#I’m rewatching the show and Claudia is everything to me actually

[macaulaytwins]

Interview With the Vampire (2022), Orestes tr. by Anne Carson (2009)

[the-sky-the-stars-the-sea]

Day Four of The Ultimate Dragon Prince Rewatch 🙌🙌

Season four season four!

Okay today I might actually be more head empty but here goes

Opening right where season three left off was genius, we finally get new content adding on to the last thing we saw.

Callum tracing a finger over the mirror…the Viren parallels…love to see parallels hate that Callum is having a parallel and therefore a character is fate moment…

I love how Rayla and Ezran’s relationship stayed exactly the same when she came back. Because he forgave her on sight. She didn’t quite break him like she broke Callum, but Ezran has always been more easy to forgive (so his season six moment when he tells Viren he doesn’t deserve mercy hits hard)

Point 1: I love the wedding proposal. Point 2: I love how Amaya not understanding what was going on and attacking the dancers foreshadowed the cultural differences and violent actions to come

TERRRYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Claudia and Terry truly are The ADHD couple. I love them.

Oh the difference between the breathing spell (runes) and the breathing spell (dark magic)…

Also Claudia has been associated with bats twice here, once with the puffer bats and another with the bats wings which I guess are supposed to show she’d evil but I just think she looks awesome, and I’m not sure if it means something but it’s definitely interesting

Viren is showing obvious PTSD. And I stopped sympathizing with Viren season three, but in this season…he’s not all powerful and slightly inhuman anymore. He’s painfully human, and very afraid. And so a little bit of sympathy does go out from me to him in this moment. (Also Terry is allowed to use the words “panic attack” and does everything right to comfort Viren, I love him 🥺)

I love Viren’s speech as he wonders how he wants to spend his last thirty days. I would have loved to see him do that. (I might need a spinoff miniseries actually.) But Claudia won’t allow it. And that’s why there’s more story.

The ruined painting, Ezran’s speech, Claudia and Ibis’s fight, Corvus’s Song of Love and Sorrow…chills every single time. And how they parallel each other too. Ezran’s “stop!” with Claudia and Ibis continuing to fight, and then the Song of Love and Sorrow playing when Ibis is about to kill Claudia but then Terry kills him…an act of love that leads to sorrow. I just…no more words. The storytelling design…it was just perfect, and hit exactly how it was meant to.

As much as I hate seeing Terry in pain I’m glad they showed us just how much killing messed him up. Because so far we haven’t really been shown a lot of regret/hauntedness when it comes to taking a life. I think this might be what Rayla would look like if she killed. But we already know she hates showing weakness, so she would not allow herself to put herself in a position where she might show weakness.

I love you Terry I love you “I’m not going to stop feeling things. In fact, I’m gonna feel ALL the feelings!”

As Zubeia is telling the story of what happened to Aaravos, you can see Tidebound Tina/Akiyu making Aaravos’s prison. A little detail I didn’t register the first time I watched because she didn’t become vital to the narrative til the next season

Also chills when she’s describing Aaravos’s targets and Rayla puts it together: “mages.” (ahhhhh Callummmmm why must your sweet and pure curiosity for magic the very thing that might be your downfallllll)

Aaravos possessing Callum…no, I definitely don’t like this part. Even though he made awful things come out of Callum’s mouth, not one of them were about to anger enough to lash out. Which to me is interesting because usually when Evil Guy is in Beloved One’s body someone is about to do something before someone else yells out “No you can’t hurt them!” So it’s just. It’s really interesting to me that Aaravos said all those things and none of them even lifted a finger. Like they knew fighting Aaravos possesing Callum would only hurt Callum. And I don’t know I think it shows how much trust they have in Callum that they don’t need to fight for him, if that makes any sense?

I love seeing Soren and Rayla caring for each other and how worried she is when he doesn’t come back. They’ve come along way since trying to kill each other, and season three’s “ugh, this guy again?”

“Yip yip?” My friend who is Avatar first TDP second was ranting about how only Jack de Sena is allowed to say “yip yip”

Anyways I like how Soren is befriending dragons instead of tying them down

*haven’t seen each other for two years* “why…why are you wearing pajamas?” *spend five minutes talking about pajamas* YESSS THAT’S EXACTLY HOW SIBLINGS REUNITE THEIR BOND IS NOT COMPLETELY BROKEN (yet 😔💔)

So Soren seeing Viren come back is double trauma for him, because he already has the mental image of him killing Viren seared into his mind, I don’t care if he learned quickly it was an illusion, that is Not something you can ever get out of your head; also he has spent the last two years with the small comfort knowing that his father could never gaslight or manipulate him again. And does Viren try to apologize for anything he’s done to Soren? No.

Head empty in the first zone of peril, I agree with N’than I actually would have stayed in there with all the pretty gems at the price of my life

Love the comedic voiceovers when the screen is completely dark

Two years later and Terry coming out to Viren makes me emotional. As a trans person myself, seeing someone in the story talk about their trans-ness really means a lot to me

Rayla saying “yeah…I like talking” when Callum wakes her up…no, we’ve seen how she doesn’t like reason or riddles or feelings. But she wants Callum to talk to her again. And suddenly she likes talking. Because it gives her hope that Callum can forgive her. Aaaand then he asks her to kill him. And then she honks his nose and suddenly they got their old dynamic back, even if just for a moment

I love Janai. She’s made some tough choices. But I love how she doesn’t let her brother sway her. Lucia was found guilty, but they don’t need to kill her. Karim challenged her to a blood duel, but she did not need to fight it kill hill. “I make history. History does not make me.” YESSSSSSS QUEEEEN 🙌

The brown sludge tarts being what won over Rex was also genius. He didn’t need things that mattered to them. Ezran saw that, and gave him something that could matter to him.

“I’m going to do something less cruel [than waking him up with stinky feet]. I’m going to stab him.” I mean…you’re not wrong

Amd then!!!! Soren faces trauma aGAIN when he thinks he fails Ezran because it looks like Ezran died in the dragon’s cave, and he already failed in preventing Harrow from dying, and so to him it looks like he’s doing the same thing again!! True Ezran doesn’t actually die but Soren’s panic and haunting past were real!!!

My gosh I love it when Terry tells Claudia what he thinks about what she did to Rayla. He lays it all out: he trusts her and supports her even though he’s seen her do a lot of awful things, because he knew that she had a good reason. But her tricking Rayla was cruel. And so he walks away. And Claudia shrinks in on herself, obviously looking like she feels bad. And that’s why she returns the coins to Rayla. Because she doesn’t want that feeling again. (She’s at the tipping point of being too far gone…but she’s not there yet)

Callum’s face when reuniting with Rayla 🥹

Aaaaaand Viren did dark magic 😔

Head really empty now. Very good season.

[unnaturalequilibrium]

Capítulo 6

- Mafin rewatch (Sueños de Libertad)

I like that Luis forces Marta to do the very thing Fina tried to get her to do in the job interview, let the perfume rest on her skin before giving it a whiff. Is this meant to be the thing that tipped the scales in Fina’s favour? Or do we think Fina was always going to be Marta’s first choice as new shopgirl? I wonder when Marta started noticing Fina, I mean sure I think once she got into that uniform she was forced to see her in a new light. But I’m still curious to what it was like before that. It’s clear they knew a lot about each other, but to what extent really?

As I’m watching beyond just the Mafin scenes I’m surprised to see how similar Luis and Marta are and the way their stories are structured. They’ve both got that kind of infectious drive only in different fields.  That strong sense of right and wrong too, with an insane work ethic and a desire to make the world a better place I think. It’s also super easy to imagine their siblings running around as kids, climbing a hill, kicking a ball and Luis and Marta being left behind with an antfarm, an abbacus and a lot of curious questions.

Petra put down the fucking shovel, the hole is big enough for the Titanic without you going and insulting Marta too on top of everything. This isn’t Journey to the Center of the Earth, you can stop digging now. Have I mentioned I hate her? Because I do, I really do.

Marta with a notepad or a folder in her hands is another one of those moments when I sort of feel like the Universe might be catering to me, but I don’t mind.

Marta is especially demanding in this episode, ordering Luz and Luis around - telling them to get their little butts into gear and work work. Watching the episodes back to back it now sort of stands out to me how she showed one emotion last episode and now she needs to be super competent at her work to make up for it. In her eyes at least. It actually makes me really curious about how much background the actors get on their characters and about future storylines. Because it does sort of come across as this is Marta throwing herself into her work to make up for that perceived failure of last episode, that whole business of her not being able to make her father proud through her unconventional marriage and the fact that she is childless. And knowing that she never will be able to as her marriage is mostly a cage and at best an inconvenience. Her behaviour in this episode gives a sense of - if she can’t make her father proud of who she is, then maybe she can make him proud of her achievements at least. Over-achieving daughter of an emotionally distant man, we've all been there, right?! Right?

As a rule there’s a lot of heartbreak and all kinds of personal problems being aired, but there’s always something about seeing Fina, Carmen and Claudia together in their room that makes me happy. Their room feels like a home, it’s soft and comforting despite at its core being a very spartan dormitory.

Fina telling them she’s going out with Petra and at least Carmen has the decency to not say anything, Claudia on the other hand runs straight for the idea that the two of them will be so pretty together they’ll immediately attract boyfriends. Oh Claudia. I love a good running joke so I sort of hope they never tell Claudia about lesbianism. Let her live her life without knowing that is a thing that exists so that we as an audience can keep mocking her forever and ever.

[matrixwhore]

iwtv ep 5 rewatch thoughts

opening with the scene within which i have built a home and become a permanent resident. right here in the moment rashmand smiles stupidly and louis slonks (🤭) every last drop of his blood. how anyone thinks they’re boring idk idk idk

they are being clear here that this isn’t consumption for the sake of sustenance. this is bloodletting as sex play and as power play. Danny is not having dinner. so its clear that this isn’t feeding as a meal but it is feeding as sexual exhibition at its most delicious. Danny is reading about claudia’s violent acts via the written recording of her victim’s last words while loumand basically vampire fuck at the other end of the table. this is also setting up the sexual violence to come for claudia and also for louis.

i think it is intentional that louis is the one feeding from armand for several reasons. one being because of what lestat does to him, which we see later on. this is power play for louis in a setting where he has voluntarily and possibly in some aspects dubiously relinquished control over to his lover armand. also bc of the connection between daniel and armand. they are revealing rashid as armand slowly here and his and louis’ involvement with daniel in the past. Daniel isn’t dumb. they know he can figure out the inconsistencies of louis drinking from armand and louis drinking from damek. this leads to daniels curiosity about how armand tastes like and his weight and louis puts daniel’s hidden attraction out on display against his wishes to throw him off. and daniel orders rashid around to take back some power.

i also think it’s a call back to the power dynamic of their first meeting. louis has power over daniel, and it seems he’s the one in control of the entire situation but then he checks in with armand before moving forward. in this moment in the present dubai 2020 setting louis has power over daniel (regardless of him no longer being that naive young man) and he plays the role of the one with the power over rashid, but the power he is receiving is from armands 500+ year old blood that he is offering to louis as the character he is playing. lord take me.

i think it’s interesting that daniel is feasting on claudia’s private memories but objects to louis reading and exposing his personal thoughts. even tho louis has shown time and again that he does that and would do it again. choices/consent is the big issue in this episode.

Daniel: man with green vest: please no. man with fat fingers: please stop. window washer: i can’t die like this. woman with purple shoes: please. boy with inner tube and dog: let my dog live. please no. please stop. stop. oh here’s a good one—man in the last row of The Son of Sheik picture show: You said you had cigarettes.

this is the first recounts we hear him read from claudia’s journal—claudia, who did not get a say in whether her voice and story be used by louis, armand and daniel in this way. He reads this and it’s clear that he [daniel] hadn’t actually consented to being the voyeur of loumand’s sex play given his visible discomfort/agitation. He continues anyways, trying his best to focus on the task at hand and not his bisexual longing for the men at the other end of the table bc even with everything he is reading and witnessing he is still attracted to them in all their insanity and monstrosity.

im interested in the fact that he pointedly reads out (“here’s a good one”) the misleading nature of the last one. “You said you had cigarettes.” i think it speaks to the fact that daniel came here to dubai for a supposed second interview and is slowly but surely realizing he is getting something else entirely. he continues “School teacher, guard your heart. i’m trying to think of something more fucked up than this.” he could be just talking about what claudia has written, but i think it’s also the fact that this is the section of his reading that loumand have chosen to be overtly sexual in front of him for as he reads. all this and he doesn’t even know yet of rashid being armand and his role in claudia’s death, though i’m sure he’s having suspicions of everything by now. also that louis, with being faced with the piece of claudia he doesn’t like to acknowledge, the monstrosity of her vampire nature, focuses of drinking from armand the man who killed his beloved daughter (something he said about “i run to the bottle” etc. etc). it does in fact get more fucked up danny.

and when armand implies that daniel is no better by revealing the danger it poses on louis and exposing louis’ suicidality without his permission (“he lives to share these opinions even when they are not solicited”) and revealing he doesn’t even want this book to happen, louis fights back by leaning into his power over daniel and exposing his thoughts about armand, and continues to, even when danny makes it clear his thoughts were not being voluntarily shared—that he did not want louis in his mind at all. he even interrupts rashmand in the middle of telling daniel he wouldn’t let him near his neck to offer up more information abt rashid (much to armands annoyance) that clearly isn’t even true after reading daniel’s mind again when daniel just explicitly told him not to. and when louis does that daniel fights back by leaning into his perceived power over rashid—louis’ servant—by demanding more of something to drink without even looking at him. and at this armand picks up his lil ipad and leaves without even picking up daniel’s glass, being the one who is actually the most powerful in the room. this is crazy. this is actually insane.

all this and armand is the one who killed claudia!!!! the only one who doesn’t get to fight back against her agency being taken from her in this scene!!! i’m going to fucking throw up. who is bored with them!? they are literally putting on thee insane sexy bdsm emo freaks show like…

“ The Son of Sheik” also alludes to the upcoming sexual assault btw. It’s a sequel to “The Sheik” where the protagonist is the son of the sheik in the first film who falls in love with a traveling dancer Yasmine. He rapes her out of retaliation for having been kidnapped and later whipped, which he believes to be her fault bc she is falsely accused of it. like in this episode and like claudia, yasmine’s rape is strongly implied in the movie with the use of pointed language and a scene cut.

this scene closes out with daniel pointing out he can’t get to accurate statistics of claudia’s murders to corroborate her accounts whether he thinks its more or less than what she recounts im unsure. louis points out that he wouldn’t be able to get an accurate account anyways bc of their disposal practices and how cities tend to downplay the dangers within them. daniel wanting all the details and louis making it clear he will have to accept that he can’t always have all the details will be a point of contention later on as we know.

[beautifulterriblequeen]

TDP rewatch: autistic Soren?

I spent a lot of time going along with everyone else saying that Soren was a big dumbass. And for that, I would now like to apologize. I don’t think Soren’s dumb. I think he’s autistic. 

As an autistic person, I feel bad for not spotting this earlier. But, like Soren, I do have a tendency to believe what I’m told, especially when everyone is saying the same thing. And this may not be canon, ever, but that’s okay. I see Soren in a new light now, and I know that light. (Gods, S3 is really gonna wreck me now)

He doesn’t get sarcasm. He takes Rayla’s “obviously” sarcastic comment at face value. He’s also not good with metaphor, taking a long time to grasp “butter them up.” Once he’s figured out what he should do--lie about the king--he does a very bad job of it because the emotions he needs to embrace to sell the lie aren’t familiar to him.

He’s very good with rules. A father who needed a son who was rooted in the narrative of strength could easily have trained an autistic child to bind himself within those rules form a young age. It’ll be very hard for Soren to question rules that he consciously chose to follow himself.

He doesn’t understand the shifting of loyalties. First he’s a loyal Crownguard, and then he’s supposed to detain Callum because his dad asked him to? Soren’s genuinely confused.

He still chooses to protect Callum when the assassins attack, even shoving him to safety from Runaan’s arrow, because those old rules of loyalty to the royal family haven’t been shifted.

He’s also slow to react to the arrow striking him. He takes precious reaction time to study it closely. He’s probably never seen a Moonshadow assassin’s arrow before. It telescopes in three places. It’s green. It probably smells faintly of poison. Soren’s possibly also never been shot before. All these physical details are hitting him at once, all with equal force, and it takes him a moment to sort through them, process them, and remember that the arrow means the assassins have arrived.

He spends time and effort trying to speak others’ languages, but he doesn’t always get it right. He knows Claudia’s nose trick but he can’t perfectly replicate it. He misinterprets Rayla’s angry intent as personal interest. He really tries to connect with his dad by offering his “see-saw” comment (which is actually right on the money as far as the show’s themes are concerned). 

He’s oddly focused on the difference between a prince and a “step-prince.” Not in a mean way, though. He thinks it means he’s paying attention to small details, which people often like. Not particularly in this case, though.

He really does just want to fit in. He does whatever Viren says because he wants to be accepted, not just as Viren’s son but as a not-weird, not-useless person.

Claudia’s the one who makes the jokes. He happily lets her lead on the mission to Mount Kaelik and has no ego attached to being in charge of her.

He’s really awkward with his brotherly feels when he calls her “weep-ridden” and offers to help by punching Callum. Autistics can struggle with language, especially in unfamiliar emotional territory and under stress.

He hyperfocuses on being a Crownguard, though, which is why he’s so good at it, and why he’s in charge. He does nothing but train. He loves being a Crownguard. He knows that role inside and out. He knows when to order men into position, and he knows when to shut up and hand the king his sword.

He insists that sweeping the leg is not a thing, though, because it’s outside his training. None of the Crownguard instructors taught him that, and so it is outside the rules. 

When he votes that Corvus is a traitor and gets Claudia to vote with him, he’s reinforcing the rules that he learned. The black-and-white shield on his armor isn’t just an indicator that he’s straddling the line between good and evil and will one day have to make a choice. It’s showing the way Soren sees the world: everything is either inside the rules, or outside them. Soren doesn’t see gray areas. But he might learn to very soon.

He’s cheerily cold-blooded about lopping Runaan’s head off and trying to kill Rayla because empathy is a strange animal for autistic folks. Sometimes it’s really high, and sometimes it’s nonexistent, even within the same person. Between a low empathy for elves and his Crownguard training, Soren legitimately doesn’t see any problem with killing them, even at the age of 18.

He knows the rules on how to deal with dragons: you fight them. And he gets a whole town torched. He was entirely unprepared. But his ego wasn’t in this fight. He freed Corvus because he understands that a Crownguard’s job is to protect Katolis, and that includes the townsfolk. And he admitted his mistake to Claudia because filters are hard under stress, and the truth just pops out like that.

When he’s paralyzed, Soren has no ego attached to remaining a Crownguard, either. His hyperfocus has broken. He was growing increasingly stressed by his dad’s secret mission. And he immediately seeks a new hyperfocus: poetry. He gives it a shot, and he’s terrible at it. He hasn’t actually internalized any poetry rules yet. He’d become a good poet pretty quickly, if he had the chance. But Claudia came to heal him instead.

As S2 ends and the siblings head home together, Soren has no plan anymore. He has no rules for what’s gonna happen, and he can’t anticipate Viren’s reaction but he expects it’ll be bad. He asks Claudia for help in understanding what his parameters should be, because that’s a long trip home, and that’s a lot of time spent worrying over scenarios that he has to consider because he can’t narrow it down--every possibility is a legitimate possibility to him.

[unfinished tdp meta]

[lou-iz-stat]

Well I got to episode 5 in my IWTV S1 rewatch…

Truthfully I probably won’t say much about this episode since there is so much of it in season 2 that I think will be revisited. On top of that I am at the end of my semester at school so I probably won’t say much because of that too. Also out of all of the episodes of s1 this the episode that I have seen the least.

But we still have 3 more weeks until season 2 where I have no doubt that s1 will be tame when compared to it. I’m getting more and more nervous each week not going to lie.

Ok… here we go!

IWTV S1 E5: A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart

The episode starts with Daniel reading Claudia’s diary and how she records the last words of the people she kills.

But then Daniel is interrupted by Louis feeding on ‘Rashid’. It is pretty nasty for Louis and Armand to do this in front of Daniel. He even reads his mind to try and throw Daniel off his game. I notice that whenever Daniel tries to talk about something negatively about Claudia, Louis will always try to do something to throw Daniel off that even holds through in the ‘Paris sucks’ clip we have in s2.

It’s funny that Armand tells Daniel he would not let him anywhere near his neck. He must still be mad at Daniel for something maybe Devil’s minion related? 👀

Then we go back to 1923 where Louis thinks that she has gone on a hunger strike because of Charlie but Lestat knows that she is just escaping when they have to go feed. Since they are so similar Lestat knows that Claudia would not skip out on meals.

Also the line “I know what I’d do, but you cut my hands off.” Like!!!!! Fucked up Nikki reference. 😭

Also Lestat reading the diary and the dairy being so graphic ugh… 🤢

Everything is just such a mess… oh boy… with all the bodies coming up

And of course Tom Anderson is trying to distract Loustat since the Police chief is there in the speakeasy.

I feel so much anxiety with all the cops in their home! And Claudia is not helping! 😬

There are still some comical bits such as the “We sell… incinerators.” Louis’s little shrug at Lestat. “To various American cities.” The delivery is actually very funny.

Also what’s funny is Claudia’s acting when the cop opens her door. Her face when she drops the blanket and the closet door opens to show the rotting man.

But all the fun and games stop when the cop is homophobic.

Yes Lestat is a jerk and treats Claudia like shit and still sees Antoinette so Claudia only feels like she has to leave.

Also establishing that Claudia is unable to turn people is a great thing to set up now.

And even though it’s heartbreaking I do love that Claudia gets mad at Louis for not just taking her to a hospital but made Lestat turn her into this monster. Bailey’s acting is just so perfect here.

We go back to Dubai and Daniel is telling Louis some harsh truths about what the public could do with Claudia. Yikes

And their home turns into a ruin after they wake up from their long nap

Man…Fuck Bruce

The part where Louis makes Daniel’s Parkinson’s go out of control as always annoyed me even if Daniel was stepping out of bounce it just never sat right to me. And of course Armand is there to ‘calm Louis down’

We go back once again and we see the scene of Louis saying his final goodbye to Grace and his makes Claudia come home after everything.

Lestat is such a bitch when she comes home. I understand what he is trying to do but it’s just all wrong.

And the fight happens. We will revisit what happened during the fight in the coffin room that we don’t get to see. But as an indication by some parts of the trailer we have already seen a glimpse of it. Hopefully the writers handle it well…

Also the during the drop scene it sounds a lot like what Armand said to Lestat before pushing him off a tower in TVL so I guess we’ll see what comes of it.

Okay good got through that one. Now I can get back to some class work lol.

I cannot believe that we are now 3 weeks away from seeing the premier for season 2 and for some of you, you will be seeing it in about a week and a half. Good luck to the NYC people that get to see it early.

[emoclownemoji]

tagged by @milfcoded to post 8 shows to get to know me better (sorry it took forever!)

tagging @mistoffeleesisawitch @juanitasupreme @aemond1eye @theaftermandeluxe2013  @alyswesthill

And anyone else who wants to!

in no particular order:

• Pushing Daisies (2007) - Lee Pace baking pies and solving crimes??? The dialogue is my favorite, it’s so punchy and fun and I never get tired of it. The show is perfect and I hate that it got cancelled so soon. The way everything is getting a reboot/sequel show but not this??? It’s homophobia. One of the only shows I can actually rewatch again and again.

• Elementary (2012)- We were ROBBED of Natalie Dormer’s Moriarty. Lucy Liu as Joan Watson is the loml. I have never cared about Sherlock but I had such a fun time watching this show. The writing is top notch and while it is copaganda, it is fun copaganda.

• Crazy Ex-girlfriend (2015) - Rachel Bloom knows me and my trauma and my mental illness so well she wrote several songs about it. But seriously it’s such a good show and it handles mental illness in such a good way. The series finale actually feels satisfying which is rare for me. I sing most of the songs like every day. Several of them are on my mental breakdown playlist. So good, 10/10.

•The Flash (2014) - You know what I don’t get tired of Iris telling Barry to just run faster. Like I’m sorry Iris West is just that girl, and she needs to get more props for kickstarting the trend of robbing redheads of their representation. Candice Patton is the loml. This show is bad and cringe and gone on for too long but sometimes I just need a show where the hero saves the day because he loves his family and friends.

• Succession (2018) - They’re all horrible horrible people....but I could fix Shiv Roy. Listen I’m part of the succession hive since season two and I love it. Sometimes HBO prestige tv is good.

• Real Housewives of Potomac (2016) - They are the best houswives of the moment. After rhony and rhobh started to flop and rhoslc was filled with trump stans we needed a hero, and rhop came through. I root for these ladies, and I cry for these ladies.

• Dickinson (2019) - ....Alena Smith owes me millions in emotional damages. I cannot believe that Hailee Steinfield isn’t a little gay like she’s too good at playing gay. The writing is flawless, every season makes me bawl, emily and sue are just those girls and no one else comes close.

• Interview with the vampire (2022)- I’ve never been an Anne Rice vampire gay but I’m gonna have to be now. The writing is my favorite. The dialogue is legit poetry. They’re so gay and so dramatic. I never liked Lestat until Sam Reid, he just did what tom cruise could not. Also I will miss Bailey Bass so much as Claudia.

[franniebanana]

CQL Rewatch - Ep 20

Iconic. Seeing Wei Wuxian back and better than ever is so satisfying! That flute playing that probably we’ve all forgotten about since the first two episodes becomes a repeating leitmotif throughout the series. It’s just as iconic as Wei Wuxian himself. And what I love about this shot here is how the light hits his eyes, and from this specific camera angle, it looks like a mask on his face! I just thought that was super cool. Whether it was intentional or not, I have no idea, but I like to think it was. I guess it’s like a reverse mask in this case—everything is hidden except his eyes.

It’s amazing how I only went without Wei Wuxian for like half an episode, yet it felt like so much longer. The emotional weight that he carries is so great that from all the characters searching for him, it feels like it’s actually been three months, instead of more like twenty-five minutes. And I think that’s something that we can feel in CQL but we can’t really feel in the book. Since the book is written in third person limited, we only see Wei Wuxian’s side of the story (I think that’s accurate, but it’s been a few months since I read it). That being the case, we never leave Wei Wuxian’s side, we never get to miss him being there. Of course the story is framed totally differently in the book and not in chronological order, even—lots of flip-flopping, which is fun but also a little confusing when you’re trying to keep track of a timeline.

I think part of what makes Wang Lingjao so creepy here is that her garish makeup is totally gone: her face is pale and ghoulish, with just the bright red blood trickling out of her nose, mouth, and cut on her cheek. I think they could have made her even more ghostly, but I like what they did for her apparition. It’s fun to see how fast Wen Chao cracks, though. He’s very much all bark and no bite—honestly, such a coward. On the one hand, it’s satisfying to watch him lose it, but on the other, it’s quite disturbing. I toe the line between enjoying it and being disgusted by it, but I love that CQL at least kept in this part of Wei Wuxian’s character. It’s like revenge, no matter how bloody, is okay in Chinese tv, but not the main character being kind of bad. I don’t get why they had to nerf his character to the point of absolving him of all guilt with everything that happened. I like a character who makes bad choices, but feels guilty for it, because that shows depth. Someone who bad things happen to because of the “real villain” aren’t as interesting to me. I think also that Xiao Zhan would have been amazing as the real Wei Wuxian from the book, had they adapted him that way. I also would have really, really loved to see the scene that is only really described to us (I think by Lan Xichen) where a distraught and delusional Wei Wuxian rejects Lan Wangji. Ugh, that would have been so heart-wrenching! Maybe in the donghua…sigh….

So this is important, I think. There was a point in the last episode where Jin Zixuan tells his cousin not to let the crows peck at the dead bodies of their enemies. In other words, don’t desecrate the bodies, even if they are the enemy. Of course, Jin Zixuan didn’t hold any personal grudges towards any of them, at least that we know of. Jiang Cheng certainly does. So even though Wang Lingjao is already dead by her own hand, he whips her with Zidian. Jiang Cheng is becoming more and more twisted by his anger and grief, which he never deals with in a healthy way. He wants revenge against those that have wronged him and his parents, and he really never stops seeking revenge throughout the story. First it’s against the Wens, and then it’s against Wei Wuxian. It’s a fairly slow descent, I think, over years, but I quite like watching him twist like this. While it’s fun and interesting watching someone repent and have a redemption arc, it’s also interesting watching them go the other way.

Lan Wangji seems to know, or at least suspect, that the person who has killed everyone in the Supervisory Office, including Wang Lingjao, is Wei Wuxian. A talent for using talismans (one of which Lan Wangji used himself to escape the Wens), someone who is seeking revenge against the Wen Clan—these things point to Wei Wuxian in his mind. He doesn’t want to say this to Jiang Cheng, he doesn’t even want to admit it himself, but he’s putting the pieces together. I think this is a frightening thought for him. On the one hand, he would be happy to find Wei Wuxian alive, but on the other, what state would they find him in? And what does it mean that he’s killed all these people singlehandedly? This isn’t the Wei Wuxian that Lan Wangji knows and cares so deeply about. This isn’t the man that Lan Wangji was ready to die for. I think his heart is very much filled with dread in this scene.

Jiang Cheng’s line is interesting too—basically, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Solid, really, but it does come with some problems in reality. The enemy of your enemy just might stab you in the back later. It’s a very simplistic view, but I think at this point, Jiang Cheng is just happy to see the Wens dead. There are a few he wants to kill himself, but he seems satisfied if they just die out, regardless of who does it.

I like seeing Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng team up for these few episodes, because it’s fun seeing how they each approach the situations. Jiang Cheng relies heavily on his heart and emotions, which I can totally identify with. He wants to find Wei Wuxian and he wants revenge on Wen Zhuliu and Wen Chao—those are his two priorities. And then Lan Wangji is definitely more of a logical person—he wants to get to the bottom of these deaths and find out who is the person with so much wicked energy that is doing all of it—and also, that person is probably Wei Wuxian, who he is very interested in finding. Here Jiang Cheng wants to rush after Wen Zhuiliu, just as he did when he went back to Lotus Pier. He’s very rash, while Lan Wangji is much more calm and collected. I mean, if it were me, I’d want to see if they would give up any information before I killed them.

And the reveal is…Wen Chao is fucking disgusting! I didn’t even want to screencap one of the close-ups, because I felt like I’d have to do a trigger warning for blood lol. Not really, though, because I never do, sorry. I love the looks on Jiang Cheng’s and Lan Wangji’s faces, though. Jiang Cheng is so horrified and Lan Wangji is just mildly shocked. I think the real thing is like, who are we dealing with here? Who is this monster who’s been murdering everyone in all these different ways? Who has made Wen Chao look like this? Is this friend or foe? Like I said, Jiang Cheng keeps saying that as long as the person is killing the Wens, he’s fine with it, but I think even he is bothered by this level of mutilation, even against someone he loathes.

It’s hilarious to me that Wen Zhuliu uses this tactic with Wen Chao. Oh, you’re going to insult me? I’m useless? Okay, bye! LOL. Also very amusing that this is really the last conversation they have with each other: this bickering that they’ve probably done over and over off screen. Wen Zhuliu stays by Wen Chao’s side, though, because he’s indebted to Wen Ruohan, of course. It would have been a neat twist to see Wen Zhuliu defect. And you still could have had a dramatic scene where Jiang Cheng chases him down.

I love it! I love it I love it I love it! The flute! This part is so well done (it’s still a little campy, of course, but that’s part of the charm)! I mean, as the audience, we all know who it is by now, but I love that they keep up the mystery because Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng still don’t know. They didn’t see him walk in. I just love this.

And shock. Jiang Cheng looks significantly more surprised. It had never crossed his mind that the person doing all this was actually Wei Wuxian, the very individual that he’s been searching for. Lan Wangji, on the other hand, doesn’t really look surprised. He looks a little surprised, okay—I’ll give you that. But I think most of what he’s feeling right now is the deep dread of being right. He wanted to be wrong, even when everything pointed to Wei Wuxian. I don’t think he wanted to believe that Wei Wuxian was capable of this, no matter how much he wanted to get revenge for what happened at Lotus Pier. I think there’s disappointment there too—how could he do such a thing? And I’ve giffed this scene with this quote: “He started to estrange her…And they became strangers who knew each other’s heart, so broken as they drifted apart” (Ana Claudia Antunes, Pierrot & Columbine). I think the realization here and a bit later for Lan Wangji that Wei Wuxian has become some other person is quite heartbreaking. He’s like a stranger to him, and that feeling of betrayal when you thought you knew a person inside and out—that hurts. It’s a deep-seated betrayal that Lan Wangji feels throughout this scene.

Oh, what I also like about this part is that when Wei Wuxian appears, neither one of them can look away. They are solely focused on him at this point.

He finally gets his revenge on Wen Zhuliu. And it’s great. They jump through the roof and he strings him up with Zidian. I can’t really say anything about it—Jiang Cheng needed to do this or he never would have been able to move on from Lotus Pier and his parents’ death.

WWX: Have I changed?

JC: No, not exactly.

I love that these lines are exchanged while the camera is on Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji already sees how Wei Wuxian has changed: the flute, the wicked energy, the almost senseless killing—none of these things are like the Wei Wuxian he’s come to love. And yes, I think love—and it hurts more because there is love. Lan Wangji wanted to walk the straight path with Wei Wuxian together, and he feels betrayed by what Wei Wuxian has done. Despite that, he still wants to help him. He implores Wei Wuxian to come back to Gusu with him so that they can help him and bring him back to the right path.

This whole scene feels like Lan Wangji isn’t even in the room, it’s like a private conversation between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji just happens to overhear. He says nothing. He lets Jiang Cheng ask a hundred questions while Wei Wuxian calmly answers them. Wei Wuxian smiles and laughs, he seems himself, and yet he isn’t. There’s something wrong and Lan Wangji grows more and more perturbed by it as the seconds pass by.

The tension in this scene is palpable. It’s painful, it’s sad, it’s really hard for me to watch. And yet, this is one of my favorite scenes. Lan Wangji is feeling a lot, and he’s held it all in until this moment here. He calls him Wei Ying, and then Wei Wuxian in turn addresses him first as Second Master Lan, and then as Hanguang-Jun, both very formal names. It’s not Lan Zhan anymore—there is no familiarity on Wei Wuxian’s part. I think part of that is his attempt to protect Lan Wangji from any association with him that might actually harm Lan Wangji and his reputation. He’s setting a boundary—a wall—between them. And then when Lan Wangji bites back, Wei Wuxian changes tack: he stars being informal with him again, he brings up how they were good friends, classmates, etc. But that’s not going to work because Lan Wangji is feeling pretty upset right now.

Lan Wangji is desperate, scared, and worried for Wei Wuxian. Sometimes when we’re feeling all that, it can come across as anger, and that becomes worse when someone is dismissive of those feelings. Wei Wuxian is definitely dismissive here. In their interactions, Lan Wangji rarely shows this much emotion, and instead of paying attention to that, Wei Wuxian brushes it off. Jiang Cheng shows that he cares by hugging Wei Wuxian, but Lan Wangji is different—he’s thinking ahead, he’s seeing what Wei Wuxian has started to mess with—demonic cultivation—which can destroy a person’s mind, and he’s terrified. His only thought is to take Wei Wuxian away and try to change him for the better. Of course, just like what his father did to his mother, this cannot work. Even if Lan Wangji manages to force Wei Wuxian to come with him, he won’t be able to control him. All Lan Wangji can really do is try to persuade him.

The intensity of Lan Wangji’s gaze here is something else. This is a man who is desperate to save the person he loves. He is really looking out for Wei Wuxian’s best interests here and is getting no support from Jiang Cheng. I don’t really know what’s going on in Jiang Cheng’s head right now, but he’s definitely finding Lan Wangji’s behavior offensive. He doesn’t understand that Wei Wuxian’s actions will lead to his ultimate destruction, while it is very clear to Lan Wangji. But all I can do here is bring up how they viewed the person who was killing all the Wens earlier, before they even knew who it was. Lan Wangji felt very unnerved by it: he was disturbed by the talismans and disturbed by the various manners of death, while Jiang Cheng’s stance always was that it didn’t matter because the person was clearly on the same side—a dead Wen is a dead Wen no matter who is behind it. And his opinion doesn’t change even after he finds out. It’s not important to him how Wei Wuxian was able to kill all those people. He asks the questions, but he isn’t interested in really hearing the answer. On the contrary, I think Lan Wangji is very interested in those answers, but he wants to hear about it in a controlled environment. He doesn’t want Wei Wuxian to go back to Yunmeng, where he will essentially live with free-rein without boundaries.

As for cinematography, I love how Wei Wuxian holds up his flute here, setting up a literal boundary between him and Lan Wangji. Not only do you have Jiang Cheng creating that wall with his sword, you also have Wei Wuxian. What I mean is, it’s not only Jiang Cheng who wants to keep Lan Wangji out. Wei Wuxian is drawing a line here too: he wants Lan Wangji to stay out of his business. And this morphs into, what happens at this place is not Gusu Lans’ business—it only concerns Yunmeng Jiang Sect.

We all know Wei Wuxian is an arrogant person, but his arrogance and ignorance here is truly stunning. Lan Wangji tells him point-blank that he won’t be able to control this energy if he uses demonic cultivation, and Wei Wuxian does everything but laugh at him. I enjoy this and I hate it at the same time, because Lan Wangji is just fucking worried, you know? And maybe he doesn’t express himself well, but he’s shocked to see Wei Wuxian here, shocked that he’s responsible for all this—he can’t stay calm and collected under these conditions.

In just a few minutes, Wei Wuxian says that he and Lan Wangji are good friends and that Lan Wangji should treat him better, as well as “Who do you think you are? What I do is none of your business.” I’m paraphrasing, but that’s the gist. This scene here, with their faces so close to each other, kills me. This is absolute betrayal for Lan Wangji. It’s as if everything they had built together—all the respect, the affection, the comradery—is gone. The Wei Wuxian that he knew is gone.

I love the way this shot is framed, with Wei Wuxian staring after Lan Wangji, and then Wen Chao pleading, “Forgive me, forgive me.” So apt, because I think Wei Wuxian does feel bad here, I think he feels guilty. I think part of him really missed Lan Wangji and wanted to see him. I think he even knows that what Lan Wangji is doing is out of concern for him over anything else. But I also think Wei Wuxian’s pride gets in the way of that, and his desire for revenge, and even his desire for things to go back to normal. More than anything, Wei Wuxian wants to return to Yunmeng, to his shijie, to be able to live normally again, whatever that really means, because of course everything has changed. Nothing will ever be as it was again. More importantly, he has changed, and can never go back to the person he was before, the person who played so hard, the person who shirked his responsibilities and fooled around in classes, the person who shamelessly teased and flirted with Lan Wangji. That Wei Wuxian is gone. I think Wei Wuxian knows he’s hurt Lan Wangji and does feel bad about it, but he knows he has to push him away to protect him. He doesn’t want to drag Lan Wangji down with him, he feels it’s better this way. And I think, even though CQL!Wei Wuxian does have feelings for Lan Wangji quite a bit earlier than in the book, you can see the one-sided love here, in Lan Wangji’s aggressive behavior as he attempts to save this person he loves. Lan Wangji isn’t willing to give up on him, whereas Wei Wuxian is more prepared to let him go—to push him away to protect him. That’s love too, I suppose, but it’s a love that is meant to be from afar—a sad love, not a passionate one, not a desperate one, not the one that Lan Wangji feels for him.

This is so heartbreaking for Lan Wangji, in part, because they had such a special relationship before. Prior to this, Wei Wuxian prided himself in that he and Lan Wangji went on night hunts together—the clan didn’t matter, whether that was unorthodox or not. And now to see him use his clan as a barrier between them…it’s quite a betrayal. Lan Wangji feels so hurt, so at a loss—he wonders what could he have done differently to prevent this, he blames himself.

This is one of my favorite episodes because of this reunion scene. What you expect is some great reunion, the hugging between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, maybe a smile from Lan Wangji because he’s really happy to see him. But instead, you get pain. You get a Jiang Cheng hugging Wei Wuxian, but Wei Wuxian not even returning the hug (he only raises his arm to signal that he wants to break apart). You get a heated confrontation between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, one that is “fondly” thought of as their break-up scene. I love the drama, I love the pain, I love the angst, I love the dichotomy between Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan, I love that this is the start of more tension between Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, I love everything about it. The “us and them” dynamic that starts here is so great, and then to see it slowly unravel throughout the next ten episodes, to see Wei Wuxian’s and Jiang Cheng’s relationship fall apart, while Wei Wuxian’s and Lan Wangji’s relationship begins to strengthen again--I eat it up. It’s like my candy. Anyway, I’m excited for what’s to come, excited to talk more wangxian and how it compares to the book (from my dwindling knowledge, that is)! Happy that you all are coming along this ride with me!

Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |

[jenniferstolzer]

Babylon 5 Rewatch Season 2 Episode 19 Divided Loyalties

Another turning point episode of the show. Ivanova finally challenges her own prejudice against telepaths by letting Talia crash in her apartment while Talia’s own is being fumigated (that classic chestnut) while at the same time Lyta returns to the station to inform Sheridan and the command staff all that the Psi Corps have planted a mole in their midst. 

Things I liked about Divided Loyalties

1, Lyta is back! In my first watchthrough of the show, I grew way more attached to Lyta than I did to Talia. Behind the scenes, Lyta was supposed to be the station’s commercial telepath the whole time, but scheduling was a problem when it came to start the show and Andrea stepped in to fill the void. As a result Talia was playing catchup from the beginning, trying to fit into the shoes that Lyta already filled by touching Kosh’s mind. The unfortunate thing is that now that she’s finally built her character to match the stat level of the rest of the party she’s going to leave. Bummer. But we get some cute flirting between her and Susan and was sincerely good to see them getting along and laughing together. Their story was leading to this point, and its good to see both of them relax and have a genuine connection with other people. This is where they were supposed to end their journey I assume, but the ending had to speed up because of the casting change. Again. Bummer. But I’m glad we did get to see it! in a show so full of drama, soft moments of peace and connection add humanity and bring us closer to the characters and their struggles.

2, Similarly, the flirtyness of Sheridan and Delenn continues to be adorable. The scene with the newspaper terminal is particularly notable because it explains something about the world as well as the two characters both separate and as a couple. The Zen garden is also cute because it shows the two of them being casual and low key. Delenn is not afraid to admit she doesn’t know certain words in the English language and enjoys watching John flounder and grin as she tries to conjugate the word “butt.” Very cute. Good to see them smile.

3, Susan’s reveal to Sheridan that shes a latent telepath. An iconic scene fabulously acted by Claudia Christian. I can feel the fear and self-loathing as she confesses a secret she’s kept so closely guarded deep in my soul. (Although Susan, breaking into the captain’s quarters is not a good way to prove you’re not the plant.) It’s also interesting that Susan has a coming-out story in the same episode that her relationship with Talia is finally allowed to exist on screen... as tamely as it is.

Things i liked less about Divided Loyalties

1, I know there were outside circumstances in the form of losing and gaining actresses, but that Susan and Talia’s relationship is killed the minute it exists is still weak. And don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have something. Something is better than nothing, but man does Susan get the short string in love. Every relationship she dares start ends tragically and this one also destroyed Talia’s humanity. This all hurts in a high-drama kinda way which I don’t have to like to respect, but what I sincerely do not like about this is that Replacement!Talia implies that the whole relationship was a shame orchestrated to get Talia closer to the command staff. This is stupid and dumb, because if that was the goal the whole time, Garibaldi was turning into a cartoon wolf over Talia just last season, she could have had access to the entire security suite if she wanted to, but she didn’t because this element was pulled out of fat air to justify her exit from the station. I know no one asked, but if it were up to me I could fix this by leaving everything the same, and having the sleeper personality just dormant in her head the whole time. Have her gain trust and reputation on the station as her normal charming self, and when it’s time for the psicorps to begin spying they would give her the code, destroy her mind, and replace her with the loyal personality to THEN begin the infiltration. That way Talia’s behavior before this episode remains sincere instead of retroactively throwing every thought and action she has under the bus. Its not like her spying led to anything. Did the alternate personality tell the psicorps about the underground railroad? Not that I recall. I’ll keep an eye out to see if it happens but to my memory it stops here.

2, I’m happy to see Lyta, but her scenes in the office are the most expositiony of exposition couches. She stands stage center and tells everyone what’s going on instead of it being revealed in more artful ways. This was done for time, because building it into the previous episodes was not an option, so I’m not really yelling at the ep, its just disappointing that things come to this when at the mercy of television production. 

More thoughts I took down while viewing

Lyta shows up and we have to recap the pilot episode, which I dind’t actually watch in my first go-through, so it was appreciated... then she delivers one of the greatest pre-commercial stings ever. “ONE OF YOU IS A TRAITOR AND I CAN PROVE IT!”

The Zen Garden has an office building behind it. Never saw that before. Also HOLY CRAP ITS A MALE ABBAI

Scene:

Sheridan: “You know how Ivanova is about letting any telepath near her.”

Garibaldi: ”Ah well, she’ll get over it”

//scene transitions to Susan and Talia in their bathrobes

BLACK MUSTACHE COP WHAT IS YOUR NAME? I’m naming you Tony.

Oh no RIP Tony!

Lol Cowrin comes in. “You’re doing a very good job” Zack didn’t even get a “You’re doing a good job” lol I wonder if Sheridan is using this opportunity to give some employee reviews. “Hi, thanks for coming.” Lyta “he’s clean” Sheridan “Ok good, I’ve gotten a report.”

Why did Talia2.0 say “My good and dear friend Susan” like she was Centauri? Was that on purpose.

Kosh would sing Lyta to sleep from a distance. She came back for a hit of his true self. It’s the adoration that compelled the Minbari.

on to 20! The beginning of the end of Season 2

[the-sky-the-stars-the-sea]

The Ultimate Rewatch of The Dragon Prince has begun! 🙌

Because I got nothing but time on my hands, I watched season one yesterday, and season two today. I will keep watching a season a day until the 19th.

Here are my thoughts on season one:

My heart aches seeing how innocent they all are. They’re literal kids and they’re forced to grow up so fast. And that’s why rewatching the innocence hurts so much: I know how much pain and maturing and trauma they go through in all that comes afterwards.

The mirror. Ohhhhhhh the mirror. There since day one. Viren looking at it since day one. (1st episode credits animation includes the mirror)

Episode 2, Callum saying “then you have found me. I’m Prince Ezran.” Will never not rock me to my core every single time. He’s only fourteen. And he’s willing to do whatever he can to make sure his kid brother lives, and maintains as much innocence as possible. I first saw the show at 14 with a 9-10 year old brother, and I Knew in that instant that if I were put in the same position as Callum, I would have done the same thing.

So first off, I love Rayllum to bits, second of all I’m obsessed with Rayla and Ezran’s dynamic. And you can tell in episode three when Claudia told Ezran to come to her with the egg and that she’ll get rid of the elf, Ezran looked up at Rayla, she looked back, they shared a Look, her eyes narrowed, and she nods ever so slightly. That was the moment their bond had forged. I just can’t get over how quickly the would be assassin and the would be assassinated developed a bond of care and trust, and how it never wavers throughout the whole show.

“If you fight me I’ll kill you.” “Probably.” That also rocks me to my core. But this time I heard Rayla’s “probably” different than I usually do. I usually heard it as a little wry, like she doesn’t quite want to fight but she’ll do it anyway and she’s full of adrenaline; but this time I heard it a little quieter, a little breathier, as if she was coming to terms with it in that moment, and realizing the weight of the choice she was making, and still made it anyway.

I reeeeeally wanna know what would have happened if Harrow didn’t shut Viren down after the “I see you as a brother.” Would he have actually said that he would switch his life with Harrow’s? How would Harrow react to that? Would he still refuse? As much as I wanna see this alternate reality I understand why it happened the way it did in canon, because that was a tipping point for Viren and the show wouldn’t have turned out the same way if it didn’t happen like that.

“You hear that, mirror? I’m putting you on notice. Huh. Funny how the mirror did it right back at me. Kinda like it’s putting me on notice.” Loved this line since I first saw the show. However! It was only recently when I realized the mirror was in fact also putting her on notice, because Aaravos is in there and takes an interest in her.

Can you imagine being 15 and accepting that you’re probably going to lose your hand. Accepting that you’ll probably lose it because you failed your mission. Because you couldn’t kill. Because you couldn’t kill the innocent prince. Because you can’t let that prince who means so much to you die now.

Claudia and Soren, especially season 1 and season 2, are everything to me. The moment from this season I think about a lot is when they meet up after Viren gives them their secret missions that have them conflicted, and something is up but they don’t quite say what, and even though they divert it with “what did he say to you?” “That walnuts are his favorite…fruit!” I’m sure there was an unspoken understanding that something had happened to both of them. No, they don’t tell each other, and they openly deny it, but that’s what siblings do. They don’t fully open up, but that’s okay because they understand the layers.

“The mission will be led by…Commander Gren. That’s me. I’m…Commander Gren. 😁” I got nothing to add here I just love him.

I hate how Viren has a Bugs Bunny moment when he locks Gren up and is like “oh? Is that all?” When Gren addresses his concerns, getting Gren to say “uh, no just those two things.” Then going “I see. Your feed back is appreciated.” That’s totally something Bugs Bunny would do and I hate how it’s Viren who had a Bugs Bunny moment

Ahhhhh oh my gosh I love Ellis. *hanging off of Ava’s back upside down* *after hearing the princes met Rayla when she tried to kill them* people meet in the most interesting ways! 🙃

Rayla’s arc is about her hesitating at the critical moment. But then in the storm when the egg nearly falls off the cliff, she doesn’t hesitate. She acts. And she saves him.

AWWWWWW HE’S SO WIDDLLLLLE 🥹

Gonna make a different post for my season 2 thoughts. I’ll add anything on to here if I remember something later.

Can’t wait for season 7!!!

[theredhairedmonkey]

Why are all your metas about Callum? He's not as interesting as Rayla or Ez, so I figure your metas would be more popular if you focused more on them.

Why thank you, random stranger! I had no idea that Callum was so uninteresting, so thank you for pointing that out for me! I’ll be sure to restructure my blog so as to conform to your wishes.

I’m not gonna waste too much time griping over this comment masquerading as a question, but I’m going to just clear up a few things anyway. First, not all of my metas are about Callum. I wrote a Rayla meta here, I’m about to write a Claudia meta and possibly a Viren meta, and the only meta I wrote about Callum was as much about Rayla and Claudia as it was about him. Many of the questions I answered are about Callum because that’s what I’m being asked. If you think that’s a problem, you can change that by asking me about something else. And indeed, many (though not all or even most) of my misc. posts are about Callum, but that’s just because they involve things I notice from the show that I want to post about. I don’t have to be an equal-opportunity poster in that regard.

But I also want to challenge your assertion that Callum is somehow less interesting than Rayla or Ez. All three of them are interesting in their own unique way, compelling, complex characters that have so much emotional depth and development that every time I rewatch the show I take away something new from each of them. And Callum isn’t any less complex or interesting than these two.

I suppose you are right that there’s something about his character that I find uniquely interesting. Not that I need to justify it to you, I’ll go ahead and elaborate on what that is. You see, I am of the opinion that change comes not from the powerful, but from those who believe they are weak and then realize their own power. While Ez and Rayla have aspects of this, it’s Callum specifically who encapsulates this maxim the most. Callum feels weak and helpless and his arc involves him discovering that he’s actually quite powerful.

Of all the main characters, he begins the series being the most ordinary and the most relatable. He isn't an heir to the throne who can mentally link with animals, a prodigious sword-fighter, or a master sorcerer. Instead, he's an awkward and clumsy kid, is mediocre at most things he tries, and is shorter than almost everyone older than him… just like most 14-year-old kids are in the real world.

He wrestles with feeling that he’s bad at everything, feelings that are mostly in his head but are there nonetheless. He discovers he can do magic, and becomes emotionally attached to the object that he believes is the source of his power (the Primal Stone). Then he decides to destroy it because, in his mind, the life of another is far more important than his self-esteem issues.

His feelings of uselessness reemerge, and he desperately struggles to regain his magical abilities back. He equates them with agency, and feels that as long as he’s not a mage, he can’t do anything. Then, while in a coma he discovers his agency by rejecting magic, deciding that mage or not, he is the one who gets to decide who he becomes. This insight allows him to become the first human in lifetimes to connect to a Primal Source.

Once he’s all clear on who he is, his feelings of inferiority and helplessness whittle away to nothing. He focuses on using his magic to empower, defend, and protect his loved ones. He stops second-guessing his abilities, following Rayla along several impressive feats of strength. He’s no longer a bystander waiting or fighting from the sidelines, but someone who will stay and fight or jump right into the heart of danger to save the person he loves most. In a few weeks, he’s gone from an awkward sheltered kid to a powerful mage.

Look, I can’t tell you that you have to find him interesting. I’ll admit, however, I find it odd that you are a fan of the show and have such a strong dislike for one of its main characters. But if you think there’s absolutely nothing about him that other people couldn’t find as interesting as Ezran and Rayla, then you are not paying attention to the show.

[matrixwhore]

This may be my personal reading but I think Claudia very deliberately riled up Lestat in that chess scene so she could expose everything to Louis and get him to leave with her. I never saw Claudia for one second believing anything Lestat promised, but she likely went along with letting Lestat back in cause she knew that Louis needed to be shown without a doubt that Lestat was full of shit before he would actually agree to leave. Cause in that first chess scene its not like Lestat is saying anything provocative or aggressive towards anyone, for all we know, he's playing his part really well yet she pokes at him with very sensitive jabs (Nicki) to get him to expose himself, which he does and that helps to push Louis closer to leaving. She knows at this point Lestat isn't thinking about her much more than as a means to keep Louis so she turns that against him as now she becomes the means to get Louis away from Lestat.

I always wondered why in those 6 years did she not leave NOLA? We see that Louis is physically perfectly fine by year 3. She must've known with the non-stop gifts from Lestat it was only a matter of time before Louis was worn down.

im gonna push back on this hard. i want you to know that i’m not like mad or angry or shutting you down. im just VERY passionate about children especially black children.

before i get into it we do not see a louis who is perfectly fine ever. there is not a single episode when louis is in anyway stable. this is a assertion that does not take into account the beast of PTSD. that shit showed up with flashbacks in Dubai. He was not okay. and Claudia knew that.

also before i get to whats really driving me to push back. we are disagreeing in Lestat playing his part well. Louis is in love and bonded (the real actual definition of trauma bonded, not like how its been wildly misinterpreted) to lestat. He is not going along with this because Lestat is playing his part well. He is manipulating Louis. He is trying to manipulate Claudia. Lestat is the one who broke their relationship it does not matter that he’s not being provocative or aggressive in this scene. the last ten or so minutes ep 5 is enough of a reason for her to NEVER trust him again. What does it say that ANYONE should expect her to over look that alone and play nice because in this moment he’s not doing anything that is a take i cannot and will not agree with.

but ep 5 is not a stand alone. he been provocative and aggressive from the beginning.

but im gonna have to push back on something that has been bothering me. Claudia is not without emotion. and she is not without feeling. in fact locked up at fourteen she is MADE UP of emotion and feeling. she is NOT just a plotting monster. i thought i challenged this take enough in my rewatch but imma have to get into it more. maybe she doesnt feel the ramifications of her actions. maybe she isnt burdened by guilt bc of her age. maybe shes more ruthless bc of her age. why should i not attribute emotion to that. this is where i think ppl like to refuse the full breath of children’s humanity. kids seek nurture and care. they’ll do anything for it. they don’t have an full understanding of everything. but they are not these unfeeling cold monsters that just go about being destructive and not caring. a friend of mine told me onetime he took i think it was a jelly fish or something from the sea and put it in the bathwater bc he wanted to keep it. he didnt understand that would kill it. when it died he was so fucking anguished he cried for the rest of the day especially when his parents told him it happened bc he put it in the bath. that it belongs in the sea.

he didnt do that bc children are cruel monsters. he did that because he didnt understand the variety of life and the particular needs of that animal. but he is full of emotion. it was love that made him pick up that animal. it was love that made him want to keep it. it was love that crushed him when he found out what he had done.

now. i see to much that y’all wanna only allow the monster piece in claudia and it drives me up the wall. and her childhood is often used agaisnt her. shes more of a monster bc she didnt get to live a full life she let go of her humanity bc she didnt have all the years of humanity loustat did. except she had 14 years of humanity. in 14 years she lived a life. and i refuse to take that away from her. she is angry!! she is angry and sad and lonely and frustrated and isolated and alienated and reaching for connection and she is time and again denied her personhood. That is the humanity in her. she also fed the fuck up!!! and how she chooses to go about getting her ass out of there does not take away her humanity.

she is also curious. she also is loving and wants love in return. she is also nurturing and wants to be nurtured back. she is also gentle and wants gentleness back. ALL of this drives her ruthlessness for fighting back. her ruthlessness for killing. her ruthlessness for surviving. and her ruthless for doing what needs to be done to get out.

she also dragged louis out to algiers bc she loves him. bc it hurts her to see him. why do you think they included that little walk where they were talking about Emily Dickinson? they were happy. they weren’t perfectly fine. but they were happy. they were relaxed. they were at peace. they were each others. they werent constantly under the threat of abuse and mistreatment and fear. Louis traded that for his relationship with Lestat. I can understand why he did that and also stand with her on her anger about that. that fucking HHURTS! it hurts children when the abuser comes back home. it hurts them. she was hurt. so no i dont agree that she just did that to plot against them. hating and loving are often times not mutually exclusive. sometimes you hate because you love. and eventually with enough signs it wont get better hate can eclipse love. but thats where it was born. at least thats what i see was elevated in their relationship with the amcverse.

[sunnyartsstudio]

So, I got on Netflix again and just spent a substantial portion of this weekend binge watching the first season of The Dragon Prince and I got to say - I was monumentally disappointed. 

First, I want to address the elephant-koi in the room, this series is heavily derivative of ATLA. Now, I did know that going in since literally the only praise I see heaped on TDP is that it’s a lot like ATLA (and for some of its representation, which I’ll get to in a moment, don’t you worry) and Aaron Ehasz hasn’t exactly been doing this aspect any favors by consistently drawing comparisons to ATLA itself and using his working on ATLA as a promotional tool. But, honestly, I was massively unprepared for how deep and blatant TDP’s similarities to ATLA were going to get. The intro is a lengthened rehash of ATLA’s intro. The music is eerily similar. Its seasons are listed as “books” and its episodes “chapters” and its incorporation of the elements is damn near copy/paste. This series feels like the “can I copy your homework” meme manifested in a show. And, I can’t properly summarize this issue without bringing up my second issue - 

CALLUM. I feel really bad for this character. No, not because his parents are dead and he has security issues. No. Not that at all. It’s because Callum really isn’t allowed to be anything beyond a tug-of-war of “Sokka” and “not-Sokka”. The writers are constantly trying to both make Callum Sokka (Jack Desena voices him the exact same way, his humor is similar, his personality is similar) but also assure the audience that, no, he’s not Sokka. After all, he’s good at art and bad at combat - so totally not Sokka! Except when he is. Which is literally all the time other than those when those two aspects of his character are shown.

Third, since we’re discussing characters, I’m going to mention that the voice acting ranges from okay to horrendous. Ezran is the worst offender here, but, honestly, these characters can be downright painful to listen to.

Fourth, the animation. Yeah, I know this is the one area that even fans admit could be improved on, but I’m mentioning it nonetheless. It looks terrible. Now, that said, the designs and the backgrounds are actually really good. But the bizarre blend of 2D with 3D makes the movements stiff and jarring to look at and limits the characters’ range of expression, which is a massive detriment to the series and the emotional subject matters that it’s trying to cover.

Fifth, fucking Amaya. No, I don’t mean her character, I just mean an aspect of it. Now, going into the series, I already knew she was a guard and that she was deaf, and, therefore, I was already prepared for a certain level of stupid. Yeah, I know what I typed. A deaf person in the guard is a stupid idea. If she can’t hear, it’s that much easier to sneak up on her. You may not want to accept that, but it’s fact. Disabilities means there are certain things you can’t do that others can - I know. I have a disability. And it’s an odd choice to make her a guard considering she could have been a deaf diplomat or just about anything else that doesn’t put her in a situation where being able to hear is detrimental. And, unlike Toph in ATLA who has seismic sense to compensate for her blindness, Amaya is straight up deaf - there’s no trick or power or anything to compensate for it. And I could probably have just rolled my eyes at the whole thing - if TDP itself didn’t go out of its way to make the whole thing stupider. Like having Amaya enter a building that isn’t secured before any of the soldiers with her? Classic. And my personal favorite - that her interpreter is almost always standing directly behind her when she signs. What. The. Hell? Can he see through her or something? When he is standing next to her, he’s almost always looking at her face. What. The. Hell? I’m assuming she can read lips even though no one said she could (I’ll get to that in a minute too), but half the time she isn’t even looking at the person talking to her, so? Huh?  

Sixth, the world building is shit. There, I said it. Honestly, I could probably get past every other issue this show has if not for that. I watched the entire season - 9 episodes - and almost nothing is established or explained as far as how the magic system works or basically anything. Outside of the intro - which, despite being pretty easy to understand, is explained over and over in the dialogue. Yes, I get the info the intro discussed. You don’t need to keep reminding me. How about using that time instead to explain how magic works? What dark magic did humans use? Why was it so bad? Just saying something is “dark” doesn’t quite cut it. Why does Claudia need stuff for some spells, but can literally snap her fingers twice and turn her hand into a flashlight. How do things work?? I get Callum’s magic. The show shows us what is specifically required for the two spells he knows and what those two spells do. Everything else just happens. And it feels like it’s used to fit the needs of the writers as opposed to making sense. It feels like the writers just pull it out of their asses whenever they want. And it’s literally the most frustrating aspect of the show. 

Kind of coupled with how shit the world building is is the lazy writing. It takes literally 8 episodes (there are 9 in each season) for the show to drop the bombshell that Ezran can understand animals - and it comes completely out of nowhere. There’s no hint of this in any earlier episodes. Ezran never seems to understand Bait, didn’t know the giant discount-Unagi was lurking in the water ready to eat Bait, nothing. And, as if that wasn’t lazy enough, this is revealed when, almost to the tree Ellis is leading them to to meet the miracle healer, Ezran says that the wolf just told him there is no miracle healer. Why wouldn’t the wolf have mentioned this before you even left to meet the miracle healer?? Why didn’t the wolf mention this immediately after Ellis’s story of how they met the miracle healer and how she fixed the wolf’s leg????? Is it because lazy writing? Because I’m willing to bet it’s because lazy writing. This is why second drafts are important - so you don’t create lazy last-minute reveals and plot holes.

That said, I used the word disappointed because I went into TDP genuinely wanting to like it. I didn’t want it to be the next ATLA. I just wanted it to be a good show I could enjoy. And, to be fair, there are a lot of elements that I do like about it. Rayla and Claudia are great characters and, if focus was placed on proper world building, this could be a unique world to explore. The character relationships are fairly well developed and, while the animation is terrible, the character designs are decent. There is good in this. But it’s buried under trying to hard to remind me of a show that did all this - and did it better - and buried deep under some of the worst world building I have ever seen. 

I don’t feel like I wasted my time on it, but I still probably won’t be checking out seasons 2 or 3. If season 1 is anything to go by, this series isn’t for me. If I want something reminiscent of ATLA, I’ll just rewatch ATLA. At least that has decent world building.

[lou-iz-stat]

4 more weeks or 1 month left until the new season starts and I feel like we are currently in the calm before the storm and I am definitely nervous. 😬

This is my rewatch for episode 4 of season 1 and I absolutely adore this episode as shit pretty much hits the fan after this relatively sweet episode. I have a feeling that we won’t have an episode as happy as this one in season 2 so it’s best to enjoy it as much as possible. 😭

Also spoilers for everything!

IWTV S1 E4: The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood With All a Child’s Demanding

This episode starts out with Daniel talking on his phone to I assume his agent for the book he is going to write about this messy vamps. I wonder if this will be important later?

And of course the sleep paralysis demon that is Armand/ Rashid is just standing there.

Some of the lines he says to Daniel are so archaic it’s crazy people didn’t think he was Armand.

But he has the important job of bringing Daniel to Claudia’s old diaries.

Daniel makes a remark about the tree and Armand says something about an architect which I wonder if that will also be someone from the book that we did not know yet.

And he tells Daniel where to start with the dairies but of course he doesn’t listen and starts reading one towards the end. 😂

Now we are finally starting Claudia’s pov

“You were ready to abandon our home. Now you want a third” Lestat was so hurt by Louis leaving :(

In this version it’s Louis that wants Lestat to turn Claudia instead of Lestat just out right baby trapping him. But that doesn’t mean that Lestat turned Claudia without selfish intentions. He knows if he does this for Louis that he will no longer want to abandon him.

God that look on Lestat’s face when he thinks he’s getting a family. ☺️

Also! No secrets my ass!!!

“A funny way of being nice to each other.” They’re gay dear.

When I first watched the pleated skirt line it took me out! They are everything!!! 🤣

Claudia is Lestat’s daughter alright. Claudia said ACAB and that is why she is an icon.

This episode is comedic genius!

I LOVE when Lestat sneaks in Louis���s coffin. It’s so sweet and since it’s from Claudia’s pov we can more objectively see the good parts of their relationship. I’m sure if Louis was telling this part of the story that he might have not mentioned their coffin-sharing almost every night.

I also really adore the scene with Louis and Claudia in the boat. In the book Claudia doesn’t actually know why or how she was made but in the show Louis tells her the truth that it was because of him that she was hurt so bad in the fire. I like that he just tells her outright for how she was made. I also really love that when Claudia asks Louis how love works between two men and Louis makes that adorable face. It gives me butterflies!

After that scene, Daniel takes a break and walks in on Rashid/ Armand praying and he notes that he spoke a language that is from the Crimea which is a call back to the book since Armand’s character is originally from that area in Europe. So I think that they will still incorporate that part of Armand’s background in the show too.

This makes Daniel sorta suspicious of Rashid also because of him referring to Dubai as a ‘child’ Also Daniel’s notes on ‘Rashid’ is so funny.

We go back to the unholy family and they are just having a grand old time just being hella cute~

I wonder if the marquis Lestat mentions at Claudia’s birthday is his dad or his oldest brother? It sucks either way because they got guillotined during the revolution.

Loustat dancing is so sweet~

Movie theatre scene 🥰

Oh shit Mama Du Lac is dead

They look so good in their formation as the leave the wake.

Lestat bringing Claudia to the lovers lane for some dinner isn’t… the best but he is trying to bond with her and he does treat her so sweetly in the scene.

This does awaken something inside her like her sudden need to grow up.

And in her need to grow up she finally meets Charlie as her first love.

In classic vampire fashion Claudia accidentally kills Charlie

And though I hate to admit it Lestat is right when tells his fledglings to stay out of human goings on. He should have just been more sensitive about it when she brought Charlie’s body home.

Louis finally shows back up in the interview! I wonder what was doing other than ‘resting’

Louis so sad about Claudia. 😢

This episode ends so sad and miserable… Poor Claudia 😔

Okay with that ends my s1 episode 4 rewatch.

I am definitely not looking forward to episode 5…. It’s a tough watch but I’ll try to do it next time.

Thanks for reading this! We have only a month left and between this show and another show that is coming out around the same time I am losing my mind but I would have it no other way.

[this-is-a-love-story-isnt-it]

Okay, so here’s how Wintercon went today... This is long so I’m putting it under a “keep reading”.

My brother came with me even tho he hasn’t watched Farscape in like 15 years lol. We got lost in the casino going in because it’s huge af and there are no signs for the convention inside. but anyway, we finally found it and we looked for the autograph table first. we found it all the way at the back and everyone was at their tables except for Ben and Lani (who had walked past us as we were going in). Also Virginia Hey was supposed to be there but she wasn’t so idk what happened. Anyway, since you had to pay to get an autograph or picture with each one of them, I decided I wanted to get a picture with Ben. Anyway, me and my brother loitered a little bit, seeing if Ben would come back. he didn’t, so we looked around the convention a bit, and my brother saw the actor who played Atreyu in Neverending Story and wanted to take a pic with him but had zero money. there weren’t a lot of people at the Neverending Story table, so he probably could have just gone up to say hi but I guess he chickened out lol. Then we went back to the Farscape autograph table, and everyone was gone except Rockne. Then we saw a sign that said “Be back at 2 PM”. by that time is was about 12:30 so we decided to go to the food court and have lunch. Then we went back in and wandered around a little bit, and I think this was when we saw Ben walk past us. Or I did but my brother didn’t notice him. but anyway, it was a pretty small convention so it didn’t take long to see everything. So we went to chill out by the autograph table, and some more people were coming over after a while and we realized they were getting in line already. So even though we had been there first, the line started forming next to us, so we had to get at the end. It turned out that there were a bunch of people in line who had red tickets bc they had been waiting in line earlier but didn’t get to see Ben and/or Claudia before they had their break. So they went in a separate line so they could go first and then me and my brother were only behind like 6 people in the regular line, and 4 of them were in a group together. Gigi, Anthony, and Lani came back on time at around 2, but for some reason Ben and Claudia didn’t get back until like 2:30. The panel was at 4, so the organizers were talking to each other about getting people through the line quick. the lines for Ben and Claudia were really long. Gigi, Anthony, and Lani didn’t have people lined up to see them, but they each did have a lot of people go up and talk to them.  Anyway, when Ben came out, oh my gosh, pictures just don’t do him justice. He’s a beautiful man. And he’s taller than I thought (I met him in 2001 but he was sitting at the autograph table), and he really is built like a football player. He has broad shoulders and for some reason that’s not noticeable on tv. Also, the beard is back but it’s much more tame than it had been at Dragoncon. lol. Anyway, me and my brother were really close to the front of the regular line so we got to just watch him interacting with people until it was our turn. 😍

Anyway, so when you get up to the table, there’s someone with the con at the table with each actor and you tell them whether you want an autograph or a picture. Since I already met him and got an autograph 18 years ago, I wanted to take a selfie with him. So anyway he stood up when he was told I wanted a selfie and he’s so tall (he seemed like 6′1″ to me- so not super tall and def not as tall as Anthony Simcoe, but anyone who’s taller than me I think of as tall because I’m 5′11″). And he started walking around the table and i accidentally kicked his foot but he didn’t notice it. haha. So anyway we said hi to each other and he took my phone and put his arm around me so i put my hand on his back and he took like 3 selfies of us, and then he was like, “Let’s do an ugly one” and he held my phone down low and angled up at our faces. lol. When he started walking back to go behind the table again, I told him how I recently rewatched Farscape for the first time since it originally aired (I didn’t tell him I watched it 3 times in a row since April, though haha). So, he stayed standing and I told him about how it was a very different experience watching the show in my 30s than it was watching it when i was around 19. And he was standing and listening to me intently and I was gazing into his blue eyes, and anyway, he said “was it better when you were nineteen or in your thirties?” So I was like, “Oh better in my 30s.” And he was like, “yeah, it’s really profound”, I guess meaning that it’s got a depth to it that you can’t really understand until you’re older. So then I had taken up too much time so he sat down and shook my hand and said thanks, and then we left. There had been more stuff I wanted to say to him, but they were in such a rush to get everyone through the line that I’m lucky I got to say as much as I did. Idk what my brother was doing in that time because he didn’t have money for a selfie or autograph, but he came up with me anyway but didn’t actually talk to Ben? lol.

By that time it was after 3, and by 3:30 we went over to the seats in front of the main stage and waited for the panel to start. There weren’t any seats left, so we stood off to the side and while I would have liked to be a little closer, it was actually a great spot to see and to be able to take photos and videos. I’ll post the videos later in an edit, but anyway, the panel was only an hour long. I wish it could have been longer. I felt like Rockne, Anthony, Gigi and Lani did most of the talking. Ben was able to talk a few times, and Claudia didn’t say a ton until near the end. It was still a really good panel and the audience questions weren’t cringey like they usually are.

So anyway, that’s it. It was a fun day and I’m so happy that i went both to the panel and to get a selfie with Ben.

[horsegirlimogentemult]

5 tv shows i should watch?

Schitt’s Creek: A ridiculously rich family, the Roses, lose all of their money and everything they own. The only thing they’re allowed to keep is a town that the father bought for his son as a joke twenty years ago, called Schitt’s Creek, and so they have to move there and live in the local motel, and become friends with all the locals.

You’ll want to live in Schitt’s Creek. It’s also got the best gay rep I’ve ever seen in David and Patrick, and the whole town is such a safe place. And it’s hysterical. You haven’t lived till you’ve heard Moira Rose pronouncing words. I can’t even tell you the amount of heart this show has and how much it means to me and so many people. It’s warm and happy and a wonderful place.

12 Monkeys: In 2017, a plague swept through the entire planet. By 2043, humanity is one generation away from extinction. A scientist named Katarina Jones believes that there’s only one cure: making the plague never happen in the first place. A message from the past sets her off on a mission where she sends James Cole, the time-traveler, to 2015 to team up with virologist Dr. Cassie Railly to stop the plague….except that the conspiracy runs far deeper than they ever could have imagined, plunging them into the workings of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, a mysterious figure known only as the Witness, and Primaries who can see time’s secrets, including Jennifer Goines.

I literally cannot stress enough how good 12 Monkeys is. It answers every single question it ever raises, and does it in ways that make you scream at the foreshadowing and want to rewatch immediately. It twists and turns and every single bit of plot is fabulous and the characters are amazing.

The Good Place: Eleanor Shellstrop has died, and she’s in The Good Place! She’s got her house, and her neighbors, and her soulmate! One catch: They’ve got the wrong person. She’s not supposed to be there. Eleanor is, in fact, a terrible person who should be being tortured in The Bad Place right now. Luckily for her, her soulmate Chidi was a professor of ethics and moral philosophy during his life, and he’s agreed to teach her ethics so she can become a good person and earn her spot in the Good Place for real. Which should totally work out without anyone noticing…right?

Okay, I’m sure you’ve seen this one all over tumblr, but like, it’s just so good. The characters, it’s fucking funny, the questions it raises about philosophy, the plot……it’s all incredible. Plus, what other show can you hear the line “Whenever I was on Earth and I had a problem, and I threw a Molotov cocktail at it, boom! Right away, I had a different problem.”

Killing Eve: Villanelle is a professional assassin. Eve Polastri is an MI6 agent who brings it upon herself to track down Villanelle. The two become paired an an epic game of cat-and-mouse where they’re both the cat and both the mouse, and they’re mutually obsessed with each other. And falling in love.

Here’s another one you’ve probably heard all about everywhere, but……the thing about Killing Eve is that no matter how good people tell you it is, they’re not doing it justice. It’s better than that. Watch it. I watched the whole first season in a day because I couldn’t stop.

Galavant: It’s the Middle Ages, and Sir Galavant, greatest knight in the kingdom, has a lady love in Madalena–except King Richard kidnaps Madalena to be his bride. It’s Galavant to the rescue! King Richard can offer Madalena great fortune, Galavant says, but only Galavant can offer her great love. Madalena chooses the fame and fortune. A year later, Madalena and Richard have invaded the kingdom of Valencia, and Valencia’s Princess Isabella needs Galavant’s help in getting her kingdom back, and they and Galavant’s squire Sid set off on a hero’s journey accompanied entirely by songs.

It’s a musical! Galavant is so much fun, I can’t even tell you. The world did not deserve Galavant, Galavant was too good for it. It’s absolute absurdist humor, ridiculous songs, and a masterpiece.

The Librarians: The Library only ever has one Librarian, passed down lifetime to lifetime. And it calls Cassandra, Ezekiel, and Jake all as potential candidates–except it turns out the current Librarian, Flynn, is still alive, searching for the lost Library. The Library also called Eve as the new Guardian of the Librarian, and the group of five–along with Library caretaker Jenkins–set off on various adventures around the world, gathering various magical relics.

The Librarians is…..really good. It’s got heart and humor, and magic, and I love history, and god, it’s like the little show that could. Every year everyone expected it to be cancelled, and every year it would get renewed and it felt like magic. I miss it with my whole heart.

Warehouse 13: Based on the ending of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Warehouse 13 is a secret warehouse in North Dakota (as the name suggests, the thirteenth throughout history, having been all over the world) that houses artifacts with powerful abilities–objects that belonged to someone, often someone famous from history, imbued with something relating to their personalities or what they’re famous for. For example, wearing Harriet Tubman’s thimble gives the wearer the ability to disguise themselves as anyone else they wish, Janis Joplin’s backstage pass can transport you to any concert that has ever happened, and Lizzie Borden’s axe makes the person holding it have an uncontrollable urge to kill people they love. Secret Service Agents Myka and Pete are brought on as the new agents of Warehouse 13, alongside caretaker Artie, and later tech genius Claudia as the bunch form a found family and go through some of history’s most dangerous artifacts in the process.

Warehouse 13 meant the entire world to me years ago. I mean, I’m passionate about history and an actual history major, so that part’s fun, and I also adore the way the show is structured and everything. The idea of having the artifacts is really cool, and some of the effects are very clever. I’ve always felt like it was an underrated show that it felt like no one else knew about, and I loved it.