’t even get me started.

even in the 1978 plot line, her character is established almost entirely by tell-not-show; everyone is like oh she’s trouble! she’s a creep she’s a weirdo! but we see very little of her actually getting up to trouble or doing anything out of the norm (all of the characters in 1978 suffer from this writing problem, to be fair). then in the 1994 part of part 3, the way that they show her reactions to what’s happening is through flashback to her in 1978, and first of all it’s like. we just saw that we know what happened. second, it’s lazy writing! we see nothing new from her basically the entire movie. (i’m specifically thinking about the part where she learns that nick is behind the curse - cut to a series of flashbacks - moving on with the plot. then at the mall, when she sees the tree - cut to a flashback of the camp nightwing - deena comes up to her: “this is it.” “yup.” and she walks away and leaves deena to her own flashback to her sarah fier vision. and that’s the full extent of either of their emotional reactions to that moment. missed opportunity imo. and sure, maybe that’s the character - she’s not a people person lol - but you can write characters who are closed off and blunt while still being interesting and emotionally compelling and not basically stock characters. 1978 ziggy and deena are actually both examples of this so i’m mainly disappointed because i know they could’ve done better lol) 

anyway. i’m not saying they needed to derail the main plot to make ziggy the main character or anything, i’m just saying that with better pacing and attention to her as a character, i think these movies could’ve had the depth and emotional resonance they were aiming for and in fact it would strengthen the themes that are central to the main plot and the protagonists without having to change anything major, making a small shift that could’ve made these movies go from mediocre and forgettable to actually pretty damn good. anyway netflix call me i have ideas for you <3

[percyjacksonfan3]

For the salty asks: numbers one, five, six, and twenty through twenty-three please 😇

I live for the chaos so pls just... go off my dude

Ah Tay, reason #187893467 that I love you is that you indulge me in my rants <3

Salty asks are from this post!

K this got LONG so here's a read more!

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

Honestly even though I don't multi-ship often I DO usually get the appeal behind ships so this is a really short list. This will probably get me some hate but I still to this day can't get behind c/ex@ from the show that will not be named. But then again I do get the appeal of two super attractive women with chemistry and the whole ruler/ girl who makes the ruler change their ways thing. So I guess I get it even if I don't like it?

Also, and this is not to hate on Hinny, but Harry and Ginny from HP are not my cup of tea. I like what fandom has done for them but the actual content we get for them in the books (and movies, but I prefer the books) isn't enough for me to love them. Same with Mal and Alina from S & B/ Grishaverse, they're so bland to me in the books but the show is doing far better with them and actually making Mal ya know. Likeable. Again, I don't ship it, but best friends to lovers is top tier so I get it.

Oh! I also don't really get Dwalin/Ori from The Hobbit, but that is probably in large part because I'm a Dwalin/Nori shipper. Again though, all of the secondary characters' relationships in The Hobbit rely on fans to extrapolate HARD and wear extreme shipper goggles, and ik there's that scene where Dwalin helps Ori out of the river so like.. maybe that's where it's from? I don't hate it or anything but it's always something that's made me go ??? cause I have no idea where the heck it came from.

Apart from that... I can't think of any rn? I feel like I understand where all the PJO ships come from, even if I don't ship them. There are a couple that I don't understand how they can be someone's OTP, just because I find them super boring (no offense to those who ship C@leo or J@siper but I just don't love how Rick handled those relationships). In TSC I think fandom mainly vibes with the same pairings and that's true for most of my book fandoms. With the shows I watch I don't think fans majorly ship anything too out there for me. Maybe I don't interact enough with fandoms to tell. So this is all I got.

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

Oh my god, oh my god, this is a can of worms, my lord. A pairing I'm not so sure about, but characters? Abso-fucking-lutely. I took a break from PJO fandom for exactly that reason and the list of characters is endless honestly, for multiple fandoms.

I won't say fandom ruined Bell@rke for me cause I still ship it, but I definitely lost enthusiasm with how toxic the shows fandom was and then that was made even worse when the show completely destroyed itself with the worst writing and plots ever in the latter seasons.

Also I have a feeling that G@me of Thrones/ @soiaf ruined one for me but I can't remember this very second. Maybe not, and again that's probably cause I don't interact with fandoms en masse, usually just through fic and following a few people I vibe with in each.

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

Yes, quite a few! I used to dislike Drarry (for obvious reasons I feel) and Romione (as a kid I wanted Hermione to be with Harry and even when I grew out of that I really didn't like she was with Ron) but fandom changed that for sure. And same with Darklina now, I was upset cause I felt like the books really underutilized their relationship and fell short of what could have been a super awesome pairing if better explored, but the show fandom is taking it in so many different ways that I'm starting to really love them despite the reasons I shouldn't.

And I won't say I hated Hayffie in THG, but definitely the only reason I ship them is from reading @ellanainthetardis's fic Have a Drink Sweetheart and then all the others written for them. That portrayal of Hayffie and the characters have become my own headcanons now because I've been reading them for so long and they're so good.

Fandom made me ship Leon and Morgana from Merlin too, though that's very lowkey. I never hated them, I just never thought of them as a pairing until reading fic.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Percabeth. I don't care which fandom, it's Percabeth. Growing up together, going from enemies to friends to best friends to lovers? The establishment of them being best friends and the way Rick wrote that friendship was so pure, and they are a couple with no internal problems, all external, and you just know they're gonna be together through everything, fighting at each other's side, cause that's the way they are. There's a reason they're my OTP and it's cause they are the most well-established, ride or die couple I can think of. They're just so solid.

21. What are your thoughts on crack ships?

Love em for fandom but personally I very rarely get behind crackships just because I usually need a lot of build up, scenes, good dialogue and chemistry, etc. to ship something, so most of my ships aren't crack ships. The only one I can really think of that I actively root for and ship and would read fic for is Billy/ Owen from 911 Lonestar which is just... something.

Like idk if Barduil from The Hobbit is crack because ik it's quite popular... what makes a ship a crack ship anyway? Lack of canon reference? Is it cause they two characters would be so random together because they barely ever interact? Or because it's SO unrealistic you know for sure it will never happen but want it to anyway? Or is it lack of popularity in fandom? I need someone to define this so I have a better answer :D if it's the second option then I have MANY

I love seeing fandom stuff for crack ships though, cause seriously, it's fiction, ship who you want. If you ship two characters just cause you think they're pretty side by side then that's enough for me. Make all of the fan art and fic you like.

22. Popular character you hate?

Oof. Jason from HOO. And Leo in everything after The Lost Hero. I hated Piper in The Lost Hero and Mark of Athena but like her after those. I don't like any of the book characters from S & B except Nikolai, but I like everyone in the show (except David? Why did they make him so weird? Like he's not even awkward, he's straight up rude imo, but anyway). In @soiaf I don't like Jon Snow, I think he's boring. And I despise Jorah Mormont cause I think he's creepy for having a crush on Dany.

Didn't love Stefan in TVD, too much of a goody-two-shoes. I liked dark Stefan but it felt like a totally different character. Honestly most of the characters I don't like cause they're boring or too by-the-book.

OH! A big one in M@rvel is Captain America. Can't stand him honestly, I like him as a character to have in the story, but I like never agree with him on anything. I like a couple of his one-liners but that's it really. I also don't like Gale in THG, idk if that's controversial. Or Lex@ from the show that will not be named because I think she's manipulative and not good for any of the characters i DO love.

Is Ron popular? I think so. I like fandom Ron but not canon Ron and idk why. I think I'm growing out of it but I read those books when I was like 7 initially so I thought it was awful of Ron to stop being friends with Harry because he was jealous and I never really got over that.

There are so many but I'm gonna stop now.

23. Unpopular character you love?

Again, tons. I love anyone whose got kind of a tortured backstory because it makes them more interesting to me.

I love Movieverse Hawkeye! I think Clint is great and while I wish his deafness was canon in Marvel and I don't love J Remmer, I do love Hawkeye a lot. He was honestly one of the only Marvel characters that felt consistent and in-character throughout the movies.

I like President Snow from THG just cause I think he was a fantastic villain. And Effie and Haymitch aren't unpopular, but they're probably my favourites, again because of the fics mentioned above.

Leon from Merlin!! I don't actually think he's unpopular, but he's like... my fourth favourite character in the show which I know IS considered high for most people.

Sandor Clegane from ASOIAF. Not the show, just the books. His book character is phenomenal and I am so excited for GrrM to finish the goddamn series so I know what happens to him.

The Stolls and Katie Gardner from PJO cause fandom created Tratie and sucked me in at a young age.

Bellatrix Lestrange? Is she unpopular? I don't think so but she's another one I think is a fantastic villain. I'm almost more interested in her than Voldemort tbh.

That's probably it!

Thanks so much for the ask Tay, this was tons of fun! Anyone else who's interested can feel free to fill my inbox!

[borom1r]

okay first: having your eric collage as a back patch wld be SO awesome tbh!!!

second: hehe SAW asks. uh for 1-10 trap ratings again: water cube trap, shotgun carousel, bathroom trap (bdndns again bias) and maybe just nerve gas house in general? and then for characters, mallick, rigg, art, jill, nd pamela if that's not too much? :3c

uhhh and then anything eric/mallick you wanna talk abt <3 I care them!!

fjksdhfjshkd thanks dude!! im still undecided theres a few general SAW posters i might get or just an image of Eric lol, dunno

+ ok traps!!

Water Cube:

10/10 literally one of my favorite traps EVER + imo the sexiest trap in th entire franchise. i love seeing Strahm in it too<3 pretty trap for a pretty man.

Shotgun Carousel:

hm. 5/10 i think aesthetically its fun but i care abt William too much to appreciate it by itself. i dont actually have a lot 2 say w/out this turning into a pages-long defense of William Easton lol

Bathroom Trap:

4/10. dgmw i love it + its iconic for a reason, its almost elegant in its simplicity n how much hinges on th participants' own paranoia to create any tension, but on th other hand i cannot take it serious. Lawrence gets this big poetic "kill adam or your family will die" speech + I get "idfk survive maybe :)" WHICH. i did. And Yet.

Nerve Gas House:

2/10 i do think its an interesting idea but conceptually it entirely hinges on ppl taking accountability for themselves n either willingly facing their own traps OR th others forcing them into it— which does work w/ Obi. from there it falls apart. n ofc theres no accounting for how th nerve agent wll affect individual ppl so theres really no fair chance for survival (Laura). also, when it DOES fall apart, u need to remember John's whole "nothing is up to chance" philosophy: this means not only did he Know it would devolve completely, he Expected it— and to some extent expected, and was entirely okay with, the idea of Amanda being forced into a trap tht would retraumatize her. you ever wonder how much of tht was control? how maybe if she hadnt Just been dumped into a pit of needles n had her slowly-recovering psyche shattered, things might've turned out different? hm. thoughts 2 think.

now characters!

Mallick:

ok no surprise cuz i said this while talking abt Brit but 4/10. i love him n hes th most developed member of th fatal 5 simply thanks 2 Greg Bryk's performance n th mannerisms he gives Mallick. i adore him but theres a major difference between Th Mallick That Lives In My Brain (8/10 <3) + Canon Mallick.

Rigg:

8/10 look i love Rigg genuinely soooooo much i think he is SO interesting nd i wish wed gotten more of him in 2/3 bc his character in 4 is SO good. like why. wld i watch Spiral when SAW IV is right there. when RIGG is right there? so much of 2 + 4 is about love and humanity and our connections to it and th ways we can take it too far n the ways love can twist our humanity into monstrousness vs the ways love can restore hope when we ourselves are so totally shattered. Rigg loves TOO much and i love him for it, i do, i cant blame him for anything bc i understand. i get it. he is a man who wants the world to be simple, to be its best, to make sense, who wants the right people to face justice, to protect those in danger despite any risk to himself

Art:

7/10 simply bc i feel like he is under-explored. like there r a lot of questions surrounding him tht i love but i do wish there were just a couple more answers. i do love him tho, like u said in tht ask u just answered he is defending despicable ppl by nature of his job + ultimately tht does not reflect on his character. bc sometimes u dont have a choice, ur SO right— add to that th amount of kindness with which Art faced th rest of his life. he couldve become such a jaded person, but he dedicates himself to charitable acts and it spills into is treatment of Eric, th tenderness which he shows when he really hes no reason to. i love him <3

Jill:

5/10 look she is Yet Another underutilized SAW woman. she exists simply to humanize John to an extent but in turn they just make him more like a ridiculous villain. to elaborately schedule a baby and then IMMEDIATELY abandon his wife? insane. i hate him so much it makes me vibrate with rage. Jill 100% deserved better and i love seeing her take revenge against Hoffman FOR Amanda, i love th idea of her but she is paper thin thru most of th movies and then she Dies.

Pamela:

3/10 this is another case of me making up a Good Character in my head <3 in th movies she is incredibly flimsy but in my head? 10/10 i love Pamela Jenkins, trans sister of William Easton, who is Also Trans.

+ lastly, Eric/Mallick

i dont like.. think abt this ship as much as i shld probably? i lean towards Mallick/Brit, obviously, but also Mal/Adam n honestly Mal/William. but i do love Mal/Eric

it gets back into th big strong dog thing, my favorite Thing for Eric, bc he is! he is th big strong dog who protects you in isolates u from other ppl,he is alienation as safety, he is a sanctuary. theres just. smthn abt tht concept tht is genuinely so powerful. he isnt just there, he actively puts himself between his partners n th outside world.

and you have to wonder, in a world where Jigsaw is a media sensation, how much stays hidden? if you've been placed in a trap, whether you live or you die, how long is it before someone digs up every dirty little secret that got u stuck in there? how long is it before your story is plastered in genuine papers and tabloid bullshit alike, twisted and distorted in a sick game of telephone as th less legitimate publications disguise speculation as fact and spoon-feed sensationalism to th masses?

how long before Mal doesn't feel safe going out alone, because What If? because they had to unplug their landline, it kept ringing (each of them did. they all have cellphones, at least). before part of th progress he'd made is undone (if Jigsaw thought it, and now everyone thinks it, then isn't he a monster? didn't he deserve to die?). at least, with time, all things fade. some other poor asshole gets the Jigsaw treatment and all his secrets are plastered across the pages of the daily paper, and slowly, Mal rebuilds some confidence.

until, on a day where Eric felt good enough to go run errands with him (somewhat rare, still early in their respective recoveries), as they step back outside and a camera is shoved in their faces (because people notice, when survivors bond. people want to know why, want to dissect them until there's nothing left), and Eric's reminded of a day where he and Adam had been caught leaving the gas station: sees himself, still so fresh out of the cell, in Mallick as he physically shrinks in on himself. and, you know, there's only so many things you can do. stiff jointed and exhausted and angry, Eric reels back— and, with some sick satisfaction, breaks the reporter's nose when fist connects with face.

part of him is scared he'll frighten Mallick, is always scared when that violence rears its ugly head (but this is a person he loves, this is a person he'd do anything for), except Mallick bursts into laughter as soon as they're back in the safety of their car. a little frantic, on the edge of tears, because when has he ever been worth protecting? (except to Brit, only to Brit)

later, when they tell Pamela, they're both a little ashamed— it's just a job, isn't it, when they look at it with clear heads. at least, when Mallick describes the guy, Pam can assure them he was an asshole through and through. Mal smiles at him, still a little sheepish for enjoying the spectacle so much (that flash of Eric's unbridled, protective rage, and the reporter's scandalized yelling as they'd made their escape), and Eric brushes his knuckles against Mal's hip. when Mallick doesn't pull away, despite what he'd just seen that fist do, the last, lingering doubt uncurls itself from Eric's heart.

[pointnumbersixteen]

A Few Thoughts on the Ghosts’ Christmas Special

I’m going to start with the things I really liked, because that’s always best.

1) In the Bleak Midwinter. Beautiful. I’d love to have a Ghosts’ musical. I don’t care how much they’d have to stretch to pull it off. But since that’s unlikely, all of them singing a Christmas carol together was a nice gift to help sate that desire. Did I mentioned it was beautiful? Some of the cast can really sing... the rest of them can at least fit nicely into a chorus. And the way it fit into the episode, with the Ghosts satisfying Alison’s Christmas wish after she did her best to satisfy all of theirs, that was wonderful. All of my subsequent rewatches have been for that part. And ‘twist-it.’

2) I enjoyed the bits with Fanny and the Christmas tree. I don’t know why, but that was one of my favorite subplots. Maybe because I really love Christmas trees. And Fanny remained tolerable throughout, which is hard for Fanny.

3) I enjoyed Pat and Cap’s reaction to the handsome men comment, straightening their ties and looking proud of themselves. It was very adorable. And how Pat and Cap spent most of the episode together. 

4) Mary’s interactions with the baby were interesting and added something both to her character and to the world-building of the show (babies can sometimes see ghosts) which could pay off later in the show if Mike and Alison ever have a child or something like that. 

5) Julian’s daughter became a Green party MP. That’s perfect. 

And the things I didn’t like... (because, unpopular opinion, overall I was kind of disappointed with the episode?) These are largely subjective, but hey, most entertainment reactions are. 

1) Mike’s family was kind of awful. They didn’t treat him with any respect whatsoever. Particularly his sisters. Like, y’all are all in your late twenties/early thirties. He’s hosting y’all, trying to give you a really nice Christmas. And your reaction to this is to intentionally try to make him miserable and angry so he’ll have a meltdown on Christmas day that you can record and laugh at him about later? That’s not a fun sibling dynamic. That’s super immature and toxic and if my sister or I tried doing stuff like that to each other, we’d probably just stop speaking to each other. I certainly wouldn’t invite her over for Christmas.

2) I didn’t like how Kitty sided with Mike’s sisters, with the oh, yeah, Mike’s so stupid bits. I get how she’s lonely and bandwagons with whatever young women are in the house, and yeah, Mike isn’t the brightest bulb out there... but neither is Kitty, for that matter, so maybe show a little loyalty to the guy you live with and who does his best to accommodate you and your ghosty friends even though he can’t see y’all? 

3) Where is Alison’s family? It would have taken one line to establish that they are dead, estranged, vacationing in Bermuda, what have you. It’s not like they have to go into all of the details, if they want to make that a focus of a later episode... even if they want to leave it a mystery, they could have mentioned something like, ‘oh, I wish my family could have been here’ or ‘oh, I wish I had any sort of relationship at all with my family.’ Not mentioning it at all just left me with a giant question mark and seems needlessly coy. It’s not like they trimmed all the fat for run time, because they certainly didn’t, so ‘wasn’t relevant enough to make the cut’ can’t be the explanation. 

4) A lot of the characters’ subplots were EXACTLY what I would have predicted them to be. Thomas spending most of the episode pining for a kiss under the mistletoe from Alison? If I had to put money on a prediction beforehand, that would have been it. Robin ranting that Christmas is a crock? Same. Kitty following various people around the house like a puppy while tossing hints that her sister is horrible? Well, that’s basically what she does in most of the episodes. Pat’s Christmas recollections of the eighties being exactly what mine were in the nineties... the kids playing board games (later video games) while the adults drink until someone inevitably squabbles? Of course they were. And on the one hand, it speaks to consistent characterization... but on the other hand, doing the most predictable thing possible with half the characters is kind of... boring. Like, I’m sure they could have kept the characters in-character while coming up with something a bit more surprising for at least ONE of them. It would have been nice.

5) Once again, Humphrey is underutilized. I enjoy Humphrey as a character, so I find the episodes where Humphrey is just a prop to be a bit frustrating and his entire experience in this episode was being used as a baby mobile for a few seconds. 

6) And once again, we get no new information on the Captain. And after thirteen episodes, it’s becoming less mysterious and more frustrating. Half the fun of mysteries is being provided hints and tidbits to see if your guesses are going to pan out and so it’d be great if they could get on with that. I know they’ve said in interviews they want to set the tone before getting into some of the deeper stuff, but... the tone’s set, guys. You’ve had two full seasons. Get to it.  

7) I didn’t find making Julian’s plot the emotional payoff of the episode very satisfying. He spent his daughter’s entire life avoiding her at Christmas and listening to a baby cry for like 24 hours 30 years after he died suddenly made him rethink his life choices? It just didn’t feel very believable for him to have the Ebeneezer Scrooge Christmas change-of-heart just from that. That it made him curious about what happened to his daughter? Sure. That it suddenly enlightened him to the true meaning of Christmas? That seemed OOC to me. This is Mr. Balls-to-Animals we’re talking about.

8) If, alternatively, you see Mike’s conversation with his dad about how eventually he and his mom aren’t going to be able to do the things they do on Christmas as the emotional payoff, that works a bit better narratively, but I found it incredibly depressing to be reminded that eventually my parents are going to die in the Christmas episode of my emotional-comfort show, particularly since we all spent Christmas sick with covid (thankfully, after a few scary days, it looks like we’ll all probably recover, but still, that was not what I needed this year... and I know they wrote this episode before covid became a thing, but still, Boxing Day when my dad was trying to tell me how his blood sugar had shot above 300 but he couldn’t get a single full word out without coughing ranks as one of the scariest days of my life and trying to re-watch the Christmas special afterwards for comfort to be hit by the reminder that this could be our last Christmas together hurt. I know, again, that’s very specific to my situation, but there it is.). 

Anyway, I’ll probably add more stuff as I think about it more, but these are the things that stuck out to me after three watches. 

[angelhummel]

Who do you think are the top 3 talented glee club members, like the full package?

Godddd it’s so hard to measure. Like they’re all insanely talented in their own ways. Did we literally ever see them actually acting in school plays? I’m pretty sure every school musical scene was just... a song. And then there was like, the mattress commercial or the Christmas special which was just funny and cheesy but I wouldn’t call it good acting lmao. Anyway that’s a weird place to start but there’s like the “triple threat” of acting, singing, and dancing and apparently none of them can act in universe so we’ll cross that off the list

Kurt Hummel. And it’s not just my bias for Kurt, the best character of all time. I really do think he is one of the most talented members of the club. I mean every single one of his solos is a knockout except I’ll Remember I don’t like it as much it doesn’t matter if it’s just him and his voice in front of everyone, or if he’s running around and dancing and jumping on pianos in a pair of gold pants. He can do big and bombastic and theatrical, he can do soft and subdued and dramatic. And his VOICE. He’s up there hitting notes some of these other girlies haven’t even heard of. And they didn’t let him sing in that low register as much but when he did?? Amazing. Plus I mean maybe he wasn’t the best dancer but he was trying. He did his music video recreations and was doing Single Ladies as well as the woman who literally danced back up for Beyonce to that song lmao. He took ballet lessons, he could play piano, he was very skilled at making his own fashions, he could twirl batons and sai swords, he even wrote some of his own stuff. I mean come on my boy is just talented all the way around

Mercedes Jones. For sure I have to put her on the list. Like they barely let her dance but idc. Her vocals are enough to make her the most talented member. She could blow anyone else away with just her voice. And she can do anything she wants. She can do pop, soul, r&b, showtunes, hip hop, original songs. And yes she is criminally underutilized in general, but every single song she’s in? Would not be the same without her. Also I don’t really count the acting but she totally killed it in Rocky Horror and her look and attitude and stage presence was just to die for. I just can’t make this list and not have her on it

Blaine Anderson. Okay maybe this is also my bias but idc. I mean you’re not gonna tell me he’s not talented. He’s got a great voice, great versatility, he’s just got so much good energy. I love all his upbeat poppy songs when he’s dancing around all excited, and his slower and more toned down somber songs. Also we know Darren can play literally every instrument known to man but I think we just saw Blaine on piano and a little guitar. Still, very talented. And also Darren was just about the only person who actually sang live on the show, so that’s definitely noteworthy. Blaine’s just such a charismatic and captivating performer and I love his stage presence and everything he can do. Which is good cause we got so much Blaine (:

Some honorable mentions bc the whole cast is mind blowingly talented and it feels unfair to leave so many out:

Artie. One of the absolute best male vocalists, even tho the other boys hardly gave him any competition. And like Mercedes, instantly improved every single group number he appeared in. Also a great dancer. And it’s funny that they cast one of the best dancers as a boy in a wheelchair (: But he still killed every dance performance he had

Santana. I just love her voice and all her solos. We’re tooold she’s one of the best dancers even tho she’s lacking from some dance heavy numbers but who cares. Santana still has her own moves. Also she’s literally the one we see succeeding most in the show?? In her commercial, in Kurt’s band, on BROADWAY, and featured on Mercedes’s album. Now come on now

Brittany. She might not’ve been the best vocalist but she was the best dancer by miles and miles. And every one of her numbers was a PERFORMANCE. Even I have to smile when she’s singing. The fact that they used her one whole time in a competition performance is just. electric chair for will

Rachel. Obviously I can’t leave her off. I think she has an amazing voice, I just don’t think it’s as dynamic or versatile as some of the others :/ 

Tina. Her voice is super underrated but so so pretty. Plus she can also dance. She was dancing to Single Ladies, she was choreographing tap numbers with Mike and she got no credit for it. She can also play piano. And her voice was really interesting and different and unfortunately I think she sounded great in every song that got interrupted (:

[the-other-art-blog]

Wandavision finale SPOILERS

It was ok, I guess?

For the last eight weeks I had been watching faithfully. I was so excited for the finale and felt that it was a bit incomplete. There were cool scenes but overall it seems like they needed another episode to wrap everything up.

Boy did they exploit superhero landing so much!

New look!

That was so beautiful. She looks amazing! The crown, the hair!

SWORD

I’m not sure we needed SWORD in this series. It was done to include Monica and show Maria’s legacy. But in the end, it acted as every single bureaucratic American organization ever.

They could have put the CIA or FBI or a SHIELD-like organization and they would have done exactly the same. Hayward could been in any of those institutions. 

Maybe it’s because I have the image of SWORD from the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cartoon with the spaceship outside Earth and being super cool. I hope Captain Marvel 2 fixes this, or Fury’s show.

Secondary characters

The show is called Wandavision, so It’s normal that Wanda was the most developed character, but I think they underutilized Monica, Darcy and Jimmy.

Especially Monica. I have mixed feelings about this. One the one hand, I think it was a quick way to give her an origin story. Now we can go into Captain Marvel 2 with her fully powered, no time to waste. However, she could have done more. She got the mid-credit scene, so at least they set her up to something greater.

The twins

They are so powerful! Especially Billy! He was able to control the SWORD agents.

Oh, and Wanda putting them to sleep so they wouldn’t notice they would die. That was very touching. “Family is forever”. She was a mom right there. Being calm and loving to her kids even though she knows something bad is coming just so they would be at peace and not suspect anything. That was beautiful. It sort of reminded me to Dark’s finale.

Vision goodbye

This is ridiculous, how many times do we have to watch him die?! One more death and he will surpass Uncle Ben! He already died more times than Steve Trevor.

Regardless, that was heartbreaking. They knew she had to do it, they literally saw it coming towards them. And just to break our hearts even more, she says “you are my love”. Wow! *tears*

Agatha

I love that Agatha called her out. “You’re cruel”

We are going to see Agatha again, for sure. I think she’s coming back for Doctor Strange 2. They set it up, Wanda says that she’ll come and find her when she needs her. And I think she will, or maybe Dr. Strange would come.

Agents of SHIELD reference

So, apparently the mention of the dark hole comes from AOS. And previously, the Hydra soak was also from AOS. I seriously hope they don’t make it canon. I’m sorry but that’s my opinion, I try to like the show but I just couldn’t. I wouldn’t mind if Mockingbird gets included in the MCU, but just her. I feel like it’s the same as if you try to include The Inhumans tv show into the MCU canon. I don’t think Keving Feige would like that at all. He allowed a few references but I doubt he would do more.

Loose threads (so many!)

We never knew who was Jimmy’s witness!?

Darcy wasn’t even there for the finale scene! Is she going to appear anywhere else? Is she done?

Where did white Vision go? He has his memories back, is he going to search for Wanda?

Why was Evan Peters cast? Was it only to confuse fans?

So, is it the multiverse or what?

Accountability! (Does the MCU even know that word?)

Isn’t the government or anyone looking for Wanda? MCU characters have no accountability! Especially Wanda! She is always justified for the mess she does.

Oh her parents were killed, oh she’s just a kid, oh she needs more training, oh she’s grieving, there’s always an excuse.

Sure, like Monica said, whomever had Wanda’s powers would try to bring their loved ones back to life. Yet, that is no justification for slaving thousands of people and torturing them. Dotty said she couldn’t even see her daughter! While Wanda was living her ideal life, everyone else was suffering.

And then, they frame the scene where everyone was looking at Wanda angrily as if the inhabitants of Westview were the bad guys! Go through what they went through, see if you forgive her. I wouldn’t. She kept them from their families, she tortured them, she make them have her nightmares. They should try to prosecute her for all of that.

Mid-credit scene

BTW, the skrull was the big cameo?! It was fine, but it didn’t blew my mind. Also, is she a good skrull or a bad one? I think she is the good one, the one who was playing Maria Hill during FFH’s end credit scene?

Post-credit scene

Again, accountability. Wanda was allowed to flee the crime scene and live in a cottage to get even more powerful.

So, she’s doing the thing from Doctor Strange where they separate their astral form from the physical one. And she’s reading the book!

The twins are coming back! They were calling for her. And they have to be there for Young Avengers.

[xayakans]

sannin

oh,,,,mess,,,,

jiraiya

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life   hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang |  hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff (points to meta on naruto’s post) best quality: oh boy. ok. without a doubt it’s his heart. i wanted to hate him, i did hate him, but i saw him with naruto. with tsunade. with the ame trio. how he never gave up on orochimaru. he loves deeply. he’s also like, such a lowkey caretaker because of it, and i’ve talked before about he’s the steady one when things go to shit. just, god!!! everything about his bonds with other people GETS to me. worst quality: HIS SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN LMAO like GOD. there’s meta about how jiraiya uses sex to cope, about wanting intimacy but fearing loss, and THAT is fun. but kishimoto was like what if we make it a RUNNING GAG because jiraiya is so fucking horny!!! FUCK. ITS BAD. also, taking away shitty writing, this man is a goddamn sagittarius in the WORST way. he runs away from responsibility like no other! his refusal to accept the hat, the fact he CLEARLY avoided the village for 12 fucking years so he wouldn’t have to Deal with the fact he’s naruto’s godfather, HE JUST ABANDONED 3 FUCKING 12-13 YEAR OLDS IN A WARZONE AFTER BEING THEIR ONLY CAREGIVER FOR 3 YEARS WITHOUT EVEN ASKING IF THEY’D WANT TO COME BACK TO KONOHA WITH HIM????? JIRAIYA IM COMING FOR YOU   ship them with: tsunade and orochimaru are his SOULMATES brotp them with: tsnunade and orochimaru are his GOVERNMENT ASSIGNED BEST FRIENDS. also naruto, minato, and the ame trio. needs to stay away from: uhhhhhhhhhh genuinely anyone besides tsunade and orochimaru. no one deserves this disaster man. misc. thoughts: i’m So mad how much i love him. like it’s fine i’m a comics stan i’m used to picking and choosing which parts of canon i accept. but i truly lost a lot of self respect when i was forced to admit i stan jiraiya.

tsunade

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff best quality: her strength. like, obviously she’s physically a powerhouse, but emotionally she keeps getting knocked down and getting back up. and it’s like...not even a trait she acknowledges? i think because of her years of drifting, drinking away her pain, gambling to feel the adrenaline rush, she doesn’t consider herself emotionally strong,  but like. she lost dan, and nawaki. she lost orochimaru to his quest for power, she lost jiraiya to his worldly adventures. she did what she could to cope. and when she agreed to become hokage, she put all that on the back burner. when orochimaru died, she didn’t let herself feel it. when jiraiya died, she let herself breakdown privately, and then pulled herself back together. when pain attacked the  village, she kept everyone alive. she never buckled under her own grief, her own pain. she’s so fucking strong!!!!!  worst quality: god i WISH canon would show tsunade is JUST as messy and awful as jiraiya and orochimaru. like i saw someone going off about how it’s not fair to compare tsunade’s addiction to jiraiya’s horny bullshit or orochimarru’s literal war crimmes and that’s true! but it is fair to talk about how tsunade is an INSANE PERSON who trained a 12 year old child everyday until her bones broke and made her KEEP GOING WITH BROKEN BONES. like, i’m NOT LETTING THIS ONE GO TSUNADE!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!! ship them with: jiraiya and orochimaru!!! brotp them with: jiraiya and orochimaru, sakura, shizuune, kakashi, naruto needs to stay away from: anyone besides jiraiya and orochimaru. like, technically, there’s nothing wrong with tsunade/dan, except it’s the most boring ship i’ve ever laid eyes on. misc. thoughts: she really is such a cool, well written, underutilized character lmao. i really wish we’d gotten more of tsunade’s complexity and messiness. 

orochimaru

general opinion: fall in a hole and die | don’t like them | eh | they’re fine I guess | like them! | love them | actual love of my life hotness level: get away from me | meh | neutral | theoretically hot but not my type | pretty hot | gorgeous! | 10/10 would bang (I AM TALKING STRICTLY BORUTO AND SANNIN ERA OROCHIMARU. OG NARUTO AND EVEN SHIPPUDEN NARUTO IS UGLY!!!) hogwarts house: gryffindor | slytherin | ravenclaw | hufflepuff best quality: none <3 i love orochimaru because he’s an incredibly complex character, not because he has good qualities! like if i had to name his best quality, it’s his love for mitsuki. orochimaru and mitsuki are the ONLY reason i acknowledge boruto because everything else is BAD. worst quality: LITERAL! WAR! CRIMINAL! ship them with: tsunade and jiraiya!! brotp them with: tsunade and jiraiya!!! i like fandom acting like he’s sasuke’s annoying godfather.  needs to stay away from: literally anyone besides the sannin. misc. thoughts: bro kishimoto dropped the BALL here. orochimaru is so fucking complex, there’s LAYERS here. like, we have this little war orphan, the last of his kind, who never learned or understood morality. but he had jiraiya and tsunade to guide him. he trusted them. they were loud, and annoying, but he trusted them. but war happened. war happened, and orochimaru led the mission nawaki died on. he stood and watched, unable to do anything, as dan bled out in tsunade’s arms. death surrounded him. he became desensitized to it, while also being terrified of it. the timeline is wonky, but in MY head jiraiya leaving was the start of orochimaru pulling away. he and tsunade didn’t talk as much those years. he became obsessed with forbidden jutsus. when jiraiya came back, orochimaru was willing to kill him so he and tsunade could get away. danzo started manipulating him, encouraging his desire for power and knowledge, his lack of morals.  neither tsunade or jiraiya noticed or reached out. hell, they might’ve already left at this point, which is also a blow for him- i truly think their abandonment hit orochimaru Hard. and the final blow came when sarutobi chose a CHILD over him to become hokage. he’d dedicated his life, he’d killed and bled for the village, and still it wasn’t enough, sarutobi still didn’t trust him, didn’t see him worthy. just. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!! OROCHIMARU IS SO INTERESTING AND ITS NEVER EXPLORED!!!!!!!!!!!!